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Celtic Evening

Worship

Lent and Holy Week

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Welcome Call to worship

Leader: O Lord, open our lips All: And our mouths shall declare your praise Leader: O Lord, open our eyes All: That we may behold your presence Leader: O Lord, open our ears All: That we may hear your call Leader: O Lord, open our hearts All: That we may respond to your love Leader: O Lord, open our lives All: That we may rejoice in your creation Song Leader: In the name of the restful Father In the name of the calming Son In the name of the peaceful Spirit May we and God be one. All: Lord, you created the day and the night, you

created darkness and light, we commend to you this day, all that has happened in it. Protect us through the night until the morning light. Amen.

Leader: I place my soul and body Under your guarding this night, O God. O father of help to frail pilgrims, Protector of heaven and earth.

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All: I place my soul and body Under your guiding this night, O Christ, O Son of the tears and the piercings, May your Cross this night be my shield. Leader: I place my soul and body Under your glowing this night, O Spirit O gentle Companion and soul Guardian My heart’s eternal Warmth. All: Holy God, holy and strong one, holy and mighty

one; you give us life, you give us love, you give us yourself; help us to give our lives, our love, ourselves to you. Amen.

Leader: Come then, eternal God All: Be present here, befriend us here, renew us here. Prayer of thanksgiving Leader: Thanks be to you O Christ, All: For the many gifts you have bestowed on us,

each day and night, each sea and land, each weather fair, each calm, each wild.

Each thing we have received From you it came; Each thing for which we hope, From your love it will come; Each thing we enjoy, It is of your bounty; Each thing we ask, Comes of your disposing.

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Leader: O God, from whom each thing that is, freely flows, All: Grant that no tie over strict

no tie over dear, may be between ourselves and this world. Amen.

Confession Leader: The Lord says, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Let us confess our sins to God, trusting in his mercy and forgiveness:

All: Jesus, forgive my sins.

Forgive the sins that I can remember, and also the sins that I have forgotten. Forgive the wrong actions I have committed, and the right actions I have omitted. Forgive the times I have been weak in the face of temptation, and those when I have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the times I have been proud of my own achievements, and those when I have failed to boast of your works. Forgive the harsh judgements I have made of others, and the leniency I have shown to myself. Forgive the lies I have told to others, and the truths I have avoided. Forgive me the pain I have caused others, and the indulgence I have shown to myself. Jesus, have pity on me, and make me whole. Amen.

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Leader: May Jesus Christ absolve us of our sins, remembering His admonishment, “to go and sin no more”. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen Leader: Let us pray Lord, grant us simplicity of faith

And a generosity of service That gives without counting cost A life overflowing with Grace Poured out from the One Who gave everything That we might show The power of love To a broken world And share the truth From a living Word Lord, grant us simplicity of faith And a yearning to share it

All: Amen. A reading from Scripture

Leader: Listen now, for God speaks to us in the Scriptures... Reader begins with: O God, as these words are read All: In our hearts may we feel your presence After the reading the reader says: This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God

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Psalm 139

A: O Lord, you search me and know me B: You know if I am standing or sitting You perceive my thoughts from far away A: Whether I walk or lie down, you are watching; You are familiar with all my ways. B: Before a word is even on my tongue, Lord, You know it completely A: Close behind and close in front you hem me in, Shielding me with your hand. B: Such knowledge is beyond my understanding, Too high beyond my reach. A: Where could I go to escape your spirit? Where could I flee from your presence? B: If I climb to the heavens you are there; There, too, if I sink to the depths. A: If I flew to the point of sunrise – Or far across the sea – B: Your hand would still be guiding me, Your right hand holding me A: If I asked darkness to cover me And light to become night around me B: That darkness would not be dark to you; Night would shine as the day.

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A: You created my inmost being And knit me together in my mother’s womb B: For all these mysteries – For the wonder of myself, For the wonder of your works – I thank you. A: You know me through and through From having watched my bones take shape When I was being formed in secret, Woven together in the womb. B: You have seen my every action; All were recorded in your book – My days determined Even before the first one began. A: God, your thoughts are mysterious! How vast is their sum. B: I could no more count them than I could count the sand! And even if I could, you would still be with me. A: God, search me and know my heart; Probe me and know my thoughts. B: Make sure I do not follow evil ways, And guide me in the way of life eternal. All: Amen. Address/meditation

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Affirmation of Faith

ALL: We believe in God above us, maker and sustainer of all life, of sun and moon, of water and earth, of male and female. We believe in God beside us, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, born of a woman's womb, servant of the poor. He was tortured and nailed to a tree. A man of sorrows, he died forsaken. He descended into the earth to the place of death. On the third day he rose from the tomb. He ascended into heaven to be everywhere present, and his kingdom will come on earth. We believe in God within us, the Holy Spirit of Pentecostal fire, life-giving breath of the Church, spirit of healing and forgiveness, source of resurrection and life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers Leader: Let us pray:

Circle me, Lord – All: Keep fear without, keep joy within.

Keep complaining out, keep peace within. Keep despair out, keep hope within, Keep deceit without, keep beauty within. Circle me, Lord. Amen.

Intercessions for the Church… for the world... for others… for

ourselves…

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Leader: ...and finally, let us pray for the renewal of the Church, beginning with ourselves

All: Reshape us, good Lord until in generosity, in faith,

and in expectation that the best is yet to come, we are truly Christ-like. Make us passionate followers of Jesus rather than passive supporters. Make our churches cells of radical discipleship and signposts to heaven. Then, in us, through us, and – if need be – despite us, let your kingdom come. Amen.

A version of The Lord’s Prayer from The New Zealand Prayer Book All: Eternal Spirit,

Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

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With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen.

Leader: Let us reflect on where we are on our journeys with

God. If we are able, let us try to stand back from our lives and look at all we do, who we are, where we have been, and our onward travelling more objectively. Ask God to help put all these things in context and get things into a better perspective….

Song Leader: Let us pray together: All: Dear Father God, I have journeyed to this place and

here I pause. My life so far has brought me here, my future stretches farther than the eye can see. If, thus far, my journey you have shared accompany me now. Give me wisdom, light and always joy. So that in thought and gift and love my life shall be to fellow travellers a witness to your presence in the world. Amen.

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Closing responses

Leader: From where we are, to where you need us All: Christ be beside us Leader: From what we are, to what you can make of us All: Christ be before us Leader: From the mouthing of generalities, to making signs of your kingdom All: Christ be beneath us Leader: Through the streets of this world,

to the gates of heaven All: Christ be above us Leader: Surround us with your presence, inspire us with you

purpose, confirm us in your love. All: Amen Leader: O Christ, you were put to death by cruel people who

nailed you to a cross; yet long before, you stretched out your arms in love to men and women and children. May your way be our way, that we, too, may stretch out our arms in love to men, women and children.

All: Amen.

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Blessing

All: O Christ of the tears, of the wounds, of the

piercings, may your cross this night be shielding all. Be your cross between us and all enemies without; Be your cross between us and all enemies within; Be your cross our sure way from earth to heaven. Leader: May God bless us

in our sleep with rest, in our dreams with vision, in our waking with a calm mind, in our soul with the friendship of the Holy Spirit this night and every night.

All: Amen. Leader: Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord All: In the name of Christ. Amen.

Some material in this service is ©1999 Wild Goose Resource Group