The Lord be with you

Nina:
And also with you

Praise the Lord

Praise God you servants of the Lord

Blessed be the God of our salvation

Blessed be God’s Holy name

Lord, have mercy

Paul:
Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

Let us confess our sins, firmly resolved to keep God’s commandments and to live in love and peace with our neighbour

Rosemary:
We confess that we display the outward leaves of faith while bearing no fruit of justice and compassion. Forgive our hypocrisy and our complicity in structural sin, failing to recognise that our healing is bound up in the well-being of our neighbours.

Susan
We confess our failure to practice Ubuntu by by judging others as “Wrong” or “Right” or even “Right” or “Left”, thereby judging our own humanity." Forgive our judgmental hearts, which hinder the reconciliation necessary for true, collective liberation and human dignity.

Terry

Lord, we confess the times we have treated your house of prayer—your church and the wider community—as a den of exclusion and self-interest, rather than a place of justice and shared belonging (Ubuntu). Forgive us for failing to challenge the powers that exploit and for practising economic injustice within our own faith community.

Allegra
We confess our small faith and our doubt that you can move the mountains of systemic injustice, racism, and inequality. Forgive our lack of courage to pursue radical change, and grant us the faith to believe that together, as interconnected humanity, we can work for your Reign of justice.

Almighty God,
Who forgives all who truly repent,
Have mercy on us.
Pardon our sins and set us free from them.
Confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and keep us together in eternal life,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen

The leader reads the collect of the day

O Lord, all good things come from you:
inspire us by your grace
that we may discern those things that
are good,
and by your power perform them;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Bill
The first reading is from: 1 Peter 4:7-13

7
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.
8
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
9
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
10
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
11
Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering as a Christian
12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
13
But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

After the reading ...

Hear the word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

Edwin
The appointed Psalm is: Psalm 96:7-13

7
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9
Worship the Lord in holy splendour;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10
Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.’
11
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12
let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13
before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

(After the reading of the Psalm)

Glory to the triune God; Creator, Redeemer and Life-giving Spirit

Amen.

Einar
Listen to the Good News proclaimed in the gospel of Mark 11:11-26

Glory to Christ our Saviour

11
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
12
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
13
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14
He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
15
Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves;
16
and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.
17
He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’
18
And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
19
And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
20
In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
21
Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’
22
Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God.
23
Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.
24
So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
25
‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’

After the reading ...

This is the Gospel of Christ

Praise to Christ our Lord

Allegra

The Peace of the Lord be with you

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made.

Geoff
For us it becomes the bread of life, blessed be God forever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation; through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.

Ian
For us it becomes the cup of salvation, blessed be God forever.

The Lord be with you

Kate
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 God thanks and praise

Kirsty
Holy Spirit of God, you blow where you will.
You are complete freedom.
Space and time cannot contain you.
You are there when we are born,
when we shout our first breath.
You are there when we die,
when we sigh our last breath.
You are always with us, in us, between us,
among us and present in all creation,
even though we may not always be conscious of your Presence.
You are the ever-present Yes in all creation.

Lavinia
Yes: You were present at the dawn of creation.
Yes: You were present with the Khoi and the San people.
Yes: You were present with the lepers and the missionaries.
Yes: You were present when the humanity of some was questioned.
Yes: Even now, you are here.

We give you thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit
and for giving us power to love, bless and forgive others
So that we can praise you in unity and love

Lionel
Uyingcwele, uyingcwele, uyingcwele,
God of Power and wisdom and might;
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the Highest,
Blessed is the one who comes in the Name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the Highest.

Nina
Holy Spirit, you are indeed present.
You are a gift to all creation.
Jesus is united with you and with Abba God.
You are in Jesus and Jesus is in you.
And you are all united with us, affirming not only our humanity but also our dignity and our divinity.

Paul
On the day before Jesus died, knowing that he wanted to be ever-present and in community with us, so that we can always be in community with each other and live out God’s reconciling love.

Rosemary
Knowing that the forces of division would always give us reasons to remain divided, Jesus wanted to leave us a sign of that community in unity, rooted in collaboration between us, the earth and in our memory.
Jesus wanted us to make memory of an act of self-offering and reconciling love.

Susan
He asked for bread and wine to be gathered and sat down with his small community.
Jesus knew their strengths and weaknesses, and yet He made them an everlasting part of his community.

He took bread, blessed it and said:
"Thabatani nidle, take and eat, neem en eet.
This is my body that was given for you,
do this in memory of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine,
he blessed it and said:
"This is my blood, igazi lam,
my bloed wat vir julle uitgestort word,
that will be shed for you.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in memory of me."

Together we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Terry
The Christ has died,
The Christ has risen,
The Christ will come again.

Allegra
Jesus, we are all made in your image.
Christians, Jews and Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, and those who claim to have little or no faith.
With you, superiority and inferiority are both lies. Apartheid is a sin. Division is no more. Inequality is evil.
You love us all. Your love is the Alpha and the Omega. You unite and reconcile, where we divide.
You call on us to love our enemies, to create community with them, to bless those who despise us.
Give us the strength, the will and the grace to do that.

Ann
Give us the wisdom, the patience and the intellect to tell and live and embody your new story of Ubuntu, of beloved community.

May this bread and wine, your body and blood strengthen and unite us.

With you, with one another, with all creation, so that we may truly say:
We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

In the language of your dreams, we pray together the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples

Bill
Abba God in heaven, hallowed be your name, may your reign become reality, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For to you belong supreme dominion, power and glory forever.

The bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the life of Christ?

Edwin
Though we are many, we are one body!

Soul of Christ, sanctify us;
Body of Christ, save us;
Blood of Christ, refresh us;
Water from the side of Christ, wash us;
Passion of Christ, strengthen us;
O good Jesus, hear us;
Within the wounds of Christ, hide us.

Let us never be separated from you.
From the malicious enemies, defend us.
In the hour of our death, call us and bid us come to you, that with your Saints we may praise You forever and ever.
Amen

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts, by faith, with thanksgiving.

Einar
Behold who we are:
We are the body of Christ!

Let us give thanks to God

Geoff
God's mercy endures forever

Ian
God Almighty, we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Send us out into the world, in the power of your Holy Spirit, to live and work, to your praise and glory.

Kate
God Bless Africa and our World,
Guard our children,
Guide our leaders,
And grant us peace,
For Jesus Christ sake.

May God bless us with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships ...

Kirsty
... so that we may seek truth boldly and love deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people ...

Lavinia
... so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless us with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer, especially women, children and sojourners ...

Lionel
... so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really can make a difference in this world ...

Nina
... so that we are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

May the eternal blessing of God, the One-in-Three and the Three-in-One, be among us and remain with us always.
Amen

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,

Paul
In the name of Christ. Amen.

Rosemary