PSALM 146 (PRAYER OF ADORATION)
Praise the LORD.
With the very core of my being and every part of my life
I want to bless you, LORD God.
I want to celebrate my God with music and song while I live.
There is nothing to be gained by putting all my trust in
the powerful people:
when their breath leaves them, they return to the dust,
and their clever plans crumble with them.
But the person who looks to the God of Jacob for help,
ah, how fortunate.
Like this person I want to put my hope in the LORD,
the God who made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and everything in them;
who maintains a kindness that endures for ever;
who brings about justice for those trampled by society,
and gives food to those hungry for dignity, love and self-worth;
who breaks the shackles of those imprisoned by
hopelessness, circumstance or habit;
who enables the blind to see again, to see life in its
fullness;
who raises up those bent over by the burden of life;
who loves the upright;
who cares for those separated from their home culture;
who helps the fatherless and the widow,
but who brings ruin to the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign for ever;
our God, generation after generation.
Hallelujah!!
(a) Ruth 1:1-18
Over the next three weeks the readings from the Hebrew Scriptures are concerned with women (Naomi and Hannah) who have no future in that they have no children. Each deals with that situation in a different way. Children are born; Obed the grandfather of David, and Samuel who annoints David king. Invite the congregation to create a mural over the coming weeks on a length of newsprint depicting aspects of these narratives which culminate in the fourth week (Reign of Christ Sunday; Christ the King) with the last words of David, in which he mentions the everlasting covenant made with him by God. Ruth's love for Naomi, expressed in her oath to journey, live and die with her, and her preparedness to ensure Naomi's future, and her own, offer a connection with the reading from Mark today.
(b) Mark 12:28-34
As a community of faith, how do we express our love of God and neighbour? This might be an opportunity to illustrate those ways with a mural created by the congregation. This might activity might also give the opportunity to creatively think about new possibilities.
Intercessions andother prayers could be illustrated with projected images of the ways we love God and our neighbour.
What do the limitations to our expressions of love for neighbour have to say about our love of self?
(c) Brainstorm and/or explore the lives of the "saints" and faithful servants (ancient and modern) in the history of the church who gave up everything in love of God and neighbour.>
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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
| HYMN SEARCH FOR SUNDAY 31 - YEAR B |
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| All people that on earth do dwell, | TIS 59 | AHB 10 |
| Christ is our cornerstone | TIS 433 | AHB 344 |
| Lord in the strength of grace | TIS 483 | AHB 408 |
| Rejoice in God's saints, today and all days | TIS 470 | SA 73 |
| Where love and lovingkindness dwell | TIS | SA 95 |
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| Ruth 1:1-18 |
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| Brother, sister, let me serve you | TIS 650 | SA 14 |
| By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered | TIS 617 | SA 15 |
| God! when human bonds are broken | TIS 683 | |
| How shall I sing to God? | TIS 667 | |
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| PSALM 146 |
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| Fill my whole life, O Lord my God | TIS 596 | AHB 515 |
| I'll praise my maker while I've breath | TIS 90 | AHB 44 |
| Let all the world in every corner sing | TIS 105 | AHB 13 |
| O for a thousand tongues to sing | TIS 210 | AHB 141 |
| When morning gilds the skies | TIS 227 | AHB 151 |
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| Hebrews 9:11-14 |
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| All go to God when they are sorely placed | TIS 240 | AHB 182 |
| Come now, everlasting Spirit | TIS 509 | AHB 429 |
| Glory be to Jesus | TIS 344 | AHB 263 |
| Hail Redeemer, King divine | TIS 237 | AHB 188 |
| No weight of gold or silver | TIS 249 | |
| Strengthen for service, Lord , the hands | TIS 496 | AHB 417 |
| They that believe and are baptised | TIS 479 | AHB 405 |
| We give immortal praise | TIS 118 | AHB 38 |
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| Mark 12:28-34 |
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| Come, let us to the Lord our God | TIS 577 | AHB 490 |
| Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God | TIS 596 | AHB 515 |
| King of glory, king ofpeace | TIS 201 | AHB 129 |
| Kneels at the feet of his friends | TIS 640 | AHB 561 |
| Love is his word, love is his way | TIS 534 |
AHB 601 |
| One God, one living God, | TIS 742 | |
| Sing praise to the Lord! Praise him in the height | TIS 96 | AHB 83 |
| The law of Christ alone can set us free | TIS 630 | AHB 554 |
| When I needed a neighbour, were you there | TIS 629 | AHB 558 |
| Where there is charity and love | TIS 434 |