Marsden
Road Uniting Church Carlingford
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Today Let's Picture the World...,
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 2017)
Waiting
is seldom easy. Yet, in the process of waiting, we discover new growth. The
Spirit moves and breathes, and treasures are sometimes discovered. As we wait
this day, may God’s miraculous presence be revealed in us and through us.
Waiting
and hoping, we gather together,
seeking
God’s presence and singing God’s praise.
Waiting and hoping, we come now to worship,
praying
and listening for the Spirit’s guidance.
Waiting
and hoping, we gather together,
seeking
God’s presence and singing God’s praise.
Hymn 093: Praise
the Lord, you heavens adore him
(Tune – Austria)
Praise the Lord: ye heavens, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels in the height.
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed.
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance He hath made.
Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail.
God hath made His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim.
Heaven and earth and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name.
Worship, honour, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto Thee.
Young and old, thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in Heaven adore thee;
We would bow before Thy throne.
As Thine angels serve before Thee,
So, on earth Thy will be done.
Words:
Vs 1 & 2 Foundling Hospital Collection 1796 Vs 3 Edward Osler 1798-1863
Tune: Austrian: Franz Joseph Haydn 1732-1809
Opening prayer
Holy One, your kingdom always takes us by
surprise— like
a mustard seed growing into a great shrub
where the birds
of the air can build their nests; like a
treasure hidden in a
field, or a pearl of great price. May we
desire your kingdom
more than we value worldly things,
through Christ, who
shows us the way. Amen.
A Prayer of Confession
Eternal God, waiting is hard— waiting for justice,
waiting for peace, waiting for love, waiting for your presence to heal us.
Give us the patience and passion of Jacob, to
work for the deepest desire of our hearts. Give us the perseverance of Abraham,
to keep going when all hope seems lost. Transform our hope into action, that we
may help build your kingdom here on earth. Amen.
Declaration
of Forgiveness
Nothing
can separate us from the love of God: Not death, nor life, nor angels, nor
rulers, nor things present, nor things to come. No power on heaven or under the
earth can separate us from the love of Christ: Not height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation.
Thanks,
be to God!
The
Peace
Nothing in all of creation can separate us from the
love and peace of God in Jesus Christ. Let us share this love and peace with
one another today.
Peace be with you!
And also, with you!
A Word with the Children/Young People
Theme: We find our treasure at the cross.
Object: A map to hidden treasure that you can make
yourself, and a wooden cross.
There was a time, when someone who had something
of great value would often bury their treasure so that no one could find it and
take it away. Of course, there was always the risk that one might forget where
their treasure was buried, so to make sure that they would remember where it
was, they would often make a map like this one. Usually they would mark the
spot where the treasure was with an "X" like the one on this map.
That is where we get the expression, "X
marks the spot."
Have you ever dreamed of finding an old map and
following it to a spot where a pirate had buried a chest full of glittering
gold? Well, this morning I want to tell you about a treasure that is more
valuable than a chest full of gold -- and I will even tell you how to find it.
Jesus once said, "The kingdom of heaven is
like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and then hid again; in his
joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field." If you would
like to find the treasure that Jesus was talking about, perhaps the Bible could
be the map that leads us to that treasure. The Bible has a lot of information
in it, but it is sometimes hard for us to understand, so how do you know
exactly where the treasure is? That's easy, because "X marks the
spot."
(Hold up the cross at an angle so that it looks
like the letter x.) Jesus died on the cross so that you and I could enter into
the kingdom of heaven. When you look to the cross and put your trust in Jesus,
the treasure will be yours.
To enter the kingdom of heaven is the greatest
treasure one could ever desire. It is more precious than silver, gold, or
jewels. That is why Jesus calls us to give up all that we have and follow him.
Offering Prayer
(Tune – Nun Danket)
Now
thank we all our God,
With
heart and hands and voices,
Who
wondrous things hath done,
In
whom His world rejoices;
Who
from our mother's arms
Hath
blessed us on our way
With
countless gifts of love,
And
still is ours to-day.
O
may this bounteous God
Through
all our life be near us,
With
ever joyful hearts
And
blessed peace to cheer us;
And
keep us in his grace,
And
guide us when perplexed,
And
free us from all ills
In
this world and the next.
All
praise and thanks to God
The
Father now be given,
The
son, and him who reigns,
With
them in highest heaven,
The
one eternal God,
Whom
earth and heaven adore;
For
thus it was, is now,
And
shall be evermore.
The
Service of the Word
Readings: NRSV translation
Romans
8.26-39
26 Likewise the
Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And
God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the
Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We
know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are
called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be
the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined
he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he
justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about these
things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else?
33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 13: 31-33; 44-52
44 ‘The kingdom of
heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in
his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 ‘Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;46 on
finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought
it. 47 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net
that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when
it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but
threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of
the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the
righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of
fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 ‘Have
you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ 52 And
he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom
of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what
is new and what is old.’ 53 When Jesus had finished
these parables, he left that place. 54 He came to
his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they
were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of
power? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not
his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and
Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us?
Where then did, this man get all this?’ 57 And they
took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour
except in their own country and in their own house.’ 58 And
he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
Preaching
of the Word: Today Let's
Picture the World...,
Today let’s picture the
world as an ungainly, promising mass of dough. The comedian comes out on stage
and starts his routine. In a rapid-fire monologue, he serves up jokes. His
timing is masterful, and the one-liners burst forth in succession, with
precision, so that you can’t help but laugh.
Jesus comes out in front
of the crowds and starts his teaching. In a rapid-fire monologue, he serves up
parables. His timing is masterful, and these word-pictures burst forth in
succession, with precision, so that you can’t help but see.
Here there’s a similarity
between Jesus and a stand-up comic. The comedian makes you laugh; Jesus makes
you see. And what you see is something of the kingdom of heaven, that realm
where God’s sovereignty is recognized.
The routine Jesus offers
in today’s gospel is a bonanza: five short parables in a row. All of them are
gems. Parables about a mustard seed, treasure buried in a field, a pricey
pearl, a fishing net. Then there’s the one we might focus on this morning: the
parable about yeast in the flour.
It’s a one-liner. You
might have missed it if you sneezed when the gospel was read. It goes like
this: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with
three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
She’s emptying sixteen
five-pound bags of flour into the biggest mixing bowl you’ve ever seen. She’s
pouring in forty-two cups of water. She’s got a mass of dough on her hands that
weighs over a hundred pounds. Kneading this lump of dough, shaping it, pounding
it. It looks like some scene at the end of a professional wrestling match. Here
we have a no-nonsense operation. Sports fans, this is the art of baking at its
best. A woman, with her apron dusted with flour, her ten fingers deep into the
dough – she’s a combination of Julia Child and Hulk Hogan.
Take another look at that
huge mass of dough. It’s not just the flour anymore. The yeast is in the dough,
invisible, but permeating the mass, and having its effect. A mystery is
bubbling away inside, with much more happening than meets the eye.
As this process continues,
the hidden will become manifest. There’s no way to stop it! The movement from
mystery to manifestation: Jesus presents this to us as the pulse of the kingdom
of heaven. Here is how God’s sovereignty becomes apparent: it resembles the
strange transformation that turns flour into dough.
We get to watch the baker
woman at work. We’re invited to look at this process and see it for what it’s
worth. But if we’re to get a glimpse of the kingdom, if we’re to look down to
the centre of this parable, then two things are asked of us: we must be
patient, and we must exercise discernment.
Yeast takes a while to
work, and its working is mysterious. So, we have to be patient as the dough
rises and comes to life. This dough is not a dead lump, a hopeless, shapeless
pile, but instead a universe where opportunities become real. The baker woman
is at work with our life, our circumstances, and the people around us. Nothing
is outside this lump of dough.
We need to be patient and
to exercise discernment if a lump of dough is ever to be bread for the world.
And we must exercise this same patience and discernment about the universe.
Life is something other than a pile of flour and a bit of yeast. Life is an
ungainly, promising mass of dough, on its way to becoming abundant bread. Just
as yeast permeates the entire lump, so the kingdom is present everywhere, and
everywhere it becomes manifest for those with eyes to see.
If we look around us and
within us, we can recognize the presence of the kingdom. That kingdom is at
work, just as yeast is active in the dough. And as yeast is invisible and known
by its effects, so the kingdom is hidden, concealed, buried deep in ordinary
circumstances, yet known by its effects.
Look at your life in the
light of grace. Something is there for you to find – whether you feel happy or
sad, whether your life seems successful or disastrous, whether you call yourself
a winner or a loser. That something is the activity of the kingdom, yeast
bubbling away in your corner of the lump.
There’s one caution to
keep in mind. The kingdom does not come with brass bands. It is not the subject
of headline news and public-relations efforts. We are talking here about yeast
working invisibly in the dough, a hidden yet potent activity.
As it takes faith to
believe that bread will rise, so too faith is necessary to see the kingdom
manifest in the everyday and the ordinary. We must exercise patience and discernment
wherever God places us. Then we will see that what seems like a dead lump is in
fact bubbling with divine life.
So may each of us go forth
this week, and encounter places and people and circumstances, and look there
for the kingdom: not as distant, but near at hand; not as obvious, but hidden;
not as static, but alive and becoming manifest; a kingdom making room for all
of us.
When we look for the
kingdom, then we find it present, abundantly present. And when we do, then we
have more reasons to give thanks than we ever expected.
We discover it’s true,
that one-liner Jesus tells us. All the world is a lump of dough, flour with
yeast mixed in, and SURPRISE! God’s a baker woman making bread.
(Tune -
Slane)
1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art--
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
naught be all else to me, save that thou art--
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou
my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my great Father, I thy true son;
thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my great Father, I thy true son;
thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
3 Be thou my battle shield,
sword for my fight;
be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:
raise thou me heav'n-ward, O Pow'r of my power.
be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower:
raise thou me heav'n-ward, O Pow'r of my power.
4 Riches I heed not, nor
man’s empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
5 High King of heaven, my
victory won,
may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
6 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art--
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
naught be all else to me, save that thou art--
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Intercessory Prayers
May our lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
O God of All That
Is, Seen and Unseen, with the Spirit of the Son that You have sent into
our hearts let us not keep silent. Grant us courage to speak without ceasing to
lawful governments and to vengeful despots until righteousness, peace, and
mercy prevail across our Earth, across our Country, and across our Communities,
great and small. We pray especially for ……………..:
Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier God
May our
lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier God
May our
lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
O God of All That
Is, Seen and Unseen, dispel the darkness of grief as we remember and
celebrate all who have gone ahead and now live again, complete in the radiant
joy of Your eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own
petitions
Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier God
May our
lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
O God of All That
Is, Seen and Unseen, we pause in this moment to offer You
our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials,
aloud or silently……………….
Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier God
May our
lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
O God of All That
Is, Seen and Unseen, we give You gracious thanksgiving for those entrusted
to bring us Your Word and Sacraments. Fill us all with unwavering faith that we
may walk together as constant witnesses of Christ Jesus, our Saving Lord. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
Creator, Redeemer,
Sanctifier God
May our
lives reflect Your Light and Glory.
Holy Triune
God: Lord, Word, & Spirit, we are created by You to be Your
fertile soil in this world. Let us each, by word and example, sow seeds of
forgiveness, hope, and salvation, by grace upon grace, now and in the life to
come. We ask through Jesus, Your Word Made Flesh; the Holy Spirit, Your Sacred
Breath; and our Almighty Creator, who, together, reign as One God, now and
forever. Amen.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Hymn 658: I, the Lord of sea and sky
(Tune – Here I am Lord)
I, The Lord of Sea and Sky,
I Have Heard My People Cry.
All Who Dwell in Dark and Sin,
My Hand Will Save.
I Who Made the Stars of Night,
I Will Make Their Darkness Bright.
Who Will Bear My Light to Them?
Whom Shall I Send?
Here I Am Lord, Is It I, Lord?
I Have Heard You Calling in The Night.
I Will Go Lord, If You Lead Me.
I Will Hold Your People in My Heart.
I, The Lord of Snow and Rain,
I Have Borne My People’s Pain.
I Have Wept for Love of Them, They Turn Away.
I Will Break Their Hearts of Stone,
Give Them Hearts for Love Alone.
I Will Speak My Word to Them
Whom Shall I Send?
Here I Am Lord, Is It I, Lord?
I Have Heard You Calling in The Night.
I Will Go Lord, If You Lead Me.
I Will Hold Your People in My Heart.
I, The Lord of Wind and Flame
I Will Tend the Poor and Lame.
I Will Set A Feast for Them,
My Hand Will Save
Finest Bread I Will Provide,
Till Their Hearts Be Satisfied.
I Will Give My Life to Them,
Whom Shall I Send?
Here I Am Lord, Is It I, Lord?
I Have Heard You Calling in The Night.
I Will Go Lord, If You Lead Me.
I Will Hold Your People in My Heart.
Benediction
All things work together for good for those
who love God.
Like a pearl of great price, Christ
offers us the kingdom of heaven.
All things work together for good for those
who wait for God.
Like a mustard seed that grows into a
great shrub, Christ offers us the realm of God’s blessing.
All things work together for good for those
who abide in God’s Spirit.
And may the Holy Spirit fill and inspire you with
the wonderful knowledge that nothing is able to separate you from the love of
God in Jesus Christ.
(Tune – Kookaburra)
Father bless us as we go.
Jesus, walk beside us.
Holy Spirit guide us.
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