Order of Service – 5th January 2025

The Order of Service follows below.

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Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

January 5, 2025
Preacher: Rev Dr Ian Price
Liturgical week: Second Sunday after Christmas; Colour: White

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

Welcome! As you wait for worship to begin, please turn your phone to silent.

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country

Naa marni?
(Are you all good?)
Marni Ai!
(Good I am)

We acknowledge that we meet together on the land of the Kaurna people. We pay our respect to the elders past and present whose care nurtures this land, its people, its creatures, its plants, and its waters.

Lighting of the Candles

Call to worship

Prayer

We Sing: Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising, Verses 1, 2, 6, 7.

Come, your hearts and voices raising,
Christ the Lord with gladness praising;
loudly sing His love amazing,
Christian people, one and all.
See how God, for us providing,
gave his Son and life abiding;
he our pilgrim steps is guiding
from earth’s pain to heavenly joy.
Oh, the joy beyond expressing
when by faith we grasp this blessing,
and with thanks we come confessing,
you, O Jesus, as our Lord.
Dearest child, in mercy hear us,
from your lowly manger cheer us,
gently lead us and be near us
till we join the angel choir.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession

Gracious God, we give you thanks and praise for the ways in which you come into our life.
We are in awe of the ways in which you bring light to dark places, offering new life when all seems lost.

God of Mercy,
we confess in this season of light that we sometimes choose to live in the darkness.

When we find it easier to look away rather than be a neighbour
Forgive us, Lord.

When we find it easier to close our ears rather than hear the cries of the vulnerable
Forgive us, Lord.

Help us to see with the light of your life.
When we are frail, give us strength;
when we are blind, open our eyes;
when we are broken, heal our wounds.
Lord, have mercy.

Words of Assurance

In Christ we are made new and reconciled to God and one another. Hear this word of joy: In Christ, we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God!

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 at the entrances.

Duet – Joanna Palmer and Jacob Wilson

Scripture: John 1:(1-9), 10-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

We Sing: O Come All Ye Faithful, verses 1,4,6

O come, all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant,
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him
born the king of angels:

    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    Christ the Lord.
Lo, star-led chieftains,
wise men, Christ adoring,
offer him incense, gold and myrrh;
we to the Christchild
bring our hearts’ oblations:

    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    Christ the Lord.
Sing, choirs of angels,
sing in exultation,
sing all ye citizens of heaven above,
‘Glory to God,
glory in the highest’:

    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
    Christ the Lord.

TIS 304. Words by William Thomas Brooke 1848 – 1917. Public Domain

Address – Believing

A Statement of Faith from the United Church of Canada

We are not alone,

we live in God’s world.

We believe in God:

who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new,

who works with us and the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the church:

to celebrate God’s presence,

to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

God is with us.

We are not alone.

Thanks be to God. 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 at the front of 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: Because We Bear Your Name

Lord Jesus, we belong to you,
you live in us, we live in you;
we live and work for you

because we bear your name.
Help us receive each other, Lord,
for you receive the least of us
and come to us in them –

Because we bear your name.
Bless those who give us any gift,
because they know that we are yours;
reward them with your grace –

Because we bear your name.
Let us acknowledge those as friends
who use your name to right a wrong,
but have not joined us yet –

Because we bear your name.
Let nothing that we do or say
offend the weak so that they fail
and lose their faith in you –

Because we bear your name.
Keep us from missing out on life;
give hands that help, and single sight,
and feet that walk your way –

Because we bear your name.
You are the salt that cleanses us,
so clean us out, and make us fit
for common life with you –

Because we bear your name.

Benediction

Blessing

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 leading to the basement. You are welcome!

This service has been prepared with assistance from

Words for Worship (MediaCom Education)

The Scripture Reading is from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition