Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Uniting in Prayer – 4 June 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.
We will share Communion during this service so you may wish to have the elements ready.
Introit: “Holy, holy, holy” – (Click on this link)
Candle Lighting Call to Worship:
Blessed be you, O Holy Light-fitter,
who set the sun in its proper place
and scattered the stars across the skies
to brighten up our way.
Blessed be you,
Creator, Son and Spirit,
light that resides with us and within us.
In the midst of our troubles, anxiety,
uncertainty and fear,
we gather this day
to proclaim the gift of God with us.
Acknowledgement of Country:
As we look upon the hills and valleys,
we see the love poured out upon this land
by those who have cared for this Land
since time beyond measure.
We honour those who have gone before
and those who are yet to come.
May each one of us be mindful of the calling
God places on humanity to care for creation.
May we take the lead from the Wurundjeri
WoiWurrung people of the Kulin nation
whose stories are entwined
with the stewarding of this place.
May we learn from them and walk with them.
Greeting:
Friends, today as we gather,
we will pray for the life, witness and future of the Uniting Church.
Within the context of the Act2 Project,
a national process of discernment about the Uniting Church,
we gather to pray and reflect on our past as the Uniting Church.
We gather
to seek the leading of the Spirit for the years ahead,
to remember Christ, our foundation,
to give thanks for God’s faithfulness to our Church,
and to confess that we have not always lived up to all we could be.
We gather to reflect on our present life,
and with hopeful expectation,
listen attentively to God’s calling for our future.
We gather to open our lives to God in prayer.
Responsive Prayer:
God, you unite us in prayer …
We are your people, we are your Church,
We are the Body of Christ, following your way,
We are your communion for the common good,
Together we seek your will.
Unite us in prayer.
Together we come in our diversity,
We come from different backgrounds with different experiences,
We come with different needs, ideas and hopes.
Unite us in prayer.
We come with different expectations.
We come with different wounds and hurts,
with our brokenness and not always agreeing.
Unite us in prayer.
We come seeking wholeness, forgiveness,
reconciliation and redemption.
We come seeking a better future.
We come seeking to listen for your call.
United in prayer, we pray.
Amen.
We Sing: “Jesus calls us here to meet him” – (Click on this link
Prayer of Adoration and Confession:
Loving God,
we give you praise!
Since our formation we have been changing,
but Christ has been our foundation
and Your presence is constant O God.
We live in an ever-changing world
and our church is in flux too.
There are times we might not understand,
but you are always with us.
Awaken our spirit,
stir our thoughts and minds!
Motivate us into action,
and make us ready to follow your call
wherever it may lead.
Help us leave behind any pain of the past,
and replace the old, tired
and disappointed ways of our heart,
with your grace and strength.
Fill us with new blessings of joy and peace.
Christ, you are God with us,
calling us to unity in our diversity
to be your people, the Church.
Together we do so much good,
we carry the faith and uphold each other in prayer.
But sometimes we don’t –
we can pray but fail to act,
we can pray one thing but do the opposite
and we ask your forgiveness.
Reinvigorate us in your grace,
so that we might be your people,
joining you in mission,
embodying your love,
and sharing this with the world.
Amen.
Words of Assurance:
This is the best of all:
when we are empty, God fills us;
when we are disheartened, God is compassionate;
when we are lost, we are found;
when we open our lives to God, no door is closed.
In Christ, through Christ and because of Christ,
our sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God
the One who refills the cup of life,
and to the Christ,
in whom we find refuge, strength and hope.
Amen.
We Sing: “We are your people” – (Click on this link)
Prayer – A Personal Story:
I wonder what you have been taught about prayer and how you understand it. I remember being taught at Sunday School that when it was time to pray you had to put your hands together, bow your head and shut your eyes. As I grew older I learnt the Lord’s Prayer and spent a lot of time wondering why it was important to ask forgiveness for my trespasses when I hadn’t gone anywhere I wasn’t allowed to go. As I grew older still, I learned that prayer was about talking to God and that you should follow the JOY method – Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. It was good to share your feelings with God because God knew them anyway. But most important, it seemed, was that prayer was something you did quietly and reverently, and it seemed to me to be quite one-sided … with people asking and God choosing whether to respond.
I still believe that prayer encompasses some of those things, but it is not limited to them, and is more like a rich two-way conversation. It can be individual or corporate, it can use words or silence. Thoughts, feelings and actions can be part of prayer. Prayer can incorporate movement – walking, dancing, cycling. Prayer can be centred on sacred text or art. Prayer can be many things yet it is a space for deep yearning and deep honesty. Prayer is a way you can open your inmost self to God … and feel God’s peace.
At times we pray for something and don’t feel our prayers are answered, or maybe it is that they are answered in a way we don’t expect or understand. Gillian will now share a personal story of answered prayer …
Flynn’s Story
Three years ago, we were discovering how to use zoom as a church during the first shut down of the Covid pandemic. After watching the recorded worship service in our own homes, we began our zoom coffee at 11am each Sunday looking at and listening to our church community on our computers. Weekly zoom coffee became a precious time. Many joys and concerns were shared.
One week in May 2020 we had the joy of sharing the birth of our grandson Flynn, to our son James and Sarah. Thanks to Rhonwen Pierce, we discovered he was born on the anniversary of Rev John Flynn’s death, you know, John Flynn of the Outback who started the Flying Doctors Mission to the Outback which is celebrating 95 years this week! James and Sarah were totally unaware of this when they named him Flynn, but it was a co-incidence as Flynn was flown by air ambulance from Coffs Harbour to Sydney on his first day of life. He went on his own, there was no room for even his mother. His parents had to make the journey by car. It was traumatic from the beginning.
Many of you have followed his journey of challenge with eating and a chronic skin condition. Many of you have prayed for Flynn and his family. Today as we focus on many forms of prayer for our church, our nation and ourselves, Paul and I are grateful for the loving prayers of this congregation.
Flynn was fed by tube for nearly 3 years. In February this year the family had a week in Adelaide with a specialist team who weaned him off his stomach tube and taught him to eat, a big transition. Earlier this month we visited the family in NSW for his 3rd birthday and it was a thrill to see Flynn eating naturally and beginning to enjoy different foods. While he is still little, he is maintaining his weight and we hope he will start gaining more weight soon.
The prayerful support of friends has meant a lot to us. Having been on the receiving end I want to encourage you all to ask for prayer for situations concerning you and your loved ones. Sometimes we are reluctant to do this, but it can be a blessing for another person to be asked to pray. And it certainly is a blessing to receive their loving interest and support.
Bible Reading: Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Life among the Believers
43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Bible Reading: Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.
Watch and listen to the reflection.
Reflection:
Earlier this week I was asked to respond to a question: Why do you engage in being a part of a church / faith community? For me, part of the answer is mentioned in the question … community. Being part of a church / faith community is different to being part of another community because, as well as being connected to one another, it is about being united together with God. In a church community we are connected by our love of God, and we bring our own strengths, gifts and talents that enrich the community. When we join together and share these things, offering what we can and joining it with the offerings of others, something special begins to take shape and community is built. While it might not always fit together perfectly, the common purpose we share in Christ can shape our efforts for good.
The Acts passage we read today follows the Pentecost story we had last week and it describes the emerging church community. This fledgling community, as described by Luke, is an idyllic society marked by shared meals and prayers, awe or reverence, signs, communal sharing and redistributive economics, ritual faithfulness, joy, good will, and growth. Whether or not this is a strictly historical portrait, Luke shares his ideals of what a church community ought to be … and one of the four essential components of the community is prayer.
The activity of this young church is not only centred on what they do together, but also expressed in their relationships with their neighbours. As they are changed by the overflowing love of God and the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit, their number grows. What does this cause us to question when we hear a narrative of declining church attendance? Interestingly, the individuals in this fledgling community are not said to devote themselves to evangelism, but instead their devotion is to teaching, fellowship, worship, prayer and acts of caring. Along with the energies of God’s Spirit, this is what generates growth in the church. The community seems well-regarded by outsiders, and the community lives in a way that attracts others to come and be a part of things. I wonder what we might be able to learn from all of that?
This resonates with what the Uniting Church is asking in the Act2 project. What does it mean to be church? What things about the Uniting Church are special to us, what are difficult, and what do we want to hold as central as we move forward as a whole church today? The newly formed church of Acts 2 has lots going for it … it is an attractively countercultural, joyful community, a church that prays, praises, breaks bread, and to which God keeps adding.
When we think about the future of the Church, it can cause us concern. While in one sense I can understand this, I think this concern is often misplaced and consuming energy we could be devoting to other things. I believe that if we (as the Uniting Church) are part of God’s church we will never cease to be, even though our gathering as a people of faith might be reshaped. The encouragement from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is that we should not ‘worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:6-7) This is a challenge when we are looking to a future that is unknown, but we are reminded to bring before God all things in our lives … including those things that worry us. And also we have the promise of assurance – the reassurance of God’s presence and provision – and that is what brings us peace.
In this world we are taught to place a lot of importance in our own competencies, and I wonder if this where we get tripped up. We struggle when we cannot manage something, or achieve the outcomes we desire, but forget that God is always near us and that, in the end, it is God’s kingdom vision that matters.
As the church we are part of this vision, even if we can’t see what’s ahead, and that should give us joy. In fact Paul calls us to continually rejoice in God. He does this even as his own well-being is threatened and he contemplates the possibility of not seeing the Christians at Philippi again. He can do this because joy is not about having a good time, but about finding joy in the good news of God’s action in and through Jesus Christ.
This good news of God’s action through Jesus Christ is news that doesn’t change no matter our circumstances or our changing society. It is what we are called to share.
Let us pray …
God,
In this time of questioning we have many questions.
Where are you calling us as a people?
What are you calling us to change, or return to?
You call us to follow you as Christ.
Where are you leading us and what are you leading us to?
You call us to take up our cross.
What is our cross in this place and how will you help us carry it?
You call us into ministry through the gifts of your Spirit.
What gifts are you giving us at this time,
and who are you calling us into ministry with?
You call us to join you in mission?
What part are you calling us to play,
and who are our fellow actors in this role.
You call us to be your Church.
How are you calling us to embody your love,
and how should we lay down our lives for those you call us to love?
Speak your Word to us.
Inspire us anew.
This we pray … Amen.
We Sing: “Community of Christ” – (Click on this link )
We pray for Koonung Heights, for our Minister Heather and her family, our Church Council, the groups that make up the life of our church, and all the members of the congregation. We hold before you our members who are unable to be here today. Help us to be your faithful people, seeking your will and trying to do it, supporting each other, being nurtured by your love and reflecting it to those around us.
These things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Join with Heather in the service of Holy Communion
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
God you have been united with us since the beginning.
You have never left us or forsaken us.
Even when we disobeyed or rebelled, you held us together.
No matter what we do you never abandon us or give up on us.
Your patient grace is always with us, and your love and mercy know no bounds.
You became the Christ,
and set an example in Word and deed of a vision of who we can and could be
and how things can and could be.
You proclaimed the Kingdom of God and shared it with us.
In the greatest act of compassion and grace,
you accepted our brokenness and let it break your body to death,
but not your love.
You died and took with you the way of death, but death did not win.
You rose in hope and healing to carry us into the future,
and when the time came you gifted us with your Spirit to go with us.
For all this we thank you, joining 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 and in their homes.
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: “Great is your faithfulness” – (Click on this link)
Blessing:
Beloved people of God,
we who belong to this family of the Uniting Church,
go from here with the promise that in Christ,
we indeed have hope and a future.
Give thanks for those who have walked this path before us.
Rejoice in the richness of our Church, enlivened with faith.
Proclaim Christ crucified and risen,
and the promise of new life for the whole creation.
And may the God who called us into being,
the Christ who is our foundation,
and the Spirit whose breath of life animates us today and every day,
be with us 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:-Act2 Uniting in Prayer Worship Resource, Texts for Preaching and www.WorkingPreacher.com.