Home Brewed Worship

Readings for June 21, 2020

Genesis 21:8-21
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Matthew 10:24-39
Romans 6:1b-11

Worship at Home – Order of Service

Order of Service for people worshipping from home

Exploring the Scripture – On Hagar

A Family Changes It’s Shape, Hagar’s story as tole by the Growing In God’s Love Storybible by Elizabeth Caldwell, used with permission of FlyAway Books

This week’s Genesis reading is Genesis 21:8-21, it’s the story of Hagar being sent away by Abraham with their son, it’s a hard story because it’s a story of a mother and child, abandoned and at the brink of death.

We don’t often hear Hagar’s story, but as we’re coming to the end of Refugee Week I’ve put some resources together to help you explore her story, and the story of other refugees this week.

These resources invite us to read, watch, listen and ponder the story of Hagar as a Refugee as National Refugee Week comes to a close.

Resources to explore the story of Hagar at home.

Singing the Scripture

Here’s a playlist of songs that reflect on this week’s scripture readings in a variety of ways. Use this as a playlist in your home over the day, or during the week.

Family Resources

Apologies, there are not many family resources for worship this week. Although, there are a number of things to discuss in the resources for exploring the story of Hagar (though her story is not a great one for kids).

Here are some stories to listen to and discuss together, as it’s the end of National Refugee Week these stories might help you discuss how we as a country and a community listen to the voices of refugees. Perhaps you might link it to Hagar’s story and ask if your household believes God hears the cry of refugees like God did for Hagar. How do you think God acts in the world today?

Or perhaps you”d like to spend some time with the singing the Scripture playlist and sing, dance and pray together.

This story, A True Person by Gabiann Marin invites us all to consider the story of refugees in our country. Hagar and Ishmael became refugees, strangers, exiles when they were cast out. How does the story invite us to consider how we as a community and country care for others?

My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner
This is a beautiful story…
If you had to leave what would you take with you? What game would you play? What is the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? What things remind you of your home? So you speak any other languages?

The Little Refugee by Anh and Suzanne Do is an awesome Australian picture book that shares the story of a refugee family. Do you have a copy at home, or can you get a copy from the library and read it together this week?

We want to stick together as a community as much as we can throughout the social distancing policies brought about during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are a few ways we are resourcing you in worship and how you can keep in touch.

Email / Facebook / Zoom / Website

We will use multiple platforms to communicate with you, if you don’t have a Facebook account you won’t need to, although it is a user friendly, easy way to stay in touch with the community as we live out our best isolated life.

We will also communicate via our community Email list, using the list to distribute our worship material and let you know of online gatherings and other community news.

We are creating worship resources to assist you to find space to worship, pray and study at home. These resources are being released weekly and will have resources for people of all ages.

If you’re doing these alone and would like to worship with another please pick up the phone or connect via video over the internet.

Every Sunday morning from 10:00am to 11:30am we will gather over Zoom for community morning tea, all are welcome.

For details on the morning tea, or if you need support please contact Darren Wright.

Faith Formation Resources

We have a growing list of resources for the community to explore your faith, either as a group (online), a household or individually. Be patient, we’re trying to figure out the best way of listing these for you at the moment.

Check out the Video Study series on this website for resources, for copyright reasons many of them are password protected, pease contact Darren for the password.

Or, if you like listening to people discuss issues of faith, theology, ethics or theology we have a growing list of podcasts for you to explore.

We also have a library of great books to read, if you’d love one dropped off please let Darren know and he’ll deliver a book direct to you.

We also have been collecting a number of spiritual practices for you to try out at home, at work or as you exercise during the week.

More Information about these coming soon:

Pastoral Care
Study Groups
Community Podcast: Why Christian? (prepare your testimony, because we’ll be inviting you to share yours with the community)
Prayer
Where do you see God at work?