We met in the bandstand on a wet morning and adapted our worship accordingly. On such days we have some alternative liturgy up our sleeves, “Refreshed by the rain” and we used this as a basis for our worship.

Refreshed by the rain

Leader

Lord God the source of all good things we pause in your presence and hold our day before you.  Still us, calm us, guide us as we enter this day

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer

Pause and use your senses to listen, smell, see how the park feels on a wet morning.

Leader – May Jesus the Son inspire you with new energies each day.

May you find his peace to give you rest each night.

May the rain symbolise the cleansing forgiveness of the Father

And the refreshment of the Holy Spirit pouring new strength into your being

So that today we may walk as Jesus through the world and carry the beauty of his

Kingdom.

Walk outside and catch four raindrops and hold the water in the palm of your hand

Pray  (people or situations can be named silently or aloud)

For those in the Community of Third Space

For those in our families

For those who are troubled

For those who live in fear or conflict.

At this point the rain had stopped and so as individuals we followed a Payer Labyrinth as we walked around the park:

Prayer Labyrinth

Our prayer labyrinth is a path which leads us to focus on God.

Hurting world.

We live in a beautiful part of our hurting world. Do we sometimes regret the ways in which we have used our world and treated others?

Where have we brought hurt? When have we failed to do the right thing?

What are the things and the actions you find hard to leave behind as you approach God? Will you hold on to them or can you let them go?

Letting go.

Imagine that all your concerns and worries can be washed away by the rain.

Now imagine that God is washing them away with the rain.

Does it feel good to release them?

Do you not know?

Isaiah 40:

²¹ Do you not know?     Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?     Have you not understood since the earth was founded? ²² The Lord sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,     and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,     and spreads them out like a tent to live in. ²³ He brings princes to naught     and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. ²⁴ No sooner are they planted,     no sooner are they sown,     no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither,     and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?     Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:     Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one     and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength,     not one of them is missing.

²⁷ Why do you complain?     Why do you say, “My way is hidden from the Lord;     my cause is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸ Do you not know?     Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,     the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,     and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary     and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,     and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the Lord     will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;     they will run and not grow weary,     they will walk and not be faint.

Look up and see the rain. Close your eyes, what have you learned about God?

You are Loved!

Look at your hands. Look at the pattern on them. Each is unique. You are unique.

There is no one like you.
 You are made in God’s image.
 You are loved by the Creator.

Ask God to show you the you that he sees.

Isaiah 43:1

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.”

We concluded our worship by sharing bread and wine:

Sharing bread and wine on a rainy day!

We take this bread made from the grain that grows up out of the good earth

And this wine made from grapes that flourish in the sun and the rain that you provide

We thank you for the gift of rain that waters the earth

And we celebrate the gift of life that you provide for us.

Here, we offer ourselves that we may become signs of your grace in our world.

Send your Spirit upon us

and upon this bread and this wine

that these gifts of creation

may show us your presence

in our world, in our neighbours, and in our lives. Amen.