Mary did you know,
that your ancient words
would still leap off our pages?
Mary did you know,
that your spirit song
would echo through the ages?
Did you know that your holy cry
would be subversive word,
that the tyrants would be trembling
when they know your truth is heard?
The Great ThanksgivingText (excluding hymns) by Marilyn Ferrell
Presider: O God, the Source and Unity of the Universe
All: May we abide in you
Presider: O Christ in us
All: May you fill our Spirit
May we follow Jesus, born among us, who walked with the outcast, the marginalized, the oppressed and the homeless and said to us, ‘[Whenever] you do it to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you do it unto me’ – calling us to see you in all who suffer.
As we gather around your table, we are reminded that Jesus accepted the cross on Golgotha to share our suffering and identify with our pain, our woundedness and our separation.
Streams of Living Justice – William Whitla
Let streams of living justice flow down upon the earth.
Give freedom’s light to captives; let all the poor have worth.
The hungry’s hands are pleading; the workers claim their rights,
The mourners long for laughter, the blinded seek for sight.
Make liberty a beacon, strike down the iron power.
Abolish ancient vengeance. Proclaim your people’s hour.
The dreaded disappearance of family and friend,
The torture and the silence – the fear that knows no end.
The mother with her candle, the child who holds a gun,
The old one nursing hatred – all seek release to come.
Each candle burns for freedom, each light’s a tyrant’s fall.
Each flower placed for martyrs gives tongue to silenced call.
For healing of the nations, for peace that will not end.
For love that makes us lovers, God grant us grace to mend.
Weave our varied gifts together: knit our lives as they are spun.
On your loom of life enrol us till the thread of life is run.
O great Weaver of our fabric, bind church and world in one.
Dye our texture with your radiance, light our colours with your sun.
Your city’s built for music: we are the stones you seek.
Your harmony is language. We are the words you speak.
Our faith we find in service, our hope in other’s dreams.
Our love in hand of neighbour. Our homeland brightly gleams.
Inscribe our hearts with justice, your way – the path untried:
Your truth – the heart of stranger, your life – the Crucified.
Tune: G. Holst – Thaxted
Psalm 27 A Hymn, adapted – Ian Sowton
I AM is my light, my salvation, my life’s sanctuary,
so who can frighten me? Why should I live in fear?
2 When enemies – scoundrels all – gather to make a meal of me,
they’re going to stumble and fall flat on their faces.
3 A whole besieging army shall not cow my spirit;
even if I’m caught in a war I will stay confident.
4 One thing I asked of God, something I really long for:
to live out my life in the house of the Most High,
to fix my contemplating gaze upon God’s beauty,
to plumb my faith in the quiet of the temple.
5 When the day of trouble comes you will shelter me,
safely enfolded in the cover of your tent;
you are sure to set me in place on a high rock.
6 Now, head held high above surrounding enemies,
I will offer sacrifices in the sacred tent with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to El Shaddai.
7 Hear, O God, when I call! answer in your graciousness!
8 “Come now,” says my heart, “search out Yahweh’s face!”
I truly do seek your face. 9 Do not hide it from me.
You who’ve been my help, do not turn from me in anger.
O my salvation, do not discard, do not forsake me!
10 Even if my own parents desert me, God will adopt me.
11 Instruct me in your way, O eternal Wisdom,
guide me on some level path leading past my foes.
12 Do not abandon me to the will of adversaries,
for perjurers, breathing malice, have appeared against me.
13 I believe that in my day I shall live to see God’s goodness.
14 Wait for the Most High; be strong, take courage. Wait.
Resignation
words: Chris Lind, tune: Resignation
1. Redemption is our call and song, our bed of straw and bone
We want to be made whole again – We want to be led home.
We’ve followed Culture’s lead to more – prosperity’s assumed;
But still we cope with hunger pangs for God won’t be consumed.
2. We thrill with peaks of ecstasy, we wallow in despair.
We yearn for easy escapades, we shun the well worn stair.
Can we not summon memory’s vane for guidance in this storm?
Yes, God has seen us here before and mercy is the norm.
3. O people gather, for our strength is stronger than alone.
Remember we are called to build the commonwealth of God.
The Market can be made to serve the common good of all,
If we but join together now, reclaiming all its power.
4. Redemption is my call and song, my bed of straw and bone
I want to be made whole again, I want to be led home.
I’ve followed Culture’s lead to more – prosperity’s assumed;
But still I cope with hunger pangs for God won’t be consumed.