Order of Service – 30th March 2025

The Order of Service follows below.

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Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

Sunday 30 March, 2025
Preacher: Rev John Minchin
Lent 4. Purple

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

As you wait for worship to begin, please turn your phone to silent.

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country

Naa marni?
(Are you all good?)
Marni Ai!
(Good I am)

Lighting of the Candles

The candles are lit during the song

We listen: “Breathe, Listen, and Notice”

You are invited to listen and then sing just the words in Bold.

Help us speak less,
slow judgement,
breathe,
listen,
and notice…
what is present in the dissonance,
discomfort,
and the questions.
Help us rest well,
find balance,
breathe,
listen,
and notice…
what is present in simplicity,
in slowness,
and in quiet.
Help us lean in,
seek wisdom,
breathe,
listen,
and notice…
what is present in the letting go,
the learning,
and the struggle.
Help us love well,
walk humbly,
breathe,
listen,
and notice:
God is calling us to faithfulness,
compassion,
and to courage.

Breathe,
listen,
and notice,
breathe,
listen,
and notice.

Call to Worship

Our God is a shepherding God.
Our God knows us by name.
Our God will never stop searching for us.
So if you feel lost,
then know that God is seeking you.
If you feel found,
then know that God will never leave.
This is the promise in the scriptures.
This is the promise of God’s love.
Let us worship our with-us God.

We sing: Amazing Grace

Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
As grace first taught my heart to fear
so grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
God’s grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

Together in Song, 129. John Newton 1725-1807. Public Domain.

Prayer of Confession

If God is a painter,
let us be the brush.
If God is a musician,
let us be the song.
If God is an architect,
let us be the tools.
Let us be the hands.
Let us be the builders.
But if God is a shepherd,
who never stops seeking,
let us be willing to be found,
no matter how lost we feel.
Our God is never far away.
Forgive us for forgetting this good news. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Hear and believe the good news of the gospel:
No matter how far we wander,
we can never wander from the bounds of God’s grace.
We are loved. We are forgiven. We are not alone.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

Passing of the Peace

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

Community News and Notices

LentEvent

We stand with the poor and vulnerable on the frontlines of climate change through LentEvent: 40 days of faith-filled action for God’s Creation.

Pick up a brochure or go to: www.lentevent.com.au

Go to our website to view current or previous issues of BP E-news and to sign up to receive BP E-news by email.

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.

We listen: “Breathe Listen and Notice”

Instrumental.

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-7

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

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

Creative Offering: Subtle Bricks

“Wolf Talk”

Message

**Lost & Found** by Lisle Gwynn Garrity. Inspired by Luke 15:1-7

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in a seeking God,
a with-us and before-us God,
a chasing-after-us God.

We believe that no matter where we wander
or what mountains we climb, this God—
the God who walked the streets of Jerusalem,
shook hands with lepers,
patted children on the head,
and told stories of love—
is always close at hand.

So on the good days and the hard days,
on the mountains and in the valleys,
we believe that we are always being found

Thanks be to God for a love like that.
Amen

We sing: Lost and Found

In the flock I am surrounded
By my siblings and my friends
Safe at home and feeling grounded
With my shepherd to defend
But an aching, longing feeling
As the stars shine late at night
Draws me in, my dreams revealing
And I know I’m not quite right
The horizon starts to brighten
As I quietly slip away
I can feel my spirit lighten
With each cautious step I take
Unfamiliar paths unfolding
As excitement blends with fear
All creation now enfolds me
Like the flock I hold so dear
As I wander down the quarry
A familiar voice cries out
It’s my shepherd searching for me
Reckless love has tracked me down
Though I left my place of refuge
He has followed all along
But I had to lose myself to
Find myself where I belong

Tune: Together in Song 493 BEACH SPRING ©Anna Strickland, 2024. Commissioned by A Sanctified Art, LLC. Free for congregational use.

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.

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

We sing: Christ’s is the World in Which we Move

Christ’s is the world in which we move;
Christ’s are the folk we’re summoned to love;
Christ’s is the voice which calls us to care,
and Christ is the one who meets us here.

    To the lost Christ shows his face,
    to the unloved he gives his embrace,
    to those who cry in pain or disgrace,
    Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.
Feel for the people we most avoid –
strange or bereaved or never employed.
Feel for the women and feel for the men
who fear that their living is all in vain.

    To the lost Christ shows his face,
    to the unloved he gives his embrace,
    to those who cry in pain or disgrace,
    Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.
Feel for the parents who’ve lost their child,
feel for the women whom men have defiled,
feel for the baby for whom there’s no breast,
and feel for the weary who find no rest.

    To the lost Christ shows his face,
    to the unloved he gives his embrace,
    to those who cry in pain or disgrace,
    Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.
Feel for the lives by life confused,
riddled with doubt, in loving abused;
feel for the lonely heart, conscious of sin,
which longs to be pure but fears to begin.

    To the lost Christ shows his face,
    to the unloved he gives his embrace,
    to those who cry in pain or disgrace,
    Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.

Together in Song 677. John L. Bell (born 1949) and Graham Maule (1958-2019) Tune: DREAM ANGUS (Scottish lullaby arranged by John L. Bell) Copyright © 1989, 1996 Wild Goose Resource Group c/o Iona Community, Glasgow, G2 3DH, Scotland.

Sending Forth and Benediction

As you leave this place,
may you find God in every messy middle.
May you know that the world is bigger than two sides.
May you trust that you are made in the image of God,
and therefore, you contain multitudes.
So may you move through this world with an open heart,
with a curious mind,
and with the confidence that you do not go alone.
God is with you in the mountains,
in the valleys,
and everywhere in between.
Believe that good news, and go in peace.
Amen

We sing: For You, Deep Stillness

For you, deep stillness of the silent inland;
for you, deep blue of the desert skies;
for you, flame red of the rocks and stones;
for you, sweet water from hidden springs.

From the edges, seek the heartlands,
and when you’re burnt by the journey,
may the cool winds of the hovering Spirit
soothe and replenish you.

In the name of Christ,
In the name of Christ.

Postlude

Come and share morning tea together, in the basement. There are stairs behind the organ and a ramp between the church and the car park. All are welcome!

This service has been prepared with assistance from

SANCTIFIED ART EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN WORDS FOR WORSHIP
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@sanctifiedart | sanctifiedart.org | contact@sanctifiedart.org

“Lost & Found” by Lisle Gwynn Garrity. Inspired by Luke 15:1-7. Newspaper & gold leaf collage with digital drawing

The Bible Reading is from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE). Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

L3: Liturgy, Learning, and (purposeful) Life. Writer: Cathie Lambert