Koonung Heights – Surrey Hills Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Season of Creation 4 – 28 September 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: “Like A Rock” – (Seasons of the Spirit)
Like a rock, like a rock God is under our feet.
Like the starry night sky God is over our head.
Like the sun on the horizon God is ever before.
Like the river runs to ocean, our home is in God evermore.
Candle Lighting:
As the Sun warms the earth,
so Christ’s light warms us.
Christ nourishes our lives, fuels our Spirits,
and we are continually reminded
that the light of Christ is our centre.
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 have never ceded sovereignty.
I pay my respects to their elders, past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
May the God who illuminates all things
illuminate our hearts as we walk together.
Call to Worship:
Holy Three in One,
we gather together this day.
We come as we are
seeking to bridge the gap,
hoping to reach the unreachable.
We know in God’s house,
in God’s family and at God’s table
everyone is welcome.
So do not stand on the doorstep,
come in and enjoy.
Accept all we bring before you this day,
God, Three-in-One.
Accept our worship, we pray.
Opening Prayer:
Just and loving God,
we come to worship today knowing that
you hear the cry of the poor, the cry of Earth, and our cry.
Let your word to us rouse us to the demands of the gospel
and guide us in living them wisely, courageously,
and generously.
We ask this through Jesus, our Christ, your son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
We Sing: “Come as you are” – (TiS 693)
‘Come as you are: that’s how I want you. Come as you are; feel quite at home,
close to my heart, loved and forgiven.
Come as you are: why stand alone?
“No need to fear, love sets no limits; no need to fear, love never ends;
don’t run away shamed and disheartened, rest in my love, trust me again.
‘Come as you are: that’s how I love you; come as you are, trust me again.
Nothing can change the love that I bear you; all will be well, just come as you are.’
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
God of Creation,
we praise you for all you have done for us,
for bridging gaps,
for breaking traditions,
for building bridges,
for lifting the lowly,
for humbling the mighty.
We come before you knowing full well
what it takes to be your people in the world;
understanding the need to be tolerant
and the call to be generous.
Yet we are guilty of widening the chasms
that separate us from you and from one another;
of failing to encourage acceptance
or acknowledge what life is like
for those whose story is very different to our own.
Forgive us
for drifting far from your will for us
and for questioning your purpose and our place within it.
Soothe our wounds and those of others we hurt
with your gentle grace.
Enable us to be people who listen and love,
so that your fractured world may begin to heal.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
Friends, hear this good news …
God, the Creative Source of all cosmic time and space
and the vast web of life in which we live,
continues to have mercy on us, setting us free from our sins
and guiding us into the fullness of Life.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
The Peace:
May the Peace of God be with you:
and also with you.
We Sing: “Canticle of Daniel” – (All Together Whatever 422)
And you sun and moon and stars, O bless the Lord,
and all you showers of rain, O bless the Lord,
and all you breezes and winds, O bless the Lord,
and you fire and rain, O bless the Lord.
To God be highest glory and praise forever more.
And you dew and frosts and snow, O bless the Lord,
and you night time and day, O bless the Lord,
and you darkness and light, O bless the Lord,
and you lightning and clouds, O bless the Lord.
To God be highest glory and praise forever more.
And you mountains and hills, O bless the Lord,
and you plants of the earth, O bless the Lord,
and you fountains and springs, O bless the Lord,
and you rivers and seas, O bless the Lord.
To God be highest glory and praise for evermore.
Let all the earth bless the Lord.
Let all the earth bless the Lord.
A Time for All: Rotary Walk
Last week congregation member John Burley, shared about the Rotary Walk he will be participating in during October. This walk is part of Rotary’s number one global project – to eradicate polio from the world. Rotary has been working towards this goal for more than 30 years, and have seen cases of polio reduced by 99.9%. This is the final push with wild polio only now found in two countries.
Each sponsored step helps reach the fundraising goal of $100,00 to vaccinate all children against polio.
To find out more about the project click on the following link:-
https://vimeo.com/1095980260?fl=pl&fe=ti
Bible Reading: Amos 6:1, 4-7
– Complacent Self Indulgence Will Be Punished
1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel resorts!
4 Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge on their couches
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall,
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David improvise on instruments of music,
6 who drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.
Bible Reading: Luke 16:19-31
– The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house – 28 for I have five brothers – that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Reflection:
‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.’
These words are from ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, written by Joni Mitchell in 1969. In Mojo Magazine’s March 2019 issue Joni explained, ‘I wrote Big Yellow Taxi on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart … this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.’ The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu is thought to be the hotel Joni is referencing.
This year’s Season of Creation is finishing next Sunday, and as we are move closer to the end, the warnings from Scripture grow stronger and more dire. They reflect and support the sense of urgency about climate change that many around the world have been declaring. It seems that Joni was on to something because at times we only realise what we have had when it’s gone. Both of today’s readings carry a harsh warning to the complacent, to those who go on living well at the expense of their sisters and brothers, ignoring or failing to see the suffering poor outside their doors. Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, warning that the time can come when it will too late for our conversion. We need to listen to Moses, the prophets of our time, and to Jesus himself, the One who has indeed risen from the dead.
The passage from the prophet Amos is a message of judgement. Here we see God’s judgement played out as an expression of God’s love. God loves all people, so when one person or group of people cause others to suffer, God judgement is a sign of God’s love for those who are oppressed. Amos is addressing God’s people, reminding those who live comfortably that they are missing the point if they are so concerned with themselves that they forget to tend to the welfare of others. It’s not a huge stretch to see how, when we are comfortable, we also neglect the Earth, seeing it as a resource to be exploited rather than another part of Creation we are called to care for.
The gospel parable also speaks to Jesus’s belief in God’s special love for the poor and illustrates how God can extend that love through other-than human parts of Creation. Did you notice that in this parable the dogs are far more compassionate towards Lazarus than the rich men. They lick his wounds, trying to heal his sores. The rich man, however, ignores Lazarus when he was alive, probably stepping over him every time that he ventured outside his front gate. To the rich man, Lazarus was nothing. Even in death the rich man continues to ignore Lazarus, until he thinks that he could go as a servant to attend to his needs delivering a message to his siblings.
Jesus names Lazarus, drawing our attention to him and setting him as peer and companion to Abraham. We never learn the name of the rich man which is somewhat counter to the way we think it should be. We do not learn the names of his siblings either – maybe they are us? Instead, Jesus directs our attention to the poor – those we might name today as migrants, refugees and indigenous peoples.
These are the ones that are often overlooked or looked down upon. We turn away from them as they make us uncomfortable. Sometimes we simply choose to ignore, as the people Amos challenges do, in the same way the rich man in the parable has. We have been reminded time and time again that it is often these people who have something to teach us because of their long traditions of listening and living in harmony with the natural world, particularly, but not only, our indigenous brothers and sisters. The poor also have important wisdom from their experience which we need to hear.
Who are the people that we ignore or don’t see? Who are those whose suffering we do not feel compassion for? Who do we not recognise as our sisters and brothers? I wonder if we took more time to notice, and we recognised others as our global siblings, whether we might be able to respond more compassionately to the suffering caused from climate change, ecological destruction, forced migration and poverty.
Part of the message of the parable we have heard today is that sometimes it’s too late to do anything to change the situation. When the rich man realises how things are, a sense of urgency is stirred within him for his family at home who he loves. In the context of the Season of Creation and the complex ecological and social crises that humanity is facing, I wonder if there is still too little urgency to take action while we can. The scientific community keeps warning that there may only be a few years left to end the warming of the planet before it is pushed past a tipping point which will be impossible to stop or reverse.
The Amazon rainforest, one of the most significant regions of Earth, provides a sobering lesson. Developed over 55 million years, the Amazon provides more than 20% of the oxygen on which Earth’s life depends. It removes tons of greenhouse gases that warm the planet, it is home to one of the richest communities of biodiversity anywhere, and shapes the global climate. However, at the current rate of human destruction of the Amazon rainforest for palm oil plantations, cattle ranches, and other corporate efforts, it could be destroyed by the end of this century. It is urgent that this destruction ceases. What will it take to stir the strong global response that is so urgently needed?
Abraham told the rich man that his family had all the warning they needed in Moses and the prophets. Humanity today has all the warning it needs in the cries of the poor and of Earth, in the warnings of scientists and the suffering and movement of tens of millions of climate refugees. How can we be part of the prophetic outcry? How might we help create the sense of urgency that is needed to bring about change?
This is a challenge, but it is not impossible. We can work together and, according to climate science Professor David Karoly, the wins we have already made give us hope for the future. The production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals has fallen globally by 98% since 1989 and the hole in the ozone layer continues to shrink. This is just one example.
In heading the Creator’s call to care for Creation, let us continue to act in ways that make this hope a reality for all of Creation.
Amen.
We Sing: “Beauty for brokenness” – (TiS 690)
Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair, Lord, in the suffering, this is our prayer.
Bread for the children, justice, joy, peace, sunrise to sunset your kingdom increase.
Shelter for fragile lives, cures for their ills, work for the craftsmen, trade for their skills;
land for the dispossessed, rights for the weak,
voices who plead the cause of those who can’t speak.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain.
Come change our love from a spark to a flame.
Refuge from cruel wars, havens from fear,
cities for sanctuary, freedoms to share,
peace to the killing fields,
scorched earth to green;
Christ for the bitterness,
his cross for the pain.
Rest for the ravaged earth,
oceans and streams,
plundered and poisoned, our future our dreams.
Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed;
make us content with the things that we need.
God of the poor …
Lighten our darkness,
breathe on this flame
until your justice burns brightly again;
until the nations learn of your ways,
seek your salvation and bring you their praise.
God of the poor …
Prayer for Others (prepared by Randall Prior):
Response: Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Let us come before God in prayer, let us pray.
O Lord our God,
In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus your Son, you have immersed yourself in the fullness of our broken world, and transformed it by your love – you have won your victory of life over death, confirmed an end to all that dehumanises or destroys, and guaranteed that nothing – not even the worst that human life may bring – can defeat your passion to bring new life, risen life, to all.
And so, stimulated by your Holy Spirit, we open our hearts before you in prayer, offering our yearnings – for the world, for the church, for all human life.
We pray for the world:
for peace – between conflicted peoples and warring nations …
for the reconciliation of divided peoples
for those in positions of power and influence … may they live with the spectacles of your love – swapping the demonic pursuit of power for the pursuit of justice, an agenda of riches for an agenda of humility, holding out hands in service and not fistfuls of weapons
for the victims of conflict – asylum seekers and refugees, those dislocated from homes, separated from loved ones, deprived of daily necessities to live, to survive.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for the church:
for this community of your people, for your church in all places, privileged to be called the Body of Christ.
for Heather our Minister and her family, for Ray and the Church Council, for Philip, our choir and musicians, for all whom you gather into this community.
Inspire us, inspire your people in all places, to live out the good news of your life-giving gospel, displaying your love in our life-together. Help us to be as a light in our troubled world, so that others may glimpse in us, a new way of being human, a life worth living, a life worth dying for.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for people in need:
For our families and friends,
For all on our hearts and minds at this time … (silence)
For all humankind according to their need
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We offer these and all our prayers in the Spirit of our Easter Lord, who has taught us to pray 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: “Jesus, name above all names” – (Mission Praise 122)
Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord.
Emmanuel, God is with us, blessed Redeemer, Living Word.
Blessing and Sending:
May the Spirit of God,
who is beyond all and in all and through all,
fill us with consciousness of God’s presence in Earth
and the vibrant life of Christ within us.
May God bless us,
Creator, Word, and Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
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: The Fig Tree Worship, WorkingPreacher.com and Seasons of Creation 2025.
‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mithcell, 1970 Siquomb Publishing Corp.