Order of Service – 25th September 2022

The Order of Service follows below.

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September 25, 2022
Season of Creation 2 – Mutuality of Grace-all is Gift
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgment of Land:

led by the children with Alison Williams

Lighting of the Candles and Introit

Care for our World – Rose

Prepare:

You are invited to hold in your hand the natural object you collected on entering the church this morning. For those worshipping online; you are invited to find any item made from nature: wood, leaves, shells, feathers or stone and hold it in your hand.

Call to Worship

Come worship our creator God who made the heavens and the earth, the sun and the seas, the moon and the stars, the soil and all that grows in it, the rain and the wind, the cycle of the seasons.
Creator God, we worship you,
for the wonder and the beauty that surrounds us.

Come worship our creator God; give thanks for this day of enjoying fresh water, nourishing food, dry shelter.
Creator God, we worship you –
you provide all we need for our well being –
our living and our working spaces,
our playing and our leisure space,
our resting spaces and our worshipping spaces.

Come and worship our creator God, who wove an amazing web of interconnectedness between us and every living creature.
Creator God, we worship you
for the mysteries of life on this tiny planet, our home.
We lift to you our songs of praise!

We Sing: Oh the Life of the World

Oh, the life of the world is a joy and a treasure,
Unfolding in beauty the green-growing tree,
The changing of seasons in mountain and valley,
The stars and the bright restless sea.
Oh, the life of the world is a fountain of goodness
Overflowing in labour and passion and pain,
In the sound of the city and the silence of wisdom,
In the birth of a child once again.
Oh the life of the world is the source of our healing.
It rises in laughter and wells up in song;
It springs from the care of the poor and the broken
And refreshes where justice is strong.
So give thanks for the life and give love to the Maker,
And rejoice in the gift of the bright risen Son,
And walk in the peace and the power of the Spirit
Till the days of our living are done.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession

Words of assurance

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

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.

Choral Anthem

For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter

Scripture Reading Psalm 104:24-30, 33, 34, 35b

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.

There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

These all look to you to give them their food in due season;

when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!

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

A Reflection

Thoughts to ponder

All of creation is interrelated.
All creation is gift.
How are we blessed by creation?
How do we be gift to creation?
The Psalm says: “May my meditation be pleasing to him as I rejoice in the Lord”. What meditation would please the Lord?

We Sing – God made me as I am

God made me as I am,
part of creation’s plan.
No one else can ever be
the part of God’s plan that’s me.

Offering

To give electronically please go to bpuc.org/give

Prayers of the People

As we pray together, you are invited to again hold in your hand that small natural artefact that you collected on your way in this morning. This morning we will use a different version of the Lord’s Prayer, which can be found in your order of service.

And now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray together, saying…

Eternal Spirit

Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

source of all that is and that shall be,

Mother and Father of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven.

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed

by the peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom

sustain our hope and come on earth!

With the bread that we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In time of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,

now and forever. Amen.

We Sing: Touch the Earth Lightly

Touch the earth lightly,
use the earth gently,
nourish the life of the world in our care:
Gift of great wonder,
ours to surrender,
trust for the children tomorrow will bear.
Let there be greening,
birth from the burning,
water that blesses and air that is sweet,
health in God’s garden,
hope in God’s children,
regeneration that peace will complete.
God of all living,
God of all loving,
God of the seedling, the snow and the sun,
teach us, deflect us,
Christ re-connect us,
using us gently and making us one.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing

For You, Deep Stillness – Robin Mann

Postlude

Come and share morning tea together, downstairs in the basement. Please wait for a steward to indicate it is time to move.