Sitting in different chairs, joining in at different times throughout the day, God’s people still gather for worship on this, the Lord’s day. Welcome, to Sunday worship.
Call to Worship with parts in bold to say aloud
Based on Isaiah 5.
May we sing a love-song to our beloved,
with visions of hillside vineyard,
resplendent with luscious vines.
Under the watchtower grew a harvest,
yet the abundance of grapes
were overcome by the wild.
Your plans for your people,
rejected by their own devious ways
and selfish demands.
May we heed their error,
and in respect and faith
come to worship you, Lord God.
HYMN Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
O planet-weaver, the skies
declare your glory.
O star-spinner, the vault of heaven
proclaims your handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
night to night declares knowledge
yet there are no words,
their voices cannot be heard.
But creation’s pure sound reverberates
throughout the cosmos
for in the heavens
you have set a tent for the sun
and on earth a place for us all.
Yet we often forget
that we are creations of your breath,
tenants of your vineyard.
We silence your voice.
We subjugate your land.
We mar your image within and around.
We reject the cornerstone and
kill your son.
Yet you do not shy away.
You meet our hate with love,
our violence with steadfast loving kindness,
our forgetfulness with remembrance.
Remind us this day and this night
that we can kill your love
but we cannot keep it dead and buried.
Redeem us each day and each night
that we might live in tune
with the words of your son,
with the reverberations of your cosmos
thus enabling the words of our mouths
and the meditation of all our hearts
to be acceptable to you,
O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
Amen.
Reading: Matthew 21:33-46 read by Di Russell
Dramatised reading:
Reflection:
HYMN – The Servant King
Prayer for Others and Ourselves
If all our accomplishments,
all our acumen,
all our wisdom,
our work,
our will
were to be stripped away
we still belong to you, O God.
Therefore we press onwards
towards the goal.
Not to earn your grace
but to share your love.
So we pray for the twisting of our priorities,
for the confusion of our belonging,
for the marring of your image.
We are your children,
we are your tenants,
we are made in your image.
May we live up to that reality,
in our actions and thoughts.
We pray that those in power
might seek service over celebrity
and work to uplift the poor
rather than their popularity.
We pray that those without power
might find strength in you
and partners in us
even when we feel powerless.
We pray for the courage
and strength to press onward.
We pray for humility and compassion
to transcend the past
and press forward to what lies ahead.
For you are our beginning,
you are our present,
you are our destination.
Amen.
Offering – You can now give to the work of the church online by clicking on the button below and following the instructions:
Prayer of Dedication
We are tenants on your vineyard,
guests at your table,
children in your household.
Transform our pride with your prophetic presence,
subvert our expectations with your abiding grace,
so that we might work for your purposes
and live for your kingdom.
Take all that we have and all that we are
and align them with your good intentions.
In your name,
we pray.
Amen.
HYMN – Crown Him with Many Crowns
Sending
As one of God’s children
you are not cast aside.
God loves you
and cherishes you.
You belong and are treasured.
Take this affirmation
and live into it this week.
May you feel God’s love,
Christ’s inclusion,
and the Spirit’s presence
as you go,
this day,
this week,
and evermore.
Amen