Thirty Second 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):
Every day will I bless you and praise your Name for ever and ever.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he 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 32, 9th Nov 2025
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. Take my lips O God and speak through them, take our minds O God and think through them, take our hearts O God and love through them this day. <Amen>
Not too long ago, how many of us would have thought that words like “GOOGLE” and “ZOOM” would become such a part of our vocabulary. “Why don’t you just Google it?”, “I’ll Zoom you later!” Language is not static, it evolves.
Here’s a word that has evolved during my life -“Troll”.
Not too long ago a Troll was a being in Nordic folklore but now it has changed to also become internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community. Trolls can be all over social media and they often use inflammatory messages to provoke emotional responses from people, disrupting otherwise civil discussion. <PAUSE>
Our Gospel today recalls the Sadducees who based their faith only on the first five books of the Old Testament. If it was not clearly stated in the Pentateuch, then they put no belief in it. As far as they were concerned, there was no mention of the resurrection of the dead anywhere in what they called "The Books of Moses”. Therefore, that was the end of it!
That then is the backdrop to this confrontation between the Sadducees and Jesus.
Have you ever witnessed, or been part of, a discussion with people who have no real desire for enlightenment, but only in ridicule? That is what we’d call “trolling” today. It’s an exercise in which the only motive for engagement for one party is belittlement and dismissal.
These kinds of attacks are sometimes referred to as “bad faith arguments” or “reductio ad absurdum” - reducing something to the absurd.
Today’s Gospel (Luke 20:27-38) gives us an example of - “reductio ad absurdum” offered in a bad-faith argument on faith itself.
The Sadducees aren’t even laying a trap for Jesus in this passage. They show no respect at all for Jesus, and instead offer a silly hypothetical, expecting to confound Him and make Him look equally silly by trying to explain life in eternity via an absurd argument.
"In the resurrection," they want to know, "whose wife will the woman be? For all the seven brothers had married her!”
The Sadducees, when they ask this of Jesus, are not trying to learn anything new. They do not really have any interest in the resurrection or the life to come. They are trying to toy with Jesus, perhaps to get him riled up. They are “trolling” Jesus, attempting to prove their theological and biblical superiority over those who disagree with them. Especially this Galilean upstart! Rather than respond in kind, Jesus uses the Sadducees to offer a remarkable insight into eternal life.
First and foremost, life here on earth and life after death are not alike.
The Jews of Jesus days (and sadly some people today) thought that the Kingdom of Heaven was only an extension of the good things in this life.
The life to come ... is not simply a continuation of ... this present existence.
Jesus made it clear that life in the eternal state is more, FAR MORE, than just an extension of what we have on earth.
Secondly, there is no marriage as we perceive it ... in "that age."
Jesus did not say that we would not know our present partners in the age to come, but rather It would take that relationship to a new and more glorious level, that we cannot fully comprehend.
Thirdly, there is no death in "that age."
Jesus identifies the quality of life when He says "Indeed they cannot die anymore,"
Jesus affirms for us eternal life. They Cannot Die ... anymore.
There are several Old Testament texts that Jesus could have cited which speak to the resurrection.
The prophet Isaiah said, "Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise...." (Isaiah 26:19)
The prophet Daniel confirmed "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)
But since the Sadducees only accepted, as binding, the first five books of the Old Testament Jesus appealed to Exodus 3:6.
Hear the words of our Lord, "And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."(Exodus 3:6)
Jesus is clear ... that God is the God of the living, and in saying this to the Sadducees he quotes from the Pentateuch, ... the only part of the Scriptures they believe.
Jesus turns the tables.
Our God is the God of the living and to Him all of them are alive. <PAUSE>
Our text today does not include the response of the Sadducees, but a few passages later, you will find ... they commended Jesus on His logic and in His use of Scripture. So How does this impact our lives today?
As we wrestle with the question of resurrection and after life, we will come to the point that :
Life can be lived WITH HOPE.
Life can be lived WITH DARING.
Life can be lived WITH CONFIDENCE.
For we ARE children of a new creation in Christ Jesus who teaches us to look at life through Resurrection eyes.
<PAUSE>
Let us pray :
Lord, help us to let Jesus be our Saviour and Lord of our life, EVERY aspect of our life. Make us courageous. Let our Lord’s grace flow from us. Let us see this world through Christ’s eyes. Through Resurrection eyes. Amen.
AND TO GOD WILL BE THE GLORY.
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 we constantly stare in wonder at the universe that You have caused into being and of which we understand just a fraction.
In the presence of such power and majesty we bring our prayers to You for the world, for other people and for ourselves.
Help us now as we seek your guidance and strength into doing Your will as lived out and revealed to us by your Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour and King.
(LONGER pause for silent, personal reflection)
Lord we pray for our faith communities, help us never to despair at our increasingly fractured society.
We pray for wisdom for their leaders especially when they are faced with difficult decisions concerning resources and state policy.
We pray for our own faith community and for each one of us as we seek to promote outreach into the community and maintain our life of worship and service.
We pray that through the example of Christian living we may be guided in the ways of Christian discipleship.
(Short Silence) Lord, in your mercy … Hear our prayer.
We pray for a world of nations and factions seemingly forever in conflict. We see the subjugation and murder of those who do not accept extreme ideologies. We read of rulers who continue to ignore the wishes of their people for rights and freedoms and who only seek to protect their own power and position.
We pray for men and women among darkness and chaos who know that mediation and dialogue can break down seemingly impenetrable barriers, and that education can bring greater understanding and tolerance where there once was ignorance and hatred.
So we pray, in the name of the Prince of Peace, for peacemakers and arbitrators, educators and facilitators and for all those who are prepared to stand up for justice and freedoms.
(Short Silence) Lord, in your mercy … Hear our prayer.
We pray for our own country and its peoples, for our rulers and all who hold authority and power that through Christ’s love and mercy all may strive in seeking what is best for all our citizens regardless of origin or status.
We pray for those engaged in political elections at this time, that truth would be heard and all would seek the common good.
(Short Silence) Lord, in your mercy … Hear our prayer.
We pray now for those that we know who are sick, lonely, anxious or in some other special need at this time as we share a brief moment of silence together.
As we have named them in our hearts so let them feel Your presence and friendship in their lives as we commit them to Your loving care - and may we be always alert to the needs of others.
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, in your mercy … Hear our prayer.
We also remember, and pray for, those who have been drawn to their eternal rest in Your safe keeping – some with a life fulfilled and some with a life cut tragically short.
We pray for those left behind, may they know that nothing is more dependable in times of sorrow than your steadfast and encircling love.
May Your light shine upon those who have gone before us for ever and our lives be richer because of their memory.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed brothers Thomas “Tom” (England) and Kevin (USA).
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.
Heavenly father, in a moment of silence we place before you our personal prayers for ourselves, our families, our friends, for all of those whom we love and, for our personal ministries.
(Short Silence) Lord, in your mercy … Hear our prayer.
Faithful God, give us sight to view the hope of the world and eternity through the “Resurrection Eyes” shown to us by Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Keep alive in us the power which turns our hearts from things seen and known to things unseen and unknown and may lead us always closer to You.
As we go from our worship today into the world help us to follow, ever more closely, in footsteps of The Risen Christ, to do Your work and to live and proclaim the Gospel of your Son.
(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.
