Luke 15 Parable of Lost Things

Welcome

An opportunity to welcome people to the gathering

Responses & Gathering Prayer

For those who have been lost
For those who lost
For those who found themselves in places unknown

You are welcome here in the presence of community and God.

For those who have wandered
For those who have been on difficult roads
For those who have found themselves alone

You are welcome here in the presence of community and God.

With God there is longing, searching, yearning for you.
With God there is grace, love and hope.
With God there is the finding and welcome.

So let us come knowing we are loved,
Within the presence of community and God.

Holy God, draw us into the knowledge of your longing and love for each of us, for all humanity, and draw us into you as we gather here today.
Amen.

Music for Reflection

Suggested song: Slow Action of Love
John Coleman © 2008 Slow Action Of Love,

Passing the Peace

The peace of the Lord be with you.
And also with you.

You are invited to turn to those around you and offer them a word of greeting and peace.

The Word around the Bush

Luke 15: 1-7 (8-32)

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Message

From your Scattered Community Minister or another leader within your gathering.

Questions for conversation

• I wonder what you have heard and thought from the Word today?
• I wonder what you heard in the Word for our church?
• What one action can you or your church take in response to the Word today?

Silence in Two Ways

Spend some time in silence sitting still (suggested 5 minutes). Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert.

• You may like to say the prayer phrase “Mar-an-ath-a” (which means come Lord). Say this as four syllables. Do not try to think or imagine anything. If thoughts or distractions come simply return to saying the word.
  
  
• Or you may like “sitting with God” — a silent time in which we focus all our mind, heart and soul on the presence of God without trying to create it. Simply be still and open to God.

Prayers for Others

Eternal God,
where there is hope, you are there.
Where there is compassion and the desire for wholeness, you are there.
Where there is the struggle for peace, you are there.
Where the hungry are fed, and the poor empowered, you are there.
Where there is delight in the trees of the land, or the depths of the seas, you are there.
Wherever love is announced, you are there.

In you is such longing for your creation, and for humanity, and we thank you for that presence of you, in Spirit, in people, renewing, calling, and saving.

In that knowledge, and in our simple faith, we bring our prayers for your creation and for the people of this world.

•O Christ we open ourselves in prayer for:
[silence for personal prayer or invite others to open prayer in between each]

Your creation …
Silence

For others we have hear about throughout our world …
Silence

For other people we know and are close to …
Silence

For our church and our wider community …
Silence

For ourselves …
Silence

Closing Responses & Blessing

Send us with joy,
God of lost things
restored, treasured and loved
to celebrate with strangers, neighbours and family
that which was lost is now found.

Bless us and the people we meet along the way.

Father,
Son
and Holy Spirit. Amen.