Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
Listen to David speak to this gospel
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for Ordinary 24, 14th Sept 2025
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>
Why is it that I can never find my socks? The keys that I know I left on the table aren’t there. My spectacles, left by the bed, have disappeared? What do I do? Kim, my wife, tells me where to search and I find what I’m missing and I’m happy. How she is able to do this remains a great mystery!!
This personal story mirrors our gospel today, where we hear two parables from Jesus about lost items. Both of these parables are practical stories that communicate great spiritual truth.
Jesus is making three main points here and I’d also like to highlight the challenging implications for ALL of us as disciples.
1. Something is Lost : In the first parable a sheep is lost and in the second parable a coin is lost. How they were lost is not important.
What is important is that the owner knows they are lost. This is important because it reveals that the lost items are missed because they are considered valuable, even precious.
The care and concern of the woman and the shepherd illustrate God’s care and concern for His children. The shepherd knows his sheep and God knows His.
The woman knows how many silver coins belong to her and we rejoice that our Heavenly Father “knows those who are his” (2 Tim 2:19).
We must never forget that our Heavenly Father knows us and is GENUINELY concerned for our welfare. <PAUSE>
2. A Search for the Lost : The shepherd leaves “the 99 and goes after the 1 that is lost, until he finds it. The woman who lost the coin “lights a lamp and sweeps the house and seeks diligently until she finds it”.
Here we see the love for, and the value of the lost, PUT INTO ACTION as the owners actively seek them.
This is the opposite of a “Little Bo-Peep” nursery rhyme mentality that will simply “leave them alone, and they’ll come home”.
There is an INTENTIONAL search for the lost which serves as a great illustration of God’s pursuit of sinners USING HIS DISCIPLES.
Just as the shepherd’s search was not easy and the woman’s search was diligent, so too is God’s pursuit of all of us. God’s care and diligence towards us is demonstrated to us in the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the shepherd and God “shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.
The call, the challenge, to us here is that we too should be active and diligent is searching out and helping “the lost”. <PAUSE>
3. Joy for the Lost Being Found : Both the shepherd and the woman rejoice in finding that which was lost and they organise celebrations to mark the findings. They wish others to share in their joy. They turn to their friends and say, “Rejoice with me!” The love that compels them to care for what they have found, compels them to share that joy with others.
The joy that is communicated in the parable illustrates the great joy God has when a lost sinner is found.
This mission of finding the lost and sharing the joy is what Jesus is committed to and this mission is what Jesus calls US, His children, into.
Now this is where it gets serious for each and every one of us because, today, Christ reminds us that we too must be committed to the mission to seek the lost.
Christ came into the world to save the sinners, to save us. Christ died to save the sinners, to save us. Christ defeated death, to give eternal life to sinners, to give save us.
As I said, this is where these two short parables get serious for US ….
Do we, do our faith communities, look down on the sinners around us or do we seek the sinners as lost souls needing to be found?
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Heavenly Father hear our prayers and listen to the words from our hearts as we lay before You our hopes and fears, our joys and concerns and all the things for which we give thanks.
We pray for Your people throughout the world, and for all who call themselves Christians, that they may go forward in unity and strength.
Help us to respect the beliefs of others even if we do not share them, to celebrate what we have in common and to accept our differences.
Guide us all in our ministries as we live each day.
(LONGER pause for silent, personal reflection)
In response to the call today “Lord, in Your mercy” Our response is, “hear our prayer!”
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Creator God , drive away despair from our politics, revive our dreams of justice and truth, and restore our passion for what is good and right. Establish Your just and gentle rule throughout the world especially where there is conflict; where peace seems so far away and so many have lost everything, even the faint hope of a peaceful future.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Gracious God, help us always to remember those who are “lost”. Help us always to walk in the footsteps of Your Son as we try to live out lives where we genuinely try to be the servant of all as our Lord commanded.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Heavenly Father you gave Your prophet Isaiah an “instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary” help us to comfort the weary, the lost and those who are ill with a call or a visit or or an email or through the post with a get-well-card. Help also to be constant in our prayer for friends and family in any kind of need.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, in Syria and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
We thank you for those who have come through illness and are on the road to recovery and also for those facing the reality that there is little light at the end of their earthly tunnel.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Loving Father, we pray for those who have died alone, unnoticed and unloved. We pray for those who have committed suicide or died in accidents of their own making. We commend all the departed to your merciful love.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed brother and sister John (Australia) and Rosa (Argentina).
May all the faithful departed now rest in peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your Mercy: Hear our prayer
In a moment of silence we pray for ourselves, our families, friends, for all whom we love and for our personal ministries. Make the things that we choose to do worthy of the life, death, and rising again of Your Son.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Faithful God as we leave today, strengthen our faith, deepen our love for You and for our neighbours and open our eyes to the wonder of Your creation.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
