Welcome to Koonung Heights Uniting Church

Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home

Lent 2  – 1 March, 2026
10am or whenever possible

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:
In lighting the Christ Candle this day,
   we remember that Christ is the Light of the World
   and the One who guides us.

Acknowledgement of Country:
This land is God’s land and God’s Spirit dwells here.
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
   Peoples of the Kulin nation,
   traditional custodians of this land under God.
I pay my respects to their elders and leaders,
   past and present, and to all their descendants.
I commit myself again
   to working for justice in this land.

Call to Worship:
Tell me something good!
   God loves you more than you could imagine.
Tell me something good!
God loves all of creation more than you could imagine.
Tell me something good!
God’s love meets us in this service of worship. We are not alone.
This is good news indeed!
Let us worship our compassionate God.

We Sing: Gather Us In – (TiS 474)

Here in this place new light is streaming,
   now is the darkness vanished away,
   see, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,
   brought here to you in the light of this day.
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken; gather us in, the blind and the lame;
   call to us now, and we shall  awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.

We are the young, our lives are a mystery;
   we are the old, who yearn for your face;
   we have been sung through-out all of history,
   called to be light to the whole human race.
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong;
   give us a heart so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.

Here we will take of the wine and the water,
   here we will take the bread of new birth,
   here you shall call your sons and your daughters,
   call us anew to be salt of the earth.
Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you;
   nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Not in the dark of buildings confining,
   not in some heaven light years away,
   but here in this space,
   the new light is shining,
   now is the kingdom, now is the day.
Gather us in, and hold us forever; gather us in, and make us your own;
   gather us in, all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone.

Call to Prayer:
Family of faith,
   we know how much God loves us
   and we long to immerse ourselves in that relationship,
   so it is good to come before God in prayer.
We long to love others as God loves us,
   but know that this is easier said than done.
We lose our way, become distracted, grow fearful and need God’s grace,
   so it is good to come to God in prayer,
   because God’s grace is freely and abundantly given.
In hope of transformation, let us come to God in prayer.

Prayer of Praise and Confession:
Amazing God,
   we come before you now with praise and thanks
   for you are without beginning and without end.
Through Christ, you created the whole world
   and, through Christ, you preserve it.
You made the day where we can work for your glory
   and the night for the refreshment of our minds and bodies.
For all of this, and more, you are worthy of our praise.
Yet despite how you love and care for us
   we often fail to show that same love and care for one another.

Merciful God,
   did we see you hungry and give you something to eat?
Did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?
Did we see you alone and offer you compassion?
Or did we cross the street?
Did we avert our eyes?
Did we come up with every excuse in the book?

God, we long to be people who love our neighbours
   with the same overwhelming love that you have for them.
But we must admit, we have a long way to go.
Forgive us for the times when we let bias,
   scarcity, or fear get in the way of love.
Wash us clean and give us the courage to try again.
With hope for a better tomorrow we pray,
Amen.

Words of Assurance:
Faith family,
   even when we act with judgment,
   even when we are guided by fear,
   or when we turn our back on a neighbour in need,
   God does not turn God’s back on us.
So join me in this good-news declaration:
   We are seen.  We are forgiven.
   We are invited to try again.
   Thanks be to God for this unending love.

We Sing: When I needed a neighbour – (TiS 629)

When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?
When I needed a neighbour, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter, were you there?

I was hungry and thirsty, were you there, were you there?
I was hungry and thirsty, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter, were you there?

When I needed a shelter, were you there, were you there?
When I needed a shelter, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter, were you there?

Wherever you travel, I’ll be there, I’ll be there,
wherever you travel I’ll be there.
And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter, I’ll be there.

Time for All:
At our last Church Council meeting, the decision was made to donate $2,500 to Foundation Murrindindi’s Disaster Fund to assist following the devastating fires in the Murrindindi Shire, including Yarck.  But what is Foundation Murrindindi?

Foundation Murrindindi is an independent charitable community foundation, who seeks to make a positive impact and create a strong and vibrant future for all communities across the Shire of Murrindindi.  The foundation is part of the community it supports, and is locally owned and governed.  With a passion for what they do, Foundation Murrindindi are trusted and known for community giving.  For the last ten years the foundation has supported community led projects through grants, sponsorships and programs.  Since 2014 over $925,000 has been invested back into the community by creating opportunities for youth to survive, fostering community capacity, supporting health and well-being and investing in the Community Food Share Program.

The Murrindindi Disaster Fund, which the congregation donated to, has been established to support communities during this recovery journey, with all funds going back to fire impacted communities.  Our donation, is one way that we are supporting some of our Victorian neighbours.  If you’d like to know a little more about Foundation Murrindindi, and the work it is doing on the ground, why not have a chat to Heather or Randall, who will be able to tell you more.

Bible Reading: Luke 7:36-50
– A Sinful Woman Forgiven
³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine.  ³⁷ And a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.  ³⁸ She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”  ⁴⁰ Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.”  ⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  ⁴² When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?”  
⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.”  And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”  ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”  
⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  
⁴⁹ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”  ⁵⁰ But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Bible Reading:  Matthew 25:35-40
³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing?  ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  
⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’

Two people are in debt to a man.  One debtor owes the man little.  The other debtor owes the man much.  Ridiculously, the man forgives both of them their debts.  Which debtor, Jesus asks, will be the most grateful, will respond to the man with the most love?  Of course, it is the man who owed the most.  Simon believes that he owes God much less than this disreputable woman because he has lived a life of holiness and righteousness.  Just so, Simon can never know the ferocity of the woman’s love for the God who loves her.  According to Jesus, God loves her with an extravagance of grace that cancels all her sins just as surely as the creditor expunged his lender’s massive debt.

Jesus asks Simon whether he sees the woman, but Simon doesn’t see her humanity – all he can see is that she is a sinner.  Jesus’ announces to Simon that the woman has shown wholehearted and unconditional love, and he invites her ‘go in peace.’  This woman’s hospitality has broken through cultural barriers.  How do you see her?  As the weeper, the washer, the anointer?  Despite how she is not seen by Simon, she is a prophet, the one who sees and knows Jesus.

Jesus tells the woman to go in peace, but I wonder how she can, without some help.  If the jar of perfume is a sign of her trade, rather than her wealth, it is likely that up until now, she has only found welcome living on the streets with those who have struggled like her.  Yet things have changed for her because she has known the welcome of Jesus.  She now needs this welcome extended to her by a community of Jesus people – people who recognise that they, too, have been graced by the extravagance of God’s fierce, unrelenting love.

In Matthew, Jesus says that to welcome him is to welcome those who the self-righteous have rejected.  The hungry.  The refugee.  The homeless.  The prisoner.  Jesus’ church can show Jesus’ fierce love if we are prepared to invite into our community those whom others are scandalised by.  This is extravagant love and it is uncomfortable.  It reminds me of an old Welsh pastor I knew who sat with his arm around a deceased homeless man on a park bench affording him some dignity while waiting for the ambulance to come.  This is extravagant love – it is gritty and human and caring for the least.

If God lived next door …
   I’d drop off a loaf of bread, use my mum’s best recipe, wrap it and leave it on the doorstep.
If God lived next door …
   I’d leave a note with my phone number, ‘call anytime you need, I’m always happy to help.’
If God lived next door …
   I’d invite God to dinner and invite all the neighbours so everyone could meet her.
   I’d start a community garden so we could share stories and eat meals together.
If God lived next door I’d want to build something beautiful.
Then again … who says she doesn’t?

As we recall Jesus’ journey to the cross, the season of Lent reminds us of God’s extravagant love.  May this season inspire us to love others just as extravagantly, just as fiercely as God, through Jesus, loves us.

Amen.

We Sing: I come with my devotion – (Tune Angel’s Song)

I come with my devotion to love and serve my God
   whose loving cosmos formed me before I ever sought
   the glory of the heavens or praise on earth below,
   so every gift I have now I lay before the throne.

I hear my Saviour’s calling to serve the lost and least,
   the hungry and imprisoned, the broken ones like me.
For in each act of kindness it’s Christ for whom we care.
All worthy of our love – since it’s God’s face bear.

God made us in God’s image, each person whom we meet,
   extravagantly loving all of humanity.
So I’ll return the love which has formed me from the start.
Loving my creator, myself, and every heart.

Prayer for Others:
Response:
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

Let’s spend a moment in silence as we prepare to meet God in prayer.

Creator God, in Mary anointing Jesus’ feet you show us that you are the giver of the most expensive gift of all.  We thank you for those who give so much in your name, whose passion for the poor is undying, whose prayer for the oppressed is constant, and whose defence of injustice is fierce.  May we too give, in crying for justice, in being patient for peace, and angry for love.

We pray for places around the world torn apart by violence and conflict, and for countries feeling threatened by their neighbours.  We pray that our government will act with compassion and foresight regarding the Australian women and children in detention camps in Syria, and for a resolution that balances national security with the humanitarian need to rescue vulnerable people, especially children.

We pray for those who sacrifice so much for the good of many, who risk even their lives for the cause of peace.  Open our hearts to be active peacemakers, too.
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

We pray that our politicians might put aside division and politicking, and work together to end the cycles of poverty, injustice and inequity.  Give them wisdom to know how to best respond to the growing anger, individualism and extremism in our society.  May there be truth telling, inclusiveness, and sharing for all.
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

We give thanks for our First Nations Peoples, their stories of creation sung by countless ancestors.  We name the dispossession, violence and bloodshed, which First Peoples endured at the hands of colonialism.  We ask your forgiveness, and pray that love will make a new way, a harmony way, the way of Jesus.
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

Creator God, we pray for our beautiful world.  As we consider your amazing creation, images arise of global warming, ocean pollution, climate change, and rising sea levels.  Deepen our gratitude for all you have made and awaken in us a renewed commitment to care for the earth and each other.  Inspire leaders to listen to those most affected by climate change, and to act urgently, so that our common home may be healed and restored.
Especially, enable us to create a better world for our children.
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

We pray for wisdom as we develop artificial intelligence, knowing it can be used for great good, but also for great harm.  We pray that you would give us the wisdom to make decisions about artificial intelligence that are ethical and responsible, that we will use it to solve global problems, and make the world a better place.  While it may possess great capabilities, may we always recognize that it can never replace the human person, made in your image and likeness.
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

We hold in our hearts this morning all those who are struggling.  In the darkness of illness, the acuteness of pain, the waiting of health outcomes and the sadness of letting go.  We think of carers, our aged folk, our sick ones, and those who are disheartened.  We pray for our church family, for Heather, our leaders, our teachers, and we pray silently now for those dear to us.  (time of silence)
We pray in faith … to be people of a new creation.

Loving God, you hear the yearnings in each of our hearts.  You know the hopes that arise from within, and the doubts that trouble our souls.  Help us to trust in the wisdom of life’s unfolding, even when the path seems unclear.  Grant us the courage to embrace change, knowing that we are part of the great groaning of creation giving birth to new possibilities.

In Jesus’ name we pray, 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.
Come, because the good news is … all are invited.

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 in your name.

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: There’s a spirit in the air – (TiS 414)

There’s a spirit in the air,
   telling Christians everywhere:
   ‘Praise the love that Christ revealed,
   living, working in our world.’

When believers break the bread, when a hungry child is fed,
   praise the love that Christ revealed, living, working in our world.

Still the Spirit gives us light, seeing wrong and setting right:
   God in Christ has come to stay.  Live tomorrow’s life today.

When a stranger’s not alone, where the homeless find a home,
   praise the love that Christ revealed, living, working in our world.

May the Spirit fill our praise, guide our thoughts and change our ways:
   God in Christ has come to stay.  Live tomorrow’s life today.

Blessing and Sending:
As you leave this place,
   when you meet anger, speak with love.
When you meet fear, speak with hope.
When you meet pain, speak with gentleness.
But no matter what, speak this good news.
For the good news of the gospel is love and justice for all.
It is joy that surprises, and nonviolence that transforms.
The good news of the gospel is alive in the world,
   so go forth speaking.
For if you won’t, then who will?

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:  Fig Tree Worship and Sanctified Art (Tell me something good).
Poem If God lived next door adapted from verses by Rev Sarah Speed.
I come with my devotion – Words © Anna Strickland, Music © Arthur H Mann.