Order of Service – Sunday 7 MAy 2023 – EASTER 5
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CALL TO WORSHIP
God is faithful and compassionate. God provides peace in the midst of life’s storms. It is God who guides us and creates new paths. Thanks be to God!
INVOCATION
In the beginning, You created and You continue to create out of chaos, O God. In the midst of chaos, it is difficult for us to hear Your voice. In our time of worship may we hear words of encouragement and understand how You offer new opportunities. You never abandon us. Our songs and worship are lifted to You in praise, and in thanksgiving. Through You we see all things anew! Amen!
God of new beginnings has called us to this place.
We come to celebrate the new life that God offers all people.
Be patient. Be attentive. The creator God is here.
In our singing and in our praying and in the silence, God is here.
HYMN: 132 “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”
CONFESSION
Most merciful and loving God, we humbly admit that we need Your help. We confess that we have wandered from Your way: we have done wrong, and we have failed to do what is right. You alone can save us. Have mercy on us: wipe out our sins and teach us to forgive others. Bring forth in us the fruit of the Spirit that we may live as disciples of Christ. This we ask in the name of Jesus our Saviour. Amen!
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. Isaiah 55:7
HYMN: 246 “Christ is the World’s Light”
PASTORAL PRAYER
We wish to be a faithful people, O God. Faith is such an elusive thing. We cannot grasp it, and yet it can grasp us. We discover it when we let go and place our trust in it. We wish to be a faithful people, O God. Help us move from wishing for faith, to being faithful. May our love and our life be grounded in the grace that You so freely give. In the name of the Holy One we pray. Amen!
UNISON INVOCATION
Holy God, we come to worship today with many different expectations. Some of us are celebrating a wonderful week and countless blessings, and we are here to offer You praise and gratitude. Some of us are at a difficult time in our lives, and things are not unfolding exactly as we planned. We are here for strength, courage, and direction. Then there are those of us, God, who are wondering where You are. We are lost, adrift, and wandering through life. Our doubts seem to outweigh our faith. Help us all, O Lord, to come to an awareness of your presence. To be in Your presence is enough. Amen!
SONG: “His Name is Wonderful”
BIBLE READINGS – Brian Cartwright
1 Peter 2:4-10 (Page1201) John 14:1-14 (Pages 1067-1068)
MESSAGE: “The Way, the Truth and the Life” Krikor Youmshajekian
HYMN: 226 “Thou Art the Way, by Thee Alone”
NOTICES –
- Lane Cove Music – Tue 9 May 7:30 pm LCM Anglican.
- Pentecost Service – Sunday 28 May 10:00 am, St. Aidan’s.
- Bus Trip – Wed 14 June 2023. Please put your name down.
OFFERING – Give generously for God’s glory.
HYMN: 714 “Eat this Bread, Drink this Cup”
INVITATION
We are here because Jesus has called us –
Strangers and friends, believers and doubters, the certain and the curious.
It is always a mixed company that Jesus gathers and invites to His table where, in the bread and wine, He meets us and through Him, we are different, and joined to each other.
So, come, not because you understand, but because you are understood.
Come, not because of how you feel, but because God has found food for you.
Come, not because you deserve a place, but because Jesus invites you, just as you are.
We do so as Jesus did and commanded us to do. We take ordinary bread and wine, the ordinary things of the world which Christ, in His own way, will make special, and as He said a prayer before sharing, we do so too.
BREAKING THE BREAD
As Jesus did, so we do. We break this bread and we share this wine.
We believe that He who lived, died and rose again for us, will meet us here.
Graciously nourish us, O Christ, so that we who try to follow You, may receive food for the journey and be bound in solidarity, with all who walk in Your way. Amen!
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us!
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us!
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world. Give us Your peace!
Take this bread, share this wine. In these Christ comes to us, with love from God.
The gifts of God, for the people of God.
So, come and share this table, it is neither our virtues nor our defects that are important.
It is the invitation to each and to all to take what Jesus has to offer those with whom He is pleased to dine.
THE DISTRIBUTION
The body of Christ broken for you. Amen!
The blood of Christ, poured out for you. Amen!
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Holy God, we give You thanks that we have been fed and renewed by Christ’s life in us and we go now to share that life with others. Send us out from here equipped with the power of Your Spirit to follow Jesus and to spread the message of His love and compassion to all whom we meet.
HYMN: 778 “Shalom to You Now, Shalom My Friends”
BLESSING
Go in peace, and may God touch you and embrace you, may He raise you up on His wings and give you strength, and wisdom and joy, may His Word dwell in you and His Spirit guide your steps, may His praise endure forever in your hearts and cast His light upon you, both now and forever. Amen!
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To contact Krikor call 0418 417 411
Church Website: http://www.longueville.unitingchurch.org.au
Church email: standrewsunite@tpg.com.au
Church Office phone: 9427 4740