Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost
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):
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; 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 21st after Pentecost, 4th October 2026
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>
A couple of days ago I was chatting with one of the men who manages the building where Kim and I are living and he began to talk about things that are becoming more and more familiar these days: the rising cost of living, the price of the weekly shopping, taxes, and whether anything ever seems to get cheaper!
Eventually, he said something that made me smile, “You know, sometimes I wonder whether the government owns everything I earn!” It was said with a laugh, but there was something serious behind it.
Money has a remarkable ability to raise questions about who owns what, who has authority, and what we owe to others … and that brings us directly into today’s Gospel, Matthew 22:15-22. <PAUSE>
The religious leaders come to Jesus with what appears to be an innocent question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” However, this isn’t really a question - It’s a trap.
If Jesus says, “Yes, pay the tax,” he can be accused of siding with the Roman occupiers. If he says, “No, don’t pay it,” they can report him to the Roman authorities as a troublemaker. Either answer could get Jesus into serious trouble.
So Jesus asks them for a coin and Jesus asks, ”Whose head is this?” and their reply, “The emperor’s.” leads Jesus says those famous words:
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” <PAUSE>
It is one of those sayings that sounds simple until we really stop and think about it, because Jesus isn’t simply giving advice about paying taxes! He is asking a much bigger question, “What belongs to God?”
The coin carries the image of the emperor. So, Jesus says, give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, but there is something else in this story that is easy to miss …
Genesis 1:27 tells us, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
So, the Bible tells us that human beings also carry an image. Being created in the image of God means that we are made to reflect God's character, act as His representatives on Earth, and possess inherent dignity.
The coin bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s image.
<PAUSE> Follow my logic here please because, in this light, suddenly Jesus’ answer becomes MUCH more challenging.
Yes, we have responsibilities as citizens of our countries. We pay taxes. We obey the law. We participate in society. We have responsibilities to our communities and to our neighbours.
Christian faith does not mean withdrawing from the world.
Now, here, Jesus reminds us that our deepest allegiance belongs somewhere else. We belong to God. Our money may carry the image of a king, a monarch, a national symbol or a famous person. Our passports may tell us what country we belong to. Our addresses may tell us where we live. Our citizenship may tell us which nation we belong to - BUT -
beneath all of that is something deeper - we carry the image of God. And Jesus says,“Give to God the things that are God’s.” That now begs us to ask“What belongs to God?”
The answer is … Everything!! Our time. Our abilities. Our possessions. Our relationships. Our decisions. Our hopes. Our fears. Our future. Our very lives. <PAUSE>
There is yet another important detail in this encounter. The people questioning Jesus are trying to force him into an either/or choice. Are you loyal to Caesar? Or are you loyal to God?
Jesus refuses their simplistic question. He reminds them that we live in the world, but we are not ultimately ‘owned' by the world. We have earthly responsibilities, but our ultimate identity is found in God and oh how important that is today.
We live in a world where people are constantly encouraged to define themselves by what they own, what they earn, what political side they support, what nationality they have, what job they do, or what status they possess.
Jesus offers us something deeper - You are made in God’s image.
Before you are a consumer, you are God’s creation.
Before you are a voter, you are God’s creation.
Before you are rich or poor, you are God’s creation.
Before you are successful or struggling, you are God’s creation.
Before you are popular or forgotten, you are God’s creation. <PAUSE>
So are the people around you. The person who speaks and votes differently from you. The neighbour you don’t understand. The refugee arriving in your community. The person sleeping rough on the street. The elderly person who feels forgotten. The young person wondering whether they have any future. The person whose faith is different from yours - - - They too bear the image of God and once we accept that truth - it changes the way we look at people. <PAUSE>
Perhaps THAT is the real challenge hidden inside Jesus’ words. We can become very good at asking: “What do I owe?” How much tax? How much money? How much time? How much effort? But Jesus invites us to ask another question:
“What belongs to God?” and the answer is not simply a percentage of our income. It is not one hour on a Sunday morning. It is not simply our prayers. WE belong to God.
So today, as we look at the world around us - with its arguments about money, politics, power and responsibility - let us remember the image that matters most.
The image on that coin belonged to Caesar, but the image within us belongs to God. <PAUSE>
So let us give the world what is properly ours to give - our taxes, our work, our citizenship, our service and our responsibility.
But let us give God what is God’s - our hearts, our lives, our love, our obedience and our worship.
It is my pray that when humanity remembers whose image we bear, we will begin to live differently.
More generously.
More compassionately.
More humbly.
More faithfully.
You see, we are not ultimately defined by what we possess, we are defined by whose image we carry … and we carry the image of God.
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 sacrifice and goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Faithful God, sometimes our faith feels weak. The trials of life test our faith and we find it hard to rejoice. Help our faith to grow and help us realise that it is the most important thing in our lives. Show us how to rise above our human weaknesses and to grow stronger in our Christian Faith.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Mighty God help us to see that things which seem completely impossible can become possible, if they are approached with faith. Help us to see that if we approach a thing saying, "It can't be done," it will not but if we approach it saying, "It must be done," the chances are that it will; always remembering that we approach no task alone, but that You and all Your power are with us.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Creator God, we pray for Your world. Forgive us when we are ungrateful, when lack of faith and spiritual blindness prevents us from appreciating the wonder of Your creation and the endless cycle of nature.
Forgive us where we take without giving; reap without sowing. We pray for the farmers of the world many of whom still use those methods described by Jesus and we especially pray that they may be treated with fairness for their labours.
We especially remember those who work with the land across the world when they are suffering so badly from the lack of rain.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Father God, we pray for our loved ones; for those who lift our hearts and those who turn our hair grey. We pray for those we instinctively warm to and those with whom there are frequent misunderstandings. We thank God for our opportunities of forgiveness.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Living God, we pray for the hungry and the homeless, the broken and bereaved. For all for whom this day brings sadness and little joy, for the sick, lonely and the helpless, for those whose hope has been shattered and their faith destroyed.
Give the song of joy to all who are now on the road to recovery and recuperation and the song of thanks to all who helped them on that road.
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, and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Everlasting God, we pray for those approaching death, that through our prayers they may know themselves accompanied with love on that journey.
We pray for those who have died, that they may come to know the full joy of heaven.
We pray for all the faithful departed, may they now rest in eternal peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed sisters and brothers Annabelle (England), Nora (France), Petunia (Luxembourg), Alberto (Argentina), Colin and Marcus (England), Art, Mick, and Oscar (USA).
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that we may work for economic justice for all people.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, hunger, homelessness and rejection, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.
(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.
