Order of Service – 25th June 2023

The Order of Service follows below.

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Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

June 25 , 2023
Pentecost 4A
Preacher: Rev Gillies Ambler

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 – Faith will not grow

Words EJ Smith, music Vernon Griffiths (Together in Song 691)

Call to Worship

We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community To re-connect once more with the larger human family
To find once more that place of calm.
To remind ourselves that we belong.
And to remember what it is we belong to.

We come –
To centre ourselves,
to open ourselves,
to remember ourselves.
And to celebrate the life we share together.

We Sing: Come As You Are

’Come as you are: that’s how I want you.
Come as you are: feel quite at home,
Close to my heart, loved and forgiven.
Come as you are: why stand alone?
’No need to fear, love sets no limits;
no need to fear, love never ends;
don’t run away shamed and disheartened,
rest in my love, trust me again.
’I came to call sinners, not just the righteous;
I came to bring peace, not to condemn.
Each time you fail to live by my promise,
why do you think I’d love you the less?
‘Come as you are; that’s how I love you;
come as you are, trust me again.
Nothing can change the love that I bear you;
all will be well, just come as you are.’

Prayer of Invocation/Confession

Lord who created all, we want to sing your praises. But often we are dulled by troubles of our lives so that we find it difficult even to pray at all. We reach for you but our hearts come up empty. We open our lips but our soul is dry and lifeless. We fill the empty space with familiar phrases that ring like hollow jargon. We attempt pious statements that sound like prayers but leave our hearts cold as ever.
Hold us, loving Spirit.

(Silence)

We prepare for the task with candles and stillness but then our mind goes blank, we lose the sense of you, no words can bridge the gap. Like one who lies awake on a moonless night, we are surrounded by a great emptiness and all we feel we can do is wait for the dawn.
Hold us, loving Spirit.

(Silence)

Then, a voice arises from deep within – your voice, more true and authentic than anything we have known. This is the prayer of a soul that has faced the emptiness and been filled by the Eternal Source.
Forgive us for the times we fill this holy, empty space with trite words.

Forgive us for the ways we manufacture prayers that are presumptive and pedestrian.
Forgive us for not trusting that your dawning presence is with us in the deepest silences and the longest of nights.

Words of Assurance

The One to whom we pray is with us always. In silence and song, in darkness and in the light of day, in relationships and solitude we are never far from the Eternal Source. Lean into the grace of this Steady One: know it, trust it, live for this grace always. We are forgiven
Thanks be to God

Choir: Give Thanks

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

Sunday School/Youth Band

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.

Choral Anthem – Care for our World

Music: Peter Rose. Words: Ann Conlon, (RSCM 81)

Scripture Reading: Mark 10: 46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

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

Message: Embracing, reflecting and acting within God’s Loving Mission

We Sing: The Summons

Will you come and follow me
if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?
Will you leave yourself behind
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
in you and you in me?
Will you let the blinded see
if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean
in you and you in me?
Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
to reshape the world around
through my sight and touch and sound
in you and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true
when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
in you and you in me.

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: Tell out My Soul

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice;
tender to me the promise of his word;
in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name!
Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure, from age to age the same;
his holy name – the Lord, the Mighty One.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!
Powers and dominions lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.
Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!
Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
to children’s children and for evermore!

Together in Song 161. Words © 1962 Timothy Dudley-Smith 1926- Based on Luke 1:46-55 in The New English Bible., renewal 1990 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL60188. All rights reserved. ONE LICENSE, License #A‑604444.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing: May the God of Peace go with us

Ian Jamieson (Church Hymnary 786)

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 resources published by Moira Laidlaw (B.A., Dip.Theol., D.Min.) Cover Image: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, CC BY-NC 3.0<