Aleluya! Krestu o rudile
O rudile e le ruri. Aleluya.
Merena a nne le lona
Mme a nne wena.
God orders all things well:
O come, let us worship.
Pour Your love into our hearts, O God,
Through the Holy Spirit You have given to
us.
Let us pray:
The night has passed and the day lies
open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind:
(silence may be kept)
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of Your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for You;
now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN : Lord, make us instruments
LORD, MAKE US INSTRUMENTS
[adapted from a song by Robert Bicknell – Songs
of Fellowship #360]
Lord, make us instruments,
Instruments of worship;
We lift up our hands in Your name.
Lord, make us instruments,
Instruments of worship
We lift up our hands in Your name.
We’ll sing You a love song,
A love song of worship,
We’ll lift up our hands in Your name.
We’ll sing You a love song,
A love song to Jesus,
We’ll lift up our hands in Your name.
For we are a symphony
A symphony of worship;
We’ll lift up our hands in Your name.
For we are a symphony,
A symphony of worship;
We’ll lift up our hands in Your name.
A TIME OF PENITENCE AND
CONFESSION
O Gracious God,
Whose lover’s pain with us
Is our anguish, history and
hope,
We confess that too often
we lack courage
To join Your lover’s distress
With ourselves and the
world.
We have not been at variance with
power
When it is used for only the
privilege of the few
Because too often we are the
privileged.
We have not called to account the
kind of cleverness
That turns truth into lies that profit
some
Because too often we have profited.
We have not stood against the
arrogance
That dictates the domination of
one race
Or nation, or gender of religion
Because too often we are the
dominators.
(brief pause for reflection)
Have mercy on us, heal us, Lord,
And deliver us from self-promotion,
Cowardice and lack of compassion.
Then empower us to be among those
Who dare to do things that are just and
beautiful,
True and faithful, visionary and deeply
joyful,
So that we may be free and whole
And home at last, home where we truly
belong,
Home with our true selves,
Home with each other,
Home in the cosmic family,
Home with You,
Through Christ Jesus and in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE FIRST LESSON : Acts 16: 1 – 10
From there Paul went to Derbe, and then on to
Lystra, where there was a disciple called Timothy,
whose mother was Jewish and had become a
beliver; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at
Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, and Paul, who
wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had
him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in
the locality where everyone knew his father was a
Greek.
As they visited one town after another, they
passed on the decisions reached by the
apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with
instructions to observe them. So the
churches grew strong in the faith, as well as
growing daily in numbers.
They travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country,
because they had been told by the Holy Spirit not to
preach the word in Asia.
When they reached the frontier of Mysia they tried to go
into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow
them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.
One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and
kept urging him in these words, ‘Come across to
Macedonia and help us.’ Once he had seen this vision we
lost no time in arranging a passage to Macedonia,
convinced that God had called us to bring them the good
news.
Here ends the first lesson.
THE PSALM : Ps 100
(choose the version most comfortable
for you to read)
Lona ba lefatse lohle
etsetsang Morena mehoo ea thabo,
sebeletsang Morena ka thabo,
tloong kapele ho eena ka litlatse.
O shout to the Lord in triumph all the earth:
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his face with songs of joy,
Tsebang hore Morena ke Molimo,
o re bopile, ’re ba hae;
re sechaba sa hae, mohlape oa makhulo a
hae.
Know that the Lord he is God: it is he who
has made us and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his
pasture.
Kenang likhorong tsa hae
le ntse le ’moka,
le mabaleng a hae le ntse
le mo rorisa;
mo leboheng, le boke
lebitso la hae.
Come into his gates with
thanksgiving and into his
courts with praise:
give thanks to him and
bless his holy name.
Morena o molemo,
mohau oa hae ke oa kamehla
eohle,
botsepehi ba hae ke bo isang
melokong eohle.
For the Lord is good;
his loving mercy is for ever:
his faithfulness throughout all
generations.
THE SECOND LESSON : John 15: 18 – 21 (read
in isiZulu by
Nozipho Dlamini)
[Jesus said] If the world hates you, you must
realize that it hated me before it hated you. If
you belonged to the world, the world would
love you as its own; but because you do not
belong to the world, because my choice of you
has drawn you out of the world, that is why the
world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you: A
servant is not greater than his master. If
they persecuted me, they will persecute
you too; if they kept my word, they will
keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account that they will
do all this to you, because they do not
know the one who sent me.
Here ends the second lesson.
Let us pray : (a new version of the Our Father
as translated from ancient Aramaic, by Neil
Douglas Klotz)
“O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos;
Focus your light within us – make it useful;
Create your reign of unity now –
Your one desire then acts with ours,
as in all light, so in all forms.
Grant what we need each day in bread and
insight.
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
as we release the strands we hold of others’
guilt.
Don’t let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back.
From you is born all ruling will,
the power and the life to do,
the song that beautifies all,
from age to age it renews.
Truly – power to these statements –
may they be the ground from which
all my actions grow. Amen.”
AS WE CONTINUE IN PRAYER, we are invited to pray
using our sense of touch to draw us into deeper
reflection:
(slight pause)
We touch our foreheads: May we have keen insights
and think clearly. May our thoughts be kind and wise.
May we resolve anything in our minds that keeps us
from being true to God.
(slight pause)
We touch our ears: May we listen to the inner Voice of
the Beloved Holy Spirit and act on the word of God.
May we hear the melodies of Christ’s goodness and
treasure who he is.
(slight pause)
We touch our eyes: May we have inner vision to see
more clearly the holy way. May we look upon others
with love.
(slight pause)
We touch our mouths: May we speak with love and
proclaim the truth. May we laugh at the absurdities of
life and taste life with joy and enthusiasm.
(slight pause)
We touch our noses: As we take in air and let out air,
may we be reminded of the cycle of life with its dying
and rising, its emptying and filling. May we breathe in
the aroma of goodness and breathe out what needs
to be let go.
(slight pause)
We touch our hands: May we use our hands to
touch all of life with reverence and gratitude.
May our hands reach out with care to others.
May our hands be willing to receive from
others.
(slight pause)
We touch our skin: May we be not too thickskinned or too thin-skinned as we journey. May
we reverence and protect the dignity of others
no matter what colour of skin they have.
(slight pause)
We touch our hearts: May we develop awareness of
what stirs deep within God’s Heart. May we have
vibrant, compassionate hearts, filled with
generosity and kindness.
(slight pause)
We touch our feet: As we travel through the many
ups and downs of life, may all the places our feet
take us lead us to greater transformation and inner
freedom. May we develop an ever firmer
foundation in our Lord God.
(slight pause)
Giver of Life, awaken our entire being so
that we can enter this day with the
eagerness of one who sees beauty and
truth strewn through every part of life.
Deepen our bond with You and strengthen
our peace. Amen.
(Adapted from two prayers from Out of the Ordinary
by Joyce Rupp)
CLOSING PRAYER
Eternal Lord God, we are about to resume our
Synod, grace us with Your Wisdom and Vision;
gift us with Your Holy Humour and Humility,
Your Patience and Perceptiveness.
We ask that the work of this Synod be a
vessel for us to be of service to one another
and to You. May the ritual of the agenda be a
cause for communion among us.
It is our desire, Lord and God, that the true
business of this Synod be our own spiritual
transformation and not simply the
accomplishment of tasks and projects.
We ask this of You as we now prepare to begin,
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
(adapted from various prayers by Edward Hays from Prayers for the Servants of
God.)
CONCLUDING Hymn : … Siyabonga, Jesu …