Liturgy

Worship in the Ecumenical Centre ~ Tuesday 18 September 2007
(This service was used as the core group of the Israel / Palestine Forum met at the WCC. In the Ecumenical Prayer cycle some of these prayers come from week 38, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary)

Welcome and introduction

Call to Worship

In the name and presence of our God we begin our prayer together.
Compassionate God, you created every man, woman and child in your likeness.
For this we praise and thank you.
We gather in your name to pray for all women, men and children who are caught in a violent and
impoverished world that denies their dignity and worth.
O God, hear us and have compassion on us all.

Prayer for God’s presence.

Come true light
Come life eternal
Come hidden mystery
Come treasure without name
Come reality beyond all words
Come person beyond all understanding
Come rejoicing without end
Come light that knows no evening
Come unfailing expectation of the saved
Come raising of the fallen
Come resurrection of the dead
Come all-powerful,
For unceasingly you create, refashion and change all things by your will alone
Come for you are yourself the desire that is within me
Come my breath and my life
Come the consolation of my humble soul
Come my joy, my glory my endless delight.
(from St Symeon the new theologian- Romania. Source: In God's Hands - the ecumenical prayer cycle)

Hymn - Come My way, my truth my Life - Words: George Herbert music Ralph Vaughan Williams

Gospel reading ~ Luke 5 1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Message ~ Bishop Duleep

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession
(Through the ecumenical prayer cycle we pray this week with the peoples and churches of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.)
Let us pray.
O Lord, who commanded your disciples to pray both for their neighbours and
their enemies: give us such love for one another, that with one voice and one
heart we may glorify your name, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Sung response: La paz del Señor

God of the ages,
We give you thanks and praise for the long history of Christianity in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania
We pray for the life and witness of the churches in these countries as they continue to experience much economic, social and political change.
We pray that stable economic and political systems can be supported in these countries, allowing for the participation of all the peoples.
Lord, continue to be alongside those caring for the most vulnerable in these societies:
orphans, the elderly and others without resources or family.

Sung response: The peace of the Lord

We pray for church leaders throughout Europe as many return home from attending the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu, Romania;
Praying especially this week for Metropolitan Daniel the newly elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Lord, continue to bless his ministry with the gifts of the Spirit.
Bless all church leaders throughout the world with wisdom and insight,
grant them integrity and strength of purpose.

Sung response: La paz del Senor

We pray for creation and for the environment, which continues to suffer severe degradation
and for all those who must deal with the pollution of the air they breathe and the water they drink.
We pray also for our own stewardship of your good creation
Teach us how we must change if the beauty and integrity of your world is to be protected.

Sung response: La Paz del Senor

O, Lord, who gives unto each nation its place and time and mission:
grant us the gift of unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,
that the ancient church, and all Christians in the lands of the earth,
each loyal to their confession, culture and nationality, may discover new forms of common Christian witness, and stand before the divided world as a united and humble fellowship.
All these our prayers we offer in the name of Jesus Christ with whom we pray each in our own languages:
The Lord’s Prayer

Blessing
Go with the God of compassion.
Go with Emmanuel, the God with us.
Go with the Comforter, the Spirit of Power and fire.
Go forth to liberate creation from oppression.
Go forth to heal and comfort God’s people.