Amelia Ware welcomed us to worship on 29th October. Our service this morning was a little different to usual as we like to explore different ways of worshipping on the fifth Sunday of the month. We followed the symbolic Christ Candle that Kay is holding in a procession around the church as we remembered Jesus’ call to love our neighbour as ourselves, and to love God with all our heart, soul and mind
- Watch the service again on Youtube
- Cath invited us to reflect on Jesus’ commandment and to speak with someone we didn’t know well
- Jan invited us to join a circle dance remembering the challenges in our world
- Read the Order of Service
Prayers of Adoration & Confession
Watch or 5:27
Let us pray.
Loving God, we ask you: who is our neighbour?
In our hearts you connect us to the living beat of creation
Forgive us for for the ways we have broken that connection
and encourage us to listen for the ways that your living world needs our love.
Jesus, friend to all, we ask you: who is our neighbour?
Through our souls we can feel the spirit of our shared humanity
Forgive us for neglecting to acknowledge the dignity of each person.
Lead us to support justice and understanding for all people.
Flowing Holy Spirit, we ask you: who is our neighbour?
Within our minds you allow us to reach for knowledge that is beyond our knowing.
Forgive us for closing our minds to new understandings or to ancient wisdom.
Remind us to approach the ideas of others and our own views with curiosity.
Amen
Word of Grace
Believe the Good News that comes from God: In Christ we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
Amelia Ware, offered for worship 29/10/2023, Pentecost 22A
Prayers of the people
Watch or 38:13
In today’s Prayers of the People, we will join with other churches across Australia as we pray part of a ‘Prayer for Peace in Israel and Palestine’ that has been written by the National Council of Churches in Australia. Let us pray:
Jesus who asks us to love our neighbour as ourselves,
we come to you with heavy hearts as we pray for the world, the church, and our community today.
We see countries that are neighbours but at war,
We see places that are far away that we are nonetheless closely connected to,
as people who live in our communities know people in those communities,
as the faces we see are of people who are friends and family,
the places we are shown are communities with familiar streets and buildings.
We see ordinary people, like us,
whose lives are disrupted and destroyed by the actions of others,
who grieve the loss of loved ones,
who are homeless,
who are without food, fuel and water.
In this time of sadness,
we grieve too.
In this time of violence,
we pray for peace.
God of Love,
we lift up Palestine and Israel — its people, its land, its creatures.
War is a monster that consumes everything in its path.
Peace is a gift shared at meals of memory with Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
Let us burn incense, not children.
Let us break bread, not bodies.
Let us plant olive groves, not cemeteries.
We beg for love and compassion to prevail
on all your holy mountains.
God of Hope,
we lift up the cities of the region:
Gaza City and Tel Aviv,
Ramallah and Ashkelon,
Deir El Balah and Sderot,
so long divided,
yet so filled with life and creativity.
Come again to breathe peace on your peoples
that all may recognize you.
God of Justice,
give strength to those whose long work for a just peace
might seem fruitless now.
Strengthen their resolve.
Do not let them feel alone.
Show us how to support their work
and bolster their courage.
God of the Nations
Give wise discernment to those making decisions to pursue peace.
Guide religious leaders to model unity and reconciliation across lines of division.
Guide political leaders to listen with their hearts, seek peace and pursue it.
Help all people to choose the rigorous path of just peace, and disavow violence.
Let arms reach out in healing, rather than aggression.
Let hearts mourn, rather than militarize.
Strengthen our faith in you, O God,
May our love for you show in the way we live with our neighbours who are both nearby and far away,
And may that love be in our hearts, in our actions and our words.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
Kirsty Bennett, offered for worship 29/10/2023, Pentecost 22A
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