Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 2 – 12 April, 2026 – 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: Bless the Lord, my soul – (TiS 706)
Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.
Candle Lighting:
As we light the Christ candle today
we remember that you show us the path of life.
God of unfathomable surprises,
even in the midst of our confusion and questions,
awaken us to belief,
and through the dewy gardens of dawn
lead us into this new day.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we come to worship,
I acknowledge that this is God’s land
and God’s Spirit dwells here.
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nations,
traditional custodians of this land under God.
I pay my respects to elders past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
Call to Worship:
Risen One who calls us;
along the wilderness of Lent,
at the table of the twelve,
in the relinquishment at Gethsemane,
through the violence of the cross,
keeping vigil through the vacant holy hours,
to the dewy morning of the empty tomb
and your surprising rising:
We have followed you.
Now we take our place, gathered behind closed doors,
and wait for you to show yourself to Thomas,
because he is all of us,
unable to stay away and longing to believe.
Bless our unbelief.
Be present to us.
Breathe your peace.
Opening Prayer:
Loving God,
into a world of fear and death
you bring hope, and love and life.
Into a world of brokenness,
you bring healing,
helping us live with the scars that are left behind.
As we sing, pray and listen this morning
move in our hearts,
heal our souls and give us peace.
Amen.
We Sing: Praise with joy the world’s Creator – (TiS 179)
Praise with joy the world’s Creator, God of justice, love and peace,
source and end of human knowledge, force of greatness without cease.
Celebrate the Maker’s glory, power to rescue and release.
Praise the Son who feeds the hungry, frees the captive, finds the lost,
heals the sick, upsets religion, fearless both of fate and cost.
Celebrate Christ’s constant presence – Friend and Stranger, Guest and Host.
Praise the Spirit sent among us, liberating truth from pride,
forging bonds where race or gender, age or nation dare divide.
Celebrate the Spirit’s treasure – foolishness none dare deride.
Praise the Maker, Son and Spirit, one God in community,
calling Christians to embody oneness and diversity.
Thus the world shall yet believe, when shown Christ’s vibrant unity.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Gracious God,
we come to worship you this day in wonder and in love,
for there is nothing else that we can do.
Our minds cannot contain you and our words cannot fully express you,
yet in Jesus the Christ we see your glory,
hear your word of truth and know your forgiving love.
Accept all that we bring in this service of worship.
Amazing God,
you continue to reach out in love towards us
even though we know that at times
we miss the mark.
You sent Jesus, the Risen Christ,
and yet there are times
when we find it hard to believe.
For the times when, as people of the Way,
and as a community of faith
we have failed to believe:
we ask forgiveness.
For the times we have failed:
to believe we can make a difference,
to believe in the power of kindness,
to believe that our voice will be heard,
to believe in your abiding presence,
we ask forgiveness.
Forgive us, wounded One,
forgive us
and give us what we need to be your people
for the sake of this world you love.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Siblings in Christ,
be assured that we are always loved, forgiven and blessed.
Let us remind one another:
you are loved, forgiven and blessed.
Amen.
The Peace:
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
(John 20:26)
May the Peace of the risen Christ dwell with you:
and also with you.
We Sing: Be thou my vision – (TiS 547)
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
naught be all else to me, save that thou art
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be though my wisdom, be thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my great Father, thy child let me be;
thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.
Be though my armour, my sword for the fight,
be thou my dignity, thou my delight;
thou my soul’s shelter and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I scorn and the world’s empty praise,
thou my inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only the first in my heart;
high King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, after victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O ruler of all.
Bible Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
– Peter Addresses the Crowd
14But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know –
23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25 For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One experience corruption.28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’
32 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.
Bible Reading: John 20:19-31
– Jesus Appears to the Disciples
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Jesus and Thomas
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
The Purpose of This Book
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
A Story: New Kind of Life:
I’m not sure if they’ll recognise me.
In the garden this morning Mary thought I was someone else.
At first she didn’t recognise my voice but when she stopped crying and looked at me.
I said her name and she realised who I was.
I think she wanted to touch me,
to hold onto me to make sure that I was not a product of her imagination or a ghost.
I’m not sure what this resurrection body looks like or how it would feel to someone else.
It’s new to me. It’s a new kind of life.
It’s obviously going to be new to my friends as well.
I know that they’ve locked the doors
of where they are meeting.
They are still afraid of the Jews,
still stunned by what happened to me,
still afraid of what might happen to them.
Sealed tombs or locked doors
don’t seem to be a problem for this new body
but if I suddenly appear in the room
they’re going to be even more afraid.
I need to convince them that it’s me
and that they don’t need to fear me.
Maybe if I show them my wounds that will help convince them.
If I somehow breathe the gift of this new life into them,
it will help them grasp what is going on.
It worked. They were so happy to see me.
They are beginning to realise that this new life is about them as well.
One problem though, Thomas wasn’t with them tonight.
It’ll be really hard for him when they talk about seeing me.
He’ll know he’s missed out and he’ll want to see me for himself,
and I don’t blame him, this new life isn’t easy to understand.
It was better tonight.
Thomas was there, and the others were still caught up in the wonder of this past week.
I held out my hands to Thomas so that he could see what the others had already seen
and he believed at once that it was really me.
I said something to Thomas which I hope will help other people
to know who I am and what really happened to me.
I told him and the others that people would come after them who would also be my friends,
and I would bless them, because they had never had the opportunity
to meet me in a human body and yet they too would love me,
they too would be my friends.
Reflection:
We live in an age of questioning. Some of us question a lot: we ask ‘Do we have to? Why should I? What does it matter? What does it really mean?’ I am one of those, someone who tends to question everything, even when it might not be necessary. Others of us can feel guilty about questioning, we might think our questions don’t matter or that they will make us appear stupid, so we don’t even ask the things that are burning within us. Our young people are generally much better at asking questions. They have been brought up to not accept things on face value, and to challenge pre-conceived notions until they are comfortable with the explanation.
‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ That one sentence has left Thomas forever labelled as the doubter. Doubting Thomas is the one we are most familiar with, not that Jesus ever called him that. Maybe there is another side to Thomas that we often overlook. I’d like to think that Thomas really wants to believe, but is just missing a couple of pieces of the puzzle. I think, in Thomas’ story we witness a process of coming to belief through questions.
We know that we don’t need to go back two thousand years to find a subject where beliefs differ. There is an old Yiddish proverb that says if you want three opposing ideas about God, you should just ask two rabbis. The same might be said for any faith leaders, but it is not just a religious phenomenon. Russian leadership believes a special operation in Ukraine is valid, most Western leadership believes it’s expansionist aggression. There is only one event here, but beliefs are conflicting.
Carbon pollution and climate change might be an area that is closer to home. It’s a contested field. There are those who engage as though if enough articles are written and speeches are made, reality will adjust accordingly. There are facts, complex reality and, on top of that, there is understanding and interpretation. Belief can be tough.
We are asked to believe or not believe in many things. The writer of John’s gospel is dealing with the same sort of issues about Jesus and what to believe after Easter. Thomas wasn’t there with the other disciples, and so he asks questions until he gets an answer. This is a wonderful reminder of the importance of asking. Thomas needed help with his believing, and that’s fine. He got his answer in just a week, for some of us our questions can take a lifetime to work through.
Thomas’ story is really a story about believing. If anything, it reminds us that the resurrection is a difficult thing to accept, a difficult thing to believe. It is not an idea or a fact to which we just simply agree, and so we need to have faith. Yet the resurrection is also a new way of being, and if we take this seriously, then at some time or another we will all wrestle with it.
Thomas may be the one that gets labelled as doubting, but let us remember that the other disciples are also finding it difficult to believe. On the evening of the first day of the week, the day that Jesus was resurrected, they are hiding. God has opened the tomb and they have responded by locking the doors. God emptied the tomb and the disciples filled a house. Jesus came and appeared to them in their locked room. He spoke to them and breathed the Holy Spirit into them. One week later, the disciples are in the same place, behind the same locked doors and so despite Jesus earlier visit to them, nothing much has changed.
Thomas doesn’t believe in the risen Christ because his friends have told him he should, or because of any campaign. He believes when he encounters Jesus’ presence. Jesus asks Thomas to believe in him, in Jesus, a known and trusted friend. That is something Thomas can do, believe in Jesus, the risen One he has encountered, the one standing right in front of him. I don’t know whether Thomas did put his finger in the mark of the nails or his hand in Jesus’ side. We assume he did, but the text doesn’t actually tell us that. In a sense it doesn’t matter what Thomas did, what mattered was that the risen Jesus met him where he needed. Jesus invited Thomas to touch his wounds, and that invitation was enough for Thomas to respond ‘My Lord and my God!’
Thomas is the one who bridges the space between the first hand witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and to those who will only hear or read the story. The writer of John’s gospel explains that it is the reason he has included all the stories he did, noting that he has left many things out, but believing that what he has written is enough for people to believe.
Yet Jesus bridges that space too, continuing to make himself known to us in the way that we need so that we can also respond ‘My Lord and my God!’.
Both times that Jesus appeared before the disciples in the locked room, he didn’t berate them for hiding themselves away, he didn’t scold them for their fear or lack of faith or desertion, and he never named Thomas as a doubter. Jesus comes to this frightened group of believers and gives them his peace. He breathes his spirit on them and then calls them to continue his ministry, a part of which we heard in the passage from Acts.
This is the same for us. Jesus comes to us, even in the midst of out doubt and fear, never berating us, but instead offering peace and the Spirit, so that we can move out of our locked spaces, into the life we are called to live. This resurrected life we have in Christ, empowers us to engage with the world, inviting those we meet to hear the good news of Christ, and to receive the peace that Christ offers.
May the people of God, which passes all our understanding and our doubting, keep us in Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.
Amen.
We Sing: Faith will not grow – (TiS 691)
Faith will not grow from words alone, from proofs provided, scripture known;
our faith must feel its way about, and live with question marks and doubts.
The pattern Jesus showed, we share: life comes through death, hope through despair.
God is made known in brokenness, and faith feeds on God’s emptiness.
The church still tells how Jesus came through death to glorious life again –
the strangest story! Yet, maybe, our faith will thrive on mystery.
Faith takes the little that we know, and calls for hope, and tells us: Go!
Love and take courage, come what may; Christ will be with us on the way.
Prayer for Others (written by Harriet Ziegler):
If you feel so inclined,
there is a response to this prayer.
When I say, ‘We pray that we may find ways to be
messengers of your peace’,
you are invited to reply, ‘Hear our prayer.’
Loving God, you are the source of peace and we lift our hearts to you. In these days, we can feel as the disciples did – we want to hide in fear of all that is wrong in our world. We pray that you may come to us as you came to them – breathing upon us your peace and the courage we need to be your people.
So many in your world live in fear. We pray for peace for all who are afraid for their lives. Those who are living in war zones, especially in the Middle East and in Africa. Those who lack adequate health care, both in Australia and around the world. Those who fear arrest or seizure without due process, in the United States and in a myriad of other countries. There is so much to fear.
We pray that we may find ways to be messengers of your peace.
Hear our prayer.
So many in your world need care. We pray that those who have power may use it for the good of all people and for the earth itself. May the government and business leaders of Australia and of all nations enact policies – no matter how unpopular – that benefit people in need, people who are homeless, people who are ill, and that benefit the suffering earth. There are so many who need care.
We pray that we may find ways to be messengers of your peace.
Hear our prayer.
So many in your world need purpose and meaning. We pray that our church and all faith communities may ourselves be faith-filled and able to show others a truthful, purposeful way to live. We pray for the Uniting Church in Australia, and particularly for our minister, Rev. Heather, our pastoral assistant, Ray, and all members and friends of our congregation, that we may be filled with your spirit. There are so many who need purpose in their lives.We pray that we may find ways to be messengers of your peace.
Hear our prayer.
So many in our own community and among our friends and families are suffering. We pray for all who are grieving, who are in hospital, who are at the very beginning or the very end of life. And we pray for ourselves, for we too are afraid, and unsure and suffering.
In this moment of silence, we lift before you those for whom we have lit candles, and those whose needs are heaviest in our hearts.
(time of silence)
We bring all these prayers before you, and confidently join together now in the prayer you taught your followers:
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 for ever.
Amen.
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 eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
be there at our labours and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
be there at our homing and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve 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.
Blessing and Sending:
As resurrection people,
we need not be anxious about survival,
but faithful in witness.
We have the peace of Christ,
and that peace does not stay behind locked doors.
It moves us outward. It sends us.
So today, and all days,
receive Christ’s peace,
stand firm in resurrection hope,
and live as resurrection people.
Remember that death did not win
and love has not ended.
And the blessing of God the Father,
God the Son and God the Spirit,
the One God who is Mother to us all,
go with you today and always.
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: Interrupting the Silence, Spill the Beans (Issue 34) and Fig Tree Worship. Blessing adapted from Rev Charissa Suli, UCA President.