Order of Service - 28th May 2022

Brougham Place Uniting Church

2023-05-28

Order of Service - 28th May 2022

Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

May 28, 2023
Pentecost A
Preacher: Rev Robyn Caldicott

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

Prelude

Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country

Lighting of Candles and Introit- Kindle the Flame

RSCM Summer School hymn

Call to Worship

Holy, holy, holy God, Wonder and mystery and all-goodness, In the power of the Spirit we are carried into your presence:
You are our God and we are your people.

Holy, holy, holy God, Healer, liberator and all-justice, In the power of the Holy Spirit we are called into the world:
You are our God and we are your people,
And we come to worship you in faith and in hope.

Prayer of Invocation

We Sing: O Breath of Life

1. O breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and power;
O breath of life, come cleanse, renew us,
and fit your church to meet this hour.

2. O wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore: for this we plead.

3. O breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in every part.

4. Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting
equip your church to spread the light.

Together in Song 409. Elizabeth Ann Porter Head 1850-1936. Public  Domain.

Prayer of Confession

Dear God, if our faith has become so mundane to us that we have ceased to expect to be surprised by your holiness, treading each day as if we know all that is possible instead of looking around us for the new word:
Stride into our lives, Jesus Christ,
and interrupt us with your grace.

O God, when we look at others and fail to see godliness which may be present there, assuming that we know all there is to know about them and closing our minds and hearts to fresh gifts:
Stride into our lives, Jesus Christ,
and interrupt us with your grace.

O God, if we rarely search ourselves to see if you are inviting the sharing of beauty and wisdom from within our own lives and inspiring us to be the vehicles for your holy word in this day:
Stride into our lives, Jesus Christ,
and interrupt us with your grace.
Forgive us when we expect less than you give.
Amen

Words of Affirmation

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We thank you, O God, for moments undeserved and unexpected, blessings which we have not planned to receive, and gifts from those we have not noticed before.

We thank you, O God, That you are always grander and greater than we will ever know, That we can never truly name who you are, Never do justice to the breadth of your love.

We bring thanks, O God, this day and every day
Amen

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 at the entrances.

Choral Anthem: I will Sing with the Spirit

John Rutter

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ’Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

For God’s Word in Scripture.
For God’s Word for our world.
For God’s Word transforming our lives.
Thanks be to God.

Reading: Pentecost 23

Subtle Bricks

Message

We Sing: Life to the Brim

1. Life to the Brim, Life overflowing
Life pouring out in compassion and grace
Spirit of God, Well up within us
Bring us to life in this time and this place.

2. Life to the brim, Life overflowing
Life flooding in from below and above
Spirit of God, Pour out upon us
Bring us to faith and to hope and to love.

Come Holy Spirit
Lord and giver of life
Make us your people
Make us the body of Christ.

3. Life to the brim, Life overflowing
Foretaste and sign of the healing to come
Spirit of God, Strengthen and guide us
Take us and use us ’til your kingdom’s come.

© 2011 Andrew Dutney

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

Prayers of the People

With faith and confidence, we come in prayer, before God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Creator God, today we live with the consequences of actions that have made life unsustainable for some and over-abundant for others. Teach us to know how to use responsibly the resources you have given to us for the benefit of all and the respect of your creation. The groaning creation cries out to you.
Teach us and show us the way.

Compassionate God, help us repair the harm that we have inflicted upon each other and the divisions we have created among your people. Just as Christ Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit onto the disciples to birth the community of the new creation, send your grace to heal our divisions and gift us with the unity for which Jesus prayed.
Teach us and show us the way.

Christ, the way, the truth and the life, you embodied justice in your ministry on earth by the good that you did, breaking down the walls that divide and the prejudices that imprison. Open our hearts and minds to recognise that though we are many, we are one in you.
Teach us and show us the way.

Holy Spirit, you create anew the face of the earth. The summit of the mountains, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the lakes speak to us
Because we are connected.

The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning, the dewdrops on the flower speak to us –
Because we are connected.

The voices of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised speak to us Because we are connected.

But above all, our hearts soar to you for we cry out ‘Abba, Father’ as we say:

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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: Lord, the Light of Your Love is Shining

1. Lord, the light of your love is shining,
in the midst of the darkness, shining;
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us,
set us free by the truth you now bring us –
shine on me, shine on me.

Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.

2. Lord, I come to your awesome presence,
from the shadows into your radiance;
by your blood I may enter your brightness:
search me. try me, consume all my darkness –
shine on me, shine on me.

Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.

3. As we gaze on your kingly brightness
so our faces display your likeness,
ever changing from glory to glory:
mirrored here, may our lives tell your story –
shine on me, shine on me.

Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.

Together in Song 675. Graham Kendrick 1950 – Words © Thank you Music administered by Scripture in Song. Words used with permission under copyright CCLI Licence No 137219. Copyright cleared music for churches.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Blessing: For you Deep Stillness

With Eliza & Helen Harris - Robin Mann

Come and share morning tea together, downstairs in the basement. There are stairs behind the organ and a ramp between the church and the car park leading to the basement.

Some of the liturgy in this service is adapted from Liturgies for High Days’ by Dorothy McRae-McMahon published by MediaCom Education Inc. - mediacomeducation.org.au.