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.
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the Dharawal people, the traditional custodians of this land and the waters. We pay respect to elder’s past, present and emerging. As First and Second Peoples walking together, we commit ourselves to listening, truth telling and seeking justice for all.
Welcome
Here at Engadine uniting we welcome everyone regardless of race, age, ability, sexuality, and gender. As a Christian Community we believe that we are all wonderfully created in God’s image and that God reaches out to us in love and acceptance. Our relationships with each other should express love and respect. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, wherever you have come from, whatever is in your heart please know that you are known and loved by God You are welcome here and you are loved.
Candle Christ is the light of the World, guiding our steps, and lightening the dark places in our lives. There is no place Christ’s light cannot reach.
Opening Prayer
It is good to be together, God, in this time of worship.
Let this be a fruitful day!
open our eyes to your love,
tune our ears to your grace.
Let the fragrance of your love
permeate every moment.
The touch of your hand
guiding all we do.
Together, we want to taste with delight
the joy of your presence here today.
AMEN
SONG – Here in this place/Gather us in
Here in this place, new light is streaming,
now is the darkness vanished away.
See, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,
brought here to you in the light of this day.
Gather us in – the lost and forsaken,
gather us in – the blind and the lame.
Call to us now, and we shall awaken,
we shall arise at the sound of our name.
Verse 2
We are the young – our lives are a mystery,
we are the old – who yearn for your face.
We have been sung throughout all of history,
called to be light to the whole human race.
Gather us in – the rich and the haughty,
gather us in – the proud and the strong.
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
give us the courage to enter the song.
Verse 3
Here we will take the wine and the water,
here we will take the bread of new birth.
Here you shall call your sons and your daughters,
call us anew to be salt for the earth.
Give us to drink the wine of compassion,
give us to eat the bread that is you.
Nourish us well, and teach us to fashion
lives that are holy and hearts that are true.
Verse 4
Not in the dark of buildings confining,
not in some heaven, light years away,
but here in this place, the new light is shining;
now is the Kingdom, now is the day.
Gather us in – and hold us forever,
gather us in – and make us your own.
Gather us in – all peoples together,
fire of love in our flesh and our bone.
THANKFULNESS
We come to a time of sharing and today lets think about What are we thankful for? Where has God been in your week?
Take a few minutes to speak to someone near you – and share something that you are thankful for this week.
Come together to share if anyone wants to. Would anyone like to share what they are thankful for?
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Loving God,
We gather all we have named and those things we have not named and give you thanks for we are richly blessed with a world of diversity and beauty. Thank You for giving us opportunities to share and celebrate.
We are thankful for each other and the beauty of your world. Thank you for all the joys that we have shared today. Amen
SONG – For the Beauty of the Earth
For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies
Chorus
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise
Verse 2
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale and tree and flower
Sun and moon and stars of light
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise
Verse 3
For the joy of ear and eye
For the heart and mind’s delight
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise
Prayer of confession/ Assurance: responsive
Let us pray these words from Psalm 139 as a responsive prayer of confession.
Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.
You know everything I do;
from far away you understand all my thoughts.
You see me, whether I am working or resting;
you know all my actions.
Even before I speak,
you already know what I will say.
You are all around me on every side;
you protect me with your hand.
Your knowledge of me is deep;
it is beyond my understanding.
where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
If I flew away beyond the east
or lived in the farthest place in the west,
you would be there to lead me,
you would be there to help me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
or the light around me to turn into night,
but even darkness is not dark for you,
and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.
Search me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.
Assurance
The God of both light and of night searches us and knows the paths we have walked. Our God is intimately aware of our ways and meets us in our hiddenness, hemming us in and laying kindness and mercy upon us. Even our shadows are as light to God who loves and embraces us, just as we are. Hear these words: you are forgiven. Thanks be to God!
Sharing God’s Peace:
God makes peace within us.
Let us claim it.
God makes peace between us.
Let us share it.
The peace of God is here to stay.
Let us know it.
The peace of God be with you always.
Amen
BIBLE READINGS:
Genesis 28:10–19a
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[c] though the city used to be called Luz.
Romans 8:12–25
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
REFLECTION – John McKinnon
Offering
Generous God,
What a gift it is to be alive.
What a gift it is to share love and relationships.
What a gift it is to be in community.
What a gift it is to have gifts to share.
We bring our gifts today of our money, food, time and talents for You to use in this church and beyond for your work in the world.
God,
We are a gift.
And we have gifts to give.
Help us to see that we don’t have to give things or stuff to show love and care.
Showing love and care is a gift in itself.
Help us to give good things to others,
To bring them hope,
To share with them peace,
To awaken joy
And to love all people deeply and really.
God,
Help us to be a gift each day,
And to receive the gift of others. AMEN
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Prayers for others
SONG – Christ be our light.
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Refrain
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Verse 2
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Refrain
Verse 3
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.
Refrain
Verse 4
Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.
Refrain
Verse 5
Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.
Benediction
May Jesus sow seeds of goodness and truth into your life.
May the Spirit strengthen and confirm who you are in your inner depths.
And May God bless us and our steps hold fast to God’s path.
Amen.
BLESSING SONG May our lives and our prayers be one
May our lives and our prayers be one
as our hopes shape the roads we walk on
and when our work and our dreaming’s done
may our lives and our prayers be one.
Within the rhythm of our days
we take the time to muse and pray.
The fears we face, the tears we taste
we view in light of holy grace.
May our lives and our prayers be one
as our hopes shape the roads we walk on
and when our work and our dreaming’s done
may our lives and our prayers be one.
We name our deepest hopes and dreams
for those we love and all in need
we picture how the world could be
we live the change we want to see.
May our lives and our prayers be one
as our hopes shape the roads we walk on
and when our work and our dreaming’s done
may our lives and our prayers be one.
Paul Somerville © 2013. CCLI 7022137 Paul Somerville
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