Order of Service – 18th June 2023

The Order of Service follows below.

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Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

June 18, 2023
Pentecost 3A
Preacher: Rev Robyn Caldicott

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 – Sent by the Lord am I

American folk melody arr John Bell, Church Hymnary 250

Call to Worship

Welcome.
It is God’s welcome
You are valued and loved.
It is God’s welcome.
We offer you some refreshment.
It is God’s welcome.
Stay a while in this place.
It is God’s welcome.

We Sing: All Are Welcome

Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where hands will reach
beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
bear the image of God’s face:
let us bring an end to fear and danger:

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where all are named,
their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed
as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Words of Assurance

Passing of the Peace

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

Community News and Notices

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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.

Introduction to reading:

Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:35 – 10:23

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.

‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’

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

Choral Anthem: A Gaelic Blessing

John Rutter

Message

We Sing: Gather Us In

Here in this place new light is streaming,
now is the darkness vanished away,
see, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,
brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken;
gather us in, the blind and the lame;
call to us now, and we shall awaken,
we shall arise at the sound of our name.
We are the young, our lives are a mystery;
we are the old, who yearn for your face;
we have been sung throughout all of history,
called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in, the rich and the haughty;
gather us in, the proud and the strong;
give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
give us the courage to enter the song.
Not in the dark of buildings confining,
not in some heaven light years away,
but here in this space, the new light is shining,
now is the kingdom, now is the day.
Gather us in, and hold us forever;
gather us in, and make us your own;
gather us in, all peoples together,
fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

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

Offering Prayer

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s prayer

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: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation;
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation.
Come all who hear,
brothers and sisters draw near,
praise him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord who in all things is wondrously reigning
and, as on wings of an eagle, uplifting, sustaining;
have you not seen
all that is needed has been
sent by his gracious ordaining?
Praise to the Lord, who will prosper our work and defend us;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend us;
ponder anew
what the Almighty can do
as with his love he befriends us.
Praise to the Lord, who when darkness of sin is abounding,
who, when the godless do triumph, our best hopes confounding,
sheds forth his light,
scatters the horrors of night,
saints with his mercy surrounding.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen
sound from his people again:
gladly for ever adore him.

Together in Song 111. Joachim Neander 1650-80 tr. Catherine Winkworth 1827-78 and others (PD).

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing: Go forth into the world in peace

Martin Shaw

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 ‘Bare Feet and Buttercups’ Compilation © 2008 Ruth Burgess, Words for Worship published by MediaCom Education – mediacomeducation.org.au, and Spill the Beans, published by the Spill the Beans Resource Team, spillbeans.org.uk; Cover Image: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, CC BY-NC 3.0