Order of Service – 9th June 2024

The Order of Service follows below.

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Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

9 June 2024
Pentecost 3B
Preacher: Rev Linda Driver
Liturgical colour: Green

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)

Introit and Lighting of the Candles

Spirit of God, Unseen as the Wind.
– RSCM 49

Call to Worship

When the sun rises,
God is with us.

When the day begins,
God is with us.

When the sun sets,
God is with us.

When the day ends,
God is with us.

In all times, in all ways, in all of us,
God is with us.

Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.

We Sing: Gather Us In

Here in this place new light is streaming,
now is the darkness vanished away,
see, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,
brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken;
gather us in, the blind and the lame;
call to us now, and we shall awaken,
we shall arise at the sound of our name.
We are the young, our lives are a mystery;
we are the old, who yearn for your face;
we have been sung throughout all of history,
called to be light to the whole human race.

Gather us in, the rich and the haughty;
gather us in, the proud and the strong;
give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
give us the courage to enter the song.
Not in the dark of buildings confining,
not in some heaven light years away,
but here in this space, the new light is shining,
now is the kingdom, now is the day.

Gather us in, and hold us forever;
gather us in, and make us your own;
gather us in, all peoples together,
fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

Opening Prayer

Loving God,
Creator of all that we can see, feel, and hear,
we thank you for being in our lives,
for sharing our fears and our hopes,
for loving us as we are,
not who others think we should be,
not who we wish we were,
but who we are:
your beloved children,
created in your image to be in this time and this place.

Help us to be like you,
to see the good in those around us and not to judge others,
guide us as we try to live a life that honours you and makes the lives of those around us better every day.
Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Perhaps we are never really ready for you, gracious God, never really able to understand how you shook up the world and upside-downed everyday expectations and ideas. We confuse promises of an easy life with those of an abundant and blessed life. We allow the loudest voices to instruct us on ethics and integrity and ignore those who speak words of compassion and peace. We buy the lie that money and status is all we need to fix what we believe has gone wrong and forget that kindness and goodness is your balm to what ails the world. Forgive us for not looking your way and seeking your wisdom above all else. Forgive us for trusting in false promises, rather than having faith in your love.
Fill us with the Spirit of faith and hope and love.
Amen

Words of Assurance

It is God who forgives.
It is God who renews,
It is God who brings life.
We are the children of God.
We are forgiven.
May we live in the peace that comes from Christ.
Amen

Passing of the Peace

May the peace of 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.

Anthem

In Our Lives Plant Seeds of Hope.
– CH 349

Scripture Readings

Mark 3:20–35

Then [Jesus] went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

”Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak, because we know that the one who raised Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you in his presence. Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that grace, when it has extended to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that, if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

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

Message

We Sing: Draw the Circle Wide

Draw the cir-cle,
Draw the circle wide,
Draw the cir-cle,
Draw the circle wide.
No one stands alone,
We’ll stand side by side.
Draw the circle,
Draw the circle wide.
(repeat once)

Draw the circle wide.
Draw it wider still,
Let this be our song
No one stands alone!
Standing side by side,
Draw the circle,
Draw the circle wide.
(repeat once)

Draw the cir-cle,
Draw the circle wide,
Draw the cir-cle,
Draw the circle wide.
No one stands alone,
We’ll stand side by side.
Draw the circle,
Draw the circle wide.
Draw the circle wide.
Draw it wider still,
Let this be our song
No one stands alone!
Standing side by side,

Draw the circle,
Draw the circle wide.
(repeat last 2 lines)

Words: Colin Light. Music: Mark a Miller. Words © 1994 Common Cup Co; music. © 2008 Abingdon Press, admin. By the Copyright Company. TFWS 3154 Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No. 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s Prayer

And now with the confidence of the children of God, we join together in praying with the words Jesus taught us:

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.

Chimes:
Simple Gifts

Offering Prayer

Let everything in us sound out gratitude!
Gratitude in our worship.
Gratitude in our relationships.
Gratitude in our giving.
Thank you, Generous God,
thank you for your love.
Thank you for your faithfulness.
Bless the offerings we bring this day.

We Sing: Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

Together in Song, 650. Richard Gillard. Words and music by permission Integrity Music (Aust).
Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 137219.
Copyright cleared music for churches.

Sending Forth and Benediction

In our worship today,
we have heard words of forgiveness.
We have heard words of hope.
We have heard words of welcome to the circle of love.
Go into this day filled with the goodness of God.
You are loved.
We are loved.
I am loved.
Amen.

Blessing

A Clare Benediction.
– John Rutter

Postlude

Chimes:
Touch the Earth Lightly

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.

This service has been prepared with assistance from:
L3 Liturgical Resource – MediaCom Education
Mediacom Education (Words for Worship)
Roddy Hamilton (Spill the Beans)
Uniting in Prayer Worship Resource
Bible Reading: New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition)
Circle Photos by Linda Driver. An original painting by Bernadine Johnson.