WS Online – 7 June 2020
Interactive service outline for Church at Home
Welcome to WS Online!
Welcome to our English online service at West Sydney Chinese Christian Church!
We have been doing church online for twelve weeks now. By now, we’re used to doing church online sitting in our pajamas, with headphones on, looking at a screen. But it’s a reminder that for many of us, we miss our physical church all the more. We miss the singing, we miss fighting for a parking spot, we miss watching the little kids run around and taking all the morning tea! There’s a lot to miss about physical church.
But there’s lots to love about online church. There are hundreds of visitors from all over the world. If you’re from Burwood, Brazil, Belgium, whether this is your first time ever doing church or your 1000th time, welcome to WS today!
Over the next hour, we have the privilege of connecting with God and hearing what He has to say to us. Quite simply, we have the tools to do this through prayer, songs of praise and God’s word to us in the Bible. We’re also looking forward to hearing from Rev. Andrew Bardsley as he kicks off Missions Month with a message on Luke 10:25-37.
This service is designed in such a way to accommodate for both families and groups worshipping together but also for those who wish to follow along by themselves. Our online Sunday School materials are available here: https://wsccc.org.au/children-strathfield/
Service Video
Interactive Service Outline
Our call to worship
As we begin today’s service please read with us from Psalm 113:2-3.
“1 Let the name of LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.“
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father,
Please give us the ears to listen to you, the eyes to see your goodness and truth and the hearts to be changed by your spirit.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Opening songs
Let’s sing our opening song that celebrates God’s grace for us.
How Great is our God
Our second song focuses on the sufficency of Jesus. You Alone Can Rescue
Announcements
Here are some items of news for us as a church family.
- Missions Month – Who is my neighbour? Join us the next three Sundays as we explore how Jesus radically redefines the phrase “Love thy Neighbour”. Hear from our local and global missionaries and find out how you can join in the work of the church as we support God’s work around the world.
- Conversation on the Lawn – Stay after our S9 service this Sunday and catch up with others on the virtual lawn! We will be hosting a Zoom session for those who would like to have fellowship with others from 10:00am to 10:30am. Grab a cup of tea or coffee and join us at our Zoom meeting ID found in your weekly email. Youth who would like to join will need to attain parental consent.
- S430 Watch Party – Worship together with others at our S430 service! Join our Zoom meeting at 4:30pm at meeting ID found in your weekly email. Youth who would like to join will need to attain parental consent.
- Covid-19 has led to a lot of inconveniences but also more opportunities, in particular, with home discipleship. As a church, we seek to “be a people of God, growing in Christ, reaching out with the Gospel until Jesus returns”. If you’re a parent, why not use this opportunity now to grow your children and youth in the Lord and “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). 555 Challenge is a discipleship tool developed by Youthworks to help your family to start building a home discipleship habit today. Join us for the 555 challenge and sign your family up here: https://youthworks.net/555
Congregational Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you that we can pray to you, thank you that we can worship you, thank you that we are a part of your family.
You are our Father, our dad, not because of anything that we have done to deserve it, but purely because you loved us first. You sent your Son Jesus to live for us and die for us, and you poured out your Spirit into us, a Spirit who lives inside of us.
We come to you today with happy hearts as we see Australia on the other side of the curve, that we’re coming out of isolation, and things seem to be going back to what they were before. We didn’t run out of toilet paper, we survived endless Zoom meetings, and our loved ones stayed safe.
But we also come to you with sad hearts. Other parts of the world are still being ravaged by the virus. The USA is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. And now more than ever we need healing, deep healing, not just physically from a virus but spiritually from the virus called sin. Please pour out your Spirit and wash us, revive us, and make us call on you.
We also come to you with unsure hearts. We’ve survived Covid, but there is no vaccine, there is no herd immunity, so we pray for a vaccine, we pray for a miracle.
Finally, we come to you with excited hearts. We come to the month of June in the tradition of this church we call it missions month. Where we rededicate this church to the mission of Jesus, to spreading his love, his justice, his mercy to all parts of the world.
We pray for open hearts, open minds, as you challenge us with missions month.
Amen.
Bible reading
The reading for today comes from Luke 10:25-37 (NIV)
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Sermon
Today we’ll hear from Rev. Andrew Bardsley as he speaks on the topic of “Who is my Neighbour” Please listen here to the recording:
Please listen here to the recording: https://wsccc.org.au/s9/sermons/
Offering Song
We come to a time in the service when we have the opportunity to worship God through offering, in giving back to the Lord a portion of what he has given to us. Even though we cannot all meet together in one building, we have still made our commitment to financially support our pastors, missionaries, and ongoing church expenses.
Because an offering bag cannot be passed around, please make your electronic offerings to church via these accounts.
- General fund: BSB 082 080. Acc 48 243 6244. Name: WSCCC.
- Mission fund: BSB 082 080. Acc 52 856 0495. Name: WSCCC.
- Building fund: BSB 082 451. Acc 73 932 0475. Name: WSCCC.
You can also give online through this link: https://tithe.ly/give?c=1291374
Our offering song is – This Life I Live
Offering Prayer
Lord, thank you that you continue to sustain us financially as a church through electronic means. We pray that the money collected will be used wisely by our leaders for the work of the church, for the community around us and for the growth and glory of your kingdom. In Jesus name, Amen.
Closing prayer and benediction
Please continue to contemplate all you have heard from Scripture today, and please take the opportunity this week to share with your family and friends.
As we approach the coming week, let’s finish with Paul’s blessing from 2 Corinthians 13
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all evermore.
Connect with us! If you’d like to get in touch with us, join a small group online, or find out more about Christianity, fill out a response card here: Response Form.