Koonung Heights Uniting Church Service of Worship at Home
Pentecost 24 – 3 November 2024 – 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.
We will celebrate Communion together so you may wish 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.
Candle Lighting:
You assure us, Jesus, that wherever
two or three are gathered in your name, you are there.
We light this candle to remind ourselves
and to celebrate your constant presence.
May we always seek your guiding light in our lives
and may we accept your calling
to carry that light into the world.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This land is God’s land
and God’s Spirit dwells here.
As we come to worship this day,
I acknowledge the Wurundjeri WoiWurrung
People of the Kulin nations,
traditional custodians of this land under God.
I pay my respects to their elders, past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
May we commit ourselves again
to working for justice in this land.
Call to Worship:
Whatever questions we come with,
whatever burdens we bear,
whatever dances within us
we bring it all to worship you,
God who is love.
Let your Spirit alight in our hearts
inspiring our prayers, lifting our song,
enlivening the words we say and hear,
making us one in your love,
in Jesus’ name.
Come, let us worship God who is love.
We Sing: “Come, O God of all the earth” – (TiS 181)
Come, O God of all the earth: come to us, O Righteous One;
come, and bring our love to birth: in the glory of your Son.
Sing out, earth and skies! sing of the God who loves you;
raise your joyful cries; dance to the life around you.
Come, O God of wind and flame: fill the earth with righteousness;
teach us all to sing your name: may our lives your love confess.
Sing out, earth and skies …
Come, O God of flashing light: twinkling star and burning sun;
God of day and God of night: in your light we all are one.
Sing out, earth and skies …
Come, O God of snow and rain: shower down upon the earth;
come, O God of joy and pain: God of sorrow, God of mirth.
Sing out, earth and skies …
Come, O Justice, come, O Peace: come and shape our hearts anew;
come and make oppression cease: bring us all to life in you.
Sing out, earth and skies …
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
O God, you are our God
and we come as your people on earth.
We gather here this day in praise and thanksgiving
for all the wonderful things you have done for us.
We praise you for who you are,
and who you created us to be.
We thank you for the world you gave us to live in,
and for friends, families and this community
that nurtures and cares for us.
We are amazed that all of this was done by you
because of your love for us,
and so we ask that you would gather us in
and remind us of the ties that bind us together
in your love.
Strengthen us by your Spirit that we might live in love –
a love that transforms our lives
even as we help to transform the lives of others.
Yet often, O God, have we believed
that the greatest commandment is our love for ourselves.
We have not heard the cries of those in need;
we have turned our backs on opportunities to serve you
by ignoring to serve others.
Many times we have thought only of our own wants and desires
and ignored the needs of others.
Help us to truly understand the commandments to love you
with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.
Let us care for our neighbours both far and near.
Bring us back to your loving light.
We ask these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
In the midst of our darkness and ignorance,
the bright light of God’s love shines through,
healing our anguished souls.
Rejoice, beloved of God,
for God’s love and forgiveness
are given to you this day.
The Peace:
As the church, we gather together in the spirit of Ruth and Naomi.
Where you go, I will go. Where you dwell, I will dwell.
Your God will be my God, and your people will be my people.
We are bound as one body in love of God, neighbour, and self.
Let us share this message of unity as we exchange signs of peace and love.
May the peace of Christ be with you
and also with you.
A Time for All:
There are some people of God who are widely known because of their strong faith. People like the Apostle Paul or Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr, and I’m sure that you can think of others. Over time the church has put the word Saint before the names of those who have demonstrated great faith – Saint Paul, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Nicholas. Those people who end up with the title Saint are people who have demonstrated a life-long following of Jesus with their actions.
Some saints are well known, but the reality is that you don’t have to be well-known to be a saint. Saints are those people who demonstrate God’s love, and we can find them all around us. They could be people in your family, in your community and in this church. They are the people who are part of our faith family – the ones who have gone before us, the ones who have taught us about faith, the ones who have led us by their example.
November 1 is All Saints’ Day. The day in the church calendar when we remember these special people who have been examples of the faith for us. As part of this remembrance, I’d like to invite anyone who wishes to come and light a taper and place it in the sand bowl. This is a way to remember someone special who has helped you in your faith journey, someone who has been a saint to you.
(lighting candles)
Let us pray:
Loving God,
Thank you for all those who have been saints in our lives,
whether it has been in big and small ways.
Thank you for what these people have taught us,
and the way that their love and example has enriched us.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be saints as well.
In Jesus name pray,
Amen.
We Sing: “Rejoice in God’s saints” – (TiS 470)
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days:
a world without saints forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,
their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.
Some march with events to turn them God’s way;
some need to withdraw, the better to pray;
some carry the gospel through fire and through flood;
our world is their parish; their purpose is God.
Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,
who bear someone’s cross, or shoulder their own;
they shame our complaining, our comforts, our cares:
what patience in caring, what courage, is theirs!
Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days:
a world without saints forgets how to praise.
In loving, in living, they prove it is true:
their way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you.
Bible Reading: Ruth 1:1-18
– Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law
6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
1 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” 14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 So she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”
18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Bible Reading: Mark 12:28-34
– The First Commandment
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbour as oneself’ – this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Reflection:
Loyalty, courage and love are three words that came to mind as I was looking at the readings for this week. In the gospel passage from Mark, Jesus explains that the number one commandment, the most important thing, is love. Love is more important than all the religious offerings and sacrifices put together. The call to love God and love our neighbours are the greatest of the commandments.
In the passage from Ruth, we meet an unexpected hero. Ruth is a remarkable woman of exceptional character and her loyalty and courage enable her to step out in love in the most amazing way. Ruth is an ordinary person who does the hard work of love that Jesus reminds us we are called to … love of God and neighbour … and it is partly because of Ruth’s actions, that Jesus is able to speak these words. After all, Jesus is a direct descendent of Ruth, and I wonder how the legacy of Ruth’s story impacted him as it was passed down through the generations.
Let’s begin with Ruth. What stands out to me is her character. Not only is she loyal and courageous, but if you take the time to read more of her story that we’ve heard today, you will discover that she is humble, resourceful, resilient and willing to take a risk. The situation for the women in this story is horrific. To fill in the back story, Naomi and her husband Elimelek have gone to Moab out of desperation. There has been a famine in Bethlehem and so they leave their homeland and settle in what is essentially enemy territory. They settle and their sons marry women of Moab, but then Naomi’s husband and sons all die, leaving three women with no-one to look after them.
The famine in Bethlehem is over, and so for Naomi the obvious path is to return home where she will be cared for. She wishes the same for her daughter-in-law’s, encouraging them to go back to their families. The women obviously care for one another as they weep together at their situation and the decisions before them. No response is wrong and Orpah is a good daughter-in-law, being willing to stick with Naomi until Naomi urges her again to return to her parents home. Ruth makes a courageous choice which goes way beyond any call of duty she has to Naomi. She decides to go with Naomi to a land where she will be a widow, childless and an outsider.
Ruth doesn’t make this decision on a whim, it’s a decision based on her love of Naomi, and probably stems in part from the way that Naomi has shown love to her. There is a special bond in this relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and Ruth is courageous as she chooses the path of self-sacrifice and discomfort doing the hard work of love. This loving-kindness is unexpected, undeserved, and beyond what any reasonable person might do. In this response we see something of the love of God.
God, in Christ, did for us what we were not able to do for ourselves. We will remember this act as we share communion together later in the service. This gift was not done as a random act of kindness, but as a sign of the deep commitment that God has to us. Christ’s soft but strong love is seen in hands that break bread to share with friends, and in the courage which enabled him to follow the path all the way to the cross. This love is transformative. Naomi is transformed by Ruth’s loyal, courageous love. We are transformed by the offering of Jesus.
When Jesus is challenged with a question of law, and which commandment is number one, he gives the two laws of love as his answer – love of God and love of neighbour. Jesus’ life has demonstrated this, and he affirms the man who agrees that love is more important than offerings or sacrifices in the temple. In fairness to Jesus, I don’t think he is actually emphasising the idea of love as a commandment here, but rather the idea that what God wants from us is to live lives that are shaped by love.
Every step forward we make in learning to love God and learning to love one another brings God’s kingdom values a little closer to reality for all. Every move made out of love opens the gate a little wider to allow love to march in and gather all things into the communion of love that is the heart of God.
That sounds like a tall order, and we aren’t always going to get it right. Sometimes our best efforts at loving are a little like a child who says ‘sorry’ simply because they have been told to do so. At times the way of love can be regarded as the way of a loser, and this can make us feel that we want to forget it and succumb to the cultured indifference around us. But I think Jesus’ response shows that our endeavours to live into God’s vision of love are far more important than our keeping of ritual.
The reality of love is more important than it’s mode of expression. As we gather around the table to share in the meal Jesus’ shared with his friends so long ago, we do so as an expression of our love for God. If the words we say have no love in them they are devoid of value.
Each one of us has been created with an enormous capacity to love – to grow into love of God and one another through our actions towards all people, actions that can share with the world the love born of the deep commitment that God has to us.
Amen.
We Sing: “The great love of God” – (TiS 164)
The great love of God is revealed in the Son,
who came to this earth to redeem every one.
That love, like a stream flowing clear to the sea,
makes clean every heart that from sin would be free.
It binds the whole world every barrier it breaks,
the hills it lays low and the mountains it shakes.
It’s yours, it is ours, O how lavishly giv’n!
the pearl of great price, and the treasure of heav’n.
Prayer for Others (prepared by Liz Pace):
One true God, God of us all
hear the prayers of your people.
We come before you God, limited in our understanding of your Kingdom but thankful for all your gifts to us . Help us to live out your will in this world with compassion, love and hope.
We thank you for the lives of those gone before us from this congregation, who have lived out lives of love and compassion and been a wonderful example to us. We also remember those outside this church who have shown us how to live, so that our lives could make a difference. Let us take a moment to be thankful in the silence of prayer …
(time of silence)
We know that at times we are tempted to worship the God’s of wealth, celebrity, comfort, familiarity, tradition and ignorance.
Lord God, we find ourselves quietly slipping back into habits of living for ourselves, seeking comfort from material goods and closing our eyes to your plans for all your people. Stop us from worshiping the God of material comforts.
Encourage our acts of sharing.
We find ourselves losing hope, despairing as the problems of the world loom large in our minds and we are tempted to lash out and seek simplistic answers that appear to solve our worries but harm others. Stop us from worshipping the God of self-preservation.
Strengthen our trust and hope.
We find ourselves caring for our families and for our friends, yet, you are God of all people. Help us to reach out to those we don’t know, those who we do not have much regard for, those who annoy us or hurt us, as they are also your children and even more needy of our love. Stop us from worshipping the God of Selfishness.
Broaden our understanding of true love.
Awaken us to the enormity of your presence and help us to realise our part in your plan for your Kingdom of love, hope and compassion.
Great God ,hear these prayers through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
We Sing: “Feed us now, Bread of life” – (TiS 538)
Feed us now, Bread of life, in this holy meal;
let us know your love anew; we hunger for you.
Feed us now, Bread of life, come and live within;
let your peace be ours today, Lord, Jesus, we pray.
Piece of bread, cup of wine: Lord, this food is good:
love and mercy come to us – your promise we trust.
Piece of bread, cup of wine: who can understand
how your mercy works in these? Yet, Lord we believe.
God is here, O so near, nearer than our thoughts.
Stay with us where’er we go; Lord, help us to grow.
God is here, O so near, in this heaven’s meal.
May we always feed on you – on the bread that is true.
Communion:
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 and you made each one of us in your own image.
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, the bread of life,
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, let your Spirit come upon your people gathered here.
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,
may it remind you that you are loved. Amen.
(Eat and drink)
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: “Community of Christ” – (TiS 473)
Community of Christ, who make the Cross your own,
live out your creed and risk your life for God alone:
the God who wears your face, to whom all worlds belong,
whose children are of every face and every song.
Community of Christ, look past the Church’s door
and see the refugee, the hungry, and the poor.
Take hands with the oppressed, the jobless in your street,
take towel and water, that you wash your neighbours feet.
Community of Christ, through whom the word must sound –
cry out for justice and for peace the whole world round:
disarm the powers that war and all that can destroy,
turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish into joy.
When menace melts away, so shall God’s will be done,
the climate of the world be peace and Christ it’s Sun;
our currency be love and kindliness our law,
our food and faith be shared as one for evermore.
Blessing:
As we go this day,
let us know that there is a pathway open to us.
It is the pathway of peace and hope,
brought by God’s love and blessings.
So go, to love God and love neighbour,
welcoming the stranger
and bringing hope to all you meet.
The blessing of the Triune God,
One in Three, Three in One,
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: Ministry Matters, By The Well Podcast, www.laughingbird.net.au and Fig Tree Worship.