A Light on the Hill

Order of Service – 16th July 2023

The Order of Service follows below.

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Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

July 16, 2023
Pentecost 7A Preacher: Rev Andrew Prior

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 – God whose farm is all creation

John Arlott (Together in Song 159)

Call to Worship

Come to the Sower of seeds, Planter of hearts. Come this morning to the enriched, fertile ground of God’s love. Come away from the stony ground, away from the strangling weeds. Come let your roots be strengthened and your hearts flourish. Come and worship God.

Come to the place of enrichment
We come to worship our Lord.

We Sing: Gather us in

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

Together in Song 474. Marty Haugen. © 1982 GIA Publications. All rights reserved. ONE LICENSE, License #A‑604444.

Prayer of Confession

God sends us messages:

When we receive them God you make our lives better. When we delete them we make our lives worse.

When your message says “love others” and we don’t
Dear God, we’re sorry.

When your message says “Love ourselves” and we don’t
Dear God, we’re sorry.

When your message says “Love me” and we don’t
Dear God, we’re sorry.
Help us to love you.
Help us to know you love us.
Help us to share your love with others. Amen

Words of Forgiveness

Prayer of Adoration and Thanksgiving

Passing of the Peace

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

Community News and Notices

Current or previous BP E-news and to sign up to receive BP E-news

Music Interlude – Emelia Haskey

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 Sing: Listen to the Word which God has Spoken

Choir Only x 1

Listen to the word which God has spoken,
Listen to the One who is close at hand,
Listen to the voice which began creation,
Listen even if you don’t understand.

Congregation x 2

Listen to the word which God has spoken,
Listen to the One who is close at hand,
Listen to the voice which began creation,
Listen even if you don’t understand.

Church Hymnary 4 780. Canadian original, adapted. Contributors: John Bell WGRG, Iona Community. Administered in Australia and New Zealand by Willow Publishing Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. ONE LICENSE, License #A‑604444.

Scripture Readings today come from:

Genesis 25:19-34
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

The full presentation of the scriptures this morning, as well as the sermon can be found at www.onemansweb.org/sown

Choral Anthem: – Now the Green Blade Rises

trad French arr Alan Bullard (Fl Anthem 38)

Sermon

We Sing: A Spendthrift Lover is the Lord

  1. A spendthrift lover is the Lord
    Who never counts the cost
    Or asks if Heaven can afford
    to woo a world that’s lost.
    Our lover tosses coins of gold
    Across the midnight skies
    And stokes the sun against the cold
    To warm us when we rise.

  2. Still more is spent in blood and tears
    to win the human heart
    to overcome the violent fears
    that drive the world apart
    Behold the bruised and thorn crowned face of
    one who bears our scars.
    And empties out the wealth and grace
    that’s hinted by the stars.

  3. How shall we love this heart strong God
    who gives us everything?
    Whose ways to us are strange and odd
    What can we give or bring?
    Acceptance of the matchless gift
    is gift enough to give.
    The very act will shake and shift
    The way we love and live.

Together in Song 676. Tune Kingsfold (Together in Song 262). Thomas Henry Troeger 1945- Words and music by permission Oxford University Press, New York, USA. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches.

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

…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: Jesus Calls us Here to Meet Him

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

Sending forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing – Blessing: Peace and Goodwill

L Bray / R Nairn

Postlude

Lee Parker – Bagpipes

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 Resources and the book Barefeet and Buttercups a Wild Goose Publication.