PRAYER OF ADORATION AND LAMENT (Psalm 90)
O Lord you are our help
from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were born,
before you were in labour with the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting, you are.
You give humankind back to the dust,
and you say, "Back you go, mortals."
A thousand years pass before your eyes like yesterday,
like the last watch of the night when it is over.
You pour sleep on them,
and they are like grass that fades in the morning;
like grass that springs up but withers,
and towards evening shrivels up.
Indeed we are consumed by your wrath
and worn out by your anger
You keep our waywardness in front of you
and the sins we have hidden are lit by your face.
All our days pass away under your fury;
we finish our years with a sigh.
We may live for seventy years, or eighty, if we are strong;
yet most of them are toil and trouble, soon gone - and we are gone.
Who can understand the power of your anger
or that even those who fear you can be the object of your fury.
Teach us then, to number our days,
so that we might acquire a heart of wisdom.
Turn back, O LORD! - How long?
Change your mind about your servants!
Fill us each day with your steadfast love,
that we may shout for joy and happiness all our days.
Give us joy equal to the days you chastened us,
the years we came to know disaster.
Let your works be visible to all who serve you,
and a vision of your splendour to their children.
Let the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us;
say "Yes" to our daily activity, O LORD,
say "Yes" to our daily activity.
Materials/Preparation:
(a) a length of blank newsprint (for a "mural", OR
(b) large sheets of plain paper which could provide the same effect when joined together.
(c) coloured pencils, felt-tipped pens, crayons, water-based paints
Invite the congregation express with words and pictures their responses to the following questions:
How do you love God?
How do you love your neighbour? (Who is your neighbour?)
How do you love yourself?
This could be done from an individual and/or congregational perspective.
While that addresses the past, the congregation could also be invited to "brainstorm" responses that look to theie future mission and ministry by reshaping these question in the form:
"How could I/we love . . . .?"
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Looking for contemporary music and song resources? Try
David MacGregor's Together to Celebrate
Or metrical psalms? Try Dale A. Schoening's Sing
the Psalms
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HYMN SUGGESTIONS FOR SUNDAY 30 - YEAR A |
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| God of all power and truth and grace | TIS 567 |
AHB 477 |
| Lord in the strength of grace | TIS 483 |
AHB 408 |
| Love Divine all loves excelling | TIS 217 |
AHB 148 |
| Seek, O seek the Lord | TIS 464 |
AHB 397 |
| Thank you for giving me the morning | TIS 162 |
AHB 114 |
| This is my will, my one command | TIS 641 |
AHB 401 |
| When I needed a neighbour | TIS 629 |
AHB 558 |
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Deuteronomy 34:1-12 |
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| Forth in your name, O Lord, I go | TIS 571 |
AHB 480 |
| O God of Bethel, by whose hand | TIS 564 |
AHB 490 |
| Put all your trust in God | TIS 555 |
AHB 464 |
| The God of Abraham praise | TIS 125 |
AHB 53 |
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Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17 |
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| Lord, you have been our dwelling-place | TIS 144 |
AHB 76 |
| Our God our help in ages past | TIS 47 |
AHB 46 |
| The church's one foundation | TIS 457 |
AHB 385 |
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l Thessalonians 2:1-8 |
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| O Jesus I have promised | TIS 595 |
AHB 514 |
| Through all the changing scenes of life | TIS 112 |
AHB 30 |
| Who would true valour see | TIS 561 |
AHB 467 |
| Your hand, O God, has guided | TIS 456 |
AHB 389 |
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Matthew 22:34-46 |
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| Hail to the Lord's anointed | TIS 275 |
AHB 203 |
| Lord of creation, to you be all praise | TIS 626 |
AHB 557 |
| Rejoice, the Lord is King | TIS 216 |
AHB 147 |
| Take my life, and let it be | TIS 559 |
AHB 520 |