Order of Service – 3rd May 2026

The Order of Service follows below.

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Brougham Place Uniting Church

Kardlayirdi Karnungga

A Light on the Hill

May 10, 2026

Preacher: Rev Linda Driver

Easter 6. White

Welcome to Brougham Place Uniting Church.

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

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

O God. We Bear the Imprint of your Face (Murray/Gibbon)

Call to Worship

Come.

Come, all who seek.

Come, all who wonder.

Come, all who wish to draw closer to God.

Come.

Opening Prayer

Creator God,

You have made the earth and all things that are in it.

You have made the peoples of every nation.

You have made everyone in your image.

You have made us all different,

displaying the glorious diversity of your love.

Open us to your Spirit’s movement among us this day.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

We sing: Immortal Invisible (TiS 143)

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

most blèssed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

almighty, victorious, your great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

nor wanting, nor wasting, but ruling in might;

your justice like mountains high soaring above,

your clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

You give life to all, Lord, to both great and small,

in all life now living, the true life of all;

we blossom and flourish as leaves on a tree,

then wither: but ever unchanged you will be.

All praise we would render: reveal to our sight

what hides you is only the splendour of light;

and so let your glory, Almighty, impart,

through Christ in the story, your Christ to the heart.

Prayer of Confession

Ever-present God,

you draw near to us in Jesus Christ

and sustain us through the gift of your Spirit.

We confess that we do not always live as those who trust in your presence.

We allow fear to guide us,

rather than living in the assurance of your steadfast and abiding love.

We turn inward

and fail to love one another as Christ loves us.

There are times when we resist the Spirit’s leading

and choose what is familiar rather than what is faithful.

Forgive us, gracious God.

Renew us by your Spirit,

that we may live in the confidence of your presence

and reflect your love in all we do.

Through the risen Christ.

Amen.

Words of Grace

Hear the good news:

Christ has not left us alone.

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit,

God remains with us, renewing and restoring us in love.

Through Christ, we are forgiven,

strengthened by grace,

and set free to live in faith, hope, and 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

You can sign up to receive BP E-news by email and read past issues on our website: www.bpuc.org

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

Look to the Day (Rutter)

Scripture Readings

John 14:15-21

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Acts 17:22–31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we, too, are his offspring.’

“Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

May the Spirit of God open our eyes to see, our ears to hear,

and our hearts to understand.

Message

We sing: God the Great Mystery

God the great mystery, source of our trust,

ground of our being and shaper of dust;

elusive presence to whom we belong,

heartbeat and rhythm, both singer and song.

Through all this borrowed life we seek your face,

listening with wonder and mapping each trace;

burning bush, still small voice, manna and quail,

all gifts and signs that your love will prevail.

Jesus, the Word, human child and divine,

we are the branches and you are the vine,

speak to us still of this imminent grace,

“I’m in you, you’re in me, here in this place!”

Great Spirit pulsing through heaven and earth,

heart always beating with signs of new birth:

loving us, lifting us, twisting us round,

’til all our songs with compassion resound.

God, take our minds, hearts and souls to your own.

Live in us, breathe in us, through us be known.

Gather your world in your wondrous embrace

’til all is love, mercy, goodness and grace.

Prayers of the People

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

Gracious God, thank you for these gifts. Thank you for everything you have provided. May we use them all with wisdom to share your love in this place.

We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

We sing: Love Divine (TiS 217)

Love divine, all loves excelling,

joy of heaven, to earth come down,

fix in us thy humble dwelling,

all thy faithful mercies crown:

Jesus, thou art all compassion,

pure unbounded love thou art;

visit us with thy salvation,

enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,

let us all thy life receive;

suddenly return, and never,

never more thy temples leave:

thee we would be always blessing,

serve thee as thy hosts above,

pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,

glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation,

pure and spotless let us be,

let us see thy great salvation,

perfectly restored in thee:

changed from glory into glory,

till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before thee,

lost in wonder, love and praise.

Sending Forth and Benediction

May God bless you with love for your neighbours and yourself.

May God bless you with curiosity for life.

And may God bless you with grace for each and every person, animal and

thing that crosses your path,

in this week and beyond.

Amen.

Choral Blessing

Music Put Peace into each other’s Hands (Irish Melody/Kaan)

Postlude

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

This service has been prepared with assistance from

Liturgy, Learning, & (Purposeful) Life (L3)
Dr Michelle Eastwood
© 2025, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of South Australia

Words for Worship
© 2026, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of South Australia

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

Image: Gustav Klimt Mother and Child Detail from The Three Ages of the Woman
Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Gustav klimt, le tre età, 1905, 05 cropped.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gustav_klimt,_le_tre_et%C3%A0,_1905,_05_cropped.jpg&oldid=970730793 (accessed May 6, 2026).

Congregation Hymns/Songs:

Immortal Invisible
Together in Song 143
Walter Chalmers Smith 1824-1908 alt. Public Domain.

God the Great Mystery
Words: Sharonne Price 2017. Tune: Together in Song 624
Walk As One Songs for Worship. Wattleseed Publishing

Love Divine
Together in Song 217
Charles Wesley 1707-88 alt. Public Domain