Blue Care Sunday 2016

The people gather Today we gather to honour God and give thanks that we are all children of God. We retell the imperative set down for us in scripture and in the life of Jesus. In grateful thanks for what God does for us, we are called to offer justice and mercy to people in need. Today, we will also honour the work of Blue Care and the generations of people who have sought to make a difference in the lives of people in their community. We will ask ourselves how we can find our own place in the service of God. God works to make all things God’s own. Let us worship God. [A blue candle is lit]

Call to worship – Psalm 71 In you, O God, I take refuge ​ Let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me, For you are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, O God, from the hand of the wicked, From the grasp of the unjust and the cruel.

For you, O God, are my hope, My trust, O God, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; It was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you. Come now to where God is found Come now to the moment of God’s revelation.

Hymn/Song

Prayers of thanksgiving and confession

Declaration of forgiveness God hears our sighs, and recognises our touch. With compassion and care, God looks upon those who wait. Through Christ, God whispers firmly to us: ‘Your faith has made you whole; Go in peace, and be healed’. Hear then Christ’s word of grace to us: Your sins are forgiven! Thanks be to God.

Passing of the Peace The peace of the Lord be always with you And also with you (Please exchange a sign of peace with your neighbours)

Children’s Time

Hymn/Song

Readings Jeremiah 1:4-10 Luke 13:10-17

Message

Affirmation of Faith We are not alone we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. …cont.

We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

The People Respond Affirmation of Faith We believe in God who created us, who loves us and makes us whole. We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, whose death and resurrection is our salvation and our example. We believe in the Holy Spirit of God who calls us to abundant life. Amen.

Hymn/Song

Offering

Notices and Concerns of the Church

Prayers of the People

Hymn/Song

Blessing and Sending Out The blessing of the Holy Trinity of grace be upon you: May God, who formed you, continue to shape you as a vessel of the Gospel. May Christ Jesus, whom you bear, mark your life with the good news. May the Holy Spirit, dwelling within, fill you with the healing, liberating power of Christ. Amen.