Order of Service – 25th October 2026

The Order of Service follows below.

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Please join us in saying and singing the words printed in bold text. Items in red text are for information and explanation and are not spoken.

Brougham Place Uniting Church

Kardlayirdi Karnungga

A Light on the Hill

25 October, 2026

Preacher: Rev Linda Driver

Liturgical week: Pentecost 22 (Ordinary 30)

Colour:Green

Welcome to Brougham Place Uniting Church.

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of this land on which we gather today.

As you wait for worship to begin, please turn your phone to silent.

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country

Naa marni?

(Are you all good?)

Marni Ai!

(Good I am)

Introit and Lighting of the Candles

Choir: “Bless, O Lord, Us Your Servants” (Barnard; RSCM)

Call to Worship

Come, you who are searching for what matters most.

We come, longing for truth.

Come, you who carry love

and struggle to live it.

We come, seeking to be formed again.

Come, beloved of God.

We come, drawn back to love.

We sing: Hamba Nathi / Come With Me

Come with me for the journey is long.

The journey, the journey, the journey is long,

The journey, the journey, the journey is long.

Pray with me…

Sing with me…

Opening Prayer

God of love,

you have made us for relationship:

with you, with one another,

and with the world.

And yet we forget.

We complicate what you have made clear,

and avoid what love asks of us.

Draw us back again,

not to rules alone,

but to love that breathes through everything.

Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Jesus says that everything hangs on two commandments:

love God, and love your neighbour.

Let us bring to God the places where our love has grown small.

God of love,

we confess how easily we lose our way.

We say we love you,

but withhold ourselves.

We say we love our neighbour,

but choose comfort over compassion.

We make love small,

safe, manageable,

when you have made it wide and demanding.

Forgive us.

Return us to love. Amen.

Words of Grace

Hear this:

Love has not given up on us.

Even now,

God draws near,

not to condemn,

but to restore.

In Christ, we are forgiven,

and invited again into love.

Thanks be to God.

Passing of the Peace

The peace of our God be with you.

And also with you.

Community News and Notices

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Children’s Time (Exploring the Theme)

Children and Young People may go downstairs for Sunday School and Youth. Parents, you are welcome to join your young children in Sunday School if you feel they may need your assistance. Alternatively, you may wish for your child to remain with you for the duration of worship. Activity packs are available at the entrances.

Choral Anthem

“Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life” (words George Herbert; music M. Archer; WAEY p. 133)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34–46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, ” ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

’The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

“If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

The Gospel of Christ, Light of the world.

Thanks be to God.

Message: Love at the Centre: what everything hangs on

We sing: Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love (TiS640)

Kneels at the feet of his friends,

silently washes their feet:

master who acts as a slave to them.

Yesu, Yesu,

fill us with your love,

show us how to serve

the neighbours we have from you.

Neighbours are wealthy and poor,

varied in colour and race,

neighbours are near us and far away.

Yesu, Yesu,

fill us with your love,

show us how to serve

the neighbours we have from you.

These are the ones we should serve,

these are the ones we should love;

all these are neighbours to us and you.

Yesu, Yesu,

fill us with your love,

show us how to serve

the neighbours we have from you.

Loving puts us on our knees,

silently washing their feet,

this is the way we should live with you.

Yesu, Yesu,

fill us with your love,

show us how to serve

the neighbours we have from you.

Prayers of the People

God of love,

we bring before you a world that aches

for what you have already given.

For those who are lonely,

bring presence.

For those who are suffering,

bring compassion.

For those who are overlooked,

bring dignity.

For those who are grieving,

bring comfort.

For those who are unsafe,

bring protection and justice.

For our communities and leaders,

shape justice with love.

For the church,

return us to the heart of your way.

Loving God,

hear our prayer.

Loving God,

hear our prayer.

Loving God,

hear our prayer.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

And now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us saying…

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

Offering

To give electronically please go to bpuc.org/give

Alternatively, there is an offering bowl near the lectern on the left-hand side as you exit the church.

Offering Prayer

We sing: Moved by the Gospel, Let Us Move

Moved by the Gospel, let us move

with every gift and art.

The image of creative love

indwells each human heart

The Maker calls creation good,

so let us now express

with sound and colour, stone and wood,

the shape of holiness.

Let weavers form from broken strands

a tapestry of prayer.

Let artists paint with skilful hands

their joy, lament, and care,

Then mime the story: Christ has come.

With reverence dance the word.

With flute and organ, gong and drum

God’s praise be ever heard.

O Spirit, breathe among us here;

inspire the work we do.

May hands and voices, eye and ear

attest to life made new.

In worship and in daily strife

create among us still.

Great Artist, form our common life

according to your will.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Go now into the world

with love at the centre.

Love that is patient,

love that is courageous,

love that tells the truth,

love that does not give up.

And may the God who is love

go with you,

dwell within you,

and move before you,

now and always.

Amen.

Choral Blessing

“Blessing Song” (A. C. Rae; W.A.O. p. 104)

Extroit

Come and share morning tea together, in the basement. There are stairs behind the organ and a ramp between the church and the car park. All are welcome!

Thank you for joining us for worship!
If you would like to get in touch or request a prayer, please make use of the Contact Cards in the pews and next to the Offering Bowl. Alternately, you can email our Minister, Rev Linda Driver: lindad@bpuc.org

If anything in today’s service has stirred up distress, support is available:
Blue Knot Helpline 1300 657 380; National Safe Church Unit, safechurch.uca.org.au.
You are also welcome to contact Rev Linda Driver directly: lindad@bpuc.org.
For anyone affected by gambling harm, their own or someone else’s:
Gambling Help 1800 858 858, 24 hours a day, or Gambling Help Online.

This service has been prepared with assistance from

Liturgy, Learning, & (Purposeful) Life (L3).

The prayer for gambling reform draws on the prayer points in A Call to Prayer for Gambling Reform, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of South Australia, with Wesley Mission, 2026.

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover image: high cross at Iona Abbey. Photo: Rev Linda Driver, September 2026.

Congregation Hymns/Songs:

Hamba Nathi / Come With Me
South African traditional, arr. John L. Bell. Arrangement © 2012 WGRG, Iona Community, Scotland. GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love
Together in Song 640. Words: Tom Colvin (1925–2000). Music: CHEREPONI, Ghanaian folk melody, adapted by Tom Colvin. © 1969 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Moved by the Gospel, Let Us Move
Church Hymnary (4th ed.) 247. Music: ELLACOMBE.

Permission to stream / podcast the music and lyrics displayed in this service obtained from: ONE LICENSE, License #A‑604444. All rights reserved and CCLI Streaming License: 41427. CCLI Church Copyright Licence: 137219. Music Reproduction Licence: 137226.