You can watch the bible readings and sermon here, or scroll down to read the rest of the Sunday prayers and content, and watch this video at the point it occurs during worship.
WELCOME
Good morning and welcome to Engadine Uniting Church, my name is Loraine, and I’ll be leading you in worship today. I particularly welcome you if you are a visitor among us, whether you are just having a look or are searching out for a place to worship, we’re delighted to have you with us this morning, and we hope you feel welcome. No matter who we are or what we have done, God’s love and acceptance is for everyone.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, regardless of race, age, ability, sexuality and gender, you are welcome here and you are loved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLE
This candle represents the presence of Jesus Christ, who said of himself ‘I am the light’.
Today is the Church’s birthday, Pentecost Sunday, where the spirit of Christ rested on the followers of Jesus, 50 days after Easter.
The flame of this candle also reminds us of the presence of the Spirit who rested on the 120 followers of Jesus at Pentecost.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Let us say these words. The congregation to say the words in bold:
The flame of the Christ warms us in hope.
Who will be among God’s prophets?
Will we find here followers of Christ,
whose witness to the coming of the Spirit,
lift the life of the world in courage?
With the peace of God surrounding us,
we move in faith and stand bravely on the ground of justice.
May we inspire those around us
to believe that things can change
and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are with us.
Come, let us worship.
HYMN There’s a Spirit in the Air
Reflection: Jim MacEwan.
Do not retreat into your private world,
That place of safety, sheltered from the storm,
Where you may tend your garden, seek your soul,
And rest with loved ones where the fire burns warm.
To tend a garden is a precious thing,
But dearer still the one where all may roam,
The weeds of poison, poverty and war,
Demand your care, who call the earth your home.
To seek your soul it is a precious thing,
But you will never find it on your own,
Only among the clamor, threat, and pain
Of other people’s need will love be known.
To rest with loved ones is a precious thing,
But peace of mind exacts a higher cost,
Your children will not rest and play in quiet,
While they still hear the crying of the lost.
Do not retreat into your private world,
There are more ways than firesides to keep warm.
There is no shelter from the rage of life,
So meet its eye, and dance within the storm.
Kathy Galloway
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK.
This week is also National Reconciliation Week in the Australian calendar. It is a national annual celebration that is held from 27 May to 3 June each year and encourages us to continue to build relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples of all cultures in these lands now called Australia. During National Reconciliation Week all Australians are invited to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, to share that knowledge and help us grow as a nation. National Reconciliation Week sits between other significant dates such as Aboriginal Sunday the Sunday before January 26, January 26 a day of mourning, invasion, and survival, and NAIDOC Week a week of celebrating the world’s oldest living continuing cultures from the first to the second Sunday of July.
This is a prayer by Safina Stewart, for Reconciliation week. Safina is a Wuthathi and Mabuiag (Mabuiag) Island woman, Common Grace’s Relationship and
storytelling Coordinator and artist.
God of wondrous possibility
Take my story and my life
Give me courage to stand for justice
God of dreaming and mystery
Forgive my blind complaining
Give me vision to walk remembering your history
God of truth and love
Take my bruised hands and feet
Give me strength and grace to stand for truth
God of safety and singing
Take my mouth and my voice
Give me words to inspire and encourage
God of knowledge and creativity
Take my whole being
Help me stretch, broaden and deepen
God of goodness and hope
Take my connections and influence
And help me stand for Voice and Justice
Amen
PRAYER FOR THE OFFERING
Spirit of God, you inspire
our response to your story,
to your presence among us, and we
offer these gifts to share
the hope and peace we receive from you.
May your breath blow through us
and the various gifts we share,
bringing life. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
A Prayer from Uncle Dr Pastor Ray Minniecon, Redfern Prayer
This Redfern Prayer was written in 2009 by Pastor Raymond Minniecon, a descendant of the Kabi Kabi nation and the Gurang Gurang nation of South-East Queensland, and a descendant of the South Sea Islander people. He is a prominent Aboriginal Christian Leader in Australia with a long history working across Aboriginal justice issues through business and ministry.
God of our Dreaming. Father of all our Aboriginal nations in Australia. You have lived among us since time immemorial. We have always known You. You gave this land to our Aboriginal nations. You have not dispossessed us nor destroyed us.
People from other lands, who do not understand our unique culture, our unique lifestyle and our unique heritage have come and destroyed much of our way of life. Many of these people from other lands now want to understand and reconcile with us.
But for many of us Aboriginal people, we find this reconciliation business a little difficult.
Too many of our children are still in jails.
Too many of our children are still living in sub-standard housing.
Too many of our mothers are living on the streets or in refuges.
Too many of our children are still uneducated.
Too many of our children have no land and no community to go back to.
Too many of our children have not got good opportunities for good employment.
Too many of our children are living in extremely unhealthy environments.
Too many of our children are living among violence and abuse.
Too many of our children are dying to drugs and other soul-destroying substances.
God of our Dreaming and Creator of our people, we sometimes feel overwhelmed by these things. Many of us feel like we are refugees in our own land.
Today we are coming together again on one of our battlegrounds to cry out to You for mercy and justice for our children, for our families and for our land.
We pray that more resources will be given to our local community organisations to help us grow healthy and strong.
We pray that the peoples from other lands will be given a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone so that they can understand us and support us properly.
We pray that your Spirit will help and encourage us to grow good strong Aboriginal leaders.
Father we want to grow strong and healthy again in our own land. We want to take our rightful place in our land and make our contribution to the re-building of our families, our communities and our nation.
Please hear our cries for justice. We ask these mercies in the name of Your Son.
The Lord’s Prayer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl7PgGP9iNI
BIBLE READING Isaiah 11 v 1-5
11 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock,
a bud will sprout his roots.
2 The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him—
a Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom
a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans,
a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.
3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by mere appearances,
or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.
4 He will treat the poor fairly,
and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and order the wicked to be executed.
5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist,
integrity will be like a belt around his hips.
HYMN She sits like a bird brooding on the waters (John L. Bell)
BIBLE READING
ACTS 2 v 1-21
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
ACTS 2: 41
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
REFLECTION
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