Order of Service – this week

The Order of Service follows below.

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Lent – Plot twists…

Kardlayirdi Karnungga
A light on the hill

Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 26, 2023
Preacher: Rev Robyn Caldicott

Prelude

Welcome

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

Lighting of the Candles and Introit

Dem Bones – traditional arr Rosemary Nairn

Call to Worship

God whose life holds all life, God for whom death is not the end, God of all time and everyplace:
We gather here before you in faith.

Christ with the human feet, treading along every road in every rocky place, forming the way as you go so that we may see you ahead of us:
We gather here before you in faith.

Spirit marked with all the signs of heaven, Healing, comforting, enduring and liberating:
We gather here before you in faith.
Let us worship our God.

Opening Prayer

We Sing: Morning Has Broken

Morning has broken
like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken
like the first bird.
Praise for the singing,
praise for the morning,
praise for them, springing
fresh from the word.
Sweet the rain’s new fall
sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall
on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
of the wet garden,
sprung from completeness
where his feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight;
mine is the morning
born of the one light
Eden saw play.
Praise with elation,
praise every morning,
God’s recreation
of the new day.

Prayer of Confession

Holy Jesus, renewer of life We know there are times when we do not believe that you can save us. We lie down and die to life, before we have held ourselves open to your healing, or any gifts which you may bring for giving us fresh hope and courage.

Forgive our lack of trust, loving Jesus.
Forgive our acceptance of the things of death.

Sometimes we commit others to a form of death because we cannot imagine what could change and bring them into new life. Sometimes we are impatient for solutions when you are gently leading us down the hard path towards a different way forward.

Forgive our lack of trust, loving Jesus.
Forgive our acceptance of the things of death.

Forgive us when we doubt that, in life or death, you never leave us alone, that you hold everything in your loving hands, for us and for those whom we love.

Forgive us if we think that you do not care when those close to us leave us in death, or that death is some sort of punishment and an end to life and love.
Be with us, Jesus Christ, in life and in death.

Amen

Words of Assurance

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

Children may go downstairs for Sunday School. Parents, you are welcome to join your child in Sunday School if you feel your child may need your assistance. Alternatively, you may wish for your child to remain with you for the duration of worship. Activity packs are available from the entrances.

Scripture Reading: Old Testament – Ezekiel 37: 1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’

From this shines forth the Word of God.
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem: I waited for the Lord

Mendelssohn

Scripture Reading: New Testament – John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

The Gospel of Christ, Light of the World
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

We Sing: Resurrection Life

We see around us, every living thing
Has seeds deep within them from which life can spring:
All of nature’s cycles tell of flowering:
Death to life around us. It is happening!

Refrain
Yes! It is wondrous! Resurrection Life!
Always more beginnings! New life after life!
When loss or sadness causes agony,
When death of a loved one threatens sanity.
Then when hope emerges from adversity.
Life bursts forth in glory: claims the victory!

Yes! It is wondrous! Resurrection Life!
Always more beginnings! New life after life!
Each time we suffer, God knows all the strain:
Christ is in our sadness: Christ shares all the pain:
With this cosmic union, all is not in vain,
Christ as resurrection, lives in us again.

Yes! It is wondrous! Resurrection Life!
Always more beginnings! New life after life!

SANS 48 (Sing a New Life) Tune TIS 380. George Stuartt © used by permission. PD.

Offering

To give electronically please go to bpuc.org/give

Offering Prayer

Prayers of the People

We join together in prayer and say the words
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into the Church; breathe holiness and deepening faith, breathe energy, imagination and inspiration, make us more open to your gentleness and power…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into the universe; breathe responsible caring, honesty and compassion, breathe right values and good stewardship, peace, reconciliation, vision and hope…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into our homes and places of work; breathe increased patience and understanding, and the courage to live the Christian life when to do so brings ridicule or demands sacrifice…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into those who suffer; breathe comfort and wholeness, forgiveness and new confidence, breathe peace of mind and the knowledge of your love…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into the dead and dying; breathe courage for the journey and the realisation that you can be trusted. Breathe life that lasts forever…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, breathe your life into us now as we offer you here our praise and thanks for your life laid down out of love for us. May our words be worked out in fresh commitment to you…
Breathe into us, so that we live in you.

Holy God, merciful and just, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, Jesus.
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.

We Sing: We Sing a Love That Sets All People Free

We sing a love that sets all people free,
that blows like wind, that burns like scorching flame,
enfolds like earth, springs up like water clear:
come, living love, live in our hearts today.
We sing a love that seeks another’s good,
that longs to serve, and not to count the cost,
a love that, yielding, finds itself made new:
come, caring love, live in our hearts today.
We sing a love, unflinching, unafraid
to be itself, despite another’s wrath,
a love that stands alone and undismayed:
come, strengthening love, live in our hearts today.
We sing a love, that, wandering, will not rest
until it finds its way, its home, its source,
through joy and sadness pressing on refreshed:
come, pilgrim love, live in our hearts today.
We sing a burning, fiery, Holy Ghost
that seeks out shades of ancient bitterness,
transfiguring these, as Christ in every heart:
come joyful love, live in our hearts today.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing: Peace I leave With You

Amy Beach

Postlude

Lee Parker

Come and share morning tea together, downstairs in the basement

Some of the liturgy in this service is adapted from Spill the Beans, published by the Spill the Beans Resource Team, spillbeans.org.uk; ‘Liturgies for High Days’ by Dorothy McRae-McMahon and Words for Worship, both published by MediaCom Education Inc. - mediacomeducation.org.au.