Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Epiphany 3 – 26 January 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: “The heavens shall declare” – (TiS 746)
The heavens shall declare the glory of his name,
all creation bow at the coming of the King;
every eye shall see, every heart will know,
every knee shall bow, every tongue confess:
holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
see the coming of the King: holy is the Lord.
Lighting the Christ Candle:
We light this candle
as a symbol of the light of Christ,
light which cannot be held back by distance,
and light which shines in each one of us,
no matter where we are.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This is God’s Land.
Many have gone before who have honoured God
by caring for the Land in the ways they have lived
and in the stories they have shared.
Today, I give thanks for the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin Nation, who have held as sacred
the duty of protecting the Land and living in harmony with it.
Many have also worshipped God in this place,
and cared for one another in the ways they have lived
and in the example they have shared.
Today, I also give thanks for them,
for their vision for this community,
and their prayers and faithfulness.
May God continue to bless us all,
both First and Second Peoples who call this land home.
Call to Worship:
Welcome to this place and space
where the Good News is shared.
Welcome to this place and space
where the Good News is witnessed.
Welcome to this place and space
where the Good News is enacted.
Welcome as we come to worship
the God of Good News.
We Sing: “Morning has broken” – (TiS 156)
Morning has broken like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
praise for them, springing fresh from the word.
Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung from completeness where his feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight; mine is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day.
Prayer of Praise and Confession:
God of good news, we praise you –
bringing in your kingdom in Jesus,
you have given us a glimpse of heaven’s glory here on earth.
God of the poor, we praise you –
bringing an end to the cycle of want,
you have given us a vision of your good gifts shared by all.
God of the captive, the oppressed, we praise you –
bringing words of liberation and unlocking prison doors,
you have given us a revelation of freedom in you and fullness of life.
The eyes of all look to you, and praise your holy name.
God of the poor, the oppressed, those lacking vision,
forgive us when we get so caught up in bad news,
in doom-scrolling on social media,
that we lose sight of the hope of your kingdom here and now.
Forgive us for the times we choose not to see
the possibilities of kingdom living,
and for closing doors, not opening them;
for shutting people down rather than raising them up;
for being more concerned with our own agendas and kingdoms
and not yours.
May your Spirit of life and liberation,
power and possibility, blow in and through us
that we may proclaim the day of your favour,
and be bearers of your good news for all.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Words of Assurance:
We are loved and forgiven in the name of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
The Peace:
May the Peace of God dwell with you
and also with you.
Time for All:
Australia Day has a varied history, including being celebrated on least 5 different days over our relatively short history since colonial settlement.
26 January marks the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, which is a significant moment that has shaped the Australia we know today. The challenges of our history make the day a difficult one for some, and time was spent focusing on this last week.
For others, though, today is a day where we might celebrate the opportunities, freedoms and beauty of this country that we all call home. It also might be an opportunity for us to thank God, the giver of every good gift, for the provision and care that we enjoy.
The first sermon on Australian soil was delivered by Rev Richard Johnson, chaplain on the First Fleet. He preached from Psalm 116:12-13 – ‘What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.’ These words are still relevant, reminding us that our response to the blessings of this country should be one of thankfulness and dedication to God.
We are obviously a different people in this country today than when the First Fleet arrived. In some ways we have come so far, while in others we still have a lot to learn, yet I think the reading set down for today from 1 Corinthians speaks into our reality in 2025. This well-known passage reminds us of the many parts that make up the one body, and of how all parts are needed. I wonder whether it is a bit like that with our country. We are made up of a diverse variety of landscapes and individuals. Some have a long history in this country and others have more recently made the journey to call this place home. Yet each one is a part of the makeup of who we are together, and we need one another.
We rejoice with one another when sporting medals are won by a few, and we mourn with those who loose property in natural disasters. We are amazed by the beauty of this land and also, at times, reminded of who we are in its vast expanse.
This Australia Day, might we all be able to honour the past, embrace the present, and move forward in hope towards a future of unity and peace.
Let us pray:
Loving God of all creation,
we give you praise and thanks for the gift of our land Australia.
Bless this land and all the people who live here,
those who have been here for a long time and those who are newcomers.
Make us grateful for the beauty and bounty of our great south land
where your Holy Spirit dwells,
and help us always to be aware of our duty to take care of this land which you created
and all who dwell within it.
We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
We Sing: “Where wide sky rolls down” – (TiS 188)
Where wide sky rolls down and touches red sand,
where sun turns to gold the grass of the land,
let spinifex, mulga and waterhole tell
their joy in the One who made everything well.
Where rain-forest calm meets reef, tide and storm,
where green things grow lush and oceans are warm,
let every sea-creature and tropical bird
exult in the light of the life-giving Word.
Where red gum and creek cross hillside and plain,
where cool tree-ferns rise to welcome the rain,
let bushland, farm, mountain-top, all of their days
delight in the Spirit who formed them for praise.
Now, people of faith, come gather around
with songs to be shared, for blessings abound!
Australians, whatever your culture or race,
come, lift up your hearts to the Giver of grace.
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
– One Body with Many Members
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work powerful deeds? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts.
Bible Reading: Luke 4:14-21
– The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflection:
Have you ever known someone to command the stage either literally or figuratively? Rik Mayall was an English actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in many different shows and movies throughout his career including The Young Ones, The New Statesman, Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso. Among his peers he is, however, famously known for a smaller cameo role as Lord Flashheart, or one of his descendants, in various editions of the Blackadder TV series. What made these cameo appearances unique is that the producers, directors, and cast alike all recognised and admitted that in these special episodes, everything else was overshadowed by this one character and Mayall’s performance. It was so loud, unique, visual and bold, it was almost as if he entered the stage proclaiming, “for the next thirty minutes folks it is all about ME!”
I want you to imagine that you are in worship, much as you are this morning, and the person who is leading stands up and says something like “now that I have your attention I want to let you know that what follows is all about me?” That would certainly get our attention, and I don’t think many of us would respond to that sort of thing positively, whether we knew the individual or not. This is, however, pretty much what we hear Jesus do in today’s gospel reading. Jesus comes to his hometown, Nazareth, and does what he usually does on the Sabbath, goes to the synagogue. It is when he is there that things get particularly interesting.
The text tells us that Nazareth is the place where ‘he had been brought up’ (Luke 4:16). This is the place where Jesus has grown, where he has been nourished and raised to be the man who now stands before those gathered for worship. At the synagogue Jesus follows the tradition of the Old Testament, and stands up to read the scriptures. He is handed the scroll of Isaiah, chooses a passage (or has it chosen for him), and begins to read … ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’. (Luke 14:18-19)
Those gathered would have known Jesus and the familiar words he shared from Isaiah. But Jesus claimed these words as a reality, as creative words that formed the shape of the new reign of God. These words of prophecy come to life as Jesus sits down and begins to explain that this scripture has been fulfilled in the presence of those gathered – that he is the one who has been chosen to preach and proclaim the good news of God.
I wonder what those in that hometown congregation were like. I can imagine that some of those present where excited and jubilant with what Jesus had to say, while others might have been angry that Jesus was seeming to make it all about himself. I suppose that the congregation was filled with all the characters of Nazareth – rich and poor; able-bodied and visually impaired; oppressed and oppressor. What might this liberation have looked like for them? Did they anticipate the good news would come first to the poor, the prisoner, and the oppressed? Or did they think it would come first for those with inside connections, the rich, and the religious? Jesus offers them good news. Was it heard and received as good news to be shared with all, especially the vulnerable? Or was it heard as a message for them alone?
In the next generation of that good news being brought into life, Paul grapples with what this good news means for Christian community. As we find so often in scripture, the exploration is done with a metaphor. In the passage from 1 Corinthians 12, Paul states that the body is one despite having many parts. He declares, not that this is an illustration of the church, but simply: ‘so it is with Christ’ (1 Corinthians 12:12). Christ is a body with many members.
I encourage you to think for a moment about your own body to feel your way into the metaphor. We all know that experience where something goes wrong with a part of us and we get a whole new perspective on the importance of that part of our anatomy. Whether it’s just a cut on a finger or tendonitis in an elbow or a toothache, or an inflamed appendix. Sometimes all goes well and the part gets better, and at other times we have to make adjustments. This reminds us that each part of us, even the parts we so easily take for granted, are vitally important!
Paul reminds us that we are the ‘body of Christ’ and that this body has many members. Each of us has an important part to play which means that no-one, not the person who attends least, the youngest or the oldest should be undervalued or forgotten. Instead, as the body of Christ, we need to work well together. We need to use our abilities for others and look after more than ourselves.
But why should we do this? Why does it matter if we work together or not? I think the answer to these questions has something to do with sharing the good news.
As the One who was the presence of God’s new Kin-dom, Jesus showed us about healing, kindness, justice and acceptance in the way he lived his life. Jesus also calls us, as the body of Christ, to live by his manifesto and share this good news. As the body of Christ, we are also given different gifts that can be used to share this good news of liberation and freedom with others.
‘The Spirit of the Lord … has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.’ Here at Koonung Heights we have many members who support BCO in preparing food for those who might otherwise go hungry. Shortly we will take up the offering, and with it food for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. It seems to me that this is just one way that we are helping to ‘bring good news to the poor’.
‘… to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind’. It can be hard to see and understand the world and the people around us, and yet there are those who help us do this all the time: teachers, scientists, counsellors, as well as those who love us. Think of our Koonung Kids leaders and those who give up their time to help people practice their English. What about our social justice committee who open our eyes to some matters of injustice.
‘… to let the oppressed go free’. What is it that oppresses people around us? Maybe it’s loneliness, isolation, self-consciousness, or economic hardship? Whenever we act to help lift the burdens of those we encounter, we are sharing the good news of Jesus.
To end today, I’d like to share a poem with you, written by Howard Thurman, a black American theologian. It’s called The Work of Christmas.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
May the Spirit of the Lord be upon us all, so that we might be enlivening, liberating, healing, nurturing agents in the world.
Amen.
We Sing: “Holy Spirit, go before us” – (TiS 420)
Holy Spirit, go before us, every mind and heart prepare
for good news of life in Jesus, for the joyful hope we share.
Gently lead the lost to safety, gently teach them Wisdom’s way,
till they come to seek you gladly, till we find the words to say.
Holy Spirit, come and help us, give us words to speak of Christ.
Teach us how to tell all people: deepest darkness can be light!
Help us tell how faithful God is, and how Jesus sets us free;
take our words, and make them gospel, so that many may believe.
Holy Spirit, stay to show us how to serve as Christ served us.
May our words of love be grounded in love’s actions, first and last.
Your good news is news of justice, and the strong befriend the weak
in your service, till compassion builds the peace the nations seek.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Rob Fenton):
Dear Lord,
We thank you for hearing the prayers of your people. We pray for our congregation, and that it continues to grow in its understanding of your ways for us.
We pray for our wonderful minister Heather. We hope that she, Tony and Elizabeth are refreshed after their holiday break. We give thanks for the care and spiritual leadership Heather provides to our congregation. We also pray for the many in our congregation who contribute in so many ways, including elders, pastoral care contacts, the choir and musicians, the Property Committee, and all those on the various rosters.
We pray for the many young people who will be starting kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, university or TAFE at this time of year. We pray that they settle in well and are off to a good start on this stage of their life journey.
We also pray for those who are reaching the pointy end of their schooling, including those who are studying VCE subjects. We pray that they will study hard and remain focused, but will also have time for leisure and fun.
We give thanks for the many wonderful and hardworking teachers, and we pray for them to have resilience in their tiring vocation.
We pray for peace in the Middle East. We are heartened by the ceasefire which is currently in place, but sad that it took so long to put in place, and that it will only be for six weeks. We have heavy hearts that once the ceasefire ends, that the heavy bombing of Gaza which has been going on for over a year will likely then start again, resulting in many more lives lost, and more devastation. We pray for a lasting peace.
We also pray for an end to the many other wars and conflicts in our world, including the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the wars in various parts of Africa.
We pray for the people of Los Angeles who have suffered devastating fires, with loss of lives, and with over 10,000 homes destroyed. We pray that they will have strength to cope with their losses, and strength to start again.
We pray with concern for our environment, as having fires in Winter months as has happened in Los Angeles is almost unprecedented, and a sign of climate change. We pray that we will learn to take better care of the wonderful world you made for us before it is too late. We pray that we will look after it so that it is there for our children and grandchildren and for all future generations.
We continue to pray for a successful amalgamation of Koonung Heights and Surrey Hills congregations, and give thanks for the exciting opportunities it will provide within our church community, as well as the many opportunities it will provide to increase our impact in the wider community.
We pray for all in our church community, and give thanks for the warm fellowship and encouragement which we receive within our church community.
We now join with Christians across the centuries and pray as our Lord taught us:
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
in the Spirit’s 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:
May the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us all,
and may we go from this place:
inspired by Jesus.
May we serve the Kin-dom
wherever we see need,
and do it all in the name of God,
and for the sake of the gospel.
And the blessing of the God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
the One who Mother’s us all,
be with you 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:
Fig Tree Worship Resources, WorkingPreacher.com, ChristianSupplies.com.au and Spill the Beans (Issue 41).