GATHERING THE PEOPLE
Welcome and Announcements
Friends, you are welcome in this place. 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 God and God’s hopes and dreams for our lives. Together, we seek to make this a safe environment for all who search for meaning and purpose in life. Together let us seek to be Christ’s light and salt in the world. So welcome.
My name is Sue. I am a member of Engadine Uniting Church and will lead the worship service today. (introduce others as appropriate) Throughout this Season after the Epiphany, we listen for echoes of God’s call—to follow, to shine, to live in God’s light.
This week, we consider a range of teachings communicated through parables and metaphors, such as salt and light, and notice ways God’s light and flavour shine through our lives. What might we discover as we enter this time of worship?
Acknowledgement of country
Leader: We acknowledge the Dharawal people, the first inhabitants of this place, part of God’s good creation. We acknowledge the Elders and community members who have told the sacred stories and nurtured faithfulness to the Creator. We ask God’s blessing on those who continue to work for the healing and restoration of this Land and Her Communities.
People: You set humanity at the heart of your creation, O God; charging us with stewardship of all you have made. We give thanks for those who have heeded your call.
Prayer Of Welcome
Creator God,
you said, ‘Let there be light,’ and with those words you called the light into being.
Let us hear your call on our lives to be like a light in the night,
a source of compassion in the face of anger,
and love in the seas of despair.
Let us hear your call on us, today and each day.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Call to worship
Gather, people; people of God.
Gather, fools; fools for God.
Gather, people, seeking Wisdom—
She is here, strong and true.
Gather, listen, and follow Wisdom
into holiness and liberation.
Gather to worship our wise God!
Hymn/Song: Magnificat
My soul give glory to our God
My heart pours out its praise
God lifted up my lowliness
In many many many marv’lous ways
Oh God has done great things for me
Yes holy is God’s name
All people will declare me blessed
And blessings they shall claim
From age to age to all who fear
Such mercy love imparts
Dispensing justice far and near
Dismissing selfish hearts
Love casts the mighty from their thrones
Promotes the insecure
Leaves hungry spirits satisfied
The rich seem suddenly poor
Praise God whose loving covenant
Supports those in distress
Remembering past promises
With present faithfulness
CCLI Song # 4032289 Helen Kemp | Miriam Therese Winter © 2002 Choristers Guild
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 31951
Prayer of adoration and confession
We who gather today acknowledge our turning from your way,
Holy Wisdom, Holy Spirit.
In small acts of worry,
in little arrogances,
in misguided trust in human wisdom,
we, humans, turn from life.
And so we turn back to you,
to realign with Holy Wisdom:
welcome us, we pray,
with our flaws;
forgive our errors,
reconnect us in your spirit.
Hear God’s voice: Wisdom welcomes.
Spirit restores.
God forgives:
Be at peace.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
HEARING THE WORD
Item Children: PR video here: (4mins)
Readings
Let us pray: God, please open our ears and minds and hearts so that as we hear the words of the Bible, you will speak to us and bring us new life.
The first reading is from Isaiah 58:6-11. In this passage, the prophet Isaiah brings God’s word to confront the Israelites about their hypocritical fasting and shallow, self-centered worship.
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.”
The next two readings are from Matthew 5:13–16 and Matthew 6:1-4, part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is speaking to the crowd.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. 18 I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. 19 Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 6:1-4. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Reader: Through these readings we hear God speak.
All: Thank you, God, for your words of life.
Hymn/Song: God Of Freedom God Of Justice. This hymn by Shirley Murray was written to fill a gap in the hymn vocabulary, for a service for prisoners of conscience as part of Amnesty International’s 1980 campaign against torture.
God of freedom God of justice
You whose love is strong as death
You who saw the dark of prison
You who knew the price of faith
Touch our world of sad oppression
With Your Spirit’s healing breath
Make in us a captive conscience
Quick to hear to act to plead
Make us truly sisters brothers
Of whatever race or creed
Teach us to be fully human
Open to each other’s needs
We-e are all tenants of your love
gathered round a common fire
wa-rm us in company with Christ
give us hearts to feel, to share,
ta-ble and lodging with free hand
space in living in our land.
CCLI Song # 2400497 Shirley Erena Murray © 1992 Murray, Shirley Erena For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 31951
Sermon: John
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
Video: What’s happening in Minnesota, and how churches are involved. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/27/us/video/mn-group-singing-resistance-ice-vrt-digvid
Announcements
Loving God, thank you for the gifts you give us, and the loving service that we can offer to you and your people. We pray for your presence and Spirit in the new evening service today, and upon all those participating in it. Amen
Offertory prayer
“Thank you to everyone as you bring your gifts of loving service and financial support through online giving. If you prefer to use cash, it can be placed in the wooden box at the back, and you can also make one-off donations via the QR code on the box. Let us pray:”
Creator God, we offer you what you have first given us.
May these gifts be used wisely for your work in this community.
Amen.
Prayers of the people Abigail
Hymn/Song: TiS 686 Because we bear your name, omitting verses 3&4
1. Lord Jesus, we belong to you,
you live in us, we live in you;
we live and work for you —
because we bear your name.
2. Help us receive each other, Lord,
for you receive the least of us
and come to us in them —
because we bear your name.
5. Let nothing that we do or say
offend the weak so that they fall
and lose their faith in you —
because we bear your name.
6. Keep us from missing out on life;
give hands that help, and single sight,
and feet that walk your way —
because we bear your name.
7. You are the salt that cleanses us,
so clean us out, and make us fit
for common life with you —
because we bear your name.
John Wilfred Kleinig/Robin Mann
Thank you to everyone who did something to help out today. Without volunteers we cannot keep going. We love you and you are appreciated!
Benediction
Like the servant who brings justice and Jesus who calls us salt and light, we are called to shine with God’s glory in our world.
May the God of all goodness be with you today,
encouraging you, uplifting you, working through you,
so that God’s loving-kindness and the peace that passes understanding
moves through you and out into the wider world.
Amen.
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