Order of Service – 14th May 2023

The Order of Service follows below.

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Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

May 14,2023
Easter 6A
Preacher: Rev Peter Morel

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country

Lighting of Candles and Introit – I, the Lord of Sea and Sky

Daniel Schutte (Together in Song 658)

Call to Worship

We come to worship,
glad and joyful.

We come to worship,
amazed.

We come to worship,
perplexed.

We come to worship today knowing we will be met with words of challenge and words of comfort.

Prayer of Invocation

We Sing: Jesus Calls Us Here to Meet Him

Jesus calls us here to meet him
as, through word and song and prayer,
we affirm God’s promised presence
where his people live and care.
Praise the God who keeps his promise;
praise the Son who calls us friends;
praise the Spirit who, among us,
to our hopes and fears attends.
Jesus call us to confess him
Word of Life and Lord of All,
sharer of our flesh and frailness
saving all who fail or fall.
Tell his holy human story;
tell his tales that all may hear;
tell the world that Christ in glory
came to earth to meet us here.
Jesus calls us to each other:
found in him are no divides.
Race and class and sex and language
such are barriers he derides.
Join the hand of friend and stranger;
join the hands of age and youth;
join the faithful and the doubter
in their common search for truth.

Together in Song 477. John L. Bell and Graham Maule © 1989, WGRG, Iona Community. Administered in Australia and New Zealand by Willow Publishing Pty Ltd. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches.

Prayer of Confession

Words of Affirmation

Passing of the Peace

The peace of our God be with you.
And also with you.

Community News and Notices

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Prayer of Mothers’ Day

Children’s Time

Children may go downstairs for Sunday School. Parents, you are welcome to join your child in Sunday School if you feel your child may need your assistance. Alternatively, you may wish for your child to remain with you for the duration of worship. Activity packs are available at the entrances.

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and be dependent on no one.

From this shines forth the Word of God.
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem – I am with you always

John Rutter

Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The Gospel of Christ, Light of the world.
Thanks be to God.

Address

We Sing: The Power of Your Love

Lord I come to you:
let my heart be changed, re-newed,
flowing from the grace that I found in you.
And, Lord, I’ve come to know
the weaknesses I see in me
will be stripped away by the power of your love.

Hold me close, let your love surround me;
bring me near, draw me to your side:
and as I wait I’ll rise up like the eagle,
and I will soar with you:
your Spirit leads me on
in the power of your love.
Lord, unveil my eyes,
let me see you face to face,
the knowledge of your love as you live in me.
Lord renew my mind
as your will unfolds in my life,
in living every day in the power of your love.

Hold me close, let your love surround me;
bring me near, draw me to your side:
and as I wait I’ll rise up like the eagle,
and I will soar with you:
your Spirit leads me on
in the power of your love.

Geoffrey William Bullock 1955- Words from The Songs of Geoff Bullock by permission Nightlight Music Group (Aust). Used with permission under Licence No. 137219 CCLI Copyright.

Offering

To give electronically please go to bpuc.org/give

Alternatively, there is an offering bowl near the lectern on the left-hand side as you exit the church

Chimes: For the Beauty of the Earth

Offering Prayer

Prayers of the People

THE LORD’S PRAYER

…And now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us saying:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name,

your Kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

We Sing: Take My Life and Let it Be

Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
nothing, Lord, would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love: my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.

Together in Song 599. Frances Ridley Havergal 1836 – 79 alt. Public Domain.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing: The Peace of God

John Bullard (Fl A 58)

Postlude: Chimes – Beauty for Brokenness

Come and share morning tea together, downstairs in the basement. There are stairs behind the organ and a ramp between the church and the car park leading to the basement.

Some of the liturgy in this service is adapted from Spill the Beans, published by the Spill the Beans Resource Team, spillbeans.org.uk and also Words for Worship and Seasons of the Spirit, published by MediaCom Education – mediacomeducation.org.au