Thirtieth 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):
Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and 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 30, 26th Oct 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>
Two weeks ago my message was built upon our need to be continually grateful to God for all the blessings he pours upon us. So let me start my message this week by saying “Thank You” to God.
God, I thank you that I am not like those conservative Christians who have walked away refusing to acknowledge gospel hospitality, love, and inclusiveness. <PAUSE> God, I thank you that I am not like the agenda-driven, liberal Christians who neither understand nor respect the Holy Scriptures. <PAUSE> God, I thank you that I am not like those politicians who are driving my country into another failure of socialism. <PAUSE> God, I thank you that I am also not like those politicians who only care about the wealthy and profits. <PAUSE>
Today’s gospel begins with two men who went to pray and it concludes, just a few short verses later, with only one who went away “justified”. This is a gospel that most of us find pretty straightforward … one of the two men is very confident of himself. He is a Pharisee, a man who has devoted his life to his faith and yet, we seem to know immediately and intuitively that his prayer should NOT be our prayer.
Now a tax collector (reviled by his community) is also praying in the temple but he stands at a distance from the Pharisee, away from the centre, where people normally gather. His prayer is quite different - God be merciful to me a sinner - and this is the one Jesus says who returned to his home justified … and there you have it!
The moral of the gospel, of my message, don't be proud or arrogant like the Pharisee but instead be humble like the tax collector! THE END! (If only a preacher’s sermons could be as short as this every week !!!) <PAUSE>
Ah - - - sorry, but that is not the end! You see, the Pharisee is actually right he’s not like other people - not a thief, troublemaker, adulterer, doesn’t work for the Roman authorities, fasts regularly, tithes one tenth of his income - he IS trying is to live his life in accordance with the law of Israel.
The better you were at keeping the law, the more righteous you were.
So this Pharisee is both right, he is not like other people and righteous because he is very successful at living his faith BUT he is not, Jesus says, “justified”. The tax collector, on the other hand, can be seen as the opposite. He doesn’t keep the law and, working for the Roman authorities, he is despised, and no one would call him righteous. So, he stands at the margins, won’t even lift his eyes toward heaven. He simply asks for mercy.
THIS is the one whom Jesus says is justified. WHY? <PAUSE>
Well, it is true, the Pharisee appears to lead a law-abiding life and, for this reason, can be deemed “righteous”. The tax collector does not lead a blameless life but asks God for mercy. Asks God to look at him and judge him NOT based upon what he has done BUT … to look at him and judge him based on who God is - - - compassionate loving and merciful.
This is what can make this parable tricky for us because if we read it in the simple, straightforward manner in which I started today (don't be
self-righteous like the Pharisee but instead be humble like the tax collector) then we try to interpret the words of Christ based upon who the men are INSTEAD OF WHO GOD IS … COMPASSIONATE, LOVING, MERCIFUL. <PAUSE>
So, how do WE know if WE are faithful enough, righteous enough, justified?
From this parable today, may I suggest … perhaps one of the aspects of being a Christian is NOT to strive to be righteous or humble or successful or rich; not any of the things we can put on a scale and measure BUT INSTEAD -
simply TO PRAY FOR MERCY and thankfully receive mercy from God, acceptance from God, and love from God.
Perhaps another aspect to being a Christian is simply to accept that we are God’s children and God has ALREADY called us righteous, and justified, and holy, and beloved, and redeemed. <PAUSE>
Two men went up to the temple to pray and one went home justified because he recognised that he receives mercy not because of what he’s done but because of who God is - loving, gracious, and merciful, to you, to me, to all humankind. THANKS BE TO GOD. <PAUSE>
For the tax collector God’s mercy has opened the door to a new life. We do not know what happened when the tax collector got home. The gospel does not tell us how the story ends. It tells us, rather, how it might begin.
The beginning of a new story, a new life, is a choice God sets before each one of us. It is a choice WE HAVE TO MAKE every time WE cry out in prayer for mercy. Lord have mercy on for for I am a sinner!
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:
Merciful God, help us when praying to be like that tax-collector, who was honest and contrite in his prayers. He, unlike the Pharisee, knew that he was a sinner, and stood before God in spiritual nakedness and in terrible need of forgiveness. We too pray for God’s forgiveness.
(LONGER pause for silent, personal reflection)
Gracious God, we pray for faith communities throughout the world and for all Christian people; for the renewal of faith, love and service and for all who seek to show the life of The Risen Christ to others. We give You thanks for the gift of Your word the fellowship of Your people.
(Short Silence) Lord, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
Creator God, Lord of all, we pray for peace in the world bringing before You the troubles and dangers of people and nations; the war-torn and the world-weary. Shower your blessings on communities seeking to rebuild their lives in peace and hope; guide and protect refugees fleeing from war and persecution in their homelands and direct all rulers, governments and leaders of people to strive for justice, peace and fair shares of the rich bounty of their lands.
(Short Silence) Lord, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
Father God, we pray for ourselves. Give to us an eye that is willing to see meaning in things and people that are familiar and commonplace and always to be sincerely aware of our own faults. Enable us to see likeable qualities in those we may not like, recognise the mistakes in what we thought was correct and to understand the strength in what we choose to see as weakness.
(Short Silence) Lord, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
We pray for the sick and suffering and all who care for them. We pray for those for whom this day will be long and hard, for those struggling with despair or depression, for those in hospital and at home.
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.
In Your goodness and mercy, grant them health of body, soundness of mind and peace of heart.
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, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
We remember in our prayers, friends and loved ones who have enriched our lives and are now departed from us. We pray for those who have died in recent days.
May Your light shine on them for ever and our lives be richer because of their memory.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed sister Keri (USA) and our brother Luca (Estonia).
May all the faithful departed now rest in peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
(Short Silence) Lord, hear our prayer : and let our cry come unto you
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, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
Faithful God as we go out into the world help us to entrust the past to Your mercy, the present to Your love and the future to Your wisdom.
(Short Silence) Lord, hear our prayer : and let our cry come to you
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.
