Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Pentecost 10, 17 August 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.
Today’s service is led by Randall Prior member of Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Worship Preparation
Introit: “Bless the Lord” – (TiS 706)
Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads us into life. ( x 2)
Lighting the Christ Candle
Light of the World
Call to Worship
The Lord is Risen! Allelujah!
Allelujah! He is Risen indeed!
For us!
Death is overcome, the clouds of evil are dispersed, the days of destruction are numbered
Allelujah! We are risen indeed!
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
And also with you
We Sing: “The Day of Resurrection” – (TiS 361)
The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
the Passover of gladness, the Passover of God:
from death to life eternal, from earth up to the sky
our Christ has brought us over with hymns of victory
Our hearts be pure from evil that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light;
and listening to his greeting may hear so calm and strong
his own ‘All hail’ and hearing may raise the victors song
Now let the heavens be joyful and earth her song repeat
the whole world shout in triumph her living Lord to greet;
let all things seen and unseen their notes of gladness blend
for Christ the Lord has risen, our joy that has no end.
Welcome
Acknowledgement of First Peoples
Prayer of Praise and Confession
Lord Jesus Christ …
By your resurrection you have conquered the powers of death.
Praise the Lord ‘Allelujah’
By your resurrection, you have won your victory over evil
Praise the Lord ‘Allelujah’
By your resurrection, you have dispersed the clouds of violence and destruction
Praise the Lord ‘Allelujah’
By your resurrection, you have shattered the gates of hell itself
Praise the Lord ‘Allelujah’
We confess before you that our words of ‘Allelujah’ are so often empty, mere words on a page and not your Word in our hearts.
We resign ourselves to the powers of death, to the forces of evil; we get caught up in thoughts that violate and words that destroy.
We confess this sin before you – this sin of our own lives, this sin of your church, this sin of our world.
Risen Lord Jesus, in the ever-fresh power of your Holy Spirit, come to us again this day.
Declare again your resurrection victory, into the heartbeat of our own lives, into your church, into the lives of all peoples and nations in every place and circumstance.
Turn our fear into courage, our chains into liberty.
Empower us so that our lives become a public display of faith, hope and love, a sign-post of your coming kingdom. Amen.
A Time for All – ‘Quality of Life’
What do we mean by the ‘Quality of Life’ My cochlear implant is a miracle of science which has had an immeasurable benefit. Has it changed my ‘quality of life’? The plan for Kingswood College to partner with the Surrey Hills Uniting Church was motivated by a desire of the school to provide a sense of ‘Meaning and Purpose’ for the students …to build their ‘quality of life’ in a context where the school education curriculum did not.
We Sing: “In faith and hope and love” – (TiS 628)
In faith and hope and love with joyful trust we move
towards our Father’s home above
Christ, our star, our map, our road
to the Father’s high abode
In faith and hope and love…
Christ, our bread along the way;
Christ our rescue when we stray
In faith and hope and love…
Christ our shelter, Christ our friend,
our beginning and our end
In faith and hope and love…
Christ, our hope and our reward;
our redeemer and our Lord
In faith and hope and love…
Bible Readings
Genesis 2: 4b-9, 15-17
Another Account of the Creation 4b In the day that the Lord[a] God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no vegetation of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground, 6 but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
John 14: 1-6
Jesus the Way to the Father
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Sermon – Faith and Science? … Faith in Science? … Faith against Science?:
We live in a ‘Science-based’ culture, so the question is not about the relationship between Science and Culture but ‘How do we speak out of, and into, our Science-based culture in such a way that it is heard as life-giving good news?’
Essentially, Science is a pursuit of facts and information – seeking to understand why the world works (or doesn’t work) as it does …. And trying to make the world a better place to live in.
Essentially, Faith is about the world of ‘truth’ – about the categories of peace, hope, joy, freedom, meaning, purpose, fulfilment of life.
Science has helped to give us deeper insights into the way we might understand and declare the faith of the church … for example in our understanding of ‘creation’, ‘heaven and hell’, the Scriptures.
Science is not an obstacle to faith, not in competition with faith, but exists within and is a servant of the world of faith.
We Sing: “Holy Spirt; come confirm us in the truth” – (TiS 413)
Holy Spirt, come confirm us in the truth that Christ makes known;
we have faith and understanding through your helping gifts alone
Holy Spirt, come console us, come as advocate to plead
loving Spirit from the Father, grant in Christ the help we need
Holy Spirt, come renew us, come yourself to make us live
holy through your loving presence, holy, through the gifts you give
Holy Spirt, come possess us, you the love of Three in One
Holy Spirt of the Father, Holy Spirt of the Son
Prayer for Others (prepared by Peta Lowe)
When you hear the words, “Lord in your mercy”, you are invited to respond: “Hear our prayer”.
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
Creator and Life-Giving God,
We pray for the world in which we live, for the world of science, wisdom, learning, research.
We pray that all pursuits of learning may be used in your service, not for death but for life, to make the world a better place, for all – more just, more peaceful, more compassionate.
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
God of Peace, we pray for all people suffering in war torn places, for all whose lives are in constant threat from violence or hunger.
We pray for those who cannot receive the medical care they need for healing, or food they need to appease their hunger
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
Lord of the Church, we pray that in the midst of our world of science and learning, your church might uphold your message of truth and life.
Make your church as a beacon of light in darkness, of hope in despair, of love against the forces of hatred.
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
We pray for our congregation here in this place. We pray for our minister, Heather, and her family; for Ray and our Church Council, for all who are going through particular challenges or difficulty.
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
Loving God, we thank you and pray for our families, our friends, for those in particular need
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
These things we pray in the name of 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 in Heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
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: “Filled with the Spirit’s power” – (TiS 411)
Filled with the Spirit’s power, with one accord
the infant church confessed its risen Lord:
O Holy Spirit, in the church today
no less your power of fellowship display
Now with the mind of Christ set us on fire,
that unity may be our greatest desire:
give joy and peace; give faith to hear your call,
and readiness in each to work for all
Widen our love, good Spirit, to embrace
in your strong care all those of every race:
like wind and fire with life among us move
till we are known as Christ’s, and Christians prove.
Blessing and Sending
In the light of the Christ Event, God among us, lived and died and risen from the dead … Now go forth in joy and in hope. Live your lives as those who are already raised from death into life, in anticipation of the fullness of glory in time to come. And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you all, now and forever. Amen.