One World Week - Sunday 25th October 2020

One World Week

Sunday 25th October 2020

BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH

A short service for use at home

 

Sunday 25th October 2020

 

Prepared for Burton Joyce Community Church by Phil Colbourn. Prayers adapted from One World Week resources. Spend time with God as we share together this time of worship.

WELCOME: it’s ONE WORLD WEEK!

Working together for a just, peaceful and sustainable world. 

This year’s theme: It's our world. Let's make it better.

We begin our service today with a hymn of praise that spans the whole earth

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 122. 

From the sun’s rising

PRAYER AND PRAISE

Praise and glory to the Lord 

who in the beginning created the universe.

Praise and glory to the Lord 

whose love for us is new every morning.

Praise and glory to the Lord our creator 

who knows and blesses each one of us. 

Praise and glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Amen

CONFESSION

We lament the suffering in our society: people losing loved ones, health, jobs, & businesses; families struggling to make ends meet. 

Father, forgive us.

We mourn injustices & inequalities, made the more evident by the pandemic, in which communities & individuals have struggled for years. 

Father, forgive us.

We confess that we have failed to care for your world & we are failing to care for one another. 

Help us, O Lord.  

Father, forgive us.

Jesus says: Come to me, 

yoke yourself to me & find rest for your souls. 

Amen

HYMN : Songs of Fellowship  54. 

Brother, sister, let me serve you

READING: GENESIS 9, 8-17 

The Rainbow Promise

REFLECTION: 

It is One World Week and we are going to spend a few moments thinking about what this means in the context of our reading from Genesis. 

This is also the last of our series of services for Creation-tide and we have come to the sixth and last day of creation, the icing on the cake: you & me; humankind. 

It was striking how, during the first few weeks of lockdown in April, rainbows appeared everywhere. It was as if people were invoking this ancient promise that life should not be wiped out by death and disaster, by the “flood” of the pandemic. 

It is good sometimes to be reminded of God’s promises.

The story of Noah & his sons & their wives is a foundational myth for the human race. From here, descendants of Ham, Shem and Japheth spread out across the globe. The story is rich in palaeo-anthropological and human evolutionary hints and possibilities! 

But the point is that we all have a common origin. It repeats & reinforces Genesis 1 & 2: the story of Adam & Eve. 

We are One World. 

But it is more than that. It is about the whole of creation; the whole world, the globe, the planet, everything, to the stars and beyond. 

One World Week reminds us:

·      Climate and nature are deeply INTERCONNECTED with our lifestyles

 

·      It is our RESPONSIBILITY to secure a sustainable future for our children 

·      We can seize this moment of coronavirus to MAKE OUR WORLD BETTER

‘It is more than that’ but it is still ‘that’. 

We are family. We care for each other. We are neighbours:

 

Being a “good neighbour” means so much more than just being quiet and unobtrusive. It includes looking out for our neighbours to make sure their needs are met, at personal, local, national and international levels.

So, please do give to our Harvest charities 

(details in the newsletter or on this website).

For us, the rainbow promise of Genesis 9 is fulfilled in Jesus; in his life, death & resurrection. In Jesus, God is making all things new. It is our new beginning and we can live each day in the creative power of the resurrection. 

Amen

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 290. 

Jesus is Lord!

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS 

Guide us as we recognise our responsibility to play a part in the flourishing of all creation, nature and humankind: One World created & shared by all.

Help us to be good stewards of the earth. Together, let us make it better. 

We pray for people in our community & beyond who face unemployment, ill-health, isolation & money worries, especially those unable to afford food and heat. We pray for supportive relationships, practical provision and real hope.  

We hold up to you all who grieve

God of compassion: May your kingdom come.

We say The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father …

HYMN: Songs of Fellowship 555. 

Thou didst leave thy throne

CLOSING PRAYERS 

May the blessing of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, who gives good without reserve to all, be with us & those we love, now, today and for ever. Amen