Reflection
Source: Spill The Beans Issue 12
Who are we to judge
who’s in and who’s out,
who fits and who doesn’t?How can we tell
what belongs and what doesn’t?The God of the harvest
encourages us simply
to do what we can,
to grow together,
to influence the other,
knowing that in the end
no matter how it looks on the outside,
how much it may seem like
we all fit together,
those who deny life to others
will not survive
but will be removed,
allowing space to grow
the kingdom of God.
Welcome to this week’s Home Brewed Worship resources, this week’s reflections are based on the Gospel reading from this week’s lectionary. We hope that you can use these resources to help you contemplate the parable for us this week.
*Please stop reading the Matthew reading at verse 30, don’t keep reading, just stop at the end of the parable… trust me, it’ll be easier to enter into the parable if you stop there. Go and read Matthew’s explanation after you’ve spent some time on it.
Invitation – Parable of the Two Sowers
Readings:
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30
Singing The Scripture
This week’s playlist includes a number of great songs based on Psalm 139, there are a few that make it into the list that aren’t linked to the Psalm, but as you’ll see the Psalm takes up a fair chunk of the playlist.
One of my favourite hymns makes it into this week’s playlist a few times, Bernadette Farrell’s O God You Search Me is one of my all time favourite reflections on this week’s Psalm.
Prayer & Reflection
Here are a few prayers for this week, perhaps you or your household can use one of these prayers each day throughout the week. The Prayer of Adoration and Confession would be a great prayer to end every day, while either of the the All Age Prayers would be a great way to begin every day.
Call to Worship
Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35
Church buildings,
sacred spaces,
homes
gather us together.Together (in isolation)
we gather as one,
though physically apart.God be with us in our houses and homes,
just as God is with us
in our churches and cathedrals.Come. Let us worship
as God’s scattered community.As the farmer scatters the seed
may the fruits of the Spirit
be plentiful among us,
wherever we may be.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35
Creator God,
you are the source of all that is:
the life in every living thing:
birds and beasts; fish and fowl;
crops and the locusts that devour them;
trees and the diseases that threaten them;
wildflowers, which are beautiful in one place,
and troublesome weeds in another.
You made them all, and you made us:
not wholly good or wholly bad,
but full of creative potential,
which, like yours,
can be used for good or for harm;
squandered or never allowed to flourish.We come to you today,
not so much to make our confession,
as to open ourselves up to your inspection:
ready to be surprised
by the good that may reveal;
hoping not to be too discouraged
by what is harmful and what needs to be changed.But first, we need to open our eyes and look,
with you, at the ripening harvest of our lives.
What shoots of new growth can we see?
What is there in us that is stronger
and healthier than it was before?Let us give thanks:
with God and to God,
for every growth in grace;
every lesson learned;
every kindness shown;
every struggle overcome.let us ask for help
to nurture and encourage
every seed of life that God has planted.And now, as we continue looking inwards,
what else can we see?Are there weeds of tiredness or frustration;
thorns of envy or of fear that threaten
to choke the life of the kingdom,
growing in us?Let us acknowledge, before God,
the dangers that we face
and the temptations that draw us.Let us promise not to feed these weeds with
our time or water them with our attention,
but to trust God, the farmer,
to deal with them,
when the time is right.Lord of all life,
may the seeds of your kingdom, grow in us,
and be allowed to flourish,
and may we share with all your faithful people
in the joy of the harvest feast.
Amen.
All-Age Prayer
Source: Spill The Beans Issue 35
God, we come today:
carrying a heavy bag of labels
that other people have put on us,
and that we have taken upon ourselves.
One by one, we lay them down,
or throw them as far into the distance
as they will go.‘She’s the clever one’.
‘He’s the shy one’.
‘What a good boy!’
‘You’re just trouble!’
Too thin; too fat; too lazy;
too stupid; too clever for your own good.Living God, we stand before you,
freed from all that clutter,
allowing you to see us as we are,
and to draw out of us
all that we may yet become.We need only one label:
we are your own beloved children.
Thanks be to God!Amen.
All-Age Prayer
God, we love you.
God, we praise you.
God, we offer this time to you.Thank you God,
for the world we live in.Thank you God,
for the people we love and the people we find hard to love.Thank you God,
for the sun and the rain,
for all the green growing plants, whether they are weeds or not.Thank you God,
that you love us
just as we are:
when we are good and when we are bad; when we are kind and when we are not.May we seek
to be more like Jesus, to love everyone,
to be kind and gentle.May we help others, to help everyone
to be the best
that they can be.To be all that you made us to be.
Amen.
Prayer for Others and Ourselves
O God, your patience
is eternal,
for millennia creation
has struggled
through times of war
and golden eras of peace.In that time you have witnessed
many different people and empires
who have grown up
and ruled for a while
before being broken down
by the next one.As we look out at our world today
through the screens of our TV’s,
iPads and smartphones,
we are saddened
that the weeds are
still present,
trying to choke
the new good life
for which many dream.We cannot always change
the way people choose to live,
but we can speak up
and stand beside those
who seek to bring changes
for a better world.For the churches, organisations
and individuals who work
to bring these changes,
we pray that you would
give them courage and energy
to continue their work
and may they encourage
others to join them.For the women, men and children
who are waiting
for the changes to come,
we pray that you would
give them patience and grace
as they wait in hope
for the day when change
will turn their lives around.For the people who feel
suffocated by the weeds
and unable to carry on,
we pray that you would
give them support
to endure all that they
are suffering
and that they would
find a way to be
supported and upheld
in their struggle.Creator God,
maker of all that is seen
and all that is hidden,
we bring your world—
all of it, weeds and good plants—
before you and ask for
your grace and mercy
to sustain us today
and in the days ahead.
Amen.
Storytime with Weeds and Seeds
There are so many beautiful stories about seeds, plants and weeds, here are seven of my favourite stories.
We invite you to take the time to hear/read one of these stories a day this week and read them alongside the parable from Matthew 13:24-30. Do any of these stories help you ask questions of the parable? Do they challenge your reading of the parable? Do they invite you to hear the parable with different ears?
Weeds Find A Way
By Cindy Jenson-Elliott
Illustrated by Carolyn Fisher
The Gift
Author & Illustrator: Michael Speechley
You can hear this story read by Michelle Nye over at StoryBoxLibrary. If you have a membership with ACT Libraries (or most other Australian Libraries) you will be able to access it for free using your Library Pass.
This is one of my favourite new picture books, imagine finding beauty in the weeds that you wander past this week.
Tiny Seed
Author & Illustrator: Eric Carle
A Day’s Work
Author & Illustrator: Eve Bunting
Bad Seed
Author Jory John,
Illustrated by Pete Oswald
Seeds Move!
Author & Illustrator: Robin Page
Isabella’s Garden
Author: Glenda Millard
Illustrator:Rebecca Cool.
You can hear this story read by Maddie Thiele over at StoryBoxLibrary. If you have a membership with ACT Libraries (or most other Australian Libraries) you will be able to access it for free using your Library Pass.
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is a great way to enter into parables. You can see a more detailed description of Lectio here, but very simply it’s an invitation to read the scripture many times, each time asking a different question of the text.
- Read through with no questions, let the words fall fresh on you.
- Read through, this time listening for a word to shine out and grab hold of you. Spend some time reflecting on the word, perhaps you’d like to paint the word, draw it, or just sit with the word in silence.
- Read through, this time ponder how the text connects with your life today. Spend some time after reading to think about this question, let the text work on you.
- Read through, this time asking if there’s an invitation in the text for you. Is it asking something of you, what is it, why do you think it’s asking this of you? What will you do today, this week to live out the invitation?
Action:
a) Take notice
This week wander around your neighbourhood and take notice of the gardens as you do. Do you think the gardener has put a lot of work into where seeds (or seedlings) were planted, or do you think there’s been little planning? How do you see the struggle between weeds and other plants, can you tell the difference between weeds and good plants?
b) Decorate A Plant Pot
You will need: small plant pots (terracotta pots give more options for decorating but are more expensive than plastic pots, if you have terracotta pots you can use acrylic paints to decorate)
Decorate the pots together.
We are to be like the good seeds growing and showing God’s love. Talk about ways we can do this.