WELCOME AND NOTICES
CALL TO WORSHIP: (adapted from Worship for an Easter People, Vol. 4) Let us come in thanksgiving: thanksgiving to God who has accompanied us
and blessed us along the way.
We remember the blessings of family and friends and love,
of good food and health of body and mind to appreciate
the gifts of life, of work that gives meaning to the lives we live,
and of wisdom to understand how much we have been blessed.
May our thanksgiving take us beyond ourselves to understand the needs of others who have few of these blessings in life.
May our thanksgiving lead us to share the good things
we have known, that thanksgiving might be real for all people.
HYMN: Fill Your Hearts With Joy (Tune: Regent Square WOV 84)
Fill your hearts with joy and gladness,
sing and praise your God and mine!
Great the Lord in love and wisdom,
might and majesty divine!
He who framed the starry heavens
knows and names them as they shine.
Praise the Lord, his people, praise him!
wounded souls his comfort know;
those who fear him find his mercies,
peace for pain and joy for woe;
humble hearts are high exalted,
human pride and power laid low.
Praise the Lord for times and season,
cloud and sunshine, wind and rain;
spring to melt the snows of winter
till the waters flow again;
grass upon the mountain pastures,
golden valleys thick with grain.
Fill your hearts with joy and gladness,
peace and plenty crown your days;
love his laws, declare his judgements,
walk in all his words and ways;
he the Lord and we his children –
praise the Lord, all people, praise! © Timothy Dudley-Smith (HFTC)
OPENING PRAYER
TIME WITH THE CHILDREN Hilary Moore
CHILDREN’S HYMN: We Plough the Fields (Tune:WOV 59)
We plough the fields with tractors
with drills we sow the land,
but growth is still the wondrous gift
of God’s almighty hand.
We add the fertilisers
to help the growing grain,
but for its full fruition
it needs God’s sun and rain.
All good gifts around us
are sent from heaven above;
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
for all his love.
To gather in the harvest
machines now lead the way.
We reap the fields with combines,
we bale the new mown hay;
but it is God who gives us
inventive skills and drive;
which lighten daily labour
and give us fuller lives!
Then why are people starving
when we have life so good?
And some in crowded cities
search dustbins for their food;
and even some go hungry
who farm in distant lands;
Lord, help us learn more swiftly
to share with open hands. (author unknown)
READINGS: A Paraphrase of Psalm 136 (Brandt) Jeannette Beaumont
John 21: 1-17 Lindsay Day
The Great Catch
HYMN: Break Now the Bread of Life ~ Remain seated (Tune: WOV 334)
Break now the bread of life,
Saviour, to me,
as once you broke the loaves beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page, I seek you, Lord;
my spirit waits for you, O Living Word.
Bless your own truth, dear Christ,
to me, to me,
as when you blessed the bread by Galilee;
then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall,
and I shall find my peace, my all in all. C/A
Reflection: Life Transformed
A LITANY FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH (Susan K. Bock adapted)
In the unfolding of time, God chose a people to help make known to all the world the breadth and depth of God’s divine love.
Blessed be the God who remembered, and remembers, his beloved world with longing and compassion.
In the unfolding of time, God heard the cries of a people in bondage, and led them out, through wilderness, to a home of abundance. Blessed be the God who liberates, and in love prepares a home for us all.
In the unfolding of time, God spoke through prophets, calling for goodness
and truth. Blessed be the God whose voice is never silent,
who may ever be heard and honoured.
In the unfolding of time, God laid a straight and level path, strewn with blossom, and traversing streams of water. Blessed be the God who finds us in exile, and restores us to safety and belonging.
In the fullness of time, God gave us Jesus, who proclaimed a new covenant and in whose likeness we are made and called. Blessed be the God Incarnate, who worked and played, rested and loved, who laughed and wept and dreamed.
In the fullness of time, God gave us the Spirit, who stays with us always
to guide and bless. Blessed be God, our God, whose love creates and calls, heals and renews, blesses and sends.
Blessed be our God, forever and ever. Amen.
THE OFFERING:
God, as we share worship … you surprise and enrich and transform our lives.
God, with thanksgiving we present these offerings of money and food for your blessing; and pledge our commitment to ministry in this community and world, knowing that it is together we serve you; together with and within Christ’s love. Amen.
HYMN: As Those of Old (Tune: Forest Green WOV 240)
As those of old their first-fruits brought
of vineyard, flock, and field
to God, the giver of all good,
the source of bounteous yield;
so we today our first-fruits bring:
the wealth of this good land,
of farm and market, shop and home,
of mind and heart and hand.
A world in need now summons us
to labour, love, and give,
to make our life an offering
to God, that all may live.
The church of Christ is calling us
to make the dream come true:
a world redeemed, by Christ-like love,
all life in Christ made new
With gratitude and humble trust
we bring our best to you,
not just to serve your cause,
but share your love with neighbours too.
O God, who gave yourself to us
in Jesus Christ, your son,
help us to give ourselves each day
until life’s work is done. © Hope Publishing (VU)
WE GREET ONE ANOTHER
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN: For All Christ’s Friends (Tune: Sine Nomine WOV 384)
For all Christ’s friends whose lives this world have blessed,
who by their faith and actions Christ confessed,
we praise you Lord, their source of graciousness.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
You were their hope, their comfort, their delight;
you helped them grow in wisdom and in might;
in joy and pain you were their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Like them may we have Christ-like caring ways,
lives lived with wonder, tenderness and praise,
that we may live for others all our days.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
O great Communion spanning time and space,
beyond our wealth, our learning or our race,
we can be one in Jesus and his grace.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
They shall be one who value people’s worth,
one when they work for justice on the earth,
one when they love the Lord of all new birth,
Alleluia! Alleluia! © Bill Wallace (STSA)
THE BLESSING
NOTICES
A very warm welcome to all who worship with us today. Morning tea will be served after the service.
Today is our Thanksgiving Offering Sunday. Your thanksgiving gift may be made on any Sunday in the next month.
NEXT SUNDAY, 21st APRIL, we will be joined by the congregation of St James’ Spreydon.
THE PARISH OFFICE has a new home at St Anne’s Anglican Church, 7 Wilsons Rd (at the rear of the site near the sandpit!). Open Wednesday & Thursday 9am – 12 noon and Friday 9-11am. Phone 332 6192 or email stmartpresch@xtra.co.nz. Pop in and say hello! Anna.
The new Sunday readers’ roster is now available – please check to see if there is a copy for you TODAY.
There will be a combined meeting of the Board of Managers & Session on Wednesday 17th April at 7.30pm.
CUPPA & CHAT: Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10am – 12 noon in the Lounge at Beckenham Methodist. All welcome. Aubrey 930 2525.
WEDNESDAY WALKERS 17th April: Meet 9.30am in Smith St at the side entrance to Portstone Garden Centre. Coffee at the cafe. June 332 8874.
CRAFTY CRAFTERS meets every Thursday from 10am – 12 noon in the Beckenham Methodist Lounge. $3 per session. New faces are always welcome. Beverley 332 7786.
Beckenham Methodist Church will be having a tidy-up of the church grounds at 83 Malcolm Ave this Saturday 9am-12noon. Helpers welcome. Morning tea provided: please bring pruning tools etc. For details, phone Peter 332 1501.
FOOTCARE CLINIC: Next Session Monday 22nd April 1-4pm at Beckenham Methodist. Enquiries and offers of help to Lyndsey 388 1264.
HUB NEWS: Please see the noticeboard in the foyer for this week’s information.
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK: Tue 16th Mavis.