Call to Worship
Call to Worship: Puppets: "Let's Bring A Little Heaven"
Song: Let us praise God together
Jesus, we are here (Jesus, Tawa Pano)
Prayers
Prayers of Thanksgiving
God of righteousness, we deserve to be judged by you when our words and deeds do not reflect your justice, your mercy and your love. So, we praise you for gathering us here so that we can focus on you as the reason for our worship. We worship you as the one who gives meaning and order to our lives - and - more than that, you have given us a quality of life we could never achieve on our own. In your great love for the world, you chose to enter our history and our lives in the form of a helpless baby. How can we do other than praise and adore you for choosing to clothe your divinity in such vulnerable love.
May we clothe our humanity with a like vulnerability
- emptying ourselves of all self-serving power so that we can love you with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and love our neighbour as we love ourselves. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen
PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Please respond!
We have failed to love you with all our heart and to be good stewards of your creation: Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
We have failed to take up the cross of discipleship and to be good stewards of your gospel: Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
We have failed to be faithful members of your church and to be good stewards of your spiritual gifts: Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. (Silence)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS :
Through the graciousness of God we have been rescued from the power of
darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God's beloved Son, in whom
we have redemption, and forgiveness. (Colossians 1:13,14 NRSV)
The Lord's Prayer.
Notices and Offering
Happy Birthdays
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-40
31"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. 32Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, 33putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, "Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'
37"Then those "sheep' are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38 -39And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 40Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me, you did it to me.'
Hymn: When I needed a neighbour
Talk:
Talk 1: Modern Day Parables: Two women travelling.
Narrator: Two stories, two women - going about their usual daily schedule, which for them meant travelling to and from their regular employment on public transport. Both women were involved in an incident that would change their lives forever
Voice 1: This is a story that took place only within the past six months. A true story about a woman who woke up one morning and set about her daily business. The woman in my story encountered a nightmare on her way to work. On a tube train in central London.
Voice 2: This is a story that took place, half a century ago, a true story about a woman who woke up one morning and set about her daily business. The woman in my story encountered her nightmare on her way home from work. On a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, USA.
Narrator: Listen to the parallel stories of Alison Macarthy aged 30, and Rosa Parks aged 42. On the morning of the day in question they were not even thinking that their actions on that particular day would help other people to know have liberty, freedom, and life itself.
Voice 1: On Thursday 7 July Alison Mccarthy boarded the London Underground, southbound Piccadilly Line. She shared the carriage with Germaine Lindsay, who unknown to those around him, was carrying a bomb and the intention to die and take others with him. This was the third explosion on the day of the terrorist attacks on London. The bomb exploded about one minute after the train left King's Cross, at the rear of the first carriage of the train, causing severe damage to the rear of that carriage, as well as the front of the second one
Voice 2: On the 1st December, 1955 Rosa Park boarded her usual bus home from work. She was tired and irritable; her shoulders ached from sewing all day, so this weary middle-aged woman was relieved to sit peacefully in her seat, heading for home. This day all the "White seats" on the bus were taken, when a fellow male traveller a white man, climbed on the bus and nodded harshly at her, a signal that she should give up her seat and move to the back of the bus with the other black folks.
Narrator: Here we see the travellers and the situation they face. The personal devastation and the choices they made that allowed themselves and others to stand with dignity.
Voice 1: At the time of the explosion, Alison Mccarthy was standing two to three feet from the bomber and it is a miracle she survived . She was immediately knocked unconscious. A woman standing by her side was killed, she fell and shielded Alison from the full impact of the blast.
After lying unconscious for some time, Alison came to and found the packed carriage now virtually empty. She could hear screaming from further back in the train, the emergency lights were on, there was thick, black, smoke and a smell of burning all around her. She quickly realised there were people alive close by.
With no prior knowledge of first aid, and despite personal injuries she set about saving lives. She introduced herself to someone who had lost a leg in the explosion. 'My name's Alison', what's your name? They shook hands, in an extraordinarily British way. She took off her jacket and tired it around the man's knee to stem the flow of blood.
She found another woman severely injured and again tired up her wounds using the woman's own scarf as a bandage. These simple acts of first aid most certainly saved these two life. She did not hesitate to help them, and kept talking to them until help arrived.
Voice 2: Despite the white man's arrogance and persistence that Rosa give up her seat for him, for some reason she refused to move. The Bus driver pointed out that this was the law and ordered her to shift. Again, she refused. The police were immediately summoned, and Rosa Parks was arrested, and taken to jail. Her actions caused Black people to refuse to use the buses within her town, the boycott spread throughout the state of Alabama and beyond. . It lasted for 381 days. As a result of this action the Supreme Court deemed that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. Rosa Parks was given the title “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” – though this was a title she was always modest about.
Narrator: Both these women have been celebrated this month. Both have made it to the front page of the papers as a sign that what they did made them heroes in the lives of other people.
Voice 1: Last week Alison Mccarthy attended the memorial service for the victims of the London Terrorist attacks. She was determined to travel to St Paul's for the service of remembrance, to pay tribute to "those who travelled with her that day and didn't make it". She did not set out on the 7th of July to become a hero and a saviour of people's lives, she was just a young woman travelling to work on a normal Thursday morning; but by her acts of kindness and her willingness to serve, she, and others like her, were honoured for their bravery and courage. Alison's loving actions kept people alive, despite severe injuries, her smile and her words were the stimulation that was needed to endure the hell that existed on that tube train following the bombing.
Voice 2: Last week saw the funeral of Rosa Parks. She never planned to become an icon, or “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, when she climbed aboard the bus on Cleveland Avenue in 1955. She was only worn down and fed up; she wanted to get home because she had a busy evening ahead, and she wanted to stay in the seat she had paid for. But the weight of the moment engulfed her, and defined her for the rest of her life. Her actions changed the lives of many. Martin Luther King said of her, "she was anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by, and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn”.
Narrator: People like Rosa Parks and Alison Macarthy inevitably become political icons, of civil rights and resistance to terrorism, but they are also symbolic of something more universal: the ordinary people who do what they can, often in heroically ordinary places — a young woman going to work on the Tube, a tired
Silent Intercessions:
Reflect on where you will travel this week. Those you will meet, those who you know, and those who are strangers who share your journey. This week may we each be aware of those who travel with us - those in need, those who are troubled, those who are weary and tired, others who are fighting and prepared to die for their cause.
May we be willing to stay in the hard place with others who are suffering and in need of our time, love and care.
May we be willing to stand our ground for the sake of justice, peace and harmony.
Song: Blessed be your name. (17 in SH 2003)
Talk 2 :
We are not alone here!
This week our Muslim neighbours have marked the end of Ramadan - their long fast, with the coming of Eid -al-Fitr. A time of celebration. This week our Hindu neighbours continue to celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, where the prayer has been repeatedly made " lead us from darkness to light".
At this time of religious celebration, I want us to take a minute to reflect on today Bible Reading. To the question "When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? sick or in prison and come to you?' Jesus said , "I'm telling the truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me, you did it to me.' Jesus encourages his listeners to be people who give to others. In the purpose Driven Life series studies, this week we shall look at being Shaped to serve.
And we have all been made to serve. Maybe we will never be called upon to be like Rosa Park or Alison Mccarthy - but we are called upon to serve others, be they often in small insignificant ways. We are each called to bring a little heaven to earth, by daily discovering ways to be the people God made us to be.
To mark this multi-faith celebration week. I want us to listen to the truth of caring for others found in other faiths. In Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism. Listen as we hear this same truth from other world faiths and cultures.
Readings
Every person's every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step you take in prayers is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity. Islam. (Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 26)
Relieve people in distress as speedily as you must …………… Deliver people from danger as quickly as you must, ……………be compassionate to orphans and relieve widows. Respect the old and help the poor. Taoism. Tract of the Quiet Way
Ye shall walk after the Lord your God" [Deuteronomy 13.4]. But how can a man walk after God who is a devouring fire? [Deuteronomy 4.24]. It means, walk after His attributes: clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort the mourner, bury the dead. Judaism. Talmud, Sota 14a
The gods have not ordained that humans die of hunger;
even to the well-fed man death comes in many shapes.
The wealth of the generous man never wastes away,
but the niggard has none to console him.
He who, possessed of food, hardens his heart
against the weak man, hungry and suffering,
who comes to him for help, though of old he helped him--
surely he finds none to console him.
Let the rich man satisfy one who seeks help;
and let him look upon the long view:
For wealth revolves like the wheels of a chariot,
coming now to one, now to another.
In vain does the mean man acquire food;
it is--I speak the truth--verily his death;
he who does not cherish a comrade or a friend,
who eats all alone, is all sin.Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.117.1-6
There are three kinds of persons existing in the world: one is like a drought, one who rains locally, and one who pours down everywhere.
How is a person like a drought? He gives nothing to all alike, not giving food and drink, clothing and vehicle, flowers, scents and unguents, bed, lodging and light, neither to recluses and Brahmins nor to wretched and needy beggars. In this way, a person is like a drought. How is a person like a local rainfall? He is a giver to some, but to others he gives not.... In this way, a person is like a local rain- fall.
How does a person rain down everywhere? He gives to all, be they recluses and Brahmins or wretched, needy beggars; he is a giver of food and drink, clothing... lodging and lights. In this way a person rains down everywhere. Buddhism. Itivuttaka 65
Let Us Pray:
As millions of Muslims mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan and celebrate Eid al-Fitr, we re-dedicate ourselves to understanding, respecting and appreciating what we learn of your nature, God, by loving and living gently in your
multi-faith world.
In Delhi, where the Hindu celebration of Diwali on Tuesday, included prayers people who died in recent bomb blasts, we know that the celebrations for the festival of lights were often low-key, with many people simply in no mood for festivities, but we also know that many were quietly determined to
send a message that they would not let terror dictate their lives. We give our own quiet thanks, and we lift our own mournful prayer for each one struck down by sudden attack. May your mercy know no end for them and those who love them.
This week as Christian remembered All Saints Day, we ask that you will show us ways to be saintly in our thoughts ,our words and our actions.
In your beautiful world, racked by many troubles yet sustained by many
mercies, we pray that each of us may run the race set before us with your help and
with your favour. Amen..
Hymn: I the Lord of sea and sky
Benadiction:
(In the style of the Celtic Rune)
When we see a stranger Father, remains us to,
put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place,
And, with the sacred name of the triune God,
Who blesses us and our house,
Our animals and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song:
Often, often, often,
Goes Christ in the stranger's guise.
The Grace