Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Leader: God on the road, invites us ‘Come & journey with me’
All: God making all things new.
Leader: God in the wilderness invites us ‘Come & journey with me’
All: God making all things new.
Leader: God in our tears, God in our laughter, invites us ‘Come & journey with me’
All: God making all things new.
Our hymn tonight is from You are Mine CD tr 2,‘Come & Journey with me’.
Come to the song, come to the dance,
Bring all you are, And all you can be.
Come with your voice, come with your heart.
Come and journey with me. Come and journey with me.
Come let the sun fill up your eyes. Take the time to look around,
And love, just love, & walk with each other,
Come and journey with me. Come and journey with me.
Come and see, come and be. Be all you are and all you can be,
And leave all behind and calm your mind.
Come and journey with me. Come and journey with me.
Please say the psalm from side to side as indicated.
All: If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.
Side 1: By the waters of Babylon, we sat down & wept when
we remembered the smouldering city. We hid our
harps in the thickets of the willow; silently & bitterly
we grieved.
Side 2: Those who drove us captive from our homeland
demanded of us a song of our joy. Goaded by their
torment we cried out, ‘How can we sing of our God
in this strangest of lands?’
Side 1: ‘How can we throw our pearls before swine? You
trample on our name, you rob us of hope, we cannot
repay what is holy & precious. To proclaim what is
intimate is to lose it for ever’.
Side 2: ‘It is hard to be faithful & firm, as despair
overwhelms us in torrents. Troubled we are &
uncertain, no longer assured of God’s presence’.
Side 1: ‘O God, do you hear the cries of our hearts, now that
we are so far from your city? On foreign soil, can we
worship you still? Have you withdrawn from us for ever?’
Side 2:‘Yet if I forget you, Jerusalem, may the hand that
plucks the harp wither. May my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth if I do not give Jerusalem my
heart’s desire‘.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
All: If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.
Please sing the second psalm as indicated.
Cantors: Before the angels
I will bless you, my God.
Side 1: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing your praise.
Side 2: I will bow down towards your holy temple and praise your name
Because of your love and faithfulness.
Side 1: For you have glorified your name and your word above all things.
When I called you answered me; you increased my strength within me.
Side 2: All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of your mouth.
Side 1: They will sing of the ways of the Lord,
That great is the glory of the Lord.
Side 2: Though the Lord be high, he cares for the lowly;
He perceives the haughty from afar.
Side 1: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe.
You stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies,
Your right hand shall save me.
Side 2: O Lord, your love endures forever;
Do not abandon the work of your hands.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen.
All: Before the angels
I will bless you, my God.
Lent Reading (Ps.46.) followed by personal reflection.
God is our refuge and our strength, a help always near in times
of turmoil. Therefore I will not fear, I will not fear, I will not
fear. We will not fear though our siblings are shot in the
streets from our own inaction to create safe society for
their black and brown skin; though our sisters’ bodies, minds,
spirits are used and discarded by those who claim power over
them; though all of creation burns-shakes-floods with our
failure to care for God’s air and water and earth; God is in the
midst of us, and God will not be moved. The nations are in an
uproar, regimes totter; God speaks, though we fail to listen.
Come, listen through the tumult: God calls us to make wars
cease — wars on bodies, wars on souls, wars on ecosystems;
God calls us to justice and kindness and humility; God calls us
to pay attention: I am God, I am God, I am God. Not you, not
me, not government nor systems nor families… I am God.
Be still. The God of our history and our future is with us.
Be still. God our refuge is with us.
We will sing the Magnificat.
Cantors: Now you are well again; leave your sinful ways,
Or something worse may happen to you.
Side 1: My being proclaims your greatness,
And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour,
Side 2: For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness;
All ages to come shall call me blessed.
Side 1: God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me.
Holy is your name.
Side 2: Your mercy is from age to age
Towards those who fear you
Side 1: You have shown might with your arm
And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.
Side 2: You have deposed the mighty from their thrones
And raised the lowly to high places.
Side 1: The hungry you have given every good thing
While the rich you have sent away empty.
Side 2: You have upheld Israel, your servant,
Ever mindful of your mercy-
Side 1: Even as you promised our ancestors;
Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Give praise to the Father Almighty,
To his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts.
Both now and for ever, Amen.
All: Now you are well again; leave your sinful ways,
Or something worse may happen to you.
Intercessions:
Reader: You give us the power to be light or darkness for one another on our journeys –
All: Show us how to be paths of goodness for each other rather than stumbling blocks.
Reader: Jesus, you ate with sinners & stayed with them –
All: May we be able to bring God’s non-judgemental forgiveness to all whom we meet.
Reader: The harvest of our earth yields enough for all –
All: Help us to find ways to see that it is shared more evenly.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today & for those who will die tonight.
We also remember those whose anniversaries of death occur tomorrow, especially:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father….
Leader: By our Lenten prayer & observance, Lord, prepare our hearts to welcome the mystery of Easter & to be able to live it fully & share its life with others. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: May we shine for each other in compassion & hope. May our work be fruitful & our joy profound. May our lives be full of gratitude, openness & simplicity. May almighty God bless us – the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.