WELCOME AND NOTICES
GATHERING:
The days continue to shorten and the wind tosses the leaves.
Soon branches will be bare and the soil will harden with frost.
Soon there will be days when the sun struggles to warm the air. Yet we come in joy to worship, for Jesus the Christ, is our promise
of life transformed.
As creation rests in preparation for a new cycle of growth,
we come seeking new growth.
God of grace, God of companionship, move among us this day, that we may sense your purposes in the seasons of the year, and in the seasons of our lives. May we glimpse you in the faces of friends and strangers. May we hear your voice, may we sense your touch, in the encounters with one another.
HYMN: Our Life Has its Seasons
Our life has its seasons, and God has the reasons
why spring follows winter, and new leaves grow,
for there’s a connection with our resurrection
that flowers will bud after frost and snow,
so there’s never a time to stop believing
there’s never a time for hope to die,
there’s never a time to stop loving,
these three things go on.
There’s a time to be planting,
a time to be plucking,
a time to be laughing,
a time to weep,
a time to be building,
a time to be breaking,
a time to be waking,
a time to sleep,
but there’s never a time…
There’s a time to be hurting
a time to be healing,
a time to be saving,
a time to spend,
a time to be grieving,
a time to be dancing,
a time for beginning,
a time to end,
but there’s never a time… © Shirley Murray (AA)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION & THE LORD’S PRAYER
TIME WITH THE CHILDREN ~ Gillian Cree
SONG: Grow up Like Jesus {on screen}
READINGS: Acts 8: 26-40 Judith Mackay
John 15:1-8 Tony Beasley
SERMON: The Image of the Grapevine
A TIME OF QUIET
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
OFFERING
Let us dedicate ourselves to love … Good News of Jesus may be known.
Bless this offering that it may be used in your service.
Bless this bread and this wine, that through your Holy Spirit
they may be food and drink for the journey, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION & THE PEACE
HYMN: We Are Many, We Are One
We are many, we are one,
and the work of Christ is done
when we learn to live in true community,
as the stars that fill the night,
as a flock of birds in flight,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the branches of a tree,
as the waves upon the sea,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine.
All division is made whole
when we honour every soul,
find the life of God in every you and me,
as the fingers of a hand,
as the grains that form the sand,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the threads upon a loom,
as a field of flowers in bloom,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine.
We will join creation’s song,
make a world where all belong,
build as one in peace and loving harmony,
as the voices of a choir,
as the flames within a fire,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine;
as the snowflakes in the snow,
as the colours of a bow,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine. © Colin Gibson (FFS)
A PRAYER FOR EASTER-TIDE
God, every dawn is a new beginning… death is not the story.
New life breaks into the world: like tiny flowers pushing up through paving; like sunlight into the deepest cave.
Today the hope of the world shines everywhere.
Today the fruit and grain…for our commissioning, for our communion.
Today, God, you give again what you have always given from the beginning ~ life: that great mystery that can never be contained.
Today, as we eat … is the rising of us all.
God, this is food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty. We hope for the day when everyone in the whole of creation will have enough, where hunger, thirst, violence, will be barely a memory.
It is to live and work in the hope of that day … that you are with us.
You give us bread for new life, wine for celebration, each other for community, and yourself for our fulfilment. AMEN.
COMMUNION
As Jesus shared… that our lives might proclaim the mystery of faith.
Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.
Jesus Christ, the True Vine.
COMMUNION
PRAYER FOLLOWING COMMUNION
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 this morning. Please stay for morning tea following the service.
GUESS WHO IS COMING TO LUNCH 12.30pm TODAY: Those people participating, please collect your envelopes with instructions from Sonya.
NEXT SUNDAY: Induction and Ordination of two new Elders – Barry Moore & Hilary Moore.
FOOT CLINIC: TOMORROW 1-4pm. New helpers are always welcome. Contact Lyndsey 388 1264 for more information.
WEDNESDAY WALKERS 6th May: Meet 9.30am in Linden Grove, cnr Annex/Lincoln Roads. Park in Annex Rd. Coffee at Baptist Church Café, Lyttelton Street. All are welcome. Judith 332 1577.
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CRAFTY CRAFTERS: Thursdays 10am – 12 noon in the Lounge. $3 per session. New faces are always welcome ?. Beverley 332 7786.
MEN’S GROUP Thursday 7th May 6pm at Merchiston, 75 St Martins Rd. Please bring a plate of food to share,and enjoy some fellowship. Our guest for the evening is our own Bob Kayes! All men welcome. Tony 374 6673.
COPY REQUIRED as from now for the next “Messenger”. Please send any articles, pictures, recipes, etc to Anneke (anneke.howie@gmail.com) or post to 5 Simeon Quay, Lyttelton, 8082. The deadline is Friday 15th May.
INVITATION TO A FAMILY GAMES NIGHT Sunday 17th May 5 – 7.30 p.m.
Beckenham Church Lounge. Bring your own tea and a favourite game. Drinks provided. THIS EVENING IS FOR EVERYONE.
CARING & SHARING: And you may have been thinking we were becoming ‘extinct’. Not likely. Let’s meet – Wednesday 27th May 2pm in the Beckenham Methodist Lounge. We’d love to see everyone – old, young, even in between!
STANDING WITH NEPAL: A fund-raising evening in support of Nepal following their devastating earthquake. Wednesday 6 May, 7.30pm, at Wainoni Methodist Church, Avonside Drive. Guest Speaker: Paddy Pawson from the Himalayan Trust, who recently worked in and visited mountain villages. A Koha will be taken for emergency relief.
CEILIDH(pronounced kale-ee)
‘A ceilidh is an informal social gathering with folk music, singing, dancing
and storytelling. This kind of gathering, which is popular in the Highlands
and Islands, is normally held in someone’s house. In the rest of Scotland, a
ceilidh is more of an organised evening of entertainment. Ceilidhs take place in hotels or halls hired for the evening and involve Scottish Country Dancing to music played usually on accordions and fiddles. Some dances are for couples and some for larger groups. The word is Gaelic.’
……. AND a Ceilidh is planned for Saturday 6th June 2015 in the St Martins School Hall 7 – 10.30pm.
Everyone is welcome. It will be a great night of fun, dance etc and the
Incredible Ceilidh Band have been invited to help musically and with the
dancing. Spread the word. Bring your family and friends.
A very special fundraiser for the Link Building.
Tickets $15 each or $40 a family are available from either Anneke or Irene.
BELLA’S BENEFIT BASH featuring the Jabulani Choir Monday 11th May 7.30pm at Waltham School Hall (entrance off Hastings St East). Tickets available from Adrienne at Waltham Community Cottage ph 942 2173. Suggested koha: Waged $15, Bring a friend $25, Unwaged $5. The proceeds from the concert are going towards a bucket list request – creating an Italian inspired courtyard in Isabella Kilkelly’s backyard
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INVITATION: The annual ecumenical service for the observance of the Week for Christian Unity is being held on Wednesday 20th May at 7pm at the Transitional Cathedral. All are most welcome to attend, and stay on for a cuppa afterwards.
PARISH OFFICE HOURS: Wed & Thurs 9am-12noon and Fri 9-11am. Phone 332 6192 or email stmartpresch@xtra.co.nz. Pop in and say hello – 7 Wilsons Rd (at the rear of the St Anne’s site near the sandpit).
Please ensure Anna has any notices by 9am Thursday each week.
Keep an eye on the website: www.stmartins.org.nz
FIX-IT JOBS: Contact the Office if you need any help with little jobs around your property.
BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK: Thu 7th Lucy.