Order of Service – 2nd October 2022

The Order of Service follows below.

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October 2, 2022
Season of Creation 3 – Blessing of the Animals
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

Gathering

Welcome

Welcome to worship this morning – in God’s greatest cathedral.

Acknowledgment of Land

Call to Worship:

One: We are part of this landscape,
Not set apart from it,
not removed from it,
not above it – more important or better than it –
we are part of this place.
All: We breathe it all in
and listen for God here.

One: We hear the birds and the breeze,
the chatter and the traffic,
we see the grass under foot,
the roads and the cars,
All: We breathe it all in….
and listen for God here.

One: We notice the rocks and the mulch,
the hospitals and the Colleges.
We see the sky and the sun,
the light posts and the apartment homes.
All: We breathe it all in….
and listen for God here.

One: This is the day that the Lord has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
All: We breathe it all in….
and listen for God here.

We Sing: We Are Marching

We are marching in the light of God,
we are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God,
we are marching in the light of God.
We are marching, marching, we are marching, Oo
we are marching in the light of God.
We are marching, marching, we are marching, Oo
we are marching in the light of God.
We are loving in the light of God
We are living in the love of God
We are moving in the power of God

South African traditional tr. Anders Nyberg 1955- Words by permission Walton Music Corp., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches.

The Butterfly Song

If I were a butterfly,
I’d thank you, Lord, for giving me wings.
And if I were a robin in a tree,
I’d thank you, Lord, that I could sing.
And if I were a fish in the sea,
I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee, but
I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’.

Chorus
For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child.
And I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’
If I were an elephant,
I’d thank you, Lord, by raising my trunk.
You know I’d hop right up to you
And if I were an octopus,
I’d thank you, Lord for my fine looks, but
I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’.

For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child.
And I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’
If I were a wiggly worm,
I’d thank you, Lord, that I could squirm.
And if I were a billy goat,
I’d thank you, Lord, for my strong throat.
And if I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear,
I’d thank you, Lord, for my fuzzy wuzzy hair, but
I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’.

For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child.
And I just thank you, Father, for making me ‘me’

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Passing of the Peace

The peace of our extraordinary Creator be with you.
And also with you.

Let us share signs of peace and connection with one another.

Listening for the Voice of God

Community News and Notices

Reading from the Big Book and the Little Book

The Celts spoke of two books in which it was possible to discover or ‘read’ God. The Little Book and the Big Book. The Little Book was the Bible, the Big Book was Creation.

Proverbs 8:22-31

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.

Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—

when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.

When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

Colossians 1:15-20

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

From this shines forth the word of God.
Thanks be to God.

Francis of Assisi

Responding to God

We Sing: For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s delight,
for the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For each perfect gift divine
to the world so freely given,
graces all of your design,
flowers of earth and buds of heaven,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the church that evermore,
lifting holy hands above,
offers up on every shore,
the pure sacrifice of love,

Lord of all, to you we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

Folliott Sandford Pierpoint 1835-1917 alt. Public Domain.

Offering

We pray for our animals, not only because we love them, but also because they share in God’s gracious creation. God made everything on earth, including the animals that are held so dear.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

And now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray together, saying…

Eternal Spirit
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Mother and Father of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven.

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed
by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth!

With the bread that we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In time of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and forever. Amen.

From the New Zealand/Maori Anglican Liturgy in Singing While it is Still Dark.

We Sing: Life to the Brim

Life to the brim, life overflowing
Life pouring out in compassion and grace.
Spirit of God, well up within us
Bring us to life in this time and this place.
Life to the brim, life overflowing
Life flooding in from below and above
Spirit of God, pour out upon us.
Bring us to faith and to hope and to love.

Sending Forth