You can watch some parts of the service in this video here (mostly bible readings and the message) or scroll down and read the prayers and songs in the order they happened.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Dharawal people, the first inhabitants of this place. We honour their deep care for Creation and pay our respects to Elders past and present and to all who continue to uphold culture and care for Country today.
Safe statement
God loves and accepts us just as we are. Engadine Uniting seeks to be a safe and welcoming place for all people to gather, regardless of age, ability, sexuality or culture. We gather today to seek the heart of God, to find joy in God’s presence, joy in God’s beautiful creation and to celebrate our belonging to one another.
As we enter this Season of Creation, we are reminded that we are part of the beautiful, interconnected web of life that God has made and loves. Know that you are loved – that you belong here, and that your presence enriches each one of us and our worship together.
CHRIST CANDLE
As we light our Christ candle we remember Christ’s light that shines through creation
God is the light of the world, shining in even in the darkest places
Reminding us that God’s love is for all, all creatures and all creation.
May be people who carry it into the world.
We take a moment to acknowledge Father’s Day: for many a celebration but for some, a difficult day. May we be aware and make room for each other’s stories
Father’s Day Prayer
Loving God, Today we give thanks for fathers and father figures, for the many ways they nurture, protect and encourage us.
We give thanks for fathers who have held us when we were hurting, who have believed in us when we struggled to believe in ourselves, who have spoken words of love and belonging, and who have helped us discover who we are.
For those who are fathers today, may they know the gift and responsibility of their calling. Give them patience and courage, tenderness and strength. May their love be the kind that binds wounds, seeks out the lost, welcomes the scamps and the strugglers, and keeps loving when life is difficult. May they know that it is not perfection that children need, but presence, kindness, safety and love.
And today, God, we remember fathers in the hard places of our world. Fathers desperately pulling at rubble, searching for life. Fathers making perilous journeys to find safety, sheltering their children through forests and across open seas.
Fathers desperate to find food, shelter or medical care for their children. Fathers knocking on doors, pleading for their children to be released from prison, from violence, from addiction or from places that threaten their lives.
Fathers who hold their children close as they grieve. Fathers who weep over small bodies and wonder how the world could have become such a place.
And on this Father’s day we also recognise that Father’s Day is not joyful for everyone. For some, it is a day of missing — missing a father, a child, a relationship or a dream of what might have been.
We pray for those separated by distance or estrangement, those grieving the death of a father or child, those who carry the weight of parenting alone, and those whose relationships with their fathers or children are complicated, painful or broken. We especially pray for those facing their first Father’s Day without someone they love.
For all who find this day difficult, may they know that their stories are seen, their grief is held, and they do not have to pretend that everything is okay.
Help us, as a community, to notice one another today — to sit gently with those who find today hard, and to make room for every story.
We give thanks, too, for the men of our church family — for those who quietly care, who offer friendship, kindness and wisdom, who show up when they are needed, Listen without judgement and make space at the table And who care for our church and our church family, On this Father’s Day, may every person know that they are held in love. Amen.
Introduction to Theme – brief overview of Seasons of Creation
The Season of Creation invites us into a time of deep listening, thanksgiving, and renewal—not only for creation, but with creation. In this season, we honour the deep interconnection between all living things and the sacred story that we, along with Earth, are part of. This is not a one-sided ministry of care; it is mutual. As we care for the Earth and all within it, we recognise how oceans, lands, trees, winds, and creatures also serve and sustain us. Together, we are held in the web of God’s ongoing creation.
Each week’s readings are chosen to be heard not just through a human lens, but through the eyes of Earth herself, asking us to listen for the voices of oceans, lands, flora and fauna, wind, and the cosmos. This season invites us to grow not only in faith as followers of Christ, but as children of Earth—witnesses to Wisdom woven throughout creation. May it be a time of deep listening, joyful praise, learning, and hope filled action.
Call to Worship
Come into the presence of the God who plants gardens and shapes mountains.
We are creatures of earth and breath.
Come beneath the canopy of grace where all life belongs.
We are here to listen with humility and wonder.
Come with your gratitude and your grief for the world.
We come trusting that God has not abandoned creation.
Let us worship the One in whom all things live and move and have their being
Opening Prayer
Creator God, you saw all you had made And called it good.
Teach us who bear your image to see as you do:
Every star a treasure; every weed a masterpiece.
Creator God whose touch breathes life into dust, teach us to touch the earth as you do: Gently, bringing life.
Fill our lungs with breath, and place us among forests, rivers, and creatures as kin. Open our eyes to the beauty that remains, Open our hearts to the grief that is real, and our hands to the work of healing.
Teach us again the wisdom of trees: to grow slowly, to reach toward light, to hold one another through unseen entanglement. Through Christ who came to reconcile all creation. Amen.
SONG – God Walks with us in Shimmering Heat – Leigh Newton
Verse 1
God walks with us in shimmering heat
And thundering skies of grey
In nature’s wildest alchemy
And stone of regal majesty
Such glory on display
Such glory on display
Verse 2
In banksia shades of sunset bloom
In Gouldian Finch array
The artist’s joy seen unashamed
From pallet bright and unexplained
What wonders in our day
What wonders in our day
Verse 3
God hovers ‘round this captured rock
And all the universe
Yet Christ comes here to show God’s face
To make the holy common-place
To let God’s voice be heard
To let God’s voice be heard
Verse 4
God sings to us from in the soil
From in the rain and air
This fabric on which we depend
We hardly barely understand
This web in disrepair
This web in disrepair
Verse 5
Now fire and flood and brooding storm
Fragment this Earth our home
As summer lengthens year by year
And precious waters disappear
We pray your call be known
We pray your call be known
Verse 6
6 Come Jesus walk with us each day
Forgive our blinkered ways
Bring hope when storms assail the land
Turn hearts and hands to work your plan
Inspire us all our days
Let love lead all our ways
Prayer of Confession
We confess that we have forgotten our place within creation.
We often treat gifts as commodities, creatures as products, and forests as though they existed only for our use.
We confess our participation in systems that wound the earth, and we confess the weariness that tempts us toward despair.
Forgive us when we choose convenience over care, consumption over community, and fear over action
Teach us repentance that leads to restoration and hope that takes the shape of love. Amen.
Words of Grace
Hear the good news: The God who formed humanity from the soil has not abandoned the work of creation. Grace is still growing. Seeds are still germinating. Forests are still teaching wisdom. In Christ, reconciliation remains possible and Spirit continues to renew the face of the earth. Thanks be to God.
INTERGEN SPOT – Mycelium
Genesis reminds us that humanity begins not as masters of creation but as members of it. Our first vocation is not exploitation but relationship. The Hebrew verbs used in Genesis carry the language of kinship and care rather than ownership and control. In our time when forests disappear, species vanish, and climates shift, this ancient Genesis story calls us back to our original identity-earth creatures entrusted with the mutual wellbeing of other earth creatures.
A Science lesson:
Something amazing happens beneath the forest floor – a hidden world of connections. There are tiny threads called mycelium that belong to fungi. These threads spread through the soil, sometimes forming enormous networks. Mycelium helps break down leaves, plants and other organic matter. This returns nutrients to the soil and helps plants grow. But something even more amazing happens.
The mycelium connects with the roots of trees and other plants. This special relationship is called mycorrhiza. The fungi and the trees actually help each other. The fungi help trees find water and nutrients in the soil. Their tiny threads can reach places that the tree roots cannot. The fungi can also help protect trees from some diseases.
And what do the fungi get in return? The trees share some of the food they make from sunlight with the fungi. So the trees help the fungi—and the fungi help the trees. Sometimes these underground connections can even link different trees together. Trees may share nutrients through these networks, and there is evidence that plants can send chemical signals through fungal networks when they are under attack.
Scientists sometimes call this the “Wood Wide Web.” How amazing is that! We usually think of a forest as lots of separate trees. But underneath the ground there can be a whole network connecting them. And this network is important for the whole forest.
🌱 It helps keep the soil healthy.
🌳 It helps trees grow and find water and nutrients.
🐛 It supports many different plants and animals.
🌏 And it can help forests become more resilient when conditions are difficult.
But these underground connections can be damaged when forests are cleared, soil is disturbed, pollution occurs or the climate changes. Scientists are learning more about these amazing fungi and how they might help us restore forests, improve soil and care for our environment.
The mycelium and the trees give us a wonderful picture of connection. Nothing in creation exists completely on its own.
Trees need fungi.
Fungi need trees.
Plants need soil.
Animals need plants.
And we need all of them.
We are part of this same web of life. So when we care for creation, we are not looking after something separate from ourselves. We are caring for the world we belong to. And perhaps that is one of the things God is showing us through this amazing hidden world beneath our feet:
We are connected.
We belong to one another.
And we all have a part to play in caring for God’s wonderful creation.
SONG GARDEN – Mikayli Anagnostis
Verse 1
We’re making a garden
We’re working the ground
In land that’s bombed and torn
Your love soaks through the soil
New life can yet be born
All welcome to the building
All invited to the fruit
On earth God’s planned a garden
Every hand that’s gripped a sword
Can make a ploughshare too
Chorus 1
Come join the work
God’s bringing life
God’s bringing life
Hands in the same dirt
Enemies are one body now
Come sing new words
God’s bringing life
God’s bringing life
Lay down your swords
The wars you learnt are over now
God’s turned our weapons into ploughs
Verse 2
Our hands won’t be idle
Our hearts won’t grow cold
In the barren ground before us
We can see a garden
We can see a home
Though drought is around us
Though fires will come
We’ve tasted the harvest
Your love has drawn us close
Our God has made us one
Chorus 2
Come join the work
God’s bringing life
God’s bringing life
Hands in the same dirt
Enemies are one body now
Come sing new words
God’s bringing life
God’s bringing life
Lay down your swords
The wars you learnt are over now
God’s turned our weapons into ploughs
New life will come from death somehow
BIBLE READINGS
Exodus 5 1-9 (NIV)
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labour? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”
6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”
Acts 17:22–28 (NIV)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c]
SERMON John McKinnon
ACTIVITY – Introduced by Kathy
Over the next 4 weeks, we will Grow a Tree together – each week responding to a question, writing on a leaf and adding it to the tree – WE ARE PART OF CREATION, NOT SEPARATE FROM IT – Many leaves. One tree. One shared home.
Think of: Something in creation that brings me joy OR Something in creation that I feel connected to or a connection with
WE ARE PART OF CREATION, NOT SEPARATE FROM IT – Many leaves. One tree. One shared home.
Prayers for Others for Seasons of Creation
Creator of forests and oceans, we pray for places scarred by fire, for species disappearing from earth, for communities displaced by rising seas and changing climates.
Hear our prayer, O God, show us how to care for your creation.
We pray for scientists, farmers, conservation workers, policy makers, and indigenous communities whose wisdom has too often been ignored.
Hear our prayer, O God, show us how to care for your creation.
We pray for those overwhelmed by ecological grief, especially the young who inherit a future they did not choose.
Hear our prayer, O God, show us how to care for your creation.
We pray for ourselves: that we might resist despair, practice courage, and become people of restoration.
Hear our prayer, O God, show us how to care for your creation. Amen.
Prayer for Nepal
God of compassion and mercy,
We hold before you the people of Nepal following the devastating flash floods in the Bhote Koshi River area. Where there is grief, bring comfort. Where there is fear, bring courage. Where there is exhaustion, bring strength. And in these difficult hours of searching and waiting, sustain hope.
We pray for all involved in search and rescue, evacuation, medical care and relief. Protect and strengthen them. Give wisdom to those coordinating the response and may help reach those who need it most.
By your Spirit, weave together communities of care and compassion. Strengthen neighbours supporting one another, families holding one another close, and all who are offering shelter, comfort and hope.
God of life, we entrust to your mercy all who have died. Hold those who mourn. Be near to those still waiting for news. Strengthen all whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by this disaster and sustain them through the long journey of recovery.
Hold the people of Nepal in your love — the love of the crucified and risen Christ,
a love that crosses every boundary, a love that will not let us go. Amen.
Written by Rev Charissa Suli – President, Uniting Church in Australia
LORD’S PRAYER – Seasons of Creation – adapted from Jane Irwin, Common Grace
Our Father in heaven, present within and around all life,
Hallowed be your name, as we walk humbly and tread lightly upon the earth.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
May all people and creatures live in peace, harmony and justice caring for your World
Give us today our daily bread teaching us gratitude, contentment and generous sharing, so that all may have enough.
Help us to take care of our earth so that all will have food, water, shelter and a chance to develop to their full potential
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Forgive our part in the burdens carried by poorer nations, and the plundering of natural resources. Forgive our human-centredness, our blindness to the interconnectedness of all living things, and our unwillingness to change.
Save us in the time of trial and deliver us from evil. In a world facing climate crisis, violence and fear, help us love all our neighbours— including our bird, fish, animal, tree, sky, land and water neighbour as ourselves, and bring hope where there is darkness.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. May we live in harmony with your creation, so that all may flourish. Now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING
As we bring our gifts, we remember the generosity woven into creation– trees offering oxygen, soil offering nutrients, rivers offering water, and communities offering care. Receive these gifts and use them for the healing of people and places, for justice and restoration, and for the flourishing of your world. AMEN
Communion invitation Song
SALT AND LIGHT – Gabi Cadenhead CCLI song number 7243858
Verse 1
Bless-ed are those who bury their grief
Bless-ed are those who doubt their strength
Bless-ed are those who struggle to speak
Breathe now and rest in God’s presence
Verse 2
Blessed are those who activate change
Blessed are those who mete mercy
Blessed are those who find the courage
To shine divine light from within
Chorus 1
We are called And we are worthy Salt of the Earth Light of the world
We are invited Into the great role reversal The kingdom come
Verse 3
Blessed are those who think they’re broken
Blessed are those who’ve been named sin
Blessed are those who speak like prophets
The Spirit names you child again
Bridge 1
Jesus flips our world upside-down
Temple tables overturned
Levels mountains raises valleys
And wreaks holy dis-order
Jesus flips our world upside-down
Temple tables overturned
Calls us into the sacred mess
To wreak holy dis-order
COMMUNION
Welcome to communion, you are, as we just sang, invited to Christ’s table, called into the sacred mess – we have different stories, and different lives, but we all share this one space. This isn’t a table for the perfect, or just for the sure. It is Christ’s table, and it is built with wide-open arms. No matter who you are, or how you feel today, you belong here. You are invited, and you are loved.
God be with you and within you
And also with you
Lift up your Hearts
We lift them up to God
Give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise
It is right, and it is a joyful thing, always and everywhere, to give you thanks, O God.
You have woven such beautiful diversity into your creation, reflecting your beauty in every form of life.
You call us into community, where every person has a place, where every life matters,
and no one is pushed to the edges.
Today we have reflected on interconnectedness— like the hidden threads of mycelium beneath the forest floor, sharing life and sustaining one another.
And the ways God cares for all that God has made, and the longing that all creation might live in harmony and flourish. We have sung of God walking with us through shimmering heat and thundering skies of grey. and the gift of new life, springing even from barren ground. We have prayed – teach us to touch the earth gently. Open our eyes to the beauty that remains and our hands to the work of healing.
And now we come here to this table.
Here, Christ welcomes us as we are—.
There is room for everyone.
Here we are reminded that we belong—
to Christ, to one another,
and to the great web of life that God has woven.
For this is the table of Christ:
a table of grace,
a table of welcome,
a table where brokenness can meet healing
and where we are nourished for the journey.
Together, we say together:
Holy, holy, holy Lord.
God of power and might
Your love fills the whole earth!
Hosanna in the highest!
We celebrate God’s story at this table,
sharing in the breaking of bread and sharing of juice.
For the bread we share
is made from the gifts of earth —
soil, seed, rain, sunlight and human hands.
The juice we share
comes from fruit grown in the earth,
from vines rooted in soil,
nourished by water, sunlight and care.
In these gifts
we remember that we are deeply connected —
to Jesus, to one another and to the living world around us.
On the night that Jesus gave himself for us, he shared a meal with his friends. He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this to remember me.”
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this to remember me.”
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, and upon these gifts of bread and the cup, that they may be for us the nourishment of grace.
Make us one with Christ
one with each other,
and one in service to the whole world.
The gifts of God for God’s people – Bread of Life, Cup of Hope
PRAYER
Gracious God, you have nourished us at this table and reminded us that we belong to you, and to each other. Help us to carry this radical welcome into the world. Break down the walls that divide us and guide us in building spaces of belonging and to share your love and compassion with all that we meet. May we carry your unending love into our life together and our life in the world.
Creating God, your name is written in every leaf, every bird, every river,
every stone, every living being. Thank you for the web of your creation that connects us all. Make us attentive to the wounds of the earth and willing to work for the healing of the whole creation. Send us out as your hands and feet to care for the earth and act so that we those who come after us can enjoy an abundant nature and a beautiful earth. AMEN
BLESSING
Fruits of the spirit and all of creation blessing (by Brooke Prentis)
Creator God, May we see your love in each other’s hearts, Your joy in the Golden Wattle, your peace in the morning sunrise, Your patience in the mighty mountain, your kindness in the Quokka, Your goodness in the Rainbow Lorikeet, your faith in the ancient Grasstree, Your gentleness in the Leafy Sea Dragon, your self-control in the dry desert plains.
And may the blessing of God, pulse of all that is, Spirit of creation, brooding over the waters, and Jesus the Christ, who was clothed in creation, Go with us now from this place into the web of your creation. Amen.
Blessing Song
‘For you deep stillness’
For you, deep stillness of the silent inland
For you, deep blue of the desert skies
For you, flame red of the rocks and stones
For you, sweet water from hidden springs.
From the edges seek the heartlands
and when you’re burnt by the journey
may the cool winds of the hovering Spirit
soothe and replenish you.
In the name of Christ, In the name of Christ.
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