Marsden
Road Uniting Church Carlingford
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Gathering
God’s People
Acknowledgement of First Peoples
We acknowledge the first people who have cared for this Land, where we
worship, the Wallumedgal.
May
our worship join with the voices of the First Peoples of this Land.
Call to Worship
(Abingdon
Worship Annual 2020)
We wait with hope,
for God’s promises are sure.
We wait with patience,
for God’s time is a mystery.
Come and worship.
We will wait upon the Lord together.
Hymn 130: We
plough the fields, and scatter
(Tune – Wir Pflügen)
1.
We plough the fields and
scatter
The good seed on the
land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in
winter,
The warmth to swell the
grain,
The breezes and the
sunshine,
And soft, refreshing
rain.
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
2.
He only is the maker
Of all things near and
far;
He paints the wayside
flower,
He lights the evening
star;
The winds and waves obey
him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his
children,
He gives our daily bread.
All good gifts around us are sent from
heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
3.
We thank thee then, O
Father,
For all things bright and
good,
The seed time and the
harvest,
Our life, our health, our
food.
Accept the gifts we offer
For all thy love imparts,
And what thou most
desirest,
Our humble, thankful
hearts.
All good gifts around us are sent from
heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
Opening prayer
A Prayer of Confession
Declaration
of Forgiveness
All is well. All will be well.
Thanks, be to God!
The
Peace
Peace be with you!
And also, with you!
(You
may like to exchange a sign of peace with those around you.)
Announcements
A Word with the Children/Young People
Rose
was 9 years old and she was well-behaved - except when she had to tidy her
bedroom! Annabel was also 9 and her behaviour could only be classed as
bad - so bad that no one wanted to be her friend. Annabel didn’t go to
the same school as Rose, but she lived only four houses away, and the girls’
mothers often chatted if they saw one another in their gardens or when shopping.
Annabel’
s mother had an idea - she asked Rose’s mother if Rose could come and play with
Annabel in the hope that Rose’s good behaviour would rub off on Annabel.
Guess what happened. When Rose came home after playing with Annabel - she
was just plain naughty. She kicked the dog, pinched her little brother,
pressed her face against the fish tank and made horrible faces at her beloved
fish. She even let the chooks (hens) out, who made a beeline for her
mother’s herb garden! Not like Rose at all. Her mother
couldn’t believe the difference in Rose’s behaviour and told Rose this in no
uncertain terms.
The
next day was Sunday and the lesson in Sunday school was based on today’s
verses from the gospel about the weeds and the wheat growing together.
Rose listened very carefully and, on the way, home she asked her mum - have I
been more like a weed than a rose? Her mum nodded and said that when she
had been like a weed she made everyone cranky and no one - not even her brother
or the dog - wanted to be near her - so wouldn’t it be a lot better being Rose
again? Rose nodded and said how her Sunday school teacher had told them
how Jesus’ love not only helped them to blossom but also helped them to spread
love to others so that they could blossom too.
And
Rose went on to say “That’s what I’m going to do the next time I see
Annabel and if we end up playing nicely that would be just like pulling the
weedy parts out of her wouldn’t it.” Rose’s mum had to agree and gave her
a big hug. “Maybe we could invite Annabel to our place tomorrow after
school” she said, as Rose skipped off happily..
You may want to speak about the imagery of the roots of the weeds and the wheat becoming intertwined as they grow together, it is almost as though they are embracing one another. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we understand how he wants to embrace us with his love and that can happen any time - maybe even here and now through the embrace - the touch of another person in love and acceptance which definitely helps us become less weed-like. This would be a good time to pass the peace - taking time for young and older people to share a touch or embrace.
You may want to speak about the imagery of the roots of the weeds and the wheat becoming intertwined as they grow together, it is almost as though they are embracing one another. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we understand how he wants to embrace us with his love and that can happen any time - maybe even here and now through the embrace - the touch of another person in love and acceptance which definitely helps us become less weed-like. This would be a good time to pass the peace - taking time for young and older people to share a touch or embrace.
Offering Prayer
(Tune – Darmstadt)
1. Christ is the world's true light,
its captain of salvation,
the day-star clear and bright,
desire of every nation;
new life, new hope awakes
for all who own his sway:
freedom her bondage breaks,
and night is turned to day.
its captain of salvation,
the day-star clear and bright,
desire of every nation;
new life, new hope awakes
for all who own his sway:
freedom her bondage breaks,
and night is turned to day.
2. In Christ all races meet,
their ancient feuds forgetting,
the whole round world complete,
from sunrise to its setting:
when Christ is throned as Lord,
all shall forsake their fear,
to ploughshare beat the sword,
to pruning-hook the spear.
their ancient feuds forgetting,
the whole round world complete,
from sunrise to its setting:
when Christ is throned as Lord,
all shall forsake their fear,
to ploughshare beat the sword,
to pruning-hook the spear.
3. One Lord, in one great name
unite us all who own you;
cast out our pride and shame
that hinder to enthrone you;
the world has waited long,
has travailed long in pain;
to heal its ancient wrong,
come, Prince of Peace, and reign.
unite us all who own you;
cast out our pride and shame
that hinder to enthrone you;
the world has waited long,
has travailed long in pain;
to heal its ancient wrong,
come, Prince of Peace, and reign.
Tune: Darmstadt
The
Service of the Word
The Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 NEB page 737
After the final reading the reader will say For the Word of the Lord
Please respond by saying Thanks
be to God.
Readings: NRSV Translation
Romans
8:12-25
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live
according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For
you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ 16 it
is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also
be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to
be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with
eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for
the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of
the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the
creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We
know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23 and
not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our
bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that
is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But
if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
24 He put before them another parable: ‘The
kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his
field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So
when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And
the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow,
good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” 28 He
answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want
us to go and gather them?” 29 But he replied, “No; for in
gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let
both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell
the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but
gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ 36 Then he left the
crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying,
‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ 37 He
answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the
field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the
weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy
who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers
are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned
up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all
causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw
them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in
the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Have you had any trouble with darnel lately? It seems to me
that this inquiry might bring a big question to our mind. What is it? What does
it look like? Does it itch? Will "Head and Shoulders" (that dandruff
shampoo we hear so much about) get rid of it?
When we read the Gospel
lesson for today, it is difficult for us. Can we put ourselves in the place of
the people in Jesus' time? The people of that time were part of an early
society, by our standards; it was primarily agricultural. Their concepts of distance
and communication were quite different from our own. As an agrarian economy,
the output or crops from the farms-wheat in this parable-were critically
important. It was not something that you read about in the newspapers and
wondered if it would affect the price of bread. The yield from the farms had a
clear meaning to the people.
Darnel is not in our daily
vocabulary. In fact, it was not even listed in two of the bible dictionaries
that were consulted in the preparation of this sermon. It is a weed from my
understanding. The definition that was finally located was: "several grassy
plants." It sounds like something you might have in your lawn or your
footy field or your golf course. However, what it translates into is
competition for the vital elements that produce wheat, the "staff of
life." The people understood that this was a real threat to their
livelihood. While we would probably suggest a trip to the chemical shop to get
"Roundup" or some other selective darnel-killer, that was not an
option in Jesus' time. The reality was that he was painting a picture of a crop
failure, reduced yields, and possible starvation.
It is hard for us to relate
to this story in our land-of-plenty. How many times have you gone to the
supermarket and found no bread on the shelf? It just does not happen in
Australia or in New Zealand the lands where there are "amber waves of
grain." We would dismiss any reports we heard of darnel, get in one of our
cars, and go to the market to fill our grocery needs. Pretty hard to get our
attention with threats of darnel! So, it
seems pretty obvious that Jesus knew his crowd and how to get their attention.
Let's join them and try to see what he is saying and how it impacts our lives
today, in our time and society. There are many conclusions that we could reach
in reading this parable. Some of them are:
1. There is good and evil in
the world.
2. Bad things happen that are beyond our control.
3. Jesus & God are aware of the evil deeds in our life and world.
4. Jesus blames the bad deeds on the evil presence in the world.
5. The farm in this parable is the world.
6. Jesus is the sower.
7. The good seed represents the good people in the kingdom or those in a relationship with Christ.
8. The darnel or evil ones will not be a part of the kingdom nor will they have a relationship with Christ.
2. Bad things happen that are beyond our control.
3. Jesus & God are aware of the evil deeds in our life and world.
4. Jesus blames the bad deeds on the evil presence in the world.
5. The farm in this parable is the world.
6. Jesus is the sower.
7. The good seed represents the good people in the kingdom or those in a relationship with Christ.
8. The darnel or evil ones will not be a part of the kingdom nor will they have a relationship with Christ.
In the first place, we can’t
argue with Jesus or his knowledge. He says that there is good and evil. We have
to agree with this old observation that is confirmed with each morning paper.
Each of us has scars in our daily lives that seem to be inflicted by others. We
would probably agree that many people in our society live beyond the acceptance
of the love of Christ. We see that they live without the knowledge, without the
reality of the acceptance of the love of Christ. We would not and should not
call them darnel! But our observation may be that their lives are damned or at
least without the joy of life with Christ. In a world that can be nurtured by
the beauty and love that Christ shares, they seem to be weeds, darnel. Rather
than sharing and producing for the good of society, they seem to be on a
different path or in a different world from many.
It seems that is not our
concern or within our ability to determine who is and who is not in the Kingdom
of God or family of Christ. Each of us has the responsibility to be the good
plant, the good producer, and to devote ourselves to the many teachings of
Christ. Ours is to accept, reflect, praise, and share the love of Christ, and
the good life that he shares with us.
The challenge is for each of
us to live our lives as the good grain, the wheat, the staff-of-life. Let us
pray for the strength, faith, and concentration to allow us to keep our course
and to inspire others to join us. Let us pray that we are enabled to share the
good news of Christ. Who knows--we may stamp out the darnel.
behind
(Tune – Highland Cathedral)
1.
You are before me, Lord, You are behind.
And over me You have spread out Your hand;
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
Too high to grasp, to great to understand.
2.
Then from Your Spirit where, Lord, shall I go;
And from Your presence where, Lord, shall I fly?
If I ascend to heaven You are there,
and still are with me if in hell I lie.
3.
If I should take my flight into the dawn,
If I should dwell on ocean's farthest shore,
Your mighty hand will rest upon me still,
And Your right hand will guard me evermore.
4.
If I should say, "Let darkness cover me,
And I shall hide within the veil of night,"
Surely the darkness is not dark to You;
The night is as the day, the darkness light.
5.
Search me, O God, search me and know my heart;
Try me, O God, my mind and spirit try;
Keep me from any path that gives You pain,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
Tune: Highland Cathedral
Intercessory Prayers
Holy Spirit, rest
upon the church, inspire our witness and service that the whole world may know
the love and grace of God.
Lord, in your
mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, rest
upon creation, work healing in wholeness where there is brokenness and knit all
life into a glorious tapestry.
Lord, in your
mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, rest
upon the broken-hearted, wrap them in the loving arms of your care and lead
them to the knowledge of your presence.
Lord, in your
mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, rest
upon the sick and the dying, bring healing, comfort and peace at the last.
Lord, in your
mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, rest
upon this congregation, show us how best to use the gifts you have given us for
service in the name of Christ.
Lord, in your mercy, hear
our prayer.
Holy Spirit, rest
upon us who are still on our pilgrimage and unite us into one body with all who
have gone before.
Lord, in your
mercy, hear our prayer.
Grant that, gathered
and directed by your Spirit, we may confess Christ as Lord and combine our
diverse gifts with a singular passion to continue his mission in this world until
we join in your eternal praise. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your
will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us
our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of
trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are
yours now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 626: Lord of creation, to you be all praise
(Tune –
Slane)
Lord of creation, to you be
all praise!
Most mighty your working, most wondrous your ways!
Your glory and might are beyond us to tell,
and yet in the heart of the humble you dwell.
Lord of all power, I give you my will,
in joyful obedience your tasks to fulfill.
Your bondage is freedom, your service is song;
and, held in your keeping, my weakness is strong.
Lord of all wisdom, I give you my mind,
rich truth that surpasses man's knowledge to find.
What eye has not seen and what ear has not heard
is taught by your Spirit and shines from your Word.
Lord of all bounty, I give you my heart;
I praise and adore you for all you impart;
your love to inspire me, your counsel to guide,
your presence to cheer me, whatever betide.
Lord of all being, I give you my all;
if ever I disown you, I stumble and fall;
but, sworn in glad service your word to obey,
I walk in your freedom to the end of the way.
Most mighty your working, most wondrous your ways!
Your glory and might are beyond us to tell,
and yet in the heart of the humble you dwell.
Lord of all power, I give you my will,
in joyful obedience your tasks to fulfill.
Your bondage is freedom, your service is song;
and, held in your keeping, my weakness is strong.
Lord of all wisdom, I give you my mind,
rich truth that surpasses man's knowledge to find.
What eye has not seen and what ear has not heard
is taught by your Spirit and shines from your Word.
Lord of all bounty, I give you my heart;
I praise and adore you for all you impart;
your love to inspire me, your counsel to guide,
your presence to cheer me, whatever betide.
Lord of all being, I give you my all;
if ever I disown you, I stumble and fall;
but, sworn in glad service your word to obey,
I walk in your freedom to the end of the way.
Benediction
May patience pave your path.
May
hope comfort your world.
And
may love to guide your lives.
Let us share the blessings of Christ’s
eternal covenant
and
praising God for the Spirit’s call to love and give. Amen.
Hymn 778: Shalom to
you now
(Tune – Somos del Senor)
Shalom to you now, shalom, my friends.
May God’s full mercies bless you, my friends.
In all your living and through your loving,
Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.
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