Welcome to worship this week, in this time you’ll be invited to reflect on the scripture for the week, hear words of inspiration, psalms of faith, songs of hope and reflect on our own journeys with fear.

Carve out a space this week, light a candle if you can and use this to help you and your household reflect on your faith and worship the God of creation.

Song: The Sun Will Rise

Call to Worship

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35

Joseph with his technicolour dream coat 
must have felt so very alone.

Jesus withdrew to solitary places 
intentionally to be alone.

Peter went to be with Christ
and then felt incredibly afraid.

Jesus disperses a crowd
who were nothing but a gathering of individuals.
Gather today with the worldwide Church 
even if you feel alone.

Withdraw with intention today to be with God. 
If you have any fear,
bring it to Christ that he may help you walk. 

As the individual that you are,
worship as you can.

Song: Inspired By Love & Anger

Story

https://vimeo.com/445561120

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35

You come to us early in the morning; 
wind howling, waves crashing,
the world unravelling around us.

You come to us walking on the water, 
proclaiming peace when
we feel anything but peaceful.

Somewhere in our fear, 
in our finitude,
we decided that we 
must be water-walkers 
to earn your love.

Forgive us when we step out of the boat 
to test ourselves,
to test you,
to shore up our faith,
our egos, our fear.

You do not call us out 
to test our faith,
you call us out in love, 
to be love
and you are ever by our side.

Comfort us
when the waves rock the boat.

Steady us
when the wind is up, 
and our guard is down.

Challenge us to live our faith 
from grace’s perspective 
knowing you match our steps, 
stride by stormy stride. 

Amen.

Readings

Genesis 37:1-4,12-28

Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b

Song: Let Our Heart’s Rejoice

Matthew 14:22-33

Song: Wade in the Water

Reflection

https://vimeo.com/445249388

All-Age Prayer

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35

Jesus Christ,
you know what it is to be afraid
and when you saw your friends soaked and scared, 
you came to them.

While you were on your way,
you called to them
telling them it was okay to be afraid,
that you were with them on the water.

When Peter shouted out,
so excited and courageous, 
you invited him to step out 
not to prove his faith
but to share your love.

And when the fear started
to beat harder in his heart
and his feet got wet with the waves,
you reached out your hand,
loved him,
and together you walked back to the boat.

Remind us that we are always safe with you. 

Challenge us to make more safe places for each other 
especially when we see other people scared.

Amen.

Song: Forever by Christ Tomlin

Prayer for Others

Gracious and loving God,

We lift up to you all those who are affected by the corona virus. 

For those who are ill, bring them healing. 

For those struggling with job loss and isolation, 

     bring them peace and surround them with people to support them. 

For those working on the front lines, 

     be with them and their families and give them strength. 

We pray to you, who walked on water, giver of help and miracle maker, 

     for an effective vaccine.

Be with our church as we struggle through this time. 

Be with those who are planning the recommencement of worship, 

    filling in the endless paperwork and making tough decisions to try to keep us safe. 

Be with each member of our church community 

    in the waiting, the wondering and the worrying. 

Help us to do our best to care for each other 

    and to put love at the centre of all we do.

Amen

Holly Wright, August 2020

Sending

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35

Jesus, you are the Son of God. 

Even the wind and the waves, 
the stormy seas,
are calmed by your Spirit.

We might never walk on the surface of water, 
as if immune to life’s troubles,
yet, neither do we need to sink.

For you, Lord, are with us.
Your hand is upon us.
Your love is for us.
Your commitment to us is endless.

Thanks be to God, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, today and always.

Song: Christ Before Me

Take Home Ideas

What has kept you from sinking?

Take time to consider (perhaps write down as a list) times in your life when you have found yourself starting to have that sinking feeling. Troubling, challenging times when naturally it has been difficult to cope emotionally and sometimes physically.

We all have these times.

• What prevented you sinking?
• Who stopped you from sinking deeper?
• How did you manage to stay afloat?

Hopefully we recognise the hand of God in those moments.

Be thankful for the people, the self-resilience and the help that was available to you as you managed these difficult times.

Are you worshipping at home with your family or friends this weekend?

Here are a number of activities for you to do at home as you reflect on the scripture from this week.

Holy Moly

Check out this week’s Home Brewed Worship email for the password to view the Holy Moly video for this week’s Gospel reading and another on the life and story of Jacob.

All Age Prayer

This prayer is a good prayer for starting each day this week.

Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35

Lord God,
wherever you went,
the crowds followed,
because they knew that you would feed them in body, mind, and spirit.
May we gather friends too
because we are known to be kind and generous.
You found it difficult to have time on your own, may we always have space
to recharge when we are tired.
Help us, Lord Jesus, just like you did,
to always see possibility and potential, and to enhance the gifts of others,
sharing what we have
and being glad of all that others bring.
So may we love and serve you in all things.

Amen.

Story

The Growing In God’s Love Storybible has a great poem retelling the story of the feeding of the crowd (it’s based on the John version, bit still beautifully done).  You can access the poem/retelling here.

Action

Abundance Vs Excess

This week’s Gospel story invites me to consider how much my life is one of abundance, or ruled by excess. Excess often means I have way more than we need and our leftovers end up in the waste.

This week have a table conversation with your household about your leftovers, whether it be clothes, food, money or time. How can your household be one that lives out the Kingdom of God, how can you show compassion to others and also, how can you live your life with less waste?

Fast Food

Consider how much you and your household might eat from the many fast food restaurants where you live.

• What’s your favourite fast food?
• What kind of portions do they serve?
• Have you ever eaten too much? How did that feel?
• What do you know about the sustainability and waste of the restaurants you eat at?
• How can you share food with others?

A Simple Meal

This week make an effort to eat simple meals, perhaps yo might be able to share a meal of fish and bread, perhaps tuna sandwiches.

• Why do you think it is important that Jesus used what was offered rather than have food drop from the sky or some other miracle?
• Why did Jesus bless the food?
• What do you think they did with the leftover food?
• What would you have done with all that food?

Picnic Time

Go outside and have a picnic, take some time to prepare a meal, head outside and enjoy time with friends or family.

Imagine the crowd, Jesus and the Disciples in today’s story, how do you think they felt after the death of John? Why did they gather? Why did Jesus feel compassion for them, what does compassion look like, how can we live out compassion in our lives, homes, schools and world?