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This
is just a selection of the words and images that go together to make
the worshipalternative
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weaving
a community
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Intro
(Music: Moby: Play)
We're going to
take you on something of a journey. This is designed to be a
meditative service where we'll be taken back to the first Christian
Communities and reaffirm that we are there with the ancients and they
are here with us.
There will also be
an opportunity, if people wish, to affirm our part in this sacred
society recognising that we are woven into this timeless community by
placing strands on the tapestry here.
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Journey
(Music: Chicane:
Overture or any other space music)
Let me take you back
Through time
Imagine yourselves
moving through the stars
Being pulled backwards
Before this
evening and before this week
Further into God's
own time
Beyond the events
that have shaped our generation
And further back still
Watching as faces
pass by
Of the people who
have moulded our world's future
Back
Leaving the
contemporary world behind
It's stress
It's pressure
Further back
Sucked through
seasons and generations, and eras
Back
Beyond these shores
Into a warm country
Sandal-shoed people
Darker skinned
Brown eyed
Wide opened to a
new movement
That has rocked an
ancient faith
And is spread by
rumour and story telling
To people in small
communities gathered
To learn
From eye-witnesses
Dust still fresh
on their feet
After following
their Master
Sharing bread and
passing wine
And new insights
and truths for life
Huddled yet free
Searched for yet liberated
And you are
sitting beside them now
You know their faces
You recognise
their expressions
You even know
their names
Welcome to the
Early Church
The Act's Community
This is where you belong
(PAUSE)
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The Acts Community
(Scripture Reading
for two voices)
Through the work
of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many
wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable
harmony on the Temple porch. But even though people admired them a
lot, outsiders were wary about joining them.
(PAUSE)
On the other
hand, those who put their trust in the master were added right and
left, men and women both.
(PAUSE)
They even carried
the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and
bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter's shadow when he
walked by.
(PAUSE)
The whole
congregation of believers was united as one - one heart, one mind!
(PAUSE)
They didn't even
claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, 'That's mine;
you can't have it.' They shared everything. The apostles gave
powerful witness to the resurrection of the Mast Jesus, and grace was
on all of them.
(PAUSE)
And so it
turned out that not a person among them was needy.
(PAUSE)
Those who owned
fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the
apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it
according to each person's need.
(PAUSE)
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Weaving a community
A framework for a
tapestry was set up with different colours and widths of material.
(Music: Dawson's
Creek: Home)
Take a ribbon of
paper and place it on the tapestry on the table. Commit yourself to
being part of the community by doing so&ldots; but also&ldots; if you
wish&ldots; stay where you are&ldots; knowing the support of that
community&ldots; While the music plays I invite you to do these
things now&ldots;
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Statement
A community is a
resource of life
In it, and through
it, people find the purpose the Creator designed them for
It is a sanctuary
of promise
And a deep, deep
well of love
It is home
(Chant)
Place of heaven
Place of love
Place of future
Rainbow making
Place of promise
Place of hope
Place of
God's own weaving
A community is a
vision of the kingdom
It is the reality
of heaven on earth
Where angels tread
through life in whispers of love
And acts of trust
It is home
(Chant)
A community is an
anchor in an unstable world
It is a picture of
how things can be
The hope of heaven
played out in this world
An open place
where the future is spun
It is home
(Chant)
A community is
love's workplace
It is the space
for creativity and care
For support and suffering
A deep down place
of life
It is home
(Chant)
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