Order of Service – 1st September 2024

The Order of Service follows below.

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The firstfruits of hope
(Rom 8:19-25)

Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

1 September 2024
Communion
Preacher: Rev Linda Driver
Season of Creation 1
Liturgical colour: Green / Teal

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)

We care for Kaurna land,
We care for Kaurna sky.
We care for Kaurna waters,
We touch our hearts and say:
Thank you, Kaurna people.

Opening words

Welcome

Blessed be the name of God, God of our ancestors, God of the generations yet to come. Blessed be the Creating God, Redeeming Son and the Sustaining Spirit. As we gather, we hear the groans of Creation and the cries of our sisters and brothers. As we gather, we bring our seeds of hope, the firstfruits of the Spirit.

(Rev Sikawu, Central Methodist Church, Cape Town)

As we gather, we light the candles, signs of hope, signs of Christ’s presence here with us today.

Lighting of the Candles

Call to Worship

Come, let us worship God, who gifted us with life and Creation to sustain life.
We praise God for the wondrous Creation.

Come, let us follow Lord Jesus Christ, who inspires us to hope and act for justice and righteousness.
We give glory to God, who restores the groaning Creation and the vulnerable.

Come let us move with the Holy Spirit, striving to establish justice and produce the firstfruits of hope.
We praise God for the abundant life that is assured to all Creation.

Heavenly Triune God and Creator of all, we gather here, made in the image of the Creator,
who created in love.

We gather in the name of the redeemer, our Savior Jesus Christ,
who reconciles all of Creation.

We gather in the presence of the life Giver, your Holy Spirit,
who inspires new life and instils hope.

(World Council of Churches, Eco-School at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece, 11-18 November 2023)

We sing: Come O God of All the Earth

Come, O God of all the earth:
come to us, O Righteous One;
come, and bring our love to birth:
in the glory of your Son.

Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you;
raise your joyful cries;
dance to the life around you.
Come, O God of wind and flame:
fill the earth with righteousness;
teach us all to sing your name:
may our lives your love confess.

Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you;
raise your joyful cries;
dance to the life around you.
Come, O God of flashing light:
twinkling star and burning sun;
God of day and God of night:
in your light we all are one.

Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you;
raise your joyful cries;
dance to the life around you.
Come, O Justice, come, O Peace:
come and shape our hearts anew;
come and make oppression cease:
bring us all to life in you.

Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you;
raise your joyful cries;
dance to the life around you.

Thanksgiving for the Earth

God of Holy Dreaming, great Creator Spirit, from the dawn of Creation you have given your children the good things of our mothering Earth. You spoke and the gum tree grew.

In the vast desert and the dense forest, and in the cities and at the water’s edge, Creation sings your praise.

Your presence endures at the rock at the heart of our land.

When Jesus hung on the tree you heard the cries of all your people and became one with your wounded ones: the convicts, the hunted, the dispossessed.

The sunrise of your Son coloured the Earth anew and bathed it in glorious hope. In Jesus, we have been reconciled to you, to each other and to your whole Creation.

Lead us on, Great Spirit, as we gather from the four corners of the Earth; enable us to walk together in trust from the hurt and shame of the past into the full day that has dawned in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council

We Sing: God, You Made Your Good Creation Tune: BEACH SPRING

God, you made your good creation and you hold it in your care —
From each starry constellation to each forest under-layer.
Tiny creatures, mountain splendor, rivers, lakes and ocean floors —
You are loving, kind and tender in your care for what is yours.
Yet, O God, the earth is crying, times are changing, storms are strong.
Now the coral reefs are dying, floods are raging, droughts are long.
Though the circumstances differ, when the earth is in distress,
See! The poor are first to suffer from our greed and selfishness.
God, you love this world we live in, so you sent your only Son.
“Here on earth as in your heaven,” God, we pray, “Your will be done.”
By your Spirit, may we listen to the earth and to the poor;
May we care for all you’ve given till creation is restored.

Tune: The Sacred Harp, 1844; attributed to Benjamin Franklin White; harmony (c) 2017 Christopher Gage (“God Whose Giving Knows No Ending”). Text: Copyright © 2016 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Email: carolynshymns@gmail.com New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com

Season of Creation Prayer

Triune God, Creator of all, We praise you for your goodness, visible in all the diversity that you have created, making us a cosmic family living in a common home. Through the Earth you created, we experience love and nourishment, home and protection.
Creator God, we praise you!

We confess that we do not relate to the Earth as a Mothering gift from you, our Creator. Our selfishness, greed, neglect, and abuse have caused the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, human suffering as well as the suffering of all our fellow creatures. We confess that we have failed to listen to the groans of the Earth, the groans of all creatures, and the groans of the Spirit of hope and justice that lives within us.
Creator God, we are sorry.

May your Creator Spirit help us in our weakness, so that we may know the redeeming power of Christ and the hope found in him. May the groans of the Spirit birth in us a willingness to serve you faithfully, so that we may hear and heal Creation, to hope and act together with her, so that the firstfruits of hope may blossom.
Creator Spirit, help us!

Loving and Creator God, we pray that you will make us sensitive to these groans and enable us to have the same compassion as that of Jesus, the redeeming Lord. Grant us a fresh vision of our relationship with Earth, and with one another, as creatures that are made in your image.
Creator God, inspire us with hope!

In the name of the one who came to proclaim the good news to all Creation, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Passing of the Peace

May the peace of 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.

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole of creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labour, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

May the Spirit of God open our eyes to see, our ears to hear,
and our hearts to understand.

Message

Affirmation of Faith

We have faith
in one God, one Source of all life,
one Ground of the whole Earth,
who created all things good.
And we have faith
in Christ, in whom we have been shown the special role of humanity to bear
God’s likeness in working and caring for Creation,
in seeking to understand her mysteries and powers,
in working with these powers
for the wellbeing of life on Earth.
And we have faith
in God’s Spirit who leads us to a meek, unselfish and compassionate lifestyle.
So that the Earth is inherited in peace,
her life is transformed for all creatures and her bounty shared justly.
So be it. Amen.

(Adapted From India. Source: Sinfonia Oecumenica, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1998. Reproduced by ECEN for Creation Time 2003)

We Sing: God the Great Imagination

God the great Imagination
lit a spark and there was light.
In a far-flung constellation
this small rock was set in flight.
Redgums soar in bellbird forests,
creatures roam in pastures green,
circled by the loving promise
of God’s covenantal dream.
Yet our world is still encumbered
by the heedless need for power.
Vested interests take and plunder,
human flourishing turns sour.
Still enslaved and still enslaving
can we yet uphold the dream?
Can God change our bad behaving
and our conflicts still redeem?
Jesus knew the world’s temptations,
and the pull of pow’r and might.
Lure of praise and reputation
would distract from best and right.
Faithful to God’s great intention,
grace and love with pow’r imbued;
by his life, death, resurrection,
Jesus proved the cov’nant true.
Gathered from across the nations,
pilgrims crowd the city square.
Tongues of fire and exclamations,
“Christ is Lord” heard everywhere.
Though our spoken words may differ,
Spirit still unites our hearts;
holy vision drawn in wonder
by the gifts that God imparts.
Can we work in co-creation,
work with hearts and hands to see
hope and reconciliation,
freedom in our world of need?
Shall we yet live out Love’s image,
suffer till the task is done?
Love will labour till it’s finished
and the transformation won.
God with cosmic inspiration
sets the possible to stir.
Christ the cosmic incarnation,
comes to change the way we were.
God beyond us, Christ beside us,
Spirit’s inward deep embrace.
Covenant of richest beauty
our Creator’s gift of grace.

Tune: Nettleton. Words © Sharonne Price.

Prayers of the People

“To hope and act with Creation”

Response:
Creator God:
May we hope and act with Creation.

(based on a prayer by Rev. James Bagwan, Pacific Conference of Churches)

“Prayer for Father’s Day”

Offering

To give electronically towards the ministry of Brougham Place, 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

All that we have and all that we are is from God, and given for the good of the Earth. So here we return a token of what we have asking that all that we have to offer be used to God’s glory. Blessed be God forever
Amen.

We Sing: Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ

Let us talents and tongues employ,
reaching out with a shout of joy;
bread is broken, the wine is poured,
Christ is spoken and seen and heard.

Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around: loaves abound!
Christ is able to make us one,
at the table he sets the tone,
teaching people to live to bless,
love in word and in deed express.

Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around: loaves abound!
Jesus call us in, sends us out
bearing fruit in a world of doubt,
gives us love to tell, bread to share:
God-Immanuel everywhere.

Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around: loaves abound!

Communion

Invitation

Words of Institution

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

… we come to God with our prayers of thanksgiving.
The Earth is God’s and everything in it.
God’s glory covers the earth
as the waters over the sea.

The trees of the field clap their hands.
The birds of the air sing songs of praise.

If we should stop expressing our worship,
even the rocks and stones would cry out in praise!

And so, we lift up our hearts and we lift up our voices.
We offer thanksgiving and praise to God, Creator of all.

Blessed are you, Creator God, for from seeds sown into the earth you have given us the gift of bread to feed and nourish us. And at Jesus’ last meal with his friends, before facing the cross, He took bread, blessed it and broke it. Then he passed it among them, saying:
“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.
Do this to remember me.”

The bread is broken

Blessed are you, Creator God, for from grapes which grow ripe and sweet on the vine, you have given us the gift of wine to refresh and heal us. And at Jesus’ last meal with his friends before facing the cross, He took the cup of wine and blessed it. Then he passed it among them, saying:
“Drink from this, all of you;
this is my life in the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins.\ Do this to remember me.”

The cup is held up

And now we come to your table again, Jesus…

…and with all of creation we bless and praise your glorious name:
Holy, holy, holy God,
Wisdom, strength and hope
Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one
who comes in the name of our God.
Hosanna in the highest!

Come Holy Spirit…

…ready us to take our role as agents of healing and change. Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, God of love,
now and for ever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray together in the words that Jesus taught us:

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.

And so, we will together share in this bread and this wine and remember Jesus.
These are the gifts of God for us, the people of God.

The Communion

Prayer After Communion

We Sing: Praise with Joy the World’s Creator

Praise with joy the world’s Creator,
God of justice, love and peace,
source and end of human knowledge,
force of greatness without cease.
Celebrate the Maker’s glory,
power to rescue and release.
Praise the Son who feeds the hungry,
frees the captive, finds the lost,
heals the sick, upsets religion,
fearless both of fate and cost.
Celebrate Christ’s constant presence –
Friend and Stranger, Guest and Host.
Praise the Spirit sent among us,
liberating truth from pride,
forging bonds where race or gender,
age or nation dare divide.
Celebrate the Spirit’s treasure –
foolishness none dare deride.
Praise the Maker, Son and Spirit,
one God in community,
calling Christians to embody
oneness and diversity.
Thus the world shall yet believe, when
shown Christ’s vibrant unity.

Together in Song, 179, John L. Bell 1949- and Graham Maule 1958- Words from Wild Goose Songs 1, Heaven Shall Not Wait. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 37219. Copyright cleared music for churches.

Benediction

God, who can set Creation free, show us your glory!
Glory to God!

God, who knows our groaning and crying, bring about new life!
Now and always!

God, who helps us in our weakness, give us the firstfruits of hope!
The Lord is our hope!

Triune God, sprinkle into our hearts the dew of your grace and bless us all!
Amen.

Blessing

And the blessing of God be upon you
the blessing of the Giver of life

The blessing of God be upon you
the blessing of the Christ of love

The blessing of God be upon you
the blessing of the Spirit of peace

The blessing of the Trinity be upon you now and evermore.
AMEN

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. You are welcome.

This service has been prepared with assistance from:

Season of Creation Celebration Guide: To Hope and Act with Creation Writers: Season of Creation Ecumenical Steering Committee

Creation Inclusive Sunday Liturgy Writer: Rev DJM Coleman, EcoChaplain, EcoCongregation Scotland.

Communion: adapted from Liturgies by John Van De Laar, Thom Shuman
and Uniting in Worship 2.

Bible Reading: New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)

Cover image: www.seasonofcreation.org