A Light on the Hill

Order of Service – 26th October 2025

The Order of Service follows below.

For improved text clarity and easier reading, e.g. change text size, you can use ePub on iPhones, iPads and other devices with an ePub application. If you want to see it exactly as printed, or print your own there is a pdf.

Brougham Place Uniting Church
Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A Light on the Hill

October 26, 2025
Preacher: Rev Linda Driver
Pentecost 20. Stewardship 2

Welcome to Brougham Place Uniting Church.
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

There is a Longing in our Heart (Quigley) CH720

Call to Worship

Let us draw near together,
let us lay down any burdens we may be carrying,
let us make time to worship God.

Opening Prayer

Creator God,
send your Spirit to us this day,
help us to hear the whispering voice of inspiration,
help us to see the excitement of anticipation,
help us to feel the stirring of dissatisfaction of injustice
that leads us to action in this place and in this community.
In Jesus’ name, we pray,
Amen.

We sing: Welcome

  1. Let’s walk together for a while
    and ask where we begin
    to build a world where love can grow
    and hope can enter in,
    to be the hands of healing
    and to plant the seeds of peace,

Refrain:
Singing welcome,
welcome to this place.
You’re invited
to come and know God’s grace.
All are welcome the love of God to share
’cause all of us are welcome here;
all are welcome in this place.

  1. Let’s talk together of a time
    when we will share a feast,
    where pride and power kneel to serve
    the lonely and the least,
    and joy will set the table
    as we join our hands to pray,

Singing welcome,
welcome to this place.
You’re invited
to come and know God’s grace.
All are welcome the love of God to share
’cause all of us are welcome here;
all are welcome in this place.

  1. Let’s dream together of the day
    when earth and heaven are one,
    a city built of love and light,
    the new Jerusalem,
    where our mourning turns to dancing,
    ev’ry creature lifts its voice!

Singing welcome,
welcome to this place.
You’re invited
to come and know God’s grace.
All are welcome the love of God to share
’cause all of us are welcome here;
all are welcome in this place.

Prayer of Confession

God of Zion, to you even silence is praise.

Promises made to you are kept—

you listen to prayer—

and all living things come to you.

When wrongdoings become too much for me,

you forgive our sins.

(Psalm 65:1-3)

Before we speak, we pause.
Before we name what burdens us, we open our hearts.
The Spirit draws near—in dreams, in honesty, in grace
Let us come with humility.
Let us come with hope.
Let us trust even our silence can be a prayer.

A time of silence is kept

Gracious God,
You know all these things that are on our hearts.
Hear our prayers.
Forgive us.
Bring us peace.
Amen.

Words of Grace

In righteousness you answer us,

by your awesome deeds,

God of our salvation—

you, who are the security

of all the far edges of the earth,

even the distant seas.

(Psalm 65:5)

Friends, God has heard our prayers, our sins are forgiven and we are invited into the peace that passes understanding.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Passing of the Peace

The peace of our God be with you.
And also with you.

Community News and Notices

You can sign up to receive BP E-news by email and read past issues on our website: www.bpuc.org

Stewardship 2025/26 – You Belong Here

Children’s Time (Exploring the Theme)

Children and Young People may go downstairs for Sunday School and Youth. 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

Life of the World (Galloway. Arr. Bell) CH141

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:23-32

Children of Zion,

rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God,

because he will give you the early rain as a sign of righteousness;

he will pour down abundant rain for you, the early and the late rain, as before.

The threshing floors will be full of grain;

the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.

I will repay you for the years

that the cutting locust,

the swarming locust, the hopping locust, and the devouring locust have eaten—

my great army, which I sent against you.

You will eat abundantly and be satisfied,

and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has done wonders for you;

and my people will never again be put to shame.

You will know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I am the Lord your God—no other exists;

never again will my people be put to shame.

After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;

your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

In those days, I will also pour out my

spirit on the male and female slaves.

I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. But everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the Lord has promised; and in Jerusalem, the Lord will summon those who survive.

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

Message: We can dream dreams

Prayer

Move among us, Spirit,
and gather us together with you.
Take our many selves—
our lives, our loves, our ideas,
our questions, our speech, our silence—
and unite us as your people.
Give us the gifts of perception and understanding,
so that even as we dream your dreams and see your visions,
we may be able to witness to your presence in our common life.
Amen.

We sing: When Common Dreams are Shared

  1. When common dreams are shared
    And visions are unveiled
    Imaginations are not spared;
    Ideals are not curtailed.
    For dreams enlarge the scope
    Of faith by which we live;
    Can stimulate us with the hope
    That God within can give.

  2. When we begin to dream
    Or catch a vision clear
    New truths emerge; they can redeem;
    Cast out our inner fear.
    Old ways, they still can tempt,
    With so-called certainty,
    To drag us back from our attempt
    To probe God’s mystery.

  3. When common dreams are shared
    New peace and purpose rise;
    New plans are tried, directions dared,
    Some risky, some quite wise,
    We seek integrity
    In faith’s inquiry;
    In God we find the energy
    To forge our destiny.

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: May Our Lives

Chorus:
May our lives and our prayers be one
As our hopes shape the roads we walk on
And when our work and our dreaming’s done
May our lives and our prayers be one.

  1. Within the rhythm of our days
    We take the time to muse and pray
    The fears we face, the tears we taste
    We view in light of holy grace.

May our lives and our prayers be one
As our hopes shape the roads we walk on
And when our work and our dreaming’s done
May our lives and our prayers be one.

  1. We name our deepest hopes and dreams
    For those we love and all in need
    We picture how the world could be
    We live the change we want to see.

May our lives and our prayers be one
As our hopes shape the roads we walk on
And when our work and our dreaming’s done
May our lives and our prayers be one.

Sending Forth and Benediction

May you be blessed with dreams and visions.
May you be blessed with dissatisfaction towards injustice.
May you find the words to spread a message of hope, love, and kindness to each person you meet in your journey. Amen.

Choral Blessing

Seven Fold Amen (Stainer) Together in Song 783 (iii)

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. All are welcome!

Thank you for joining us for worship!
If you would like to get in touch or request a prayer, please make use of the Contact Cards in the pews and next to the Offering Bowl. Alternately, you can email our Minister, Rev Linda Driver: lindad@bpuc.org

This service has been prepared with assistance from

Liturgy, Learning, & (Purposeful) Life (L3)
Dr Michelle Eastwood
© 2025, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of South Australia

Prayer following the message
from Come, Let Us Build, written by Rev. Mary Nelson Abbott.
Posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways Archive.
http://www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways/year-c/p/pentecost-sunday.html

Bible Readings are from the Contemporary English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Congregation Hymns/Songs:

Welcome
Words and music: Mark A Miller.
© 2007 Abingdon Press, admin. By The Copyright Company.
All rights reserved.

When Common Dreams Are Shared
Tune: Together in Song 228, 422 / AHB 163
George Stuart. Used with permission.

May our Lives and our Prayers Be One
Paul Somerville © 2013. All rights reserved.

www.bpuc.org