Koonung Heights Uniting Church – Service of Worship at Home
16 December – 7.30pm or whenever possible
You may like to have a length of wool with you for the reflection
and light a candle during your time of worship
as we remember those who have passed away in 2021.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we take time to meet together and remember,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin nation,
a people who have cared for this place
from times past, but now remembered.
I pay my respects to their elders,
past and present, and to all their descendants.
I also remember and pay my respects
to those who have faithfully worshipped in this place.
Welcome:
I would like to welcome each one of you
to this service, as we take some time
amidst the festivities of the season,
to approach God in honesty and humility,
with our questions and lamentations,
with our sorrows and our hurts.
We come to seek peace,
to remember those we may have lost,
and to hold each other in love,
just as the Good Shepherd holds us.
Know that you are all welcome,
irrespective of your faith or philosophy,
for while our beliefs may differ,
sadness and grief are universal emotions.
Call to Worship:
Shepherd of our souls,
we come together to worship,
with hearts that may be heavy,
with needs that may be pressing,
and recognising that you, Shepherd God,
are with us in it all.
Let us worship God.
Prayer:
God of all seasons,
of summer sun and springtime blossom,
of autumn leaves and winter’s chill,
we gather in your presence and offer this time of praise and worship.
As darkness overcomes the light of day,
may we join in remembering
all for whom this time of year
is not one of joy and merriment,
but one of struggle and anguish.
We remember those who even this day
know the feeling of love withdrawn,
of relationships that have come to an end,
of lives that are no more,
of the very real practical challenges
that too many people and families face this day:
to cool their homes or to put food on the table.
We remember all for whom change and transition is difficult and costly:
for those of us coming to terms with our grief;
for those of us facing life-changing circumstances;
for those of us who fear what tomorrow might bring.
We remember that life continues on,
even when things seem at their worst,
even when hope feels inadequate,
and it is in our hands to offer what we can to renew life,
to revitalise society,
to refresh those who are weary,
and to do all of this in love.
Amen.
Remembrance Candle:
Tonight we light our remembrance candle,
a practice we hold dear at Koonung Heights.
In doing so on a Sunday morning,
we hold before us the person we have lost in the past week,
the candle remaining lit throughout the service
as we remember them amongst us.
Tonight,
we light this candle in memory of each of these,
knowing that while they have passed from us
each is held within the loving embrace of God.
Bible Reading: Psalm 23 – The Divine Shepherd
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff – they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Bible Reading: John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Reflection:
The yarn you hold in your hands
was once the coat of a sheep,
perhaps a Coopworth or Corriedale,
a Polworth or Merino;
wonder of life
protecting them from the harsh conditions
that life itself throws at them.
Take a moment to imagine
what the wool in your yarn has been through,
maybe wind whistling through the hills,
or rain lashing down,
or maybe the harsh summer sun
and the warm, smoky breezes …
yet,
deep down;
protected from all of this,
the body of the sheep,
kept alive by the wool you now hold.
And caring for that flock,
overseeing and tending,
watching out and seeking out,
the shepherd:
diligent
careful,
ready.
Into the piece of yarn you hold,
imbue all that pains you today,
the struggles and griefs,
the worries and concerns,
and let them be taken up into that fibre
that has already seen so much
that is harsh and difficult.
When you come shortly,
and maybe light a candle,
I invite you to bring your yarn and drape it across the cross,
remembering the words of the Good Shepherd:
“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Litany of Names:
Another year has passed.
New lives have begun,
babies born, hope come again.
Another year has passed.
Lives young and old have come to a close.
People we have loved
are no longer on the end of a phone,
jokes we used to share together fall silent,
plans we made together for the year to come lie unfulfilled.
Yet we hold them in our memories,
and they remain a precious part of who we are.
And so we remember them:
people who were known and loved,
some who may have been family,
all a part of God’s family.
Jan Freeman
Dorothy Kentwell
June Ewing
May Weeks
Ruth Gardiner
Anyone else you have known, loved and lost.
We have lit these candles to remember those we have lost,
to cherish the memories we retain,
and to commit them to the Good Shepherd,
as we commit ourselves into his care.
May we never forget,
but rather live into the legacy of love
that binds us with generations
past, present, and future.
Prayer:
God of compassion and care,
we give thanks to you for your love for all creation:
from hilltop to valley bottom,
from village to city centre,
from skies to the sea’s depths,
all that you have made is good.
The eternal cycle of life and death,
birth and burial,
is part of this creation,
though we sometimes try to forget that.
Help us to hold both the beauty of life
and the pain that loss brings to us in creative tension:
joyful for the lives we have known,
sorrowful for the parting that inevitably comes.
May we work for a world
in which lives can be led with dignity,
in which inequality of life expectancy is no more,
in which all people can know love,
no matter the colour of their skins,
their creed or sexual orientation,
their gender or ability.
Guide us into the future,
knowing that those who are no longer with us
are safe with you in your heavenly flock,
and may we, too, know your nurture
that we can grow as disciples
called to share good news
and hopefulness,
even amidst the turmoils
that our lives all too often experience.
In the name of Jesus, we bring our prayer.
Amen.
We Sing: “The King of Love my Shepherd Is” – (Click on this link and skip the ads – TIS words below)
Blessing:
We go,
surrounded by all the saints,
wrapped warmly in the love of God,
laying upon the Good Shepherd’s shoulders
and ready to face the world anew.
We go, with the blessing of God,
Creator, Shepherd, Companion.
Amen.