WELCOME Dear friends our time together, is God’s gift to each of us. We come with what we know of and have experienced in life, we come seeking to discover what we don’t yet know about our God and God’s hopes and dreams for our lives. We declare in Jesus’ name that this is a safe physical, emotional and spiritual environment for all as we search for meaning and purpose in life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY We live on land which was taken by force, its frontier wars hidden, its people and their connection to this land unacknowledged within our country’s life & Constitution. Without a constitutional voice there can be no truth telling or justice. The Uniting Church acknowledges the Dharawal people and their connection with this land; we honour their elders past & present and join with them in their search for God’s justice that flows like a stream.
CHRIST CANDLE We light this candle because it brings light to this place and can bring light to our minds and hearts. We light this candle because it reminds us of Christ Jesus the Light of the world.
CALL TO WORSHIP Today is about wilderness people encountering a compelling sight:
a blazing bush that is not consumed and a voice that calls our name. Here the ‘I AM’ is present. Remove the sandals from your feet for we are standing on holy ground! Come, let us encounter the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of you and me. Curious?
Then come let us discover this together as we worship our Risen LORD.
HYMN 143, amended words
1. Immortal, invisible God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, your great name we praise.
2. Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, but ruling in might, Your justice like mountains high soaring above, Your clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
3. Great Father of glory, pure Mother of light, Your angels adore you, all veiling their sight, Of all your rich graces this grace, Lord, impart, Take the veil from our faces, the veil from our heart.
4. All praise we would render: reveal to our sight, What hides you is only the splendour of light, And so let your glory, Almighty, impart, Through Christ in the story, your Christ to the heart.
Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain CCLI Licence # 31951
BIBLE READINGS Rob H
Exodus 3: 1 – 15 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the LORD said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land
flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’ But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The LORD the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”: This is my name.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Holy God, we’ve made terrible mistakes, done stupid things. Stuff, like Moses, which we’ve run away from and tried to leave in the past. But our memories, O God, they still haunt us and we’re bone weary from hiding. We’re tired of pretending. Looking after Jethro’s sheep seemed like a plan until curiosity got the better of Moses and his life was redeemed and given deeper purpose and meaning. In our curiosity amidst our daily life, we too come seeking a deeper experience of your Peace and Purpose Lord God, in the Name of all your saints who have gone before us.
ASSURANCE: Today, we hand to you Lord whatever weighs us down. According to your love and mercy, set us free to follow you, for like the prodigal, God finds us in a far country, doesn’t heap shame or terror upon us but invites & reassures us by giving us a task greater than our fears, an honoured place of accountability & of service, of hope & of purpose. So let us rejoice that this is so. Thanks be to God!
Matthew 16: 21 – 28 Rob H
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
In this we hear Christ’s invitation to a radical life of service in His Name. Thanks be to God!
MESSAGE Are we wilderness people in search of identity & purpose? (Video to be added)
HYMN ‘When our hearts are ruled by fear’
When our lives are ruled by fear, And our churches choked by greed, When success becomes our goal, And security, our creed.
When our faith erodes to facts, And our stories turn to rules, When the cruel are seen as wise, And the merciful, called fools.
When the road ahead is steep, And our courage is so small, When we stumble at the start, And are certain, we will fall.
Let us brave the wilderness, Dare to walk where few have trod, Leaving safety’s easy path, Thinking doubt, and finding God.
David Bjorlin © GIA Publications. Used with permission Licence # CCLI 31951
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Heather or Loraine
LORD’S PRAYER:
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.
HOLY COMMUNION
This is the joyful feast of Jesus. Bread for beloved children
A meal for those expecting scraps, and a banquet for last-minute guests!
Come, your place is at the table. Here Christ meets us and calls us God’s own.
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
But we have failed to love you with all our heart and to be good stewards of your creation:
We have failed to take up the cross of discipleship and to be good stewards of your gospel:
We have failed to be faithful members of your church and to be good stewards of your spiritual gifts: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
And so we remember that to Adam and Eve, children of dust, You gave the world and its wonders, and we misused your gift of freedom: we reached out rebel hands to be like you. We bless you for your mercy, for you never cease to call our restless hearts, until they find their rest in you. Again and again, you raised up men and women to speak your word, to guide, to challenge and convert. At the last, you sent Jesus Christ, child of your love, God with us. Born as one of us, he lived our life and died our death offering us, both now and forever, eternal life with you.
Through him, in him and because of him, we affirm the Church’s faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
HYMN 473 (3 verses)
Community of Christ who make the Cross Your own, live out your creed and risk Your life for God alone: the God who wears your face, to whom all worlds belong, Whose children are of every race, and every song.
Community of Christ, Through whom the word must sound, Cry out for justice and For peace the whole world round: Disarm the powers that war, and all that can destroy, turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish, into joy.
When menace melts away so shall God’s will be done. The climate of the world be peace and Christ its Sun: our currency be love and kindliness our law, our food and faith be shared as one, for evermore.
Words: 1992 Murray, Shirley Erena; Music: Public Domain
BENEDICTION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eik2HK7u9xA
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