Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Pentecost 12 – 20 August 2023 – 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: “Holy, Holy, Holy” (TiS 723 – words below)
Holy, holy, holy. My heart, my heart adores you!
My heart knows how to say to you: Holy are you, Lord.
Candle Lighting:
At we light the Christ candle today,
let the Spirit who calls into community
gather us together.
Rest on us with the flame of your kindness
and teach us to let your light,
rather than our own ideas, always guide us.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we gather in this place today
I would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nation,
a people who have cared for these lands
and never ceded sovereignty.
I pay my respects to their elders, past and present,
and to all future generations.
May the God who illuminates all things
illuminate our hearts as we walk together.
Call to Worship:
Family of faith, this must be the place,
the place for connection and growth,
for community and hope.
This must be the place for questions like,
“Where are you from?” and, “What do you need?”
For whispers of: “I’ve been thinking of you,” and,
“I’ve been meaning to ask …”
This must be the place, because all belong here,
all are welcome here.
All hurt and joy, needs and prayers,
dreams and love, are welcome here.
So as part of our call to worship today,
I invite you to lean into connection,
taking a couple of minutes to share with someone around you
one thing that has brought you deep joy this week.
(sharing)
As we have shared moments of joy together,
let us begin our service with joy, gratitude and connection,
for God is near.
Come, let us worship.
We Sing: “Shout to the Lord” – (TiS 738 – words below)
My Jesus, my Saviour Lord, there is none like you;
all of my days I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength,
let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth; let us sing power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name.
I sing for joy at the work of our hands; forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares to the promise I have in you!
Call to confession:
How many of you have ever had a bad day
and found someone offering you unsolicited advice?
How many of you have ever had a bad week
and had someone rush in with dozens of suggestions for how you might fix things,
as if you hadn’t thought of that before?
We have all been there, and we have all done that.
It is part of our humanity.
Today we are reminded that often in the face of hurt, what people really need,
is not a list of advice or solutions, but the simple presence of love.
So let us pray to God today, acknowledging that we are works in progress,
and that relationships always come with mistakes and confession. Let us pray.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Loving God,
we are blessed to come together in this community of faith.
We come from all walks of life, from different ages and stages,
and are blessed to be welcomed in your love and your presence.
Life-giving God,
without knowing fully what the consequences would be,
you let creation evolve and gave it freedom to grow.
Risk-taking God,
knowing only too well what it might cost you,
you chose to align with Jesus, so that we could find new life in him.
High-energy God,
you are all around us, far beyond us and deep within,
inviting us daily to join you in the great adventure of living life to the full.
At every opportunity
you choose life and love over death and destruction,
and we believe that you want us to do the same.
Gracious God,
sometimes life feels like cooking with flour –
it looks like it should be easy, but we always make a mess.
This is particularly true when it comes to our relationships.
We so desperately long to say the right thing,
to be the right thing, to find the right solution,
that we overstep the line.
Forgive us for assuming the place you fill.
Forgive us for imagining that we, in all our humanity,
could possibly fix all the hurt in this world.
Instead, give us the grace and the strength
to stand by our loved ones in their moments of need
to witness their hurt without trying to fix it.
You are God. We are not.
Teach us how to be a friend.
Teach us how to ask, “What do you need?”
Teach us how to point to you.
Gratefully we pray. Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Family of faith,
no matter how many times you have spoken without listening,
assumed without knowing, offered without asking,
or rushed without waiting –
you are forgiven.
God knows your desire and your intent.
God knows when we try and miss the mark,
and God surrounds us in grace.
So hear and believe the good news of the gospel:
Every day is a new day for love.
We are claimed. We are forgiven.
We are invited into relationship.
Thanks be to God for growth and grace that know no end.
Amen.
The Peace:
The peace of the risen Christ,
the One in whom we see God’s invitation, be with you
and also with you.
We Sing: “I, the Lord of sea and sky” – (TiS 658 – words below)
I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save.
I who made the starts of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord; is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night;
I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain:
I have wept for love of them. They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord …
I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them. My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts are satisfied.
I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord …
A Time for All: Project Sow Update
The Project Sow group, along with our Admin Officer, Maddy D’Alessandro, have already begun to sow some great seeds. At its August meeting, Church Council approved a new Facebook and Instagram account for Koonung Heights UC. Having a presence on social media is so important for connecting with the wider community and is an opportunity to share what’s happening in our congregation through regular news, photos and event posts and inviting the community to come and join in.
Maddy has created a congregation logo, and already uploaded some posts about our worship services and the Uluru Statement of the Heart signs. It will be important that all the activity groups within the congregation keep Maddy updated with news of what’s happening that we can post about. Once we get more stories and posts on our accounts we will look to post on other local pages, particularly when we have events of interest for the general public. At this stage we won’t be posting any pictures of people until we’ve been through the process of seeking permissions and we need the support and work of all the congregation to take photos of things happening across the life of the Church and keep Maddy updated so she can keep regularly adding new posts and keep people watching our sites. Another way congregation members can help is for those on social media to follow the Facebook and Instagram pages and share and/or comment on any posts you feel passionate about.
The other new addition is pew cards. Shortly you will find dotted around the pews and in the narthex and fellowship area, pew cards. These small cards are available for any visitors who wish to complete their contact details. We can then make contact with people around the areas they may be interested in. The cards can be placed in the offering plate or given to the minister. The cards are not just for Sunday mornings either, any visitors to any church events or even to the building should be invited to complete the cards if they would like. Also on the cards Maddy has created a QR code which when scanned by the camera on your smart phone takes you to a webpage which shares lots of details about the congregation and how to contact us.
There are also other plans arising about more seed planting so you’ll hear from us again soon with further updates – or feel free to join our meeting this Monday 21 August at 1pm at the Church if you’d like to be a part of the project team.
Let us pray
Loving God,
Thank you for our congregation here at Koonung Heights, and for the many gifts and graces we are blessed with. Today we especially thank you for the new beginnings that are emerging in this community and for your unwavering provision to us as we strive to step out boldly where you lead. May we be attentive to your call and follow the Spirit’s leading in all that we do. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Bible Reading: Job 2:11-13 –
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 4:9-18 –
Personal Instructions
9 Do your best to come to me soon, 10 for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me in ministry. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds. 15 You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Reflection:
Does anyone remember Bob the Builder? It was a children’s television series which followed the adventures of Bob, his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of anthropomorphised work vehicles including Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Roley and Lofty. In every episode Bob and his group would help with renovations, construction and repairs as the need arose. To be honest, if you were getting any construction done, this would be the team you’d want to have working for you. Why? because Bob and the team could fix anything. In fact Bob’s catchcry was” Can we fix it?”, and whenever he asked that question the team would respond with an enthusiastic “Yes we can!” And they did, and what’s more they had fun doing it.
This week is the third week where we have been challenged to ask a specific question of ourselves and one another … so … “I’ve been meaning to ask … what do you need?” As in the previous weeks, this is a deep question which recognises that we all have needs and that we all need each other. But it also reminds us that our needs are unique, and that we need each other. It reminds us that we can’t assume to know what is best for others. I think this question also prompts us to reflect on our own needs, priorities and desires, something that can be difficult to discern from one situation to the next, but is really important to consider. When we see things go badly for those we care about we want to be able to help them, but sometimes, often unconsciously, our needs take priority over the person we are trying to help. The question “How can I help” is often what we want to ask and yet this question implies that we have the answers and we can fix things. Yet none of us are Bob the Builder and there are situations that we simply cannot fix.
In the Bible readings we have heard today, both Job and Paul have a great need. In the midst of Job’s afflictions, three of his friends promptly leave their homes and come to him. They tear their garments, weep loudly, and sit with him for seven days, saying nothing. Their response is the ministry of presence, of true solidarity, of seeing his excruciating pain and joining him there. Beaten and imprisoned, Paul writes to Timothy with a simple request: “Come quickly.” He lists those who abandoned him, but says, “I hope that God doesn’t hold it against them!” In his greatest moment of need, Paul doesn’t need revenge, but instead asks for companionship. In essence, this is what we all need—for someone to come quickly, to gather the items we want, and to simply show up. Let’s look briefly at these passages and see what they can say to us.
In Job, we have a person who has suffered extreme trauma—the trauma of losing his livelihood where his present and future wellbeing are very much in question. In a year of increased interest rates and underemployment, financial trauma is all around us. It can impact every aspect of a person’s life. When a scarcity mindset creeps in, every decision can be skewed and suspect, making even the most mundane of daily decisions challenging.
Job has also seen his children die a sudden, unexpected death. The loss of a loved one, no matter the circumstances, will also impact us. This impact can be so much sharper when it is unexpected and untimely. Job has suffered physical pain and discomfort—pain that must have seeped deep into his bones. This is very real trauma. Yet as his friends hear of the trauma they head to see him. While they can’t fix it, they offer solidarity in very specific ways. Initially, they react with the proper level of emotion. They match the amplitude of the situation. They are feeling with Job, and by weeping aloud and tearing their robes are offering Job an outward sign that his traumas are indeed very real and worthy of the feelings of the moment. Later, Job’s friends sit with him for days and witness with their very presence the incredible weight of the trauma. Often, we are able to demonstrate our outrage, surprise, grief, and all the rest when we see someone hurting, but we can miss following that up with tangible signs of solidarity. Job’s friends do this well. How might we show up for one another in ways that both explicitly show that we see the pain of the moment and also that we are not afraid to sit with someone in this pain? Being with one another is a sacred act which we do every time we come together and witness one another’s life – a sacred space and a sacred time.
While Job asks for nothing, Paul has requests. He has a list of needs and he makes them known. In the asking Paul becomes vulnerable, but his requests also enable him to name what he needs – material items and a desire for justice. Paul offers us a moment of humility as he opens himself up to share what he needs. The grievances, the stuff – all of it is important, and offering people the space to respond openly and honestly about what they need is a sacred act. It is not about judging whether Paul really needs these things and whether they will help him, but about listening to what is named. When people respond to us with their needs we need to firstly be open to hear – to fully hear so that we can discern the best way to respond.
“What do you need?” is a really significant question to ask. It has intention and consent attached to it. If I am asking this question it is not about what I can bring to fix something, but an act of faith, curiosity and respect where I have to wait and see what needs might be named and what might be asked of me. Of course, sometimes I can’t provide what is asked for. I don’t have the power to end systemic injustice, I can’t heal a sick family member, but I can still step in with intention, bear witness, hear and hold the person in their moment of need.
Likewise, if the question is asked of me, I can treat it as a real gift. Often we don’t think about what we really need until we are asked, and being invited into this deeper space for thinking also invites us into a deeper relationship with God and the one who has asked me the question. Of course I can choose the level of depth I respond with depending on how well I know and trust the person who has asked me, yet if someone cares enough to ask this, and sit while I formulate an answer, I think I am in pretty good hands.
I always used to ask, “How can I help?”
but maybe I can’t help.
Maybe these hands are too small.
Maybe the boat will sink anyway.
Maybe your heart has been broken and grief has moved in,
making itself at home in your life.
Maybe what you need from me is not a solution
or a plan or a fix-it strategy,
but something else, or something more.
I’m learning to unlearn my desire to fix.
I am learning to unlearn centring myself in the story of your pain.
When I asked before, “How can I help?”
what I really mean to say was, “What do you need?”
What do you need?
My hands might be small, but they can still hold yours.
Amen.
We Sing: “A Covenant of Grace” – (Tune TiS 654 – words below)
We all come from the dusty earth and from the places of our birth
Ancestral stories, who we’ll be, we bring it all to “come and see”.
We all have wounds that no one sees – oppression, trauma, and disease
When we bear witness to the pain it can begin to heal again.
We all need people who will be with us in solidarity
No explanation, no defence, just ministry of their presence.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Ray Michelle)
We place our hand on our heart, and we think of ourselves and we think of the words “what do I need?”
Dear Lord, amazing God,
We give thanks this morning for the many times you provide us with what we need, yet at times we think we need more that we are provided with.
We give thanks and ask for forgiveness when we have done this.
We know at times we have put our needs ahead of others, both knowingly and unknowingly and for this as ask for your forgiveness.
In moments like these, we are particularly grateful for the care you offer and the stability of friends, those that ask us “what do you need?”
• The stranger
• The attendant at Coles or Woolworths
• Our neighbours
• Mentors
• Support workers
• Those that care for us when we are vulnerable.
So today we say a prayer of thanks for these people and encourage us to ask others “What do you need?”
Today we think in this moment of others, let us remember the many lives affected by the fires in Hawaii, the cruelness of this event and its impact on lives for many years to come.
We pray for those affected by domestic violence; we ask for strength for those needing shelter to seek it. For those that create it may they seek help and choose to walk away.
We pray for the Yes vote, those working hard to bring this to bear and have the vision of what the future can look like.
We pray for those with both seen and unseen illness Lord, and hold them up to you this morning, the pain and hurt shown or covered up; may it be shown to you.
When asking Lord “what do they need” we can feel powerless and helpless.
We pray for those on live stream this morning, those not with us, those unwell and those that have gone before us, in our family lives and of course our church community.
Let us take a moment to remember them.
(moment of silence)
Gracious God, help us to be those people for others.
Give us the eyes to see when our neighbours are in need, and the wisdom to ask, “What do you need?”
So gather us in and hold us close, be with us in our waiting and in our praying.
Be in our relationships, that we might be blessed with friends who support us and that we might be the friends who can bless others.
We now reflect as we sing, still holding our hearts, ‘Freely freely.’
.
We Sing: “Freely, freely” – (words below)
God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name, I’ve been born again in Jesus’ name
and in Jesus’ name I come to you to share His love as He told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely you have received, freely, freely give.
Go in my name, and because you believe others will know that I live.”
All power is given in Jesus’ name, in earth and Heaven in Jesus’ name
and in Jesus’ name I come to you to share His power as He told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely you have received, freely, freely give.
Go in my name, and because you believe others will know that I live.”
With deep gratitude and with true humility, we pray the words your son taught us to pray, saying together…
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: “Brother, sister, let me serve you” – (TiS 650 – words below)
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, sister, let me serve you, let me be as Christ to you,
pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
Blessing:
Family of faith, as you leave this place, may God grant you
the curiosity to counter assumptions, the vulnerability to befriend,
the bravery to speak your truth, the wisdom to listen,
the strength to ask for help, the resiliency to choose love, even when it’s hard,
and the awareness of the Holy Spirit always beside you.
In the name of the Great Connector – Love itself – Go in Peace.
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, Ministry Matters and A Sanctified Art, including prayers by Rev Sarah Are.