Welcome to the Trinity Sunday worship 07/06/2020 of the Eastern Region of the Riverina Presbytery. Multiple people from Harden Uniting Church are leading this pre-recorded service today. Two Youtube videos are also included.
HYMN: “Holy, holy, holy”
Let us join together, wherever we are, and sing our first hymn, “Holy, holy, holy”. To help with the singing, the words of all hymns will display within the video. The organist is our very own Stewart Bruce, from Ross Memorial Uniting Church in Harden.
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 07/06/2020 from the Eastern Region of the Riverina Presbytery. Today we celebrate God as a Trinity, the day when we remember that God has been made known to us as Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
Let us praise God the Creator, who is filled with glory and power, with holiness and splendor. Let us worship God the Saviour, who is filled with love and compassion, with justice and peace. Let us experience God the Spirit, who fills us with faith and joy, with love and eternal life.
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.
Opening prayer
Let us pray,
Lord God, you who create us, and redeem us, and sustain us, we rejoice that you have chosen us to be your own and that you visit us and dwell with us and open to us the way to abundant life. You are worthy of awe and wonder at what you have done and what you continue to do.
By your Word the heavens and the earth were made, by the bounty of your mercy in Christ Jesus we have been born to new life. Your Spirit fills the whole world with your loving kindness and gives us the power we need to be your witnesses and to lift up your Holy Name. Blessed are you, O God, and blessed are all who live in you.
Help us today to joyfully proclaim our faith and to worship you as you deserve. Bring us closer to you and to one another and in our prayer and our thanksgiving, our hearing and our speaking, and our giving and receiving make us more completely yours.
We ask it in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forevermore. Amen
Musical reflection: “Be Still”
The musical reflection for today is, “Be still”, and it is sung at the NBA Bing Sing, Middlesbrough Baptist Church.
Bible readings
Jenny Lawlor & Helen Bruce from Harden Uniting Church lead us in the readings from Psalm 8 & Matthew 28.
Reflection
The speaker is Rev. Keith Robinson. There is a video of the message in the window below. The text can also be downloaded as a printable pdf file.
Prayers of the people & Lord’s Prayer
Go to the video below for the ‘Prayer of the people’, which are led by Clyde Smith & Helen Bruce from Harden Uniting Church. The video includes the Lord’s Prayer & a closing blessing by Keith.
Reader 1: Let us bring to God our prayers for our world, our nation, our community and ourselves.
Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts greater than our thoughts, so although we acknowledge that we do not always understand your ways, we continue to offer you our prayers.
Reader 2: Dear God, when we watch the news on TV, the world you made seems to be in crisis. We pray for the world you still love: for an end to fighting and greed. Guide our leaders in the ways of peace and how to care for the earth. Strengthen organisations and individuals who are doing your work all over the world, as they care for those who are needy, feed those who are hungry, comfort those who are crying.
Reader 1: Dear God, bless your scattered Church, both here in the Riverina and throughout the World. May young and old honour you in worship and in service. Give us your Spirit to put into practice what we learn, and courage to tell other people about your place in our lives. Give us wisdom as we confront many challenges, particularly as we explore how we can best worship you during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reader 2: Dear Jesus, in your life here on earth you knew the love and the strength, the life and the security, of being part of a family. We pray for our own families and for all families in our community and around Australia. We pray that in our families we will share your love– a love that shows both tenderness and strength, discipline and freedom, respect and understanding.
Reader 1: Dear Jesus, you healed sick people when their friends brought them to you. Hear our prayers as we pray for those we know who are sick in body, mind or spirit. May they know your healing power and your loving presence. May your peace give them strength and patience and your love make them whole.
Let us now spend some time in silence as we lay all our personal concerns before God.
Silence
Reader 2: Dear God, as we pray, we know that we must also be part of the answer to our prayers. Help us to be partners with you and to act with your wisdom and love. Oh Father, Son, and Holy Spirit One, hear all our prayers this day. Let us now pray 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
Go out into the world and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Bear witness to the God of love and peace, and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Christ has taught us.
And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Hymn: “Guide me, O thou great Redeemer”
The closing hymn is, “Guide me, O thou great Redeemer”. Not quite a Trinity Sunday hymn, the scheduled hymn had to be withdrawn for copyright reasons, but it is a great Welsh hymn. The organist is Stewart Bruce, from Ross Memorial Uniting Church in Harden.
Postlude: “Follow the sun”
Today’s postlude is, ”Follow the Sun”, by Xavier Rudd. While not your typical worship music, it contains some worthy thoughts given all that is happening in the world right now.
- Some inspiring Easter hymnsInspiring Easter music for you to have a look at. Check out the first one in particular, which is an inspiring rendition of Wesley’s ‘Christ the Lord is Risen today?’ It is sung by a ‘virtual choir’ all hooked up to sing from their own homes.
- At home with the kids?Some things to do at home with your children during the last week of the Lent Season.
