Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Even in our fear, we are called forward.
Advent 3 – 14 December, 2025 – 10am or whenever possible
You may like to light a candle during your time of worship.
Feel free to text the Peace to other members of the congregation.
Introit: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” – (Words © Susan Wickham 2021 – Tune TiS 265)
O come, O Wisdom, mind and heart divine,
help us restore a world we’ve let decline.
Enlighten us; your way we would know
and show us where new seeds of hope to sow.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to us and in our hearts will dwell.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
You assure us, Jesus,
that wherever two or three are gathered in your name,
you are there.
We light this candle to remind ourselves
and to celebrate your constant presence.
May we always seek your guiding light in our lives
and carry that light into the world.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This is God’s land and God’s Spirit dwells here.
As we gather for worship today,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nations,
traditional custodians of this land under God.
I pay my respects to their elders past and present,
and to the leaders and generations to come.
As First and Second Peoples walking together,
may we commit ourselves to be people of the covenant,
listening, truth telling and seeking justice for all.
Call to Worship:
Jeremiah said, “I am only a boy.”
Moses said, “Who am I to do this work?”
Mary said, “How can this be?”
We often say, “But God, I am afraid.”
Even when we are afraid, God invites us closer.
So may we trust the Inviter.
May we heed God’s invitation.
May we summon our courage
and sing God’s praise.
Let us worship our courageous, inviting, calling God.
Amen!
Advent Candle:
In a world full of fear,
where do you see glimmers of joy?
We see glimmers of joy in birthday candles and homemade cards.
We see joy in the laughter of children and the delight of grandparents.
We see joy in meals around the table and in the singing of Christmas songs.
You are right.
Even in a fearful world, joy is all around us.
As well as the candles of hope and peace,
today we light the candle of joy
as a reminder of this good news.
May this flicker of light help us remember
that even in a fearful world, joy is here.
Joy is real. We only have to look for it.
Thanks be to God for that good news!
Amen.
We Sing: “Joyful, joyful” – (TiS 152)
Joyful, joyful, we adore you, God of glory, God of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before you opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the doubt of dark away;
giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.
All your works with your surround you, earth and heav’n reflect your rays,
stars and angels sing around you, centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
singing bird and flowing fountain call to praise you joyfully.
You are giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
well-spring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest.
You our Father, Christ our brother, all are yours who live in love;
teach us how to love each other, lift us to your joy above.
Call to Prayer:
Friends, there are times when everything is going right,
when we are so joyful, that we cannot stop from lifting our voices in praise –
times when we can’t help but see all the beauty around us.
There are other times when things can feel heavy,
when we make mistakes, feel bad, and want to keep our blunders to ourselves.
We don’t want to highlight our failings,
we would rather brush them under the carpet and move on.
But when it comes to God, there is nothing we need to brush under the carpet.
God welcomes and loves our full, honest, messy selves – blunders and all.
So let us come before God in prayer,
trusting that there is nothing we need to hide from our Creator.
Let us pray.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession:
Loving God,
thank you for the gift of joy
and the many ways we experience it.
We might see it in the morning as we wake
and see beams of sun dancing in dusty corners.
We might hear it when the rain falls
refreshing the garden after a hot day.
Joy is in the delight of tiny precious things,
things that might seem insignificant but are not –
when tests come back clear,
when exams are passed,
when the spirit is tested and chooses faith over fear.
Joy is in the hand that holds ours as we wait,
and the small actions we take each day
to help righteousness and peace about.
Thank you for the precious gift of joy.
Courageous God,
you invite us to live into our calling,
to act, serve and to trust you.
Yet sometimes we struggle to accept your invitation.
Forgive us
for the times we hid our faces
rather than responding with a resounding ‘yes’.
Forgive us
for digging our heels in,
or looking for someone else to volunteer instead.
Spark courage in us.
Remind us that every person is capable of making a difference.
Remind us that even when we’re scared, we are not alone.
You invite us forward.
With baby steps we hope, we pray, we move forward.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Family of faith,
no matter where your path has led you in the past, today is a new day.
So join me as we declare this good news to one another:
We are known. We are forgiven! We are sent to serve.
May we step forward in faith, always moving closer to God’s call.
Amen.
The Peace:
May the Peace of God dwell with you: and also with you.
A Time for All:
This morning I’d like us to spend a few moments thinking about joy, so I’m going to ask you, ‘When was the last time you laughed or experienced deep joy?’ I’d like you to think about that for a moment, savouring the memory as you do. Just let that joy sit with you for a while.
While you hold on to that moment of joy, I’d like to invite you to chat with a few people around you. See if you can spend a few moments naming some of the things that bring you joy.
To keep focussing on the joy, you might want to try this practice at home. Make a list of all the things that bring you joy. Focus on one thing on the list you haven’t experienced in a while and make a plan to pursue it.
We Sing: “Lord of all hopefulness” – (TiS 613)
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,
be there at our waking and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
be there at our sleeping and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
Bible Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10
– Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Bible Reading: Luke 1:26-39
– The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,
40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
Reflection:
Watch any parent. It starts with the first step.
They kneel down. They smile with anticipation.
They reach for their baby, calling and encouraging them forward.
And then before they know it, they’re running behind a bike.
They’re yelling, ‘Keep peddling! You got it! I’m right here!’
And they’re jumping up and down, because that little red helmet passed the mailbox.
And then, just like that, they’re driving circles in the church carpark.
They’re giving instructions about easing on and off the pedal.
They’re having conversations about curfew and heartbreak.
And then, before they know it, they’re standing in a hospital room.
Their heart is bursting. And they say, ‘Put her head right here.
Rock her gently. Do you remember the nursery rhymes?
You were born for this.’
The first step is the hardest, but you, beloved, were born for this.
This poem, written by Rev Sarah (Are) Speed, is entitled ‘The First Step’, and I imagine that many of us can relate to it even if we have not been parents. We might look back on our own lives, think about what we have achieved and remember those that encouraged us to take a step forward into something new when we were unsure.
This uncertainty is what we see in our readings for today. Both texts are what we might name as ‘call stories’. For both Mary and Jeremiah there is a call to step forward into something, and as with many call stories, there is some degree of self-doubt, trepidation, and uncertainty. Life is full of uncertain steps, and in the same way that parents encourage children to step forward but remain close to support, when we are called to take uncertain steps forward, we might be helped to imagine God encouraging us and standing close by. Stepping forward doesn’t mean there is no fear, rather the acknowledgement is that even within our fear we can be called forward and take a first step into that space.
When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, her response is not immediate acceptance but confusion, resistance, and fear. The text says she is ‘greatly troubled’ (diatarassõ) – a word that suggests not just inner disturbance but a deep, bodily dissonance. Mary is not simply puzzled – she is shaken, thrown off-balance, and possibly afraid for her life. There is good reason for this. As Pastor Austin Shelley writes: ‘while Elizabeth’s pregnancy would have been understood by her community as a miraculous sign of God’s favour, Mary’s would have been cause for alarm.’ Mary was young, unmarried, and living under the weight of imperial and patriarchal control. To be told, without warning, that she would bear a child by divine initiative wasn’t just a spiritual shock; it was a profound social and bodily risk. Her ‘yes’, then, cannot be read as simplistic or naïve. It emerges from a complex matrix of vulnerability, trust and survival, which is why it matters that Mary questions.
‘How can this be?’ is often heard as doubt, but I like to read it as agency. Here Mary is drawing a boundary around her own body and claiming her own understanding before offering consent. Gabriel does not rebuke her, but instead he offers a duel promise of divine initiative (‘the Holy Spirit will come upon you’) and shelter (‘you will be overshadowed’).
These words carry no hint of coercion. They speak of protection, not domination. But still, Mary’s consent remains essential. Mary listens, considers the impossible, and then responds with courage: ‘Let it be with me according to your word’ (Luke 1:38b) This not fear erased – it is fear acknowledged and moved through. It’s a choice made with trembling faith.
Mary’s story resonates with the call of the prophet in Jeremiah 1:4-10. ‘I am only a boy,’ Jeremiah protests, gripped by the fear that he is too young to speak for God. Like Mary, he hesitates – aware that answering the call will come at a cost. Like Mary, Jeremiah hears these words of reassurance: ‘Do not be afraid … I am with you.’ (Jeremiah 1:8)
What connects them both is not a lack of fear, but a deep, trembling resolve to move forward anyway – not with certainty, but with open hands and the courage to say yes, even in the unknown. Neither Mary nor Jeremiah embody boldness as spectacle. Their strength lies in quiet resolve – in the holy, hesitant yes that dares to trust.
Call can often come when we’re just trying to survive. Mary, like so many marginalized women, was likely trying to make it through the day, avoiding shame, violence, and invisibility. Survival mode leaves little space for dreaming – let alone imagining oneself ‘blessed among women’. Yet God’s call interrupts that quiet survival – not to exploit it, but to awaken her to a fuller, riskier, more radiant self.
This call to Mary is not without cost. Her answer of ‘Yes’ will bring silence, estrangement and pain. Mary will not only bear the Christ-child, but the burden of imperial suspicion, poverty, and loneliness. Still, she says ‘yes’.
We’re often taught that fear is failure, something to silence or push through, but this Advent we are invited to see fear as information. Yes, some fear protects us, but some fear is the threshold of transformation – the fear that comes when we are on the edge of saying yes to God. The fear that signals deep vulnerability, and deep possibility. Too often, dominant Christianity defines courage through heroic masculinity – loud, bold, and certain. But Mary and Jeremiah model a different courage: the courage to ask questions, to hesitate, to need more time, to take just one uncertain step.
Also, they do not walk alone. After her ‘yes’, Mary runs to Elizabeth, who meets her with joy and affirmation: ‘Blessed are you among women’ (Luke 1:42). Elizabeth becomes confirmation and community, and this, too, becomes part of the calling. Maybe you are being called to be ‘Elizabeth’ for someone else.
God calls us not only to action, but to community and to be fully ourselves. Fear doesn’t disqualify us, and God promises to walk with us every trembling step.
So let me leave you with a question … this Advent, what invitation are you resisting because you feel inadequate? What might it mean to say ‘yes’, not fearlessly, but faithfully? Maybe Mary’s words can become our own: ‘Let it be with me.’
Amen.
We Sing: “O Come, Take Heart’ – (Tune TiS 265)
O come, O come though timid and unsure and trust that God declares your worth.
Remember when you’re feeling small that every child of God is called.
Take heart, take heart!
The One who calls to you will give you strength and see you through.
O come, O come though you feel unprepared. When courage fails you, do it scared.
Don’t let the fear of making mistakes
impede you from the path you’re called to take.
Take heart, take heart!
The One who calls to you will give you strength and see you through.
O come and join God’s kin-dom work and be God’s hands and feet on earth.
You’re called exactly as you are to love the world with every broken part.
Take heart, take heart!
The One who calls to you will give you strength and see you through.
Prayer for Others (from Sanctified Art resources):
Calling God,
if you tapped on my shoulder today,
would my knees shake?
Would my mind race? Would my voice waver?
Or, knowing the stories
of all the faithful folks you’ve called before,
would I be ready?
Would I be brave enough to follow?
Would I hear your call for what it is?
Would I reply,
“Let it be with me according to your will”?
It’s hard to know.
But what I do trust is that you are a God who calls.
You called Mary and Moses, Jeremiah and Peter.
You have called ordinary people throughout all of time.
You have called artists and activists, poets and prophets,
teachers and healers—young and old alike.
So, as we move through this world, open our ears to hear your voice.
As we move through this world, open our hearts to the invitations,
the inspiration, and the nudges you place in our lives.
As we move through this world, God,
allow us to hear whatever call you have in store for us in this season.
For no matter how big or how small, we trust that you are a calling, inviting,
nudging, inspiring God who sees us in the best light.
Creator God we pray for the earth, bearing the cost of our greed and ignorance.
Help us find ways to live lighter, to support the healing of the environment
and preserve precious habitats.
We pray for all nations, that there might be abundance and fullness of life for all.
Where there is war, bring peace; where there is famine, bring food;
where there is disease, bring healing; and where there is oppression, bring liberation.
We pray for our communities and one another,
for those who find this time of year difficult for any number of reasons,
and we pray for ourselves.
In the quiet we bring to you the prayers of our hearts (time of silence).
With hope we lean forward, we listen for your word,
and we pray together the words your son taught us to pray,
even if our voices shake, saying …
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name;
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and 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: “Thuma Mina Somandla” – (TiS 749)
Thuma mina, thuma mina, thuma mina Somandla.
Send me, Jesus; send me, Jesus;
send me, Jesus; send me, Lord.
Lead me, Jesus, lead me, Jesus;
lead me, Jesus; lead me; Lord.
Fill me, Jesus, fill me, Jesus; fill me, Jesus; fill me, Lord.
I will go, Lord; I will go, Lord: in your name, Lord, I will go.
Blessing:
In a fearful world, may you look for God’s spirit.
May you reach for each other’s hands.
May you choose courage whenever you can.
And in all things, may you remember
that good news is louder than fear.
In the name of the one who calls,
the one who sends,
and the one who journeys with us,
go in peace and do not be afraid.
Amen.
Thanks to all those who have assisted in preparation for this liturgy with encouragement, prayers and conversation. I have also utilised the following resources: Fig Tree Worship and A Sanctified Art (What do you fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent).
O Come, Take Heart © Anna Strickland, 2025.