SCOTS CHURCH ADELAIDEUNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA

237 North TerraceAdelaide, South Australia

We, the Uniting Church people of Scots Church on North Terrace are called by God to be a welcoming,

inclusive, worshipping community of God,committed to justice, learning and care,

anticipating a world transformed by the love of God.

Second Sunday in the Season of CreationLand Sunday

13th September, 2020Preacher: Rev Dr Peter Trudinger

Liturgist: Ms Evelina BruhnOrganist:

REMEMBERING THE FIRST PEOPLE

We remember with gratitude the Kaurna people, the original custodians of the land on which we now gather

and ask for God’s grace to be good stewards of this place with them and to strive for reconciliation between all who

share it.

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WE GATHER TO CELEBRATE THE PRESENCE OF DIVINE MYSTERY

A warm welcome is extended to all.Your presence both enriches us

and this time of celebration together.

An asterisk * indicates you are invited to stand as you are able. You are invited to speak the words in bold.

Helpful instructions are in italics

Our worship service follows a classic pattern. For those of you unfamiliar with this, sentences in this font briefly explain the parts of the service.

If you require the hearing loop please sit in middle of centre pews

GATHERING(The meditation, prelude and image are intended to help you set aside the stresses of the outside world and prepare for worship.)

MeditationIf the landscape reveals one certainty, it is that the extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness. . . . The whole show has been on fire from the word go. Annie Dillard

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Prelude

Welcome

Call to Worship(We start by reminding ourselves that we are here to worship God together. The Call is often based on a passage from the Bible.)

For outback and wilderness: harbouring wildness, restoring awe, bearing mystery –For the flinders ranges, Wilpena Pound, Uluru

We rejoice with God in the wilderness and outback.

For rivers and lakes and all manner of waters: quenching thirsts, restoring wildflowers and birds, bestowing life –For the Murray river, Lake Eyre, and the Onkaparinga

We rejoice with God in the rivers and waters.

For the forests: trees soaring tall or spreading wide, bearing fruit and spreading the fragrance of the bush, making sacred space for creatures large and small –With Eucalypts and T-trees, Old Man Banksia and naughty

grevilleas,With possums and koalas, echidnas and kangaroos,

green tree frogs and swirling bats, We rejoice with God in the forests.

On this day in particular, we praise with land and soil: birthing crops, grounding our steps, anchoring our homes and hopes –For the foothills, the plains, Kangaroo Island, the Coorong, for all the variety of landscapes around us

We rejoice with God in the land.

Opening Prayer(This prayer usually focuses on God, e.g., acknowledging that God is with us or praising God. The hymn continues the praise.)

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*Hymn TiS 187 Let all creation dance1. Let all creation dance

in energies sublime, as order turns with chance, unfolding space and time,for nature's art in glory grows, and newly shows God's mind and heart.

2. God's breath each force unfurls,igniting from a spark expanding starry swirls, with whirlpools dense and dark. Though moon and sun seem mindless things, each orbit sings:`Your will be done.'

3. Our own amazing earth,with sunlight, cloud and stormsand life's abundant growth in lovely shapes and forms, is made for praise, a fragile whole, and from its soul heaven's music plays.

4. Lift heart and soul and voice:in Christ all praises meet and nature shall rejoice as all is made complete. In hope be strong,all life befriend and kindly tend creation's song.

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Prayer of Confession(There is a vast difference between God and humans. Humans often do things that are hurtful to others or to God. This prayer acknowledges that there is room for improvement and asks for God’s forgiveness.)

We will follow each short prayer with the wordsLord/Christ, have mercy.

Lord/Christ, have mercy.

Assurance of Pardon and RenewalGod hears the cries of the land…In Christ Jesus, we are forgiven and made whole.

Thanks be to God.

WE LISTEN FOR WHAT THE SPIRITIS SAYING TO THE CHURCH TODAY

(We want to live in the way God wants us to live. First we pray that God might help us understand what that means. Then we listen to part of the Bible, and finally a message explaining what those words might mean for us today. The hymn often picks up on some theme from the Bible reading.)

Prayer for Illumination

The Good News for TodayGenesis 3:14-19; 4:8-16Matthew 12:38-40

In sacred words of old,we have heard the Spirit speak anew.

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*Hymn TiS 87 You are before me, Lord, you are behind(Psalm 139:7-12 is the Psalm for this Sunday)

1. You are before me, Lord, you are behind, And over me you have spread out your hand; Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, Too high to grasp, too great to understand.2. Then from your Spirit where, Lord, shall I go; And from your presence where, Lord, shall I fly? If I ascend to heaven you are there, And still are with me if in hell I lie.3. If I should take my flight into the dawn, If I should dwell on ocean's farthest shore, your mighty hand will rest upon me still, And your right hand will guard me evermore.4. If I should say, "Let darkness cover me, And I shall hide within the veil of night," Surely the darkness is not dark to you: The night is as the day, the darkness light.5. Search me, O God, search me and know my heart; Try me, O God, my mind and spirit try; Keep me from any path that gives you pain, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Sermon

Silent Reflection

WE RESPOND IN FAITH(In this section we commit ourselves to live lives that are in keeping with God’s will.)

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*Hymn O God of earth and space (Tune: TiS 102) 1. O God of earth and space, of sea and fire and air,

Your providence surrounds us here and everywhere.In fruit and grain and tree, in shelter from the cold,In cooling breezes, flowing wells, now as of old.

2. Where faithfulness is shown, where love and truth abound,Where beauty graces human life, there you are found.Inspirer of all thought! Creative force of art!The melody on every tongue, in every heart!

3. Wherever freedom reigns, where sin is overthrown,Where justice fused with mercy rules, there you are

known.Give us the courage clear, to make the earth a home,For all to live in harmony, in Christ’s shalom.

© 1980 Jane Parker Huber

Prayers of the People (God has asked us to love and care for each other. In this prayer, we remember situations of need in the world. It closes with the Lord’s Prayer, which was taught by Jesus to his disciples and is used by all Christians.)

(Closing with the Lord’s PrayerOur 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 yoursnow and for ever. Amen.

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Life and Ministry of the Congregation(We mention some of the things that are happening in our community, including the practical ways we can respond to God’s love for us, by loving our neighbour.)

Invitation to the Offering(One practical way of responding is to contribute money which is used to help

The land shares its riches with the world, feeding plants and offering us raw materials for houses and tools. Let us follow its example and share what we have with others.

*Prayer of Dedication(We offer the money to God and pray that it might be used wisely.)

*Hymn TiS 186 Stars and planets flung in orbit (verses 1, 2, 4, 6; Tune TiS 497)

1 Stars and planets flung in orbit, galaxies that swirl through space, powers hid within the atom,cells that form an infant's face: these, O God, in silence praise you;by your wisdom they are made.

2 Skies adorned with sunset splendour, silent peaks in calm repose,golden fields awaiting harvest, foaming surf and fragrant rose: earth, its bounty clothed with beauty, echoes all creation's praise.

4 Humankind, earth's deepest mystery, born of dust but touched by grace, torn apart by tongue and colour,yet a single, striving race:we, in whom you trace your image, add our words to nature's song.

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6 Christ, the Word before creation as creation's final goal,once you came for earth's redemption; by your Spirit make earth whole:then, O God, the new creation will your praise for ever sing.

*A Blessing for LandLet us join together in this blessing for the Land:

May we walk gentlyand be close enoughto hear you when you speak.May you drink in the rainand be nurtured by the creatures within you.May the sun and wind befriend youand may you be held forever in God.

*Commissioning(At the end of the service, we prepare to go back to our daily lives. The Commissioning reminds us how we are to live in the world. The Blessing reassures us that God is with us in our daily lives.)

*Blessing

*Choral Amen TiS 783(ii)

Postlude This is an opportunity for quiet reflection. Please remain seated until the postlude has ended. No applause is necessary.

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WE DEPART IN PEACETO LOVE AND SERVE

Let the church of Jesus, the Christ, arise and go forth into the world as a vibrant witness to the abiding presence of

God’s love.

We exchange the peace of the Christ with one another.

Please leave via the western door (or foyer door), leaving space for social distancing.

Please exchange the peace of Christ with one another, via gentle comments and caring looks.

Sources used in worship today include Seasons of the Spirit, and Season of Creation. Music reproduced with permission, licenses #A1050, LicenSingOnline, and #496838, CCLI. Image: david_a_l, Kanangra Walls, flickr.com/photos/david_a_lea/26409680411/, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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About Scots Church Adelaide

Scots Church was opened in 1851 by local supporters of the Free Church, a reform movement in the Church of Scotland that opposed political control of the church and engaged with the social changes of the 1800s, including industrialisation and urbanisation. The church originally was named after the leader of the movement, Thomas Chalmers. In 1929, the congregation amalgamated with Flinders St Presbyterian Church and took the name Scots Church. After the Flinders St church was demolished items such as the organ, windows and plaques, were placed in Scots Church, and the stonework re-used as facing for the office block. In 1977 Scots Church joined the Uniting Church in Australia.

Over the years, the congregation has supported many social initiatives around Adelaide. Today Scots proudly continues in its commitment to the city community as a neighbour and place open to all. We host several community organizations, including the SA Jazz Archive and The Big Issue. Our facilities are available for use by other community groups.

The building is the second oldest church still standing in the city. The current minister of the congregation is Rev Dr Peter Trudinger. Worship services are held at 10.30am each Sunday.

SCOTS CHURCH ADELAIDEUNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA

237 North Terrace, Adelaide, Phone 8223 1505Minister: Rev Dr Peter Trudinger

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www.scotschurch.org www.facebook.com/scotschurchadelaide

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