Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Satan given permission to test Job
Psalm 26 Song for a man of integrity
Heb 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Creation subject to human beings and to Christ
Mark 10:2-16 Marriage, divorce and children in the Kingdom
Suggested Hymns (From Denis Towner. TIS = Together in Song; AHB = Australian Hymn Book; SA = Sing Alleluia)
| Hymns for Sunday 27, Yr.B | ||||
| lesson | hymn | TIS | AHB | SA |
| E/G | All hail the power of Jesus' name | 224 | 159 | |
| E | And can it be that I should gain? | 209 | 138 | |
| G | As man and woman we were made | 645 | 7 | |
| G | Blest are the pure in heart | 448 | 376 | |
| E | Brother you on your heart did bear | 538 | ||
| O | By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered | 617 | 15 | |
| E | Christ is the world's light, he and none other | 246 | 191 | |
| E/G | Crown him with many crowns | 228 | 163 | |
| O | Father of mercy, God of consolation | 472 | 33 | |
| G | For the beauty of the earth | 137 | 77 | |
| E | God has spoken by his prophets | 158 | 92 | |
| E | God has spoken to his people - Hallelujah | 636 | 39 | |
| O | God is my strong salvation | 15 | 493 | |
| O | God moves in a mysterious way | 126 | 54 | |
| Ps | God you touch the earth with beauty | 610 | ||
| G | Great God we sing that mighty hand | 124 | 52 | |
| G | Happy the home that welcomes you, Lord Jesus | 581 | 495 | |
| Ps | Here in this place new light is streaming | 474 | ||
| O/Ps | How firm a foundation you people of God | 578 | 491 | |
| O | I sing a song of the saints of God | 551 | ||
| O | I'll praise my Maker while I've breath | 90 | 44 | |
| G | Jesus lover of my soul | 211 | 139 | |
| G | Jesus loves me, this I know | 229 | 166 | |
| G | Lead us heavenly Father, lead us | 580 | 492 | |
| G | Lord Jesus Christ you have come to us | 526 | 451 | |
| G | Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy | 613 | 546 | |
| G | Love divine, all loves excelling | 217 | 148 | |
| G | May the grace of Christ our Saviour | 777 | 373 | |
| G | Now thank we all our God | 106 | 14 | |
| O | O for a heart to praise my God | 568 | 476 | |
| E | Praise to you O Christ, our Saviour | 258 | ||
| O | Rejoice in God's saints today and all days | 470 | 73 | |
| G | Seek ye first the kingdom of God | 745 | 75 | |
| G | The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want | 10 | 16 | |
| O | What God ordains is always good | 109 | ||
| G | When love is found and hope comes home | 654 | ||
| O | When pain and terror strike by chance | 262 | ||
| G | Your love O God, has called us here | 664 |
Sermon summary (click here for complete sermon)
Divorce and Christ's humanity
Where is the cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving in what Jesus said about divorce? There is good news in what Jesus said about marriage and divorce, but we will miss the reason for thanksgiving if we are forced to chose between a moralistic legalism and liberal self-seeking. Both take the joy out of life: at one extreme because moralism concentrates too much on human weakness and at the other because liberalism denies the possibility of sin which is a reality.
There was something very similar going on among the Jews at the time when Jesus answered the question of the pharisees: Mark 10:2. There was disagreement about the interpretation of the law of Moses as it is found in Deuteronomy 24:1-2. Some said it meant a man could divorce his wife only for adultery and others that he could for almost any trivial reason or none at all, and that was the popular view.
People who imagine that the ways of personal freedom, favoured by those who put little store by loyalty in relationships, are somehow more progressive and show the way of the future, are simply wrong. It is an old old story, many times repeated in human history, particularly in times of social disruption and rapid change. Our situation today is in fact quite similar to that when people were in unstable relationships in the early days of convict settlement in Australia.
The time of Jesus was one of those times of turmoil when it was a real question whether the old rules applied anymore. He lifted the debate to a new level by bringing forward an idea that was both very old and very new. He went back beyond Moses to creation, to something all people had in common, while at the same time looking forward to the perfection of humankind as children of God.
He was saying that Moses, reflecting the loving kindness, the compassion of God, allowed them a way of overcoming human hard-heartedness, by giving the woman a right of remarriage. Pointing to creation Jesus showed that a greater kindness of God than the concession Moses allowed is that he has made us male and female for each other, and if we would fulfil our potential to become his children we should recognize and honour that gift by living faithfully.
Order of Service - Ordinary 27 Year B - | DB Home | RCL Resources Index | Questions and Comments |
The Gathering of the People of God
CALL TO WORSHIP
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and
from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by
the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and
worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
HYMN 114 Thank you for giving me the morning
PRAYER OF ADORATION
CONFESSION
Loving God, you have put us in a world of your creation that is full
of your glory, but we have hidden your glory by our shameful deeds. Lord
have mercy. Lord have mercy.
In Jesus Christ you taught us the way of life and reconciled us to you and to one another, but we have often resisted reconciliation. Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.
In the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit our lives have been enriched and strengthened in communion with our Creator, but we often chosen to seek rather our own self-sufficiency. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. -- 1 Timothy 1:15
Hear then Christ's word of grace to us: Your sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
DOXOLOGY: Gloria in Excelsis [Sing Alleluia 100b]
Service of the Word
INTRODUCTION OF THEME: Christ, human control of life, its failure and redemption -- with special reference to divorce.
FIRST READING Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Satan given permission to test Job
PSALM 26 Song for a man of integrity
EPISTLE Heb 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Creation subject to human beings and to Christ
GOSPEL Mark 10:2-16 Marriage, divorce and children in the Kingdom
HYMN 389 Your hand, O God has guided you flock from age to age
SERMON
CREED
OFFERING
SHARING TIME [Notices, Celebrations and requests for intercessions]
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[After the local pastoral prayers, a prayer for renewal in marriage - based on a prayer from the Uniting Church service for Reaffirmation of Marriage.]
Gracious God, your generous love surrounds us, and everything we enjoy comes from you. We thank you for those who gave us life, and have loved and guided us. We are grateful for friends and relatives whose care and love have helped us, and whose patience and concern are a source of strength and hope. We thank you for the love of all married couples. Where there have difficulties between partners, grant them sincerity as they recommit themselves to each other. May they put their trust in you, the source of all life and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE COLLECT FOR THE DAY
Loving God, you have made us in your image, creating us male and female; and you have given us the covenant of marriage that we may fulfil one another in love. Pour down your grace on all husbands and wives, that, keeping the promise of faithfulness to each other, they may continue to grow in their love and reflect in their lives your love for us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Choir: When I survey the wondrous cross
The Lord's Supper
THE PEACE
HYMN As man and woman we were made TIS 645 AHB 7
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Thanks and praise ..... in the eternal hymn: [SA 100c and 100d]
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We thank you ....
[The great prayer of thanksgiving continues, recalling
God's goodness in caring for his people, the life and saving work of our
Lord Jesus Christ, how he commanded his disciples to remember him with
the bread and the wine, and we pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit on
us and what we do.]
THE LORD'S PRAYER [Front of hymn book]
BREAKING THE BREAD
THE LAMB OF GOD [Sing Alleluia 100e]
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace.
COMMUNION
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
The Sending Forth of the People of God
HYMN 495 Happy the home that welcomes you,
Lord Jesus
WORD OF MISSION
BLESSING
DISMISSAL Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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