Watchword for the Week
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new
and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
(Moravian Daily Texts 2015)
ORGAN PRELUDE
WELCOME and CALL to WORSHIP
(Verses from Psalm 51)
Be merciful to me, O God, because of your
constant love. Because of your great mercy,
wipe away my sins! Wash away all my evil
and make me clean from my sin!
Sincerity and truth are what you require;
fill my mind with your wisdom.
Remove my sin, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
and though you have crushed me and broken
me, I will be happy once again.
Close your eyes to my sins
and wipe out all my evil.
Create a pure heart in me, O God,
and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
Do not banish me from your presence;
do not take your holy spirit away from me.
Give me again the joy that comes from your
salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
Hymn 485 Dear Lord and Father of mankind
PRAYER of APPROACH
(“Sharing Suffering and Compassion”, New Zealand)
God of suffering and glory,
in Jesus Christ you reveal the way of life
through the path of obedience. Inscribe your
law in our hearts, that in life we may not
stray from you, but may be your people.
Now we imagine what it is like to be a
marginalised or repressed human being, what it
is like to be stereotyped and judged by society,
in a way that does violence to oneself as a
human being: a gay man or lesbian woman;
a political activist; an avant-garde artist;
a convicted criminal.
(Silence)
What it is like to be caught up in the poverty trap
with apparently no way out except resorting to
violence or illegal activity.
(Silence)
What it is like to have one’s culture destroyed
and not know who one really is.
(Silence)
What it is like to be maimed in body or mind –
to have lost a part of oneself.
(Silence)
What it is like to be in a spiritual wilderness
where old beliefs have died and there are as yet
no replacements, no resurrection from the tomb.
(Silence)
May the nurturing fire of compassion
melt the ice of our hearts, the ice of indifference,
the ice of imagined superiority,
the ice of cynicism and despair.
Let us walk gently with our pain,
walk gently with the pain of the world,
and join the dance of transforming love,
the dance of the wide-eyed pilgrim –
the justice and peace pioneer. Amen.
Hymn 776 * Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy)
People’s Choice Hymns are marked with an asterisk (*)
WORDS of FORGIVENESS (Hebrews 5:7-9)
In his life on earth, Jesus made his prayers and
requests with loud cries and tears to God, who
could save him from death. He has become the
source of eternal salvation for all whose who
obey him. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Hymn 772 * In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful
CHILDREN’S TIME
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
(Children may leave for Kids’ Church in the halls next door)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Jeremiah 31:31-34 OT p. 767 (768)
St. John 12:20-33 NT p. 135
People may stand for the Gospel reading.
The word of God – Thanks be to God!
Hymn 347 Unless a single grain of wheat
(Hymn of the Month, March 2015)
SERMON Rev. James Brown
Hymn 694 Brother, sister, let me serve you
(Offerings are gathered and brought forward)
DEDICATION PRAYER
O God, you do not need to be enriched with
any of our gifts which we bring, yet you love
a cheerful giver; receive these our offerings
which we present before you, and, with
them, ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Lord. Amen.
NOTICES and PRAYERS for OTHERS
Sung response (Hymn 805 *):
Let your name be glorified:
Your will be done on earth, O Lord.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn 251 * Here I am, Lord
BLESSING and Threefold Amen (No. 819)
ORGAN POSTLUDE
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