Need
Pens, certificates, prayer sheets, marker pens, video
Call to Worship
Jesus says, ‘I will not leave you orphaned.’
God our mother, father, sister, brother and friend is here among us.
Let us worship the one who loves us.
Let us worship the one who nurtures us.
Let us worship the one who challenges us.
Let us worship the one who calls us out of loneliness and into community.
Let us worship our God.
Father God I wonder
Abba Father
Prayers
Prayer of Thanksgiving: Amy
Creator God, the universe you created, the millions of stars, the burning sun, the planets, the deep rich blackness all amaze us. The laws of gravity and relativity amaze us.
We are in awe of you.
Creator God, the earth you created, the lush green forests, the dry stark deserts, the deep blue seas, the beautiful gems hidden in the earth amaze us. The interconnection of the ecosystems and the abundance of your planet amaze us.
We are in awe of you.
Creator God, the creatures you brought into being, the whales that talk to one another over miles, the bees that pollinate plants and flowers, the lionesses that hunt to feed their families amaze us. The millions of creatures, and the planet teeming with life amaze us.
We are in awe of you.
Creator God, the reality of your presence, your love and care, your interest in us, the teachings of Jesus, your son, amaze us. The fact that we can call on you at all times, that no matter what we feel or think you accept us just as we are amazes us.
We are in awe of you.
Creator God, we’re so very much in awe of you.
Amen.
A prayer of confession
Loving God, we thank you that you love us as we are, without exception. Thank you that our growth and development matter to you. We know that you challenge and call us into being all that we can be. We’re here because we’re seeking to live in the path Jesus forged. We want to grow and blossom as human beings.
We know that we often let you, others and ourselves down. Sometimes we’re deliberately sinful but mostly we just make mistakes. We’re sorry that this happens and ask you to help us live in the reality of your ever-present forgiveness.
We’re also concerned that we may contribute to the suffering of others simply because of the country we live in; that our way of life has an impact on the lives of those in the southern hemisphere and on the sustainability of the planet’s resources.
We’re sorry about the things we don’t do to challenge this. Help us to live simply and thoughtfully and to do all that we can to help create a good world for all.
Help us, dear God, to live in your love and enable us to give love to others, in the name of Jesus our guide and helper,
Amen.
Notices and Offering
Birthdays - Alf 99 yesterday
Setting the Scene:
Talk One: Just an ordinary family (volunteers)
What shall we have for tea tonight? (Curry, salad, fish and chips, burger)
Where shall we go for our holidays? (Disneyland, Camping in Europe, palm trees, walking in Scotland)
What shall we watch on the television together? (Simpsons, aled Jones (SofPraise, snooker, antiques roadshow)
The challenge of living together. As the family of God we belong to each other.
Despite our differences
Our disagreements, taste and opinions - as the family of God we have to learn to live together. It's not easy, at times we may wish that people were more like we are.
But the hardest lessons of life are learned with the people we live with each day.
Family life was Gods idea, and no two families are the same. Church life was also Gods idea. Fellowship - koinonia (the New Testament calls it), the privilege and responsibility of belong and growing together. Its together that God teaches us about ourselves and others. Its not easy being the people of God, the family of God, but the Holy Spirit helps us to live in peace, accept difference and to grow in understanding.
Thank you family!
Song: God is love, his the care
(Children leave)
Bible Readings:
John 14: 1-14; Yvonne P
Acts 7: 55-60 Robert Mackay
Hymn: O God our help in ages past
Video: Tracey Beaker.
Talk:
Orphans
What do Tracy, Beaker, Harry Potter, Annie, Oliver Twist have in common?. They are all orphans.
People like reading books about children with no parents to hand. The most famous books of our time seem to have a similar plot. Why is this? Is it because it is a fear that many of us have to be left alone in the world? It is that we are afraid about what they represent - abandonment, alienation and rejection. We would turn away from these feelings, but its ok to see Harry Potter knows locked up in the cupboard under the stairs, ok to watch Oliver Twist in the workhouse. Because its not us, its not real.
But the Bible picks up this theme of adoption, and identifies that at times we each do feel like this - lost, alone, neglected and afraid. So God comes and draws us to himself, through his Holy Spirit, and adopts us as his children.
In the ancient Roman world, "There are four great consequences to adoption:
1. The adopted one lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate child in his new family.
2. The adopted one became full heir to his Father’s estate.
3. The old life of the adopted one was completely wiped out; for instance - all debts were cancelled, entering into a new life with which the past had nothing to do.
4. In the eyes of the law, the adopted one was absolutely the son of his new father.
When these verses from ? were written this is what adoption meant to the people who heard them. That God adopts us as his children in this very same way.
1. When we become children of God we are given all the rights of the new family. (Peace, joy, forgiveness, love)
2. Full heirs of the fathers estate - equal rights as everyone else. God accept us as equals. He doesn't care for me more than he cares for you - but in the same way he loves me, and Jacqui, and Bob - he loves you! Its not what we do that makes himn love us, its simply because he is our father.
3. The old debts are cancelled. When God takes us to be his child he draws a line under the past, and his forgiveness and justification make it - "just as if" we have never done the previous things.
4. God is not our father. It is official! It is unequivocal! It is irrevocable! What a privilege.
Adoption certificate.
A prayer of thanksgiving
Loving God, for being our mother and father, we thank you.
For not leaving us alone, we thank you.
For the people in our lives whom we love and who love us,
we thank you.
For those who are loyal to us, support us and give generously to us,
we thank you.
For your help and support, we thank you.
For having everything we need, we thank you.
For sometimes having more than enough, we thank you.
For giving us Jesus, we thank you.
Amen.
Hymn: King of Kings, majesty
Adopting the Policies
(Some of the Policies and main issues that have shaped this election campaign)
Trust, Homelessness, Justice, Peace, Asylum, Poverty, Health, Employment
HEAVENLY Father,
we thank you for the privilege of exercising our right to vote in a free election in a democratic society;
we praise you for those of this nation who have gone before us through whose campaigning zeal and personal sacrifice we enjoy universal adult suffrage;
we ask you for grace to use the privilege of our vote responsibly and in accordance with a well-formed conscience and the good news proclaimed by your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
GRANT us, Lord God, a vision of our land as your love would make it:
- a land where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
- a land where the benefits of civilized life are shared, and every one can enjoy them;
- a land where different races and cultures live in tolerance and mutual respect;
- a land where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
And give us the inspiration and courage to build it
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Hymn: You shall go out with Joy
Benediction:
whose son Jesus challenged those who govern,
showed people how to live together,
listened to those who had no voice
and who brings love and wholeness to us, hear our prayer.