We talk about worship as the centre of the church – and it is! Worship is (or is intended to be) a time to gather as a community and pause in the presence of God. Over the two millennia of Christianity, and over all the various cultures of this world, worship styles and practices have changed. Indeed, worship must continually change so that it ‘speaks’ to each generation. But despite the ongoing changes there is also a deep thread running through authentic worship that binds us together with all those who have come before us and those we hope will follow us - because at its heart, worship is about God, not us. It's about allowing ourselves to pause from the usual activities of our life to be intentionally be aware of God’s presence. Generation after generation, Christians have gathered together as Church - to praise and lament, raise our voices in song and sit quietly to listen for God voice, to act and to receive, to give thanks to God for life and its blessings, and to cry out to God for help, to acknowledge our sin and brokenness and to affirm God’s forgiveness and love. Worship is a complex ‘dance’ that we do as a community to support and uphold our Christian faith.
This Sunday we are celebrating All Saints and All Souls days – days set aside by the Church to remind us that we are part of a great living tradition that stretches out through all space and time and encompasses the followers of Christ through all generations. But we don’t just remember those who have died in the faith, we also celebrate the lives and influences of all the 'saints' both living and dead - teachers, clergy, friends and fellow pilgrims - whose lives have influenced our own Christian journey and faith. When we gather to worship, we aren’t only strengthening our relationship with God, but also our relationship with all the other members of God’s great family of faith – those we love and agree with - but just as importantly those we struggle and disagree with. When week after week we gather in worship, connecting with God in an intentional way, we also strengthen the ways God can work in our lives. And whenever we support the church with our time and talent and money, we help preserve the Christian faith and witness so it will be available to influence the lives of those who come after us. In a very real sense, we are the stewards of the Church itself – caring for it today and passing it on from our generation to the next. The church is, and has always been, just one generation from closure. And so, we gather as a community of faith to strengthen, challenge, support and uphold one another - because the power of God working through us collectively, can do more than we can even imagine!
- Roberta
“Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, forever and ever. Amen”