Order of Service – Sunday 30 April 2023 – EASTER 4
Click the link below to download the Order of Service.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Welcome to worship! “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised,” said the psalmist (48:1). Therefore, let us joyously unite together as we sing, pray, listen to God’s word and share with God and one another.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Let us sing of the beauty around us!
Let us sing of the beauty within!
O hear the earth tell that all shall be well!
All shall be well. In our bliss, in our sorrow, in the sun and in the
rain, all shall be well.
INVOCATION
Put Your music in our soul, O Lord. If we have lost our song, help us find it. If our joy has dried up, water us with the lyrics of Your love. If our voices are flat, enliven us with the energy of life. O Lord, receive this act of worship and praise, to the glory and honour of Your name.
HYMN: 134 “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”
COLLECT
Reform us all, always, our Father: correct us where we are wrong, redirect us when we stray, change us where we are flawed, renew us when we falter. In the same way, reform families, homes, communities, institutions, nations, and all the churches, beginning with ours. We are all Yours: remake us for Jesus’ sake, we pray. Amen!
PRAYER
We give thanks to You, O Lord, with our all heart.
We will glorify Your name for ever.
God of understanding, be with Your church as we seek to understand Your purpose and will. Nurture and tend all new to faith . . . By Your Holy Spirit, bring to fruition the seed of Your world.
God of endurance and reliability, be with Your world obsessed by many cares and short-term gains. Renew the face of the earth . . . By Your Holy Spirit, inspire all people to sustainable living.
God of seedtime and harvest, be with all who tend and manage the land; for food to nourish and space for reaction . . . By Your Holy Spirit, open our hearts to share the fruits of the field in their seasons.
God of hope and consolation, deal tenderly with all for whom life is full of struggle. Give them strength and patience in their sufferings . . . By Your Holy Spirit, bring us to rejoice in Your presence.
God of life and peace, You set Your creation in motion. Bring to fulfilment the purpose You set for each one of us . . . By Your Holy Spirit, bring us to dwell with You forever.
HYMN: 106 “Now Thank We All Our God”
DRAWING NEAR TO GOD
We have come to meet with God and to take our part in the building of His church. Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we have been healed. Let us acknowledge our failure to serve Him as He deserves, and return to the Lord with repentance and faith, praying together,
Heavenly Father You have loved us with an everlasting love, but we have often gone our own way, and rejected Your will for our lives. We are sorry for our sins and turn away from them. For the sake of Your Son who died for us, forgive us, cleanse us, and change us to live for You, and to please You in every way, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
CONFESSION
God calls us to live our lives to His glory.
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself”. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
But we fail to honour Him as we should and to respond to His love for us. Recognising our guilt and trusting in God’s mercy and grace, let us confess our sins together.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father we have gone our own way, not loving You as we ought, not loving our neighbour as ourselves. We have sinned against You in thought, word and deed and in what we have failed to do. We deserve Your condemnation. Father, forgive us. Help us to love You and our neighbour, and to live for Your honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Thanks be to God! Amen!
PSALM 23
SILENT MEDITATION
HYMN: “Ancient Words”
BIBLE READINGS – Ivy Lee
1 Peter 2:21-25 (Pages 1201-1202) John 10:1-18 (Pages 1062)
MESSAGE: “The Good Shepherd” Krikor Youmshajekian
HYMN: 145 “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
NOTICES –
- Movie/Pizza Night – 6:30 pm Tuesday 2 May 2023.
- Mother’s Day Lunch – Sunday 7 May 12:00 noon.
- Lane Cove Music – Tuesday 9 May 7:30 pm LCM Anglican Church. Accent Strings (String Quartet) – “Bach to Beatles”.
- Pentecost Service – Sunday 28 May 10:00 am, St. Aidan’s.
- Bus Trip – Wed 14 June 2023. Expressions of interest. If you are. Please add your name on the list.
OFFERING – Help us who have received so freely from You to give as
freely in our turn, and have the pleasure of giving
as well as the happiness of receiving.
THE LORD’S PRAYER – Hymn in Aramaic
BLESSING
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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