You can watch some parts of the service here, or scroll down and watch the sermon in the place in which it occurs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
From before recorded time, the First Peoples of the Dharawal Nation cared for this Land.
We praise the Creator for the beauty of this Land and honour those who have cared for it.
We acknowledge the Elders and community members who have told the sacred stories and nurtured faithfulness to the Creator.
CHRIST CANDLE & CALL TO WORSHIP
All over the world, in villages and cities, in sweltering heat and icy cold, in the deep darkness of storm or in the stillness of blue skies, people like you and I are gathering, as we have for centuries, to remember our Christ. Storyteller, healer, hand of hope; we remember in different ways in different places, but we share the one spirit of love.
Join me as we light the Christ candle to affirm:
Here and now God waits to break into our experience.
To change our minds, to change our lives, to change our ways.
To help us see the world and the whole of life in a new light.
To fill us with hope, joy and certainty for the future.
This is the place, as are all places. This is the time, as are all times.
O God of this place, and every place, God of this time and all time, Here and now, unite us, nurture us, remind us of the fellowship of our brothers and sisters Far away and near at hand.
Be among us. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Friends, today is a special service to focus our attention on what Christ is doing in our world.
As part of the Uniting Church in Australia, we are connected in partnership with churches across the Pacific, Asia and Africa. Our partners are vibrant, inspiring, and dedicated people of God who are transforming lives and communities for the better.
Many of our overseas church relationships reach back more than 150 years and have impacted countless lives, through many generations. Through these relationships, we seek to act as one body of Christ in the world, each playing our part to build hope and end poverty and injustice. UnitingWorld is the agency that manages these partnerships for the wider Uniting Church, and today we hear more about their work and celebrate our global neighbours together.
VIDEO CLIP https://vimeo.com/981729153 ‘For a world made new’ 2024
Let us Pray: God of every land and people, we gather to celebrate your boundless love. You have called us to walk with our faithful partners across Asia, the Pacific and Africa, sharing hope, seeking justice, working to make lives whole and hopeful in the face of poverty, injustice and a changing climate. Today, stir our hearts with their witness – steadfast, resilient, alive with faith.
Plant in us a bold hope that no injustice is too great, no dream of renewal too small.
Together in Christ, make us sowers of justice and harvesters of joy.
HYMN, Words altered
Love divine, all loves excelling
Joy of heaven to earth come down
Fix in us your humble dwelling
All your faithful mercies crown;
Jesus, you are all compassion
Pure, unbounded love are you;
Visit us with your salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
Come, almighty to deliver;
Let us all your life receive;
Suddenly return, and never
Never more your temples leave.
You we would be always blessing
Serve you as your host above,
Pray, and praise you without ceasing
Glory in your perfect love.
Finish then your new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see your great salvation
Perfectly restored in you:
Changed from glory into glory
Till in Heaven we take our place
Till we cast our crowns before you
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Charles Wesley 1707 – 1788 Public Domain
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
BIBLE READING Matthew 15: 21 – 28 (NIV) Robert H
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He
replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. In this we find hope for the living of our lives. Praise be to God.
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION Let us pray…
Lord, what are you doing going to places like Tyre and Sidon, so far away from the land and faith of the people of your birth. You belong here with people like us. Forgive us Lord if we have ever felt we owned you or could decide for ourselves who is of value and worth to you. And if in this past week we have ignored, been too busy or kept silent to those who cry out for help, help us Lord to have ears to truly hear, eyes to truly see and hands to respond to all who are made in your image.
Help us Lord, this day, to be people of faith, to persist in our faith to call out to you in our times of need as the Canaanite woman did so long ago. For you are close to the distraught and fearful.
And we are glad, like the Canaanite woman, that you ‘changed your mind’ to include her and other gentiles like us! For we too confess that you are Lord. These prayers we bring in Jesus’ name. Amen
CONVERSATION WITH BARRY HIGGINS
MESSAGE Barry Higgins – UW Church Engagement Manager
TIMOR LESTE – Pictures by Cath Taylor to the Song: ‘One bread one body’ by John Michael Talbot
HYMN vs 1 – 4, 6 Words altered
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;
We will share your joys and sorrows,
till we’ve seen this journey through.
Brother, sister, let me serve you;
let us be, Christ to each other
pray that we may have the grace
To be your ser-vants too.
Richard Gillard 1953 – Words and music by permission Integrity Music. CCLI 31951
OFFERING & OFFERING PRAYER
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Includes this Prayer) Heather S
Our God, we give thanks for your good gift of Creation and ask that we may learn to walk softly on the Earth. We pray for an attitude of wonder and awe in the midst of the beauty and mystery of all that surrounds us. We pray for those who suffer because of disasters, droughts, floods, fires and famines. We pray especially for those who are impacted by our world’s greed and growth, for those who suffer most and have the fewest resources to cope.
We ask that here in our own congregations we may learn to make choices which are life-giving for our brothers and sisters, in our local communities and beyond. We give thanks for those who bring awareness of the suffering planet and work to bring about a change in our attitude towards the Earth, our common home. Help us to change our ways and guide us to live a life which is not centred on ourselves, but on all you have created. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
LORDS PRAYER to be chosen by Heather
HYMN
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving of ourselves that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
Based on an anonymous prayer. Words and music by permission Oregon Catholic Press CCLI 31951
BLESSING & BENEDICTION
Go now into the world in peace. May the love of God guide you, the compassion of Christ move you, and the breath of the Spirit stir you to action. Care for the earth, tend to one another, seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. And may the blessing of God — Creator, Christ, and Spirit — be with you and remain with you, now and always.
As we sing:
You shall go out with joy
and be led forth in peace
and the mountains and the hills
shall break forth in singing.
There’ll be shouts of joy
And the trees of the field
Shall clap their hands.
And the trees of the field shall clap their hands
And the trees of the field shall clap their hands
And you’ll go out with joy.
Steffi Geiser Rubin 1950 – Words and music by permission Lillenas Publishing Co CCLI 31951
Recent Comments