These next weeks and months have the grand title of Ordinary Time. This simply means that we are not on one of the two great liturgical journeys (Advent – Christmas – Epiphany and Lent – Holy Week – Easter). It allows for coming off the lectionary if that is local tradition. Instead might come surprises like outdoor services or a preaching series on a particular topic or Bible Book which during the liturgical journeys, time does not allow.
Theme: Big Questions
Gathering and Opening Prayers
Hymn
(Sung by the congregation at R2C yesterday evening in church)
A call to worship and a gathering prayer
Jesus on the boat in the storm said: ‘Peace! Be still!’…and there was a great calm.
We come to God, just as we are.
Sometimes at ease.
Sometimes confused by life’s storms.
Let us trust God with our big questions, and listen for God’s still small word to restore us to a sense of peace.
Loving and sometimes silent God,
we come into your presence,
thankful to quieten our hearts and to wait for you to speak.
We bring our joys, our challenges, and our questions.
We open our hearts honestly to you,
and we wait in that space beyond questions
to feel you hold us in compassion.
Amen.
A Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Forgiveness
God of our questions and our struggles,
when we too quickly mistake silence for indifference:
forgive and help us.
When the voice of our own needs silences the voices of others:
forgive and help us.
When we abandon others in their storm and watch safely from the shore:
forgive and help us.
When we lose faith because things get tough:
forgive and help us.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Lord Jesus,
you do not let us sink when our faith is going under.
You do not let our boats overturn when the seas of our life get rough.
You do not let our questions swamp us or our failures destroy us.
Rather, you forgive us, you save us,
you encourage, challenge and calm us –
and for this we are thankful.
Amen.
The Collect for Trinity3
God our Saviour
look on this wounded world in pity and in power;
hold us fast to your promises of peace
won for us by your Son.
Amen.
Hymn
Gathering around the Word
Bible Reading: Mark 4.35-41
Jesus leaves the crowds after a full day of teaching to get some rest. Jesus sleeps in the boat while the boat becomes engulfed in a storm. Because of the location of the Sea of Galilee, storms occur quickly and violently. The disciples are astonished that he is not alert to the circumstances and their fear. When they eventually wake him, he calms the storm and questions their lack of trust in God.
Perhaps the biggest faith question there is the one that the disciples ask of Jesus when he is asleep: ‘do you not care that we are perishing?’ Our big questions may be different, but it is important to feel heard as we wrestle with challenges of life in general and in following Jesus.
Bible Reflections:
Transcript: Reflections Mark 4_35-41
Bible Discussion:
- When do you struggle to feel ‘heard’?
- In what situations is it more difficult to feel able to ‘cry out’?
An Affirmation of Faith:
We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith,
and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us
with power from on high.
We believe in one God;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
cf Ephesians 3
Gathering in Prayer
Prayers of Intercession
We open our hearts to the needs of the world
and cry with the tears of the sorrowful.
We mourn with the grieving souls of the world
and feel their loss and share their pain.
We share our love with the lonely and loveless
and feel the pulse of their life.
We offer our touch to the untouchable folk
who are shunned by a passing throng.
We catch the whisper of the unspoken truths
that burden the lives of so many.
We decipher the cries of a traumatised world
for whom peace is an impossible dream.
Hear our prayers, Lord, and let us be the servants
you would have us be.
Amen.
The Our Father
We join with others of the St Catherine’s family across the globe
in our preferred form or language.
Our Father……
Amen.
The Sending Out
A sending out prayer
Go in peace.
May the whisper of God’s wisdom
go with you today
into all your relationships.
Amen.
Hymn
| I will follow him Follow him wherever he may go And near him, I always will be For nothing can keep me away He is my destiny I will follow him Ever since he touched my heart I knew There isn’t an ocean too deep A mountain so high it can keep Keep me away Away from his love |
I love him! I love him! I love him! And where he goes I’ll follow! I’ll follow! I’ll follow!He’ll always be my true love (My true love! My true love!) From now until forever! (Forever, forever) There isn’t an ocean too deep A mountain so high it can keep Keep me away!! Away from his love |
A Blessing
Organ Voluntary