A Light on the Hill
Order of Service – 26th May 2024
The Order of Service follows below.
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Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill
26th May, 2024
Preacher: Rev Linda Driver
Trinity Sunday. Liturgical colour: White
Reconciliation Sunday
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.
Prelude
Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country
Naa marni?
(Are you all good?)
Marni Ai!
(Good I am)
Marni naa pudni
(Good you all came)
In this space you, God, are present,
just as you are present in all spaces.
In this time you, God, are here,
just as you are in all times.
We are your people from many places and many times.
As we gather here and online, we acknowledge the important threads of
love which our First Peoples bring to the tapestry of the story of our
land. We acknowledge the wonder, beauty and spirit of Country and the
place it has in the identity and spirituality of the Kaurna people of
the Adelaide Plains. I invite those joining us online to name the First
Peoples of place where you are.
We pay our respect to elders past and present.
May we journey in harmony and togetherness into a better future
for all.
Introit and Lighting of the Candles
Glory to God in the Highest (John Bell)
Call to Worship
Our land is alive with the glory of God;
desert sands hum and gum trees dance.
Brown grasses sing
and mountains breathe their stillness.
All created things add their rhythms of delight
and even stones rap out their praise.
Let our voices mingle with those of the earth;
may our hearts join the beat of her joy,
for our triune God is with us: the source of all being surrounds and
upholds us.
Christ Jesus walks beside and before us. The Spirit moves within and
between us.
Blessed be God, our wonder and delight.
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.
All Together All Right, 605. Craig Mitchell © 2010. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No. 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches.
Prayer for Reconciliation Sunday
Dear God,
You are the creator, redeemer and sustainer of life, within whom the
land, sea and sky and all that live in them shared your life and love in
their diversity and unity.
In Christ, we see and experience the power of your love. Love that
brings healing, forgiveness, and renewed life.
Through the work of your Spirit, we share your grace to create and
reconcile our life and relationship with our neighbour, and land, sea,
and sky.
Now more than ever, O God, you continue to offer all Australians
opportunities to speak and act in support of the First Nation peoples.
We thank you for the faith and courage of those who have died and those
who continue to speak and act, inviting others to join the
reconciliation journey and learn our shared histories, culture and
achievements.
We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history. We acknowledge the
suffering of your people, especially the First People of these lands,
now known as Australia.
We pause to remember all who have lost their lives in the struggle for
justice and peace in Australia and our world.
(pause)
We pray for humility and empathy, for wisdom and understanding. We pray
for your forgiveness and ask for courage to play our part to be agents
of healing and reconciliation.
Now more than ever, O God, Help us and strengthen our hope in Christ and
his love that bears our sins and our brokenness, and reconcile us to you
and to each other.
May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts,
and his love be the guiding light in all that we say and do
Amen.
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
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
Holy, Holy, Holy (F Schubert. Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems 26)
Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came
to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a
teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do
unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell
you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?
Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus
answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is
flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished
that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where
it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it
comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus
answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not
understand these things?
”Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we
have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you
about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I
tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except
the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but
in order that the world might be saved through him.
The Gospel of Christ, Light of the world.
Thanks be to God.
Message
We sing: O Breath of Life
O breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and power;
O breath of life, come cleanse, renew us,
and fit your church to meet this hour.O wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore: for this we plead.O breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in every part.Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting
equip your church to spread the light.
Together in Song 409. Elizabeth Ann Porter Head 1850-1936. Public Domain.
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 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
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
May our footsteps, on these ancient lands,
remind us of creation and connectedness,
in our search for truth.
May the Gum Tree, from its roots to its branches,
remind us to dig deep and reach high,
in our action for justice.
May the Eagle, who soars in the sky,
remind us of the power,
in our call for love.
May the expanse of the lands and seas, of the sky and stars,
remind us of God’s timing
in our faith in hope.
May the Holy three,
Creator Spirit, Lord God, Papa Jesus,
remind us of community.
Go with grace, mercy, and peace,
go in truth, justice, love and hope.
Amen
Nakutha (Nahg-udda)
(Goodbye but not forever)
Blessing
Shine, Holy Spirit of Peace (R Nairn)
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.
Marni naa pudni
(Good you all came)
This service has been prepared with assistance from:
Rev Sani Vaeluaga, Leopold Uniting Church: Prayer from 2024
Reconciliation Week Resources, SA Synod
Act2 Project Unit, Uniting Church Assembly: Uniting In Prayer Worship
Resource 2024
Brooke Prentis: Aboriginal Blessing shared with us through Common
Grace.
Uniting Church Day of Mourning Resource 2022
Latimore, Kelly. Trinity, from Art in the Christian
Tradition, a project of the
Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57123
[retrieved May 22, 2024]. Original source: Kelly Latimore Icons, https://kellylatimoreicons.com/.
Bible Reading: New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)
Cover Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
