Welcome to the Sunday Online Worship 02/08/2020 of the Eastern Region of the Riverina Presbytery. This service includes some pre-recorded videos prepared by the region in addition to some YouTube videos for music. Most words are included or links to them are provided.
HYMN: “Let us talents & tongues employ”
Let us worship together, and sing if you are able, our first hymn, which is ““Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ” . Sung by the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne · Michael Leighton Jones · John O’Donnell. From “Fifty Best-Loved Hymns”. Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group.”. To help with the singing, the words of all hymns will display within the video. If you have trouble with the video working, go directly to Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUh5l-FhLps.
WELCOME & CALL TO WORSHIP
The ‘Call to Worship’ and ‘Opening Prayers’, which are in the video below, are led by Rev. Keith Robinson. The words are underneath the video.
Welcome to the Sunday online worship for 02/08/2020 from the Eastern Region of the Riverina Presbytery. Today, we will be continuing with the story of Jacob and will explore how he struggled with God. We will also explore what this means for us today as we seek to know & understand Jesus.
We have come to sit and listen, just like the thousands who gathered on a Galilean hillside millennia ago, knowing there was something important afoot, something that would change the way of the world, something that would change their minds and open their hearts. May God bless this time of worship.
We light the candle as a reminder that the light of Christ is always with us.
Light candle
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
As we begin our worship, let us also acknowledge the Wiradjuri people. They are the first inhabitants of our region, and part of God’s good creation. We honour them for their custodianship of the land, on which we live today.
Let us pray,
Holy and awesome God, creator of heaven and earth, as we come before you today we are aware of our imperfect understanding of your ways and of our deep need for your presence in our lives.
We thank you for granting to us a family in which to grow, a people with whom we can mature. We praise you for accepting us as we are and for struggling with us to make us what we can be.
Bless, we pray, this time when your people gather to worship you and call on your name. Grant to us insight into the mind of Christ and a deep love for you and for all whom you have made.
As we lift our voices to you, come down and visit our souls. We ask it in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, our brother, and our friend. Amen.
MUSICAL REFLECTION
The musical reflection for today is, “Jacob’s Struggle“. Sung by Gabriella Ariana (see http://www.gabrielleariana.com). Jacob’s Song is a ballad-type prayer from Genesis Chapter 32. It gives the perspective of Jacob when he wrestled with God.
BIBLE READINGS
Jean Groth from Temora Uniting Church leads us in the readings from Genesis 32:22-31 & Matthew 14:13-21 .
REFLECTION
The speaker is Rev. Keith Robinson. There is a video of the message in the window below. The text can also be downloaded by selecting the link immediately below.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & LORD’S PRAYER
Today there is no video for the prayers of the people. Below is a suggested prayer that you might like to read out aloud. There are some times of silence in which you can pray for anything that is on your mind. There is also a blessing at the end, which you might also like to say. As you say these words, remember that you are alone in saying them, even if you say them at a different time of the day from someone else.
We bring to God our prayers for our community, our church, our nation and our world. Our prayers today are adapted from the ‘Second Intercessions Handbook’ by John Pritchard.
Loving God, we come from you and we take our life from your hand. You have placed us in families of your giving and entrusted us to one other. As we think of the families that nurtured us and that we have nurtured, we pause in gratitude or perhaps in grief, recognising the ways in which we have been shaped by our families.
We give thanks for those who are like surrogate families to us, sharing and blessing our lives with warmth and love. We remember and pray for those in our families for whom we have a special care and responsibility, or who are going through especially testing times at the moment.
[pause for silent prayer]
Saviour Christ, the church is often called ‘the family of God’. We live out family dynamics – loving and striving, fighting and forgiving. Be with us in our life together, be our vision, our strength and our companion, so that we remember it is your church, rather than our own.
In silence now, we hand over to you any particular issues facing us as your church family – plans, problems, people in need, challenges or decisions, and any other matters or people on our hearts.
[pause for silent prayer]
Lord of all, we sometimes speak of ‘the family of nations’, hoping that this is how it should be. But relationships between nations can become troubled and violent in different parts of the world. We pray, O God, for your Spirit to work in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the nations, our global family, on whom so much rests.
We pray for people caught up in conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and the USA, for families who are hungry and homeless and organisations working to bring relief, and for other concerns we bring to you now.
[pause for silent prayer]
Holy God, in your mercy, take our prayers, those we speak and those in our hearts; bless us now as we place our trust in you. We say together the prayer that Jesus taught us:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
WORD OF MISSION & BLESSING
Let us go in peace, and may the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with us on the road. May the Christ who serves with wounded hands, stretch out our hands to serve. May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart open our hearts to love.
May we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet and may everyone we meet see the face of Christ in us, both now and forevermore.
HYMN: “Love divine, all love’s excelling “
The closing hymn is, “Love divine, all loves excelling”, from BBC Songs of Praise from St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast
POSTLUDE: “THE IRISH BLESSING”
Today’s postlude is, “The Irish Blessing”. The Irish Blessing (Beannacht uile-Éireann) is a project inspired by the many international recordings of “The Blessing” (by Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe and Elevation Worship) which have been made during this time of pandemic. Individuals from 300 Christian churches and organisations located in every county on the island submitted self-recordings of vocals and instruments which have been compiled by a creative team to produce this music video. Sourced from YouTube.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Call to worship. Based on call to worship in “Words for worship, 02 Aug 2020”.
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