BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//LaughingBird - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:LaughingBird X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laughingbird.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for LaughingBird REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Melbourne BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20270403T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20271002T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20280401T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20280930T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20290331T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20291006T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20300406T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20301005T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20310405T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20311004T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20320403T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20321002T160000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20280806T000000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20280806T235959 DTSTAMP:20260406T022700 CREATED:20210505T052924Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T102139Z UID:10001760-1849132800-1849219199@laughingbird.net SUMMARY:Proper 13 - Year C DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them\, plus prayers and sermons based on them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003\, Room 381\, Nashville\, TN 37203-0003\, USA. Used with Permission. \n\n\n \n\n \n \n Hosea 11: 11-11 \n \n\n \n \n \n I\, the LORD\, once loved a little tacker called Israel.\nI called\, “Come to me\, my child. Leave the land of slavery.” \nBut I was wasting my breath.\nThe more I called\, the further they ran.\nThey kept offering themselves to other gods\nand giving their devotion to things they owned. \nThey did this even though I had raised them;\neven though I hugged them and guided their first steps.\nThey were blind to all I’d done for them.\nThey forgot how often I had nursed them back to health. \nI had secured them with kindness\, not ropes.\nI had led them in love\, not chains.\nI doted on them like a parent cuddling a baby.\nI got down to play with them and feed them. \nThey will end up in slavery again.\nThey will be under the thumb of foreign powers.\nI begged them to come back to me for safety\,\nbut they thumbed their nose at my offer. \nNow their cities are torn apart by violence\nand those who think they have the answers\nare destroyed along with their plans. \nMy people are hell-bent on replacing me.\nThey go flocking to the latest trendy messiah\,\nbut he is powerless to help them. \nIsrael\, O Israel; I can’t give up hope.\nI can’t walk away and abandon you to your fate.\nI can’t bring myself to treat you as you deserve;\nto wipe you out like Sodom and Gomorrah.\nMy gut knots up just thinking about it.\nMy heart melts and warm tears flow. \nSo I will not let my anger explode.\nI will not destroy you\, Israel.\nIf I were just a human being\, I would have snapped\,\nbut I am God\, the one and only.\nI am among you\, but not in fury. \nMy people will return to me\, the LORD.\nI will roar like a lion\, and when they hear me roar\nthey will come trembling out of their hiding places. \nThey will come fearfully – unsure of what awaits them —\ntrembling like birds lifted from their cage.\nBut they will come en masse\, like migratory birds\nreturning from their lands of exile\,\nand I will welcome them back into their own homes. \nI\, the LORD\, have given my word. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Psalm 107: 1-9\, 43 \n \n\n \n \n \n Thank you\, LORD! Thank you for being so good.\nYour rock-solid love will never end. \nLORD\, we freely and openly acknowledge\nthat it was you who got us out of trouble;\nyou who put us back on the right track.\nYou gathered us from the four corners of the globe\,\nfrom wherever we had been lost or exiled. \nSome of us were lost in pitiless deserts\,\ndesperate to find shelter and company.\nWithout food or water\,\nour courage dried up and our steps grew weak. \nIn sheer despair\, we cried out to you\, LORD\,\nand in a flash\, you came to our rescue.\nYou guided us back to the main road\nand got us safely to the nearest town. \nSo let us tell you how grateful we are\, LORD.\nThank you for your rock-solid love\nand for the great things you do for everyone;\nfor you quench our thirst\nand feed us generously when we hunger. \nDesiring wisdom\, we take note of all you do\, LORD\,\nand focus our thoughts on your rock-solid love. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Colossians 3: 1-11 \n \n\n \n \n \n If you are fair dinkum when you say you have been raised to new life with Christ\, then commit yourself to the things that belong to such a life. Look to Christ — God’s right hand man — and take your cues from him. Concentrate on the things that matter to Christ\, and don’t let yourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around you. Your old life is behind you — dead and buried — and your new life is intimately bound up with Christ\, and lived in God. The full reality of this new life is not visible to the general public yet\, but it will be. Because your life is now bound to Christ\, when Christ makes his triumphant return to the public stage\, you will be there with him\, in all your glory\, for all to see. \nSo\, since your old life has been extinguished\, make sure you stamp out any remnants of it that might spark up within you and set it off again. Don’t char your sexuality with trivialised\, loveless flings. Expel the fumes of moral contamination. Douse smouldering compulsions. Remove anything that might fuel greed\, because after all\, greed is just another form of idolatry. God is getting ready to deal with those who have been defiantly allowing these sorts of things to burn out of control. You were once implicated in all this\, because those things were all part of the kind of life you used to live. But now you must purge yourselves of all such things — bitterness\, vengefulness\, spite\, slander\, and any tendency to mouth off in ways that insult and humiliate others. And don’t lie to one another. Dishonesty may have been a natural part of the old persona you all once wore\, but you’ve stripped all that off\, along with all its accessories\, and decked yourselves out in a whole new persona. The new you is becoming more and more like your creator as your minds are reconstructed and your understanding grows. In this renewed life\, we are no longer divided up into factions based on our backgrounds. It no longer makes any difference at all whether you were from this ethnic group or that\, one religious tradition or another; whether you were educated or illiterate\, refined or rough-nut\, welfare dependent or money-to-burn. Every possible distinction among you is rendered irrelevant\, because now Christ is in all of you and all of you are in Christ. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Luke 12: 13-21 \n \n\n \n \n \n Someone called out to Jesus from the crowd\, saying\, “Teacher\, tell my brother to give me my fair share of the family inheritance.” \nBut Jesus replied\, “Come on\, mate. What makes you think I’m in the business of family mediation?” \nAnd turning to the crowd\, he said\, “Keep a close eye on your values! Greed has all sorts of ways of getting under your guard if you don’t take care. Don’t get sucked into thinking that life is all about how much stuff you own. Let me illustrate. A certain rich man had an absolutely bumper year. His business interests and investments all went through the roof\, and at the end of the year he had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it all. So he said to himself\, ‘I’m going to put it all away for myself and live off the interest. I’ll never need to work again. I’ll surround myself with the best of everything and just put my feet up\, pat myself on the back\, and eat and drink to my heart’s content.’ \n“But God said to him\, ‘You mindless twit! Your number’s up. Tonight you’ll kick the bucket\, and what will you be remembered for? Nothing but a stockpile of goodies heading for the tax office!’ \n“That is the way it goes for all those who accumulate wealth for their own selfish pleasure and have nothing invested in anything that God values.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection \n \n\n \n \n \n Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992\, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures\, from which the first reading is usually chosen\, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading\, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time\, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series\, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative. \nThe weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above\, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm. \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Ecclesiastes 1: 2\, 12-14; 2: 18-23 \n \n\n \n \n \n (If anyone can suggest an Aussie phrase that better conveys the meaning of ‘vanity of vanities’\, please email me and let me know. I realise that this one may offend some people\, but I haven’t thought of anything that captures it as thoroughly.)\n\nWhat a wank!\nI reckon it’s all a big wank\, the lot of it! \nWhen I was the king of Israel\, living in Jerusalem\, I was known as a teacher of wisdom. I put a lot of work into study and reflection\, trying to get my head around the way things work out\, here on earth. God has given people a hunger to understand such things\, but what a frustrating quest it is! It is like chasing the wind. I have carefully observed all that goes on in the world\, and so far as I can see\, it is all a big wank. \nOne thing I did get my head around is why people hate their work so much. The harder we work\, the less we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Instead\, it is the next generation who really benefit from our efforts\, and there is no guarantee that they won’t be a bunch of no-hopers who squander the lot. They could be a pack of complete drongos\, but they are still going to inherit control of everything we created with all our careful planning and hard yakka. What a wank! \nThe more I thought about it\, the more depressed I got. All my hard work felt like a complete waste of effort. Some people apply themselves to their work with extraordinary vision\, knowledge and expertise\, but everything they create must be passed on to someone who hasn’t lifted a finger to earn it. This is all a big wank\, not to mention a crime! So what do people gain from their own efforts\, from all the hard yakka they put in through the long hot days? Nothing but tired bones\, headaches\, and enough anxieties to keep them awake at night. It is all a horrible big wank! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Psalm 49: 1-12 \n \n\n \n \n \n Listen up\, folks.\nAll of you\, everywhere\, tune in to this. \nWhether you be kings or commoners\,\nbattlers or silvertails\,\nI have wisdom to share with you.\nI have thought deeply and made sense of things;\nI have listened to the deep truths\nand will uncover mysteries in my song. \nThere is no need to be afraid in tough times\,\neven when enemies are out to get us;\neven though they are rich and arrogant\,\nand confident in wielding power. \nThe fact is\, money does not sure up your life;\nno one can stave off death by bribing God. \nNo one has the means to save themselves;\nto buy immunity from death.\nIt is not possible to live forever\nand avoid the grave. \nBrilliant\, high-achievers die\,\nand bludging morons die\,\nand neither can take anything with them;\nwhatever they had is left to others. \nThe cemetery will be their final resting place\nand it is a permanent address for both\,\nwhether their legacy is remembered or not. \nDeath cuts everyone down to size;\nin the grave\, a man and his dog are equals. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n \n\n \n \n Eucharistic Preface \n \n\n \n \n \n Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you gather us up in your arms\nand hold us like a child to your cheek\,\nhealing us\, even before we know it. \nYou created the earth and chose yourself a people\,\nsnatching them from danger\nand leading them to a land where they could settle. \nWhen disobedience and idolatrous greed\nwere our only response to your loving call\,\nyour heart was still warm and compassionate towards us\nand you recoiled from punishing your children.\nYou came to us in love and mercy\nin Christ — the Holy One in our midst —\nshowing us the path to renewal in your image.\nWhen he was put to death\,\nyou raised him in glory\,\nand now our lives are hidden in his\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \nTherefore with ..... \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces) \n \n\n \n \n \n We thank you for gathering us up in your arms\nsnatching us from danger and hiding our lives in Christ\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n General Prayer of Thanksgiving \n \n\n \n \n \n (Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you gather us up in your arms\nand hold us like a child to your cheek\,\nhealing us\, even before we know it. \nYou created the earth and chose yourself a people\,\nsnatching them from danger\nand leading them to a land where they could settle. \nWhen disobedience and idolatrous greed\nwere our only response to your loving call\,\nyour heart was still warm and compassionate towards us\nand you recoiled from punishing your children.\nYou came to us in love and mercy\nin Christ — the Holy One in our midst —\nshowing us the path to renewal in your image.\nWhen he was put to death\,\nyou raised him in glory\,\nand now our lives are hidden in his\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Declaration of Grace / Absolution \n \n\n \n \n \n God has heard you cry out\nand has snatched you from danger.\nGod’s compassion for you is warm and tender.\nYour life is hidden with Christ in God. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Commission & Benediction \n \n\n \n \n \n Go now as those raised with Christ\,\nwondering at God’s great love\nand telling the story of your salvation.\nBe on your guard against all kinds of greed\nand set your minds on the ways of heaven. \nAnd may God reach out to you and nourish you;\nMay Christ Jesus renew you in the image of your creator;\nAnd may the Holy Spirit lead you with cords of kindness and love. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nProfit Tables and the Prophet’s TableA sermon on Luke 12: 13-21 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nSet your minds on things aboveA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 and Luke 12.13-21 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nHidden With Christ in GodA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 and Luke 12.13-21 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nCommitting to things associated with new life in ChristA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 by John Fowler\n\n\n\nIntimate Partner Violence and the Image of GodA sermon on Hosea 11:1-11 by Nathan Nettleton URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/cp13/2028-08-06/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/P13.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20310803T000000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20310803T235959 DTSTAMP:20260406T022700 CREATED:20210505T052924Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250831T102139Z UID:10002972-1943481600-1943567999@laughingbird.net SUMMARY:Proper 13 - Year C DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them\, plus prayers and sermons based on them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003\, Room 381\, Nashville\, TN 37203-0003\, USA. Used with Permission. \n\n\n \n\n \n \n Hosea 11: 11-11 \n \n\n \n \n \n I\, the LORD\, once loved a little tacker called Israel.\nI called\, “Come to me\, my child. Leave the land of slavery.” \nBut I was wasting my breath.\nThe more I called\, the further they ran.\nThey kept offering themselves to other gods\nand giving their devotion to things they owned. \nThey did this even though I had raised them;\neven though I hugged them and guided their first steps.\nThey were blind to all I’d done for them.\nThey forgot how often I had nursed them back to health. \nI had secured them with kindness\, not ropes.\nI had led them in love\, not chains.\nI doted on them like a parent cuddling a baby.\nI got down to play with them and feed them. \nThey will end up in slavery again.\nThey will be under the thumb of foreign powers.\nI begged them to come back to me for safety\,\nbut they thumbed their nose at my offer. \nNow their cities are torn apart by violence\nand those who think they have the answers\nare destroyed along with their plans. \nMy people are hell-bent on replacing me.\nThey go flocking to the latest trendy messiah\,\nbut he is powerless to help them. \nIsrael\, O Israel; I can’t give up hope.\nI can’t walk away and abandon you to your fate.\nI can’t bring myself to treat you as you deserve;\nto wipe you out like Sodom and Gomorrah.\nMy gut knots up just thinking about it.\nMy heart melts and warm tears flow. \nSo I will not let my anger explode.\nI will not destroy you\, Israel.\nIf I were just a human being\, I would have snapped\,\nbut I am God\, the one and only.\nI am among you\, but not in fury. \nMy people will return to me\, the LORD.\nI will roar like a lion\, and when they hear me roar\nthey will come trembling out of their hiding places. \nThey will come fearfully – unsure of what awaits them —\ntrembling like birds lifted from their cage.\nBut they will come en masse\, like migratory birds\nreturning from their lands of exile\,\nand I will welcome them back into their own homes. \nI\, the LORD\, have given my word. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Psalm 107: 1-9\, 43 \n \n\n \n \n \n Thank you\, LORD! Thank you for being so good.\nYour rock-solid love will never end. \nLORD\, we freely and openly acknowledge\nthat it was you who got us out of trouble;\nyou who put us back on the right track.\nYou gathered us from the four corners of the globe\,\nfrom wherever we had been lost or exiled. \nSome of us were lost in pitiless deserts\,\ndesperate to find shelter and company.\nWithout food or water\,\nour courage dried up and our steps grew weak. \nIn sheer despair\, we cried out to you\, LORD\,\nand in a flash\, you came to our rescue.\nYou guided us back to the main road\nand got us safely to the nearest town. \nSo let us tell you how grateful we are\, LORD.\nThank you for your rock-solid love\nand for the great things you do for everyone;\nfor you quench our thirst\nand feed us generously when we hunger. \nDesiring wisdom\, we take note of all you do\, LORD\,\nand focus our thoughts on your rock-solid love. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Colossians 3: 1-11 \n \n\n \n \n \n If you are fair dinkum when you say you have been raised to new life with Christ\, then commit yourself to the things that belong to such a life. Look to Christ — God’s right hand man — and take your cues from him. Concentrate on the things that matter to Christ\, and don’t let yourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around you. Your old life is behind you — dead and buried — and your new life is intimately bound up with Christ\, and lived in God. The full reality of this new life is not visible to the general public yet\, but it will be. Because your life is now bound to Christ\, when Christ makes his triumphant return to the public stage\, you will be there with him\, in all your glory\, for all to see. \nSo\, since your old life has been extinguished\, make sure you stamp out any remnants of it that might spark up within you and set it off again. Don’t char your sexuality with trivialised\, loveless flings. Expel the fumes of moral contamination. Douse smouldering compulsions. Remove anything that might fuel greed\, because after all\, greed is just another form of idolatry. God is getting ready to deal with those who have been defiantly allowing these sorts of things to burn out of control. You were once implicated in all this\, because those things were all part of the kind of life you used to live. But now you must purge yourselves of all such things — bitterness\, vengefulness\, spite\, slander\, and any tendency to mouth off in ways that insult and humiliate others. And don’t lie to one another. Dishonesty may have been a natural part of the old persona you all once wore\, but you’ve stripped all that off\, along with all its accessories\, and decked yourselves out in a whole new persona. The new you is becoming more and more like your creator as your minds are reconstructed and your understanding grows. In this renewed life\, we are no longer divided up into factions based on our backgrounds. It no longer makes any difference at all whether you were from this ethnic group or that\, one religious tradition or another; whether you were educated or illiterate\, refined or rough-nut\, welfare dependent or money-to-burn. Every possible distinction among you is rendered irrelevant\, because now Christ is in all of you and all of you are in Christ. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Luke 12: 13-21 \n \n\n \n \n \n Someone called out to Jesus from the crowd\, saying\, “Teacher\, tell my brother to give me my fair share of the family inheritance.” \nBut Jesus replied\, “Come on\, mate. What makes you think I’m in the business of family mediation?” \nAnd turning to the crowd\, he said\, “Keep a close eye on your values! Greed has all sorts of ways of getting under your guard if you don’t take care. Don’t get sucked into thinking that life is all about how much stuff you own. Let me illustrate. A certain rich man had an absolutely bumper year. His business interests and investments all went through the roof\, and at the end of the year he had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it all. So he said to himself\, ‘I’m going to put it all away for myself and live off the interest. I’ll never need to work again. I’ll surround myself with the best of everything and just put my feet up\, pat myself on the back\, and eat and drink to my heart’s content.’ \n“But God said to him\, ‘You mindless twit! Your number’s up. Tonight you’ll kick the bucket\, and what will you be remembered for? Nothing but a stockpile of goodies heading for the tax office!’ \n“That is the way it goes for all those who accumulate wealth for their own selfish pleasure and have nothing invested in anything that God values.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection \n \n\n \n \n \n Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992\, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures\, from which the first reading is usually chosen\, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading\, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time\, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series\, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative. \nThe weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above\, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm. \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Ecclesiastes 1: 2\, 12-14; 2: 18-23 \n \n\n \n \n \n (If anyone can suggest an Aussie phrase that better conveys the meaning of ‘vanity of vanities’\, please email me and let me know. I realise that this one may offend some people\, but I haven’t thought of anything that captures it as thoroughly.)\n\nWhat a wank!\nI reckon it’s all a big wank\, the lot of it! \nWhen I was the king of Israel\, living in Jerusalem\, I was known as a teacher of wisdom. I put a lot of work into study and reflection\, trying to get my head around the way things work out\, here on earth. God has given people a hunger to understand such things\, but what a frustrating quest it is! It is like chasing the wind. I have carefully observed all that goes on in the world\, and so far as I can see\, it is all a big wank. \nOne thing I did get my head around is why people hate their work so much. The harder we work\, the less we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Instead\, it is the next generation who really benefit from our efforts\, and there is no guarantee that they won’t be a bunch of no-hopers who squander the lot. They could be a pack of complete drongos\, but they are still going to inherit control of everything we created with all our careful planning and hard yakka. What a wank! \nThe more I thought about it\, the more depressed I got. All my hard work felt like a complete waste of effort. Some people apply themselves to their work with extraordinary vision\, knowledge and expertise\, but everything they create must be passed on to someone who hasn’t lifted a finger to earn it. This is all a big wank\, not to mention a crime! So what do people gain from their own efforts\, from all the hard yakka they put in through the long hot days? Nothing but tired bones\, headaches\, and enough anxieties to keep them awake at night. It is all a horrible big wank! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Psalm 49: 1-12 \n \n\n \n \n \n Listen up\, folks.\nAll of you\, everywhere\, tune in to this. \nWhether you be kings or commoners\,\nbattlers or silvertails\,\nI have wisdom to share with you.\nI have thought deeply and made sense of things;\nI have listened to the deep truths\nand will uncover mysteries in my song. \nThere is no need to be afraid in tough times\,\neven when enemies are out to get us;\neven though they are rich and arrogant\,\nand confident in wielding power. \nThe fact is\, money does not sure up your life;\nno one can stave off death by bribing God. \nNo one has the means to save themselves;\nto buy immunity from death.\nIt is not possible to live forever\nand avoid the grave. \nBrilliant\, high-achievers die\,\nand bludging morons die\,\nand neither can take anything with them;\nwhatever they had is left to others. \nThe cemetery will be their final resting place\nand it is a permanent address for both\,\nwhether their legacy is remembered or not. \nDeath cuts everyone down to size;\nin the grave\, a man and his dog are equals. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n \n\n \n \n Eucharistic Preface \n \n\n \n \n \n Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you gather us up in your arms\nand hold us like a child to your cheek\,\nhealing us\, even before we know it. \nYou created the earth and chose yourself a people\,\nsnatching them from danger\nand leading them to a land where they could settle. \nWhen disobedience and idolatrous greed\nwere our only response to your loving call\,\nyour heart was still warm and compassionate towards us\nand you recoiled from punishing your children.\nYou came to us in love and mercy\nin Christ — the Holy One in our midst —\nshowing us the path to renewal in your image.\nWhen he was put to death\,\nyou raised him in glory\,\nand now our lives are hidden in his\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \nTherefore with ..... \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces) \n \n\n \n \n \n We thank you for gathering us up in your arms\nsnatching us from danger and hiding our lives in Christ\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n General Prayer of Thanksgiving \n \n\n \n \n \n (Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you gather us up in your arms\nand hold us like a child to your cheek\,\nhealing us\, even before we know it. \nYou created the earth and chose yourself a people\,\nsnatching them from danger\nand leading them to a land where they could settle. \nWhen disobedience and idolatrous greed\nwere our only response to your loving call\,\nyour heart was still warm and compassionate towards us\nand you recoiled from punishing your children.\nYou came to us in love and mercy\nin Christ — the Holy One in our midst —\nshowing us the path to renewal in your image.\nWhen he was put to death\,\nyou raised him in glory\,\nand now our lives are hidden in his\,\nready to be revealed in glory\nwhen all is fulfilled and Christ is all and in all! \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Declaration of Grace / Absolution \n \n\n \n \n \n God has heard you cry out\nand has snatched you from danger.\nGod’s compassion for you is warm and tender.\nYour life is hidden with Christ in God. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n Commission & Benediction \n \n\n \n \n \n Go now as those raised with Christ\,\nwondering at God’s great love\nand telling the story of your salvation.\nBe on your guard against all kinds of greed\nand set your minds on the ways of heaven. \nAnd may God reach out to you and nourish you;\nMay Christ Jesus renew you in the image of your creator;\nAnd may the Holy Spirit lead you with cords of kindness and love. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nProfit Tables and the Prophet’s TableA sermon on Luke 12: 13-21 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nSet your minds on things aboveA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 and Luke 12.13-21 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nHidden With Christ in GodA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 and Luke 12.13-21 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nCommitting to things associated with new life in ChristA sermon on Colossians 3.1-11 by John Fowler\n\n\n\nIntimate Partner Violence and the Image of GodA sermon on Hosea 11:1-11 by Nathan Nettleton URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/cp13/2031-08-03/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/P13.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR