Galaxies

Reflection

While I value the things that my mind has helped me to discover a great deal, I could not have done any of it without faith in God. I see the things that I have been able to work out by studying the knowledge others have shared, by using the mind and reason and ability to learn that God gave me. Most of all I see things by having faith in the belief I feel Jesus was really teaching, that God is within all of us and that all of us are a part of God. – John H Campbell

Excerpt:

… Often times, being a very open minded person who chooses to attempt to befriend those who have different beliefs, I have found myself interacting with individuals who deem the fact that I believe in God, or hold on to the spiritual beliefs of Christianity in a different way as "irrational." When I tell them I am bisexual, and that I have partners of both genders openly, they think it even more absurd that I am a Christian. I am not alone in this: I have talked to a great many LGBT Christians who have echoed the sentiment that some seem to believe that "gay (or lesbian, bi, or transgendered) Christian" are two words that blend together as harmoniously as oil and water, or "compassionate conservative."

I recall a bisexual friend of mine who was in a support group for LGBT people, and was nervous as he was into alternative lifestyles he was anxious that the group would find "shocking" for their being different from the mainstream. They were nonplussed by this, but the whole room was aghast when he admitted that he was a Christian. "How can you support a religion that teaches that your very being is evil and in opposition to God and that teaches the Bible is literally true?" Alas, they were stuck in the popular black and white mentality that says the Bible must be accepted as literally all true, or literally all false and fabrication; in other words, "there is either no God, or the Bible is verbatim." I too have seen this. And for far too long, fear based on that misinformation inhibited me from knowing God, Jesus, or Inner Peace.

I'm one of those "liberal intellectual 'perverts'" that many fundamentalist Christians consider the undoing of the Kingdom. They believe this simply because I have searched both my soul and my mind and cannot find a legitimate conflict between embracing rationality and embracing the mystery, wonder and what is to me, ultimately, the eternal reality of an Unconditional Loving God that I feel created the universe and all that is in it. …

For the full story: http://www.whosoever.org/v7i4/campbell.html

Greeting and Welcome

Leader: We are all part of the rhythm of life.

As we mark this day of the journey, may peace be with you.

People: and also with you.

Gathering Hymn

Affirmation of faith

I give thanks for life and put my trust in all its possibilities for good …

For my good, for the good of those whose lives mine touches,

For all people, and for the earth itself;

I celebrate the honest search for meaning, for purpose,

for truth and wholeness shown by people of faith through the ages,

and join them in the quest;

I recognise in Jesus a man if integrity, insight and vision

who continually challenges my willingness to settle for too little,

Both in myself, and in the world around me;

I find in the Christ of faith a source of strength and wholeness,

An inspiration to new beginnings,

And a spur to be all I am capable of;

I affirm the communities of trust, love and endeavour of those who,

From time immemorial, have shared in the search

And who, with me, have felt our imagination quickened, our creativity fired,

And the boundaries of our understanding and empathy extended;

In these ways, and in the dynamic of their interlinking

I experience that which I call God

And in God I put my trust,

Now and into the future

Amen

Ian Harris

Prayers of approach

God of peace we are tired, We come loaded with worries and cares.
Help us to put aside those cares, to lay them on your broad shoulders,
and enable us to concentrate on you.
Bless us with your peaceful presence this evening, and make us willing to hear what you say to us. Amen.

Christian Resources

God, when we are tired of fighting,
wearied by frustration and anger and hurt,
exhausted by the effort to make it all work -
then bring us home to you, and to one another.
Help us find again the quiet centre in our own souls.

God, when our hearts are numb,
dulled into feeling nothing and doing nothing
by hopelessness, cynicism,
or the sheer drudgery of doing the same old thing,
day in day out, year after year -
then bring us home to you, and to one another.
Help us find again the passion in our own souls.

God, when we've wrapped ourselves in pain,
cocooned ourselves against another's touch,
isolated the hurt, and built defences
against ever getting close again -
then bring us home to you, and to one another.
Help us find again the tenderness in our own souls.

Bring healing where there is pain.
Bring passion where indifference prevails.
Bring strength where courage fails.
Bring grace to our conflict, and hope to our days. Amen.

David Bromell

Witness

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7:12-16a

Thinking together

Contemporary reflection – The Broad and Exclusive Way

Reflection Hymn

Prayers for the people

Behold, visit and relieve all persons with HIV/AIDS, (especially those we now name...); give the power of healing to those who remember and care for them and to those who seek a cure; strengthen the weak, encourage those who fear, and comfort those who mourn; that sickness may be turned into health and our sorrow into joy.

Gracious God, we pray to you for the mission and ministry of Galaxies. Grant that we, seeing the image of God in one another, may be guided in the way of justice and truth, united in bonds of love, and strengthened to struggle against oppression; that all lesbians and gay men may know that peace which is the fruit of righteousness and show the power of your love to all among whom they live; through Jesus Christ, our Lover and Liberator. Amen.

Loving God, strengthen, we pray, the hands of all who strive for justice throughout the world, and, seeing that all human beings are your offspring, move us to share the pain of those who are oppressed, and to promote the dignity and freedom of every person. Nurture us, O loving God, in the dignity and worth you give to all your creatures, that we may respect the diversity and richness of your creation; that we may honour the persons who come to us; that we may refuse to use or to be used as objects of selfish gratification; and that we may work for equity and justice for all people Amen.

Help us to keep faithful, O God, to our duty of love; make us responsible for the proper use of our hearts and bodies; fill our minds and souls with your wisdom and peace; and give us the courage of sincere commitment to you and to those we love. Help us to communicate the knowledge of safer sex practices without judgment or superiority, and keep us responsible to our own health and that of others. Amen.

Individual prayers from the people gathered

Passing the Peace

Leader: Now that we have received the bread and wine, we can share our peace and love

Let us feel the power of the earth that holds us together.
Let us celebrate our gifts in song and dance.
Let us all rejoice in our power and our beauty.

People: We open our hearts to the miracle of birth and the mystery of God's love in all Creation. We carry in us the divine light, which shone so brightly the night of Christ's birth. The gift of love, which we share tonight, deepens us as people, deepens us as sisters and brothers.

Each person shares hugs or whatever those around them.

Offertory Hymn (offering plate passed around during the hymn)

Offering and prayer of dedication

We recognise and bless the gifts brought to the table and those given to support the mission of Galaxies.

The Lord's Prayer – Jim Cotter

All: Eternal Spirit Earth-maker, Pain-Bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be.
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

The blessing

Stop for a moment and calm your thoughts…

Let go of your anxieties and look around you. What do you see?

You see a world filled with beauty. You see a life filled with possibilities.

You see dreams being born being nurtured and being fulfilled.

Yes, there are challenges. Yes, there is sorrow. Yes, there is violence and hatred.

But more than these there is love, there is goodness, there is joy.

The future is uncertain … and that means there's no limit as to how beautiful and joyful you can make it. Yet what you have is right now … and right now is completely as it should be. It is your time to live.

Think of what a precious thing your life is and how truly blessed you are to be experiencing it. Right now.

Right now, any anxiety you may have about the future is only an illusion. Let it go.

Let it fade away as the beauty and perfection of right now wash over you.

The best thing you can do for the future is to live with everything you have in the present.

You are in a position to create real, lasting positive value for the world in which you live. How do you do that? By following your heart. By being the you that is really you. You may have wandered away from yourself. Now is the time to come home. You know in your heart that you're here for a reason.

The pain you feel is that purpose, that reason for living, as it constantly aches to break free. When it does, you'll be more alive than you ever could have imagined.

Breathe in the beauty around you, the beauty and richness of being alive. It is your gift. It is your fortune. It is your blessing … and it is yours, to live, to experience, to fulfil.

Departure Hymn