Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 6 – 25 May 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: “Santo, santo, santo” – (TiS 723)
Santo, santo, santo. Mi corazón te adora!
Mi corazón te sabe decir: Santo eres Señor!
Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you!
My heart knows how to say to you: Holy are you, Lord.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
We light this candle today
to remind us of Christ with us.
Reminding us that we are called
to bring this light to others,
we are called to bring this light out in the world,
the light of God’s love, mercy, compassion,
justice, and forgiveness.
We are called. Will we answer that call?
Acknowledgement of Country:
This land is God’s land and God’s Spirit dwells here.
As we gather in this place, I give thanks for the
Wurundjeri WoiWurrung People of the Kulin nations.
I acknowledge the commitment their ancestors made,
across the generations, to nurturing this Land.
Together, may we walk into the future,
recognising the sacred footsteps of the One who leads us.
Call to Worship:
We gather with each other.
The compassion we bring is for our neighbour,
the kindness, a gift to each other,
humility, in the words we use,
meekness, in the way we make space for others,
and patience, in the time we have for one another.
With these gifts,
we gather in worship.
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 dark of doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.
All your works with joy 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.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Holy and loving God
you are so worthy of our praise.
As we gather in worship
we can only be in awe of you
and all that you have given us.
There is so much at which we can marvel,
so much for which to sing your praises:
the talents and gifts you have given us,
talents and gifts that you ask us to use,
talents and gift that scream
of your enduring love for your people.
In humble adoration
we come before you now,
seeking to be inspired to use
all that you have given us
to better this world for all people.
You ask that we serve you and others,
that we love you and others,
and that we do so with compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
Forgive us for those times
when we take your love for granted,
when we go our way and not yours.
Forgive us that we forget to clothe ourselves in love,
instead putting on coats of selfishness and greed.
As your body, the body of Christ,
here in this place we come before you
to learn how to be and to do better.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Friends,
hear this good news:
Our loving God sees who we are
and still stands by us,
offering us hope
and, above all, forgiveness.
Friends, receive God’s forgiveness.
May God’s love set you free this day and always.
Amen.
The Peace:
We are the family of God, so let us share signs
of love and compassion, peace and forgiveness,
as we share in the passing of Christ’s peace.
The Peace of Christ be with you
and also with you.
Time for All:
One of the first decisions that we make every day is what we are going to wear. Sometimes we have to wear a uniform because of where we are going and what we are doing – school and particular jobs mean that you need to wear a uniform. But think about the days when it’s up to you to choose what you wear. For most of us, the clothing we choose to wear is very important. We might want our clothes to feel comfortable. We might want our clothes to be a particular style, or in fashion. For some of us, the brand of clothes is even important. We generally want our clothes to be in good condition – with no holes or missing buttons – and we want them to be clean.
The clothing that we wear says something about us. A football jumper can show what team we barrack for, a t-shirt might show a musical group you like, or a cap might show a team you play for.
I wonder if, when you get dressed in the morning, you ever think about what the Bible says about how we should clothe ourselves? The Bible doesn’t tell us what shirt or pants or hat to wear, but it does have something to say about how we, as God’s family, should clothe ourselves.
The Bible says that we should clothe ourselves with kindness, gentleness, and patience. It says that we should put on a forgiving attitude. Finally, the Bible says, we should top it all off by putting on love – and love brings it all together in perfect unity.
The great thing about wearing this outfit is that it fits us all – girls and boys, young and old, men and women. Do you know what else is great about it? It never goes out of style!
So, the next time you are trying to decide what to wear, why not try to put on a little kindness, gentleness and patience? Add some forgiveness, then, top it off with love.
Let us pray …
Thank you, God, that we are lucky and have different clothes we can choose to wear. Help us to be just as careful about choosing our attitudes, and showing kindness, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love to one another.
Amen.
We Sing: “Put on love” – (All Together OK 390)
Put on love every day, never hide your love away.
Don’t save love for a special day, but put on love every day-ay-ay,
put on love every day.
Put on love with your sneakers, put on love with your old blue jeans,
put on love with your knickers, put on love every day-ay-ay,
yes, put on love every day.
Put on love every day …
Put on love with your jumper, put on love when you comb your hair,
put on love when you brush your teeth, put on love every day-ay-ay,
yes, put on love every day.
Put on love every day …
Put on love in the morning, put on love in your class at school,
put on love when you play at home, put on love every day-ay-ay,
yes, put on love every day.
Put on love every day …
Children’s Blessing:
God loves me –
from the top of my head to the tips of my toes,
from my wiggly ears to the end of my nose,
from my back to my front to my fingers that wiggle,
God loves me.
Bible Reading: Micah 6:6-8 (The Message)
6 – 7 How can I stand up before God
and show proper respect to the high God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings
topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
my precious baby, to cancel my sin?
8 But he’s already made it plain how to live,
what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple:
Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously –
take God seriously.
Bible Reading: Colossians 3:12-17
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Reflection
This week we have been reminded again of the words from the prophet Micah, hearing them from The Message. The Message is a paraphrase of the Bible, which means it is not intended to be a word for word rendition of the original language, but instead aims to present the meaning in contemporary, accessible language. Within it, we again hear the plea for practical justice. The author of Colossians echoes that as we encounter Micah’s call to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly reshaped and expressed as ‘clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience’. There is also the additional call to ‘put on love’.
As I was reflecting on these readings this week, a song from the late 80’s kept coming to mind. You might know it … Dressed for Success by Roxette. The chorus goes like this:-
I’m gonna get dressed for success, shaping me up for the big time, baby
get dressed for success, shapin’ it up for your love.
As the song expresses, dressing for success is a concept that emphasies clothing as a means of achieving your goals and ambitions. It revolves around the idea that your attire can empower you to reach your objectives, whether they are career-oriented or personal.
Obviously for the singer, dressing for success is about receiving love, and this might seem a little shallow, but I invite you to stick with me a moment to wonder. If we apply this logic to being the people and community that God wants us to be, then it makes sense to think that we need to dress ourselves in a way that will help us be the community or body of Christ.
The passages from Micah and Colossians lay before us a list of aspirations or traits of character, but they need to be seen as more than just that. In essence they need to be read as actions, as things that need to be done. As we look through the list there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly surprising or new to see. These are the practicalities of our faith which seem simple on a list, but take effort to live out each day. A bit like getting dressed every morning, each of us need to make a conscious choice to put exhibit this compassion, kindness, patience and more, even on the days that we just aren’t ‘feeling it’.
For some of us it can be easy to keep the practicalities of our faith at arms-length, and easier to wrestle with questions we can never hope to answer in this lifetime. To be completely honest it can be a bit like that for me. While I have a deep love and concern for people, sometimes I’m not sure that I have the energy needed to put effort into practical action so I choose to operate in a different space. While we all need time out, rather than naming it, this means that my interactions can suddenly become all about me and what I need, rather than about the others in my community.
The message of Colossians reminds us that we need to put aside those things that are preventing us clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. It is really like taking off old clothes and replacing them with new ones. It should be a simple thing to do if you dare: remove the old fashion, the old style of living, the things that hold you back, and put on the latest heavenly fashion. The clothes God has designed for us, the clothes we are invited to wear, will fit us just fine and can change our lives, enabling us to shape and exhibit what we know through our relationship with Christ. As our lives are renewed with the new life we live, other will see that in us.
We live in changing and challenging times, and we can get caught up wondering about the function and purpose of the church. The church is often seen as irrelevant in the public space, and it seems that to many what we have to offer does not matter at all. We can become disheartened at this, and it can become the thing that concerns us most and takes all of our energy.
I wonder, however, if rather than letting this consume us, we should be focused on how we relate to one another, and how we build relationships within our church community and beyond it.
In my experience it is often the welcome of a community that encourages people to see how it fits them. As relationships are formed and people feel cared for, they are able to find a place in spaces they might never have thought open to them. When people feel they are in a safe place where they belong, they offer their gifts and become involved. This is no different for the church. This congregation is a community that is known for being welcoming, and as we have come together and relationships are growing, we are discovering the gifts each of us have, and how they can be shared.
We are community, but as part of the Body of Christ, we are more than that, for we have a higher calling. The way we respond to each other’s needs and gifts matters. We share our faith not only by speaking words, but through our actions of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. This shapes the community that we become, and brings us closer to the Kingdom as each member plays their part.
So what does this look like … if we put love on top of everything else as our all-purpose garment? It might mean being content with second place. It might mean listening to one another so that we can live within a melody, rather than always wanting our solo to be overpowering. It might mean allowing ourselves to admit that we, too, are works in progress. It might mean remembering that each one is loved by God, and maybe, it’s just thinking about how we dress in the garments God offers each day.
Amen.
We Sing: “Be Kind To One Another” – (Tune TiS 457)
Be kind to one another, be tender-hearted too –
forgiving one another, as Christ has pardoned you.
Be kind within your circle, but look past what you see;
be kind to those in trouble – the poor, the refugee.
Be kind in all your speaking and hear what others say.
Be open to Christ’s teaching, and in all matters, pray.
Be gentle, loving, faithful and keep a humble mind.
Remember what is truthful. In everything be kind.
O God of love, you’ve taught us. You’ve shown us what to do:
be just, commit to kindness, walk humbly here with you.
Your Spirit gives us courage to truly live this way.
May love become our message; may kindness win the day.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Liz Pace):
Let us take a moment to quieten our minds as we come before God with our prayers.
Forgiving God, mother and father to us all, hear the prayers of your people.
As we sit in this sanctuary, and in our homes, help us to be aware that we are in the presence of your Holy Spirit here amongst us, sitting next to us, understanding our needs, our gratitude, our confusion, our disappointments and fears and our many hopes.
Loving God ,we make mistakes. Help us to learn from them and then give us the courage to make amends to those we have hurt by our actions, or lack of action, or by our careless words.
We find it hard to love people who think differently from us, who behave differently, who are unkind and uncaring. Remind us that we are all God’s children and we need to look past the temptations to seek revenge and instead reach out with love and compassion.
As we look out on our world and feel the clean air, the warm sun and the rain that helps everything flourish, we are grateful for each breath we take. We also know that we are amongst the lucky communities that can enjoy such nature. At the same time we are aware that many other communities, even in our own land, are not so blessed. Show us ways to help your beautiful creation recover its balance and open our hearts to ways in which we can minimise the use of energy sources which have negative effects on others. Help us to share our abundant lives.
We have many other people and situations on our minds this morning. Hear our prayers as we bring them now in a few moments of silence …
Forgiving God, give us patience. We do not understand your plan for this world and become impatient, hard and uncaring, when confronted with the misuse of power, of money, of truth and justice . Help us to live with your rules of care, patience and love with a life filled with hope and a face full of joy to encourage others into your way of living a rich and fulfilling life.
This we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ who taught us to pray …
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: “God gives us a future” – (TiS 687)
God gives us a future, daring us to go
into dreams and dangers on a path unknown.
We will face tomorrow the Spirits power,
we will let God change us, for new life starts now.
We must leave behind us sins of yesterday,
for God’s new beginning is a better way.
Fear and doubt and habit must not hold us back:
God gives hope, and insight, and the strength we lack.
Holy Spirit, teach us how to read the signs,
how to meet the challenge
of our troubled times.
Love us into action, stir us into prayer,
till we choose God’s life,
and find our future there.
Blessing and Sending:
As we go into the week ahead
may our words and actions share something
of the life we have in Christ.
May the call to do justice,
love kindness and walk humbly
be the standard by which we hold ourselves.
And may we go,
knowing that we are embraced by the love of God,
Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer,
this day 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:
Ministry Matters and Spill the Beans (Issue 54).