C4L Food Service
Pre-service powerpoint slides showing food facts
Notices
Welcome and Call to worship – Luke 22:7-8
‘The day came during the Festival of Unleavened Bread when the lambs for the Passover meal were to be killed. Jesus sent off Peter and John with these instructions: ‘Go and get the Passover meal ready for us to eat.’
We are here to worship God, to break bread with each other….
[1] Sketch - Laying the table (© Helen Garton)[During this sketch, the congregation is invited to sing
Come all you people (Zimbabwe, (tune & words: Alexander Gondo, arrangement: John L Bell)]
Come all you people, come and praise your Maker (x 3)
Come now and worship the Lord
Song – A place at the table (New Zealand, (words: Shirley Erena Murray, music: Lauri True)
1. For everyone born a place at the table
For everyone born clean water and bread.
A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
For everyone born a star overhead.
Refrain: And God will delight
When we are creators of justice and joy
Yes God will delight
When we are creators of justice, justice and joy.
2. For woman and man, a place at the table,
Revising the roles deciding the share,
With wisdom and grace dividing the power,
for woman and man a system that’s fair.
3. For young for old, a place at the table,
A voice to be heard, a part in the song,
The hands of a child in hands kind and wrinkled,
For young and for old, the right to belong.
4. For just and unjust a place at the table,
Abuser, abused, with need to forgive,
In anger, in hurt, a mind-set of mercy,
For just and unjust, a new way to live.
5. For everyone born, a place at the table,
To live without fear, and simply to be,
To work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
For everyone born, the right to be free.
Act of reconciliation
(© Helen Garton & Sally Whitehead)
[2] LeaderWe feast amidst the scandal of poverty. Come, let us all celebrate the feast together across the regions, nations and continents; from the North to the South, from the East to the West.
[3] NorthWe confess that we have tasted the fruit of temptation
and turned our industry into other’s poverty.
As an act of reconciliation
we offer you the fruit of Eve
until trade is fair and all are fed.
[the apples are passed to the East to be eaten and then around the room]
[4] SouthWe confess that we have tasted the fruit of sin
and turned neighbours into strangers.
As an act of reconciliation
we offer you the fruit of peace
for the renewing of our partnership.
[the olives are passed to the West to be eaten and then around the room]
[5] East We confess that we have tasted the fruit of bitterness
and soured the good name of the earth
As an act of reconciliation
we offer you the fruit of the vine
until all who hunger and thirst find justice.
[the grapes are passed to the South to be eaten and then around the room]
[6] West We confess that we have tasted the fruit of shame
for being to others a curse and not a blessing.
As an act of reconciliation
we offer you fruit from the tree
which brings fullness of life to all.
[the figs are passed to the North to be eaten and then around the room]
[7] Affirmation of faith in song – If you believe and I believe (Zimbabwe)
If you believe and I believe and we together pray,
The Holy Spirit shall come down and set God’s people free,
And set God’s people free, and set God’s people free,
The Holy Spirit shall come down and set God’s people free.
Story from a partner country[see C4L – Partner Story – Bangladesh]
Hymn [see separate list for suggestions]
Reading – Isaiah 58:1-9a (NRSV)
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
To the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such a fast the one that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and to bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
Psalm 146 (NRSV)
[8] North & South: Praise the Lord!
East & West:Praise the Lord, O my soul!
North & South: I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
East & West:I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
[9] North & South:Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
East & West:When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
[10] North & South:Happy are those whose help is in the God of Jacob,
East & West:whose hope is in the Lord their God,
North & South:who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
East & West:who keeps faith forever;
North & South:who executes justice for the oppressed;
East & West:who gives food to the hungry.
[11] North & South:The Lord sets the prisoners free;
East & West:the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
North & South:The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
East & West:the Lord loves the righteous.
North & South:The Lord watches over the strangers;
East & West:he upholds the orphan and the widow,
North & South:but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
[12] East & West:The Lord will reign forever,
North & South:your God, O Zion, for all generations.
East & West:Praise the Lord!
Reading –Mark 6:30-44 (NRSV)
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ and he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Sermon
[13]Collection and Dedication of Commitment for Life Envelopes(© Helen Garton)
With the giving of these gifts
We choose justice over injustice
By the giving of these gifts
We choose to share our bread with the hungry.
Through the living of our lives
We commit ourselves to walk in your ways.
Bless our contributions to Commitment for Life,
as it continue to work for justice
for the poor and marginalised.
Amen
[14]C4L Partner Country Pledge (© Helen Garton)
We pledge our support once again
to Bangladesh,
our Commitment For Life partner country.
In supporting, giving
In giving, praying
In praying, acting
In acting, loving.
For we stand in solidarity
as neighbours to each other,
with much to give
and much to receive.
by the grace of God.
Amen.
[15-22] Prayers of Intercession(© Helen Garton)
Leader:Loving God, creator of this world of plenty, we pray for the whole of creation, rich in resources and abundant with life.
Challenge us each day to live simply, for we are mindful of our responsibility to save life and not destroy it by the actions we take.
North & South:Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?
East & West:I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you do it for me.
Leader:Loving God, creator of this world of plenty, we pray for those who are unable to enjoy all that life affords, as they struggle to survive.Challenge us as we punctuate our days with food, for we are mindful of your command to share our bread until all are fed.
North & South:Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?
East & West:I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you do it for me.
Leader:Loving God, creator of this world of plenty, we pray for those in need in our local communities, invisible to the outside world. Challenge us to open our eyes and open our hearts, so that we may learn when to act and what action is needed.
North & South:Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?
East & West:I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you do it for me.
Leader:Loving God, creator of this world of plenty, we pray for those known to us and those known only to you, whose needs challenge our complacency and lack of compassion.
North & South:Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?
East & West:I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you do it for me.
[23-25] Lord’s Prayer – alternate version (© Helen Garton)
Creator of this world of plenty
May you be glorified in all the earth
When those who hunger taste the heavenly banquet
Prepared for all people
Give us sufficient for the day
and show us how to share our bread
Forgive us our greed
And lead us away from temptation
While others hunger and thirst
Save us from ourselves
When we seek fame, fortune and glory
At the expense of others
For everything we have comes from you
And to you all will return.
Amen.
Hymn [see separate list for suggestions]
[26]Blessing (© Helen Garton/Christian Aid)
Blessed are we when we sing your praises
And walk faithfully on your earth.
Blessed are we when we proclaim your justice
And enjoy together the fruits of creation.
Blessed are we when we are guided by your wisdom
And live in harmony with your world.
Amen