Order of Service – 22nd September 2024

The Order of Service follows below.

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Brougham Place Uniting Church

Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

22 September 2024
Preacher: Rev Linda Driver
Season of Creation 4: Sky Sunday
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.

Introit and Lighting of the Candles

Sing of the Lord’s Goodness (TiS 183)

Opening Words

Call to Worship

Through sun and shadow,
God’s love will remain.

Through deluge and thunder
God’s love will remain.

Through fog and flurries,
God’s love will remain.

Through breeze and bluster,
God’s love will remain.

Through cloudless and clear,
God’s love will remain.

Through rain and rainbow,
God’s love will remain.

Through all that life brings,
God’s love will remain.

Come, let us worship God.
Holy! Holy! Holy!

Sky is filled with God’s presence.
Holy! Holy! Holy!

Earth is filled with your presence.
Holy! Holy! Holy!

This place is filled with your presence!
Amen!

We sing: God of Creation

God of Creation, gentle life-giver,
present at birth and all through our days;
author of sunrise, song in the night sky
here in this place, we offer our praise.
Jesus, companion, teacher and healer,
friend of the grieving, suffering, the poor
stand with your people, whisper among us
promise of mercy, goodness for all.
Spirit of comfort, blow through creation,
stir up new life, breathe peace through our world.
Healer of hearts, and hope for tomorrow,
weave all our sorrows into new dawn.
Here we give thanks for life in its fullness,
blessings received, your gifts to us all.
Make us a people filled with compassion,
selflessly giving, serving your world.

Responsive Psalm: Psalm 19:1-6

The Inclusive Bible
(A Sheed & Ward Book. Rowman & Littleford Pub, Maryland 2009)

The heavens herald your glory, O God,
and the skies display your handiwork.

Day after day
they tell their story,

and night after night
they reveal the depth of their understanding.

Without speech, without words,
without even an audible voice,

their cry echoes through all the world,
and their message reaches the ends of the earth.

For in the heavens the sun has pitched a tent. It comes forth with the grandeur of a wedding procession, with the eagerness of an athlete ready to race.
It rises at one end of the sky
and travels to the other end,
and nothing escapes its warmth.

Opening Prayer

We invite the skies to worship with us:
the subtle orange skies at dawn
and the bold red skies at sunset..

We join the heavens in praising God
proclaiming God’s glory across the globe
and hailing God’s name with the evening stars.

We join with the atmosphere in worship:
the air, the moisture, the oxygen,
the wind and all the expressions of God’s Spirit.

We call the clouds to celebrate with storms:
to carry the life giving drops of rain,
that give hope and healing to Earth.

We invite the winds to join our petitions:
to carry our prayers to God
and breathe our hopes to Christ in person.

We celebrate the song of the skies!
And we give thanks to Creator God!

Prayer of Confession

Creator God

Who is awesome and understanding of the needs of every part of creation

We realise that our decisions and actions in the past have caused damage to the physical environment, to all living plants, and animals, and to each other.

We are sorry.

We are sorry.

Inspire us to take action to restore the connections with all of creation

and our relationships with one another.

Guide and embolden us O Lord

Amen

Words of Assurance

Trust in God’s love for us.
Be assured of God’s presence.
Know that God hears our prayers;
God cares; God forgives; and God acts.
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

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Thanking Deidre

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.

Anthem

For the Beauty of the Earth (Rutter)

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-11

New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)

If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he existed in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
   and gave him the name
   that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

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

Message

Stations

Choose a station:

Action: Fill out a postcard, expressing concern about use of fossil fuels.
Audit: What does your household do to care for creation?
Pray: Choose an image of creation and spend some quiet time in lament and hope for Creation.
Listen: Watch a short video providing First Nations perspectives (from the Pacific) on how to care for creation.
Create: Trace and cut out your hand to help make the Season of Creation Logo.
Write: Write a Prayer

We sing: Let all Creation Dance

Together in Song 187

Let all creation dance
in energies sublime,
as order turns with chance,
unfolding space and time,
for nature’s art
in glory grows,
and newly shows
God’s mind and heart.
God’s breath each force unfurls,
igniting from a spark
expanding starry swirls,
with whirlpools dense and dark.
Though moon and sun
seem mindless things,
each orbit sings:
‘Your will be done.’
Our own amazing earth,
with sunlight, cloud and storms
and life’s abundant growth
in lovely shapes and forms,
is made for praise,
a fragile whole,
and from its soul
heaven’s music plays.
Lift heart and soul and voice:
in Christ all praises meet
and nature shall rejoice
as all is made complete.
In hope be strong,
all life befriend
and kindly tend
creation’s song.

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.

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

God, our Creator, through your love you have given us these gifts to share. Accept our offerings as an expression of our deep thanks and our concern for those in need, including our fellow creatures on planet Earth.
With all creation, we praise our Creator.

We sing: I the Lord of Sea and Sky

Together in Song 658

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin
my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night;
I will go, Lord, if you lead me;
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain;
I have wept for love of them.
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them.
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night;
I will go, Lord, if you lead me;
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame;
I will set a feast for them.
My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide
till their hearts are satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night;
I will go, Lord, if you lead me;
I will hold your people in my heart.

Sending Forth and Benediction

May the Spirit of God, who is above all and in all and through all, fill you with the knowledge of God’s presence in sky and Earth and the pulsing of Christ within you.

Go in peace!
Serving Christ and loving Earth!

We go in peace,
serving Christ and loving Earth.

Choral Blessing

For You, Deep Stillness (Mann/Perrin)

Extroit

(During an Extroit, it is appropriate to leave the sanctuary if you wish.)

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!

Some of the liturgy in this service is adapted from:

Seasons of the Spirit, Wood Lake Publishing

Liturgy: Sky Sunday
Season of Creation.com

Cover Photo:
Sunset at Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, QLD. Taken by Linda Driver, May 2022, on an iPhone 13