Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Easter 7 – 1 June 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.
During the service we will share Communion so you might like to have the elements ready.
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.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
As we come together to worship today,
we light this candle to help remind us
that God is always with us.
We are never alone for we are held always
in the light of God’s love,
and as this candle shines,
so God’s light shines in us for everyone to see.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This land 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.
May we all commit ourselves again to
working for reconciliation in this land.
Call to Worship:
Holy words shape this place,
words of love and life.
Words to be shared with the world,
words that bring renewal and creativity.
Words that give life and animate our faith.
With these words,
living in our speaking,
we worship the word,
alive within us and among us.
We Sing: “Sing praise to the Lord” – (TiS 96)
Sing praise to the Lord! praise him in the height;
rejoice in his word, you angels of light;
all heaven adore him by whom you were made,
and worship before him in brightness arrayed.
Sing praise to the Lord! praise him upon earth,
in tuneful accord sing praise for new birth;
praise him who has brought you his grace from above,
praise him who has taught you to sing of his love.
Sing praise to the Lord, all things that give sound;
each jubilant chord re-echo around;
loud organs, his glory tell forth in deep tone,
and sweet harp, the story of what he has done.
Sing praise to the Lord!
thanksgiving and song
to God be outpoured all ages along;
for love in creation,
for heaven restored,
for grace of salvation, sing praise to the Lord!
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Loving God
we are your children.
We are made in your image,
we are loved,
we are grateful.
Loving God,
sometimes we get things wrong,
we forget to care for your planet,
we hurt other people,
we hurt ourselves.
Hear us now,
as we tell you,
about our lives.
(time of silence)
Forgive us our sins
the things we know we do wrong
and the things we are not even aware of.
Turn us around,
to love our neighbour,
to do justice,
and to walk each day with you.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
You, Loving God, see who we are and still stand 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.
Time for All:
A ball of string is a simple thing, but when we have a few balls, and join them together they can look pretty amazing. We’re going to try that now. A few people have balls of string that they are going to pass to another person, keeping hold of the end. As you get the string, hold on to a bit and then pass it on. If you get a couple of bits then keep them both, but continue to pass the ball on. You don’t have to pass it to the person next to you.
Let’s try it and see how we go. It might take a couple of minutes but let’s keep passing the string until everyone has a hold of at least one piece.
It might be a bit difficult to see from where you are sitting, but It looks pretty amazing from up here, all of us linked together as one family. As a family, the family or God in this place, we need to think carefully about how out actions impact others who are part of our family or who visit it. If, for example, you all decided to pull hard on your bit of string, I might end up falling down the steps which wouldn’t be very safe for me (or you if I happened to fall on top of you).
What we do is just as important, if not more so, than what we say. Our actions and words really matter. One of the things we do to make this a safe space for everybody is to be committed to being a Safe Church.
Safe Church Commitment:
Here at Koonung Heights-Surrey Hills congregation, the Interim Church Council have reviewed our implementation of the Child Safe Policy of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. This review takes place to ensure our ongoing commitment that all children involved in our activities, services, events and programs are safe and feel safe. The Church Council has signed a statement of commitment which will be displayed in the Church. You are invited, as a congregation, to reaffirm that commitment now.
Together as a congregation will you continue to commit to providing safe environments where children are cared for, respected, nurtured and sustained?
We will, for this is God’s will for all children.
Will you listen to children and take their opinions and suggestions seriously and so all in your power to safeguard children from abuse?
We will.
Will you commit to following the Child Safe policies and procedures adopted by this congregation?
We will.
Do you commit yourself to the support of our congregation’s children’s programs and those who lead, praying for the leaders and children?
We do.
Let us pray:
God of joy and hope,
we pray for the children in our congregation.
May they grow up in love and faith.
Bless their parents, our children’s program leaders, our Church Council
and all in this congregation, as we make this commitment today
to make sure the children among us are safe and feel safe.
Amen.
We Sing: “Bind us together Lord” – (Mission Praise 21)
Bind us together Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken;
bind us together Lord, bind us together, bind us together with love!
We are the family of God, we are the promise divine,
we are God’s chosen desire, we share the bread and the wine.
Bind us together Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken;
bind us together Lord, bind us together, bind us together with love!
Bible Reading: Micah 6:6-8 (The Voice)
6 What should I bring into the presence
of the Eternal One
to pay homage to the God Most High?
Should I come into His presence
with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves to sacrifice?
7 Would the Eternal be pleased
by thousands of sacrificial rams,
by ten thousand swollen rivers of sweet olive oil?
Should I offer my oldest son for my wrongdoing,
the child of my body to cover the sins of my life?
8 No. He has told you, mortals, what is good in His sight.
What else does the Eternal ask of you
But to live justly and to love kindness
and to walk with your True God in all humility?
Bible Reading: Ephesians 5:1-20
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and impurity of any kind or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no sexually immoral or impure person or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them, 8 for once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness; rather, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly, 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be careful, then, how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection
Loneliness and social isolation are some of the realities for people living in the twenty-first century. People spend far more time on their own than used to be the case. At times they may be accompanied by a smartphone screen and, with it, the illusion of social interaction, but the reality is there is greater isolation from other people and from society. You can see this by the prevalence of food delivery drivers in cities today brining food ordered by an app to the door, to be often consumed alone.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2023 an estimated 15% of Australians aged 15 and over were experiencing social isolation (17% of males and 13% of females). Being socially isolated means that you have ‘few social relationships or roles and infrequent social contact’. This differs from loneliness, which is a ‘subjective, unpleasant or distressing feeling of a lack of connection to other people, along with a desire for more, or more satisfying, social relationships’. While these things do not necessarily have to co-exist, at times they do, and for those who are lonely or isolated, I think the church has something to offer. For those who might be looking for a place that feels safe, or somewhere to belong, we can be that welcoming community.
This morning we have heard part of the letter to the Ephesians. At the time this letter was written, people would have experienced life in community quite differently from what we do now. Far more time spent in the company of others, and in fact this was more necessary. In general it is far healthier for our individual wellbeing to be living positively in community with others, interacting in real life. To do this well, therefore, requires us to think about that interaction with others.
As Christian community and part of the body of Christ, there is an additional element of how we should behave towards one another, because that interaction bears witness to God at work in the world. If we believe that God’s light shines in us, then we want to reflect the love of God as we live in community.
In fact, the author of Ephesians is at pains to make that connection, describing the recipients of the letter as beloved children of God who are called to be imitators of God. This call might seem absurd; to think that we could imitate God seems the height of arrogance. Yet this call to imitation of God is founded on the love of Christ for us. Jesus himself is the footsteps of God through the world, not only giving us an example to follow by our own determination, but cutting a path in the wilderness and encouraging us to come along. We imitate by grace as we are loved into walking this path and living faithful lives within the community.
There is a realism that this can be difficult, and living as imitators of God is an ongoing process. The ways of the world can be highly appealing and can work to distract us from living the lives we were called to live as beloved children. We need to live with wisdom, not so much a knowledge-based wisdom, but an outlook on life that is constantly striving after God, seeking to use every opportunity before us to bring glory to God. Even when things are difficult and bad things are happening around us, there are plenty of opportunities around us to do good and make a difference within the community.
The passage then moves into a list of negatives, a list of things that the people are told not to do. It might give the impression that the community are not to have any fun at all, but nothing is further from the truth. This is not about self-denial, but about understanding what the will of God is, understanding ourselves and understanding the place we have in the Kingdom of God. The author of this letter is trying to explain that if we are truly thankful for all that God has done for us, then we should be living the type of life that builds relationships and shares God’s goodness with every opportunity, rather than acting in ways that destroy relationships.
Greed, drunkenness and immoral living are just some things that can damage our relationships and those of others. You have probably seen it: the one selfish action, the one extra drink, the one act of inappropriate behaviour, or the one bit of idle chatter that might not seem much at the time, but can cause irreputable damage. When our focus slips away from God, the cords that bind us together in love, can all too easily morph into tangled, sticky webs of self-indulgence. This is not operating from a place of love or walking in step with God. Yes, at times we will get it wrong, but the God whose beloved children we are, will encourage us to get up and try again.
While this passage might be a little confronting to read, within it lies the invitation for us to seek the best for ourselves and for our community. It invites us to be good citizens, not only of the human communities we are part of, but also of the Kingdom of God, from whom all else flows. It invites us to be the type of community people will want to be a part of.
So … what does God want of us?
To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly.
It’s the message of Micah
and it is Paul’s message to the church in Ephesus.
You are God’s children so you must try to imitate God.
Love is what matters,
your love for others and God’s love for you.
If you are God’s children,
then some behaviours are off limits.
Do not be greedy, use bad language or be deceived by foolish words.
Live in the light which makes things visible.
Be careful how you live … be wise and do things you know are good.
Talk with each other. Try to work out how, in your situation, God wants you to live.
Do not get drunk with wine and spirits, that will only mess up your lives.
Instead, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit.
What does God want of us?
Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with your God.
Look around you. Be loving, and give thanks to God.
Amen.
We Sing: “Seek, O seek the Lord” – (TiS 464)
Seek, O seek the Lord, while he is near;
trust him, speak to him in prayer, and he will hear.
God be with us in our lies, direct us in our calling;
break the snares the world contrives, keep us from falling.
Seek, O seek the Lord …
Strengthen in our hearts the love we owe to one another;
how can we love God above and not each other.
Seek, O seek the Lord …
Prayer for Others (prepared by Bryan Long):
In the second part our prayers this morning there will be a number of short pauses. These are times for your own silent prayers.
Let us pray …
Loving God, we glimpse your presence in the world you have created, its power and its beauty, its music and literature, its diversity, the possibility of food for everyone, our dreams of fullness of life for all your children:
YES GOD, YOU ARE WITH US IN THIS WORLD.
Yet we see that power misused, beauty marred, discord, lies and fear dividing humankind, our failure to share.
WHERE ARE YOU GOD?
We hear the good news that Jesus brought, the affirmation of the value of every human life, the gospel that commands us to seek peace with justice; We understand that costly reconciliation is at its heart:
YES GOD, YOU ARE WITH US IN THIS WORLD.
You are present where people of good will choose to live in your way, caring for creation and for each other, speaking truth against power.
You are present in this broken world, wherever hope is alive – and so we remember that you call us to be servants of joy, and we commit ourselves to pray –
for those who are lonely and have no sense of joy or belonging, or love.
(time of silence)
those in war-torn countries – Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan – and throughout the world.
(time of silence)
those disoriented and frightened by their circumstances; those right now experiencing
floods and drought, those enduring homelessness and violence.
(time of silence)
those who have never found people they can trust; those living in a world of shame and
fear; those impacted by loss and sorrow, and who struggle to reorient themselves in the
world.
(time of silence)
… those isolated by illness or infirmity and who long for a restoration to health.
(time of silence)
for ourselves; for Heather; for our church members; for our leaders and council;
for those in our congregation who are ill. or whose loved ones are ill, for those who are
anxious about the future, for those struggling with their faith
(time of silence)
…for family and friends who are dear to us.
(time of silence)
Open our eyes gracious God, to the recognition of the needs in our community, as well as communities across the world. Sweep away our defences of reserve and inhibition, and allow us to trust that our prayers will find space in your longing for restoration of this world.
We pray with Jesus,
Amen.
Communion:
Invitation
Come, and gather with your friends and relations.
Come, share time with all in your church family.
Come, eat and drink together,
with the people of God here and everywhere.
Live for love, jump for joy, pray for peace,
practice justice, mercy and humility,
as beloved children of God.
The Peace:
The peace of the Lord be with you and also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Prayer of Thanksgiving:
It is right that we give you thanks and praise at all times and in all places
for you have created and sustained us.
We praise you that through your eternal Word you brought the universe into being.
You have given us this earth to care for and delight in.
You love us and have bound yourself to us.
Above all thank you for Jesus, the living Word,
born as one of us, living our common life and walking the path to death,
yet through his actions reconciling us to you and to one another.
Therefore we gladly join our voices to the song of the Church on earth and in heaven,
singing:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of love and light,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
On the night of Jesus betrayal and arrest, as he shared a meal with his friends,
Jesus took bread; gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his followers, saying:
“Share this bread among you; this is my body which will be broken for justice.
Do this to remember me.”
When supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks and gave it to his disciples, saying:
“Share this wine among you; this is my blood which will be shed for liberation.
Do this to remember me.”
Invocation:
Creating, Redeeming, Sustaining God,
…as we celebrate this meal together,
may your Spirit come upon those gathered here and in their homes.
Spirit of compassion, bless us and this bread and wine.
May this meal be food and drink for our journey
renewing, sustaining and making us whole.
When we eat and drink may we experience again
the presence of the risen Jesus in our midst.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer:
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.
Distribution:
The bread we take is a sharing in the body of Christ.
The wine we take is a sharing in the blood of Christ.
These are the gifts of God for the people of God.
The bread of life – the cup of hope.
May this meal nourish and refresh you, strengthen and renew you,
and may it remind you that you are loved.
Amen.
Prayer:
God of love, we give you thanks for satisfying us with this meal.
Send us from here to reveal your love in the world.
Inspire us to use our words to point others to the Word.
Inspire in us the resolve and the courage, the compassion and passion
to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with you. Amen.
We Sing: “Sent forth by God’s blessing” – (TiS 531)
Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing,
the people of God from God’s table take leave.
The supper is ended: may now be extended
the fruits of God’s service in all who believe.
The seed of God’s teaching, our hungry souls reaching,
shall blossom in action for all humankind.
God’s grace shall incite us, God’s love shall unite us
to work for the kingdom, God’s purpose to find.
With praise and thanksgiving to God ever-living
the tasks of our everyday life we will face,
our faith ever sharing, in love ever caring,
embracing our neighbours all those of each race.
One feast that has fed us, one light that has led us,
unite us as one in his life that we share.
Then may all the living, with praise and thanksgiving,
give honour to Christ and his name that we bear.
Blessing and Sending:
What does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Once again, we step out, with these words in our hearts.
Words to embody, words to guide and inspire.
The blessing of the Creator, the Son and the Spirit,
be with you each step of each day.
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:
Spill the Beans (Issue 54), www.workingpreacher.com and www.aihw.gov.au