Announcement

 

1. Welcome
2. Councils’ meeting last Thursday
   1. Save the Date: 28 March (Palm Sunday) Congregational Meeting and Welcome Lunch
3. KCO 2021
   1. Saturday 20 March – Family Dinner, Worship and Activity and Movie Night
   2. Sunday 21 March – Prep for Breakfast, pack up and Join Sunday worship
   3. This camp will be
      1. Your place to have fun
      2. Your time to build friendship with each other in Christ
      3. That's it.
   4. More detail – Next Sunday

4. Soul Survivor 2021
   1. 12-15 April 2021
   2. Port Hacking Conference Centre
   3. Till 2 March, early bird registration is open. Go and register your child(ren) first and the church will repay the cost.
5. Playgroup will start up this Thursday 4 March
6. Monthly Bus trip Saturday 6 March
7. Next Sunday – Communion
8. This morning – Lent 2 The way of the cross sermon series

 

 

Acknowledgement for the First Peoples

 

We acknowledge this land that God has created and blessed. We pay our respects to the would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Wallumettagal people of the Eora Nation, the first inhabitants of this place. We honour their custodianship of the land on which we gather today and its surrounding waters, and offer our respect to their Elders, past, present, and emerging.

 

 

Call to Worship

 

We come to worship this morning

from different places.

O God, do not be far from us.

 

We come to worship this morning

for different reasons.

O God, do not be far from us.

 

We experience the presence of the Spirit

in different ways.

O God, do not be far from us.

 

We hear Jesus’ words with different ears.

O God, do not be far from us.

 

“Deny yourselves.”

O God, do not be far from us.

 

“Take up your cross.”

O God, do not be far from us.

 

“Follow me.”

O God,

we thank you for drawing near to us

in this place, in our lives. Amen.

 

 

Song of Praise    Give thanks

 

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

 

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"

Let the poor say, "I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us"

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"

Let the poor say, "I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us"

 

Henry Smith |CCLI #260394

 

 

Prayer of the Day

 

Prayer of Confession

 

Jesus calls us to deny ourselves.

Yet we trust in our own works

rather than in God’s grace.

 

Jesus calls each of us to take up our cross.

Yet rather than allow our selfishness

and sin to be put to death,

we cling to what we know.

 

Jesus calls us to follow him.

Yet we fear where faith will lead

and what it might change in our lives.

 

In this moment of silence,

we confess the sin that separates us

from one another and from God.

 

Silence for reflection & self-examination

 

Words of Assurance

 

People of God,

hear this good news.

 

God’s covenant with us is true.

 

God is faithful even when we fail.

 

Through the Holy Spirit,

God gives us the gift of faith and makes us righteous.

 

Believe in the good news

that you are set free to live as children of God.

Amen. Thanks be to God!

Attributed by Daniel Flucke

 

 

The Peace

 

The Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be always with you all.

And also with you.

 

 

Bible Reading    Mark 8:31-38 Jenny Wren

[Click to read other translations of the reading]

 

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

 

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

Sermon          Seung Jae Yeon

 

During this Lenten season, two Sunday have similar bible passages so I chose the sermon series. This is part 1.

 

Let us pray:

 

O gracious and hold God,

give us diligence to seek you,

wisdom to perceive you,

and patience to wait for you.

Grant us, O God,

a mind to meditate on you,

eyes to behold you,

ears to listen for your word,

a heart to love you,

and a life to proclaim you;

through the power of the Spirit

of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

At all times. I saw the traffic sign on James Ruse Drive last Wednesday morning. It was the official day of opening at the Centre for Ministry. I attended the opening service. But I was caught up by the sign, saying, “At all times.” And I thought to myself, “why this makes me wonder?”

 

While I was studying about the reading from Mark’s gospel, the sign message made me think about our faith during this Lenten season where we might meditate the meaning of the way toward the cross – suffering but living eternity. The sign reminded me this question. What would Jesus want us to live words and acts of Him today? Is this a preferential option in our discipleship to do or not? Why at all times?

 

Jesus has called us to follow at all times. Because he chose God’ purpose in His entire life. Like the traffic signs and its rules are always kept no matter what circumstances we drive with, we do our best to keep our faith alive always. All drivers on the road must keep the sign messages whether it tells rules or it gives warning. Like the Disciples who tried their best to follow their master Jesus. Like the Samaritan woman who went back to village and spoke of who she met at the well. Like the boy who brought five loaves and two fish before Jesus. At all times. Always where Jesus is, there is the Way to life, the Truth to learn and the Life to live. In the same way, as Christ community and disciples, we would live the life given by Him at all times. There is no exception. Once we joined this faith journey with Jesus, we are called to live God’s love and Christ’s grace at all times. Always. All the time.

 

Jesus bears life for all at all times. When He was born, grew, taught the Law at synagogue, healed the paralysed man, calmed the storm, fed five thousand men, and spent time with his disciples, it was significant affirmation of God’s life dwelling among all who follow. Jesus never made division but union with God thru Him and in Him. Although He walked the way of the cross, Jesus bears life for all, you and I and for many. So Jesus rebuked Peter who attempted to separate Him from the other disciples on the way to the cross.

 

“Get behind me, Satan!

For you are setting your mind not on divine things

but on human things.” (verse 33)

 

Peter had assumed the normal expectations on Jesus as the Messiah. That makes sense. Here, a messiah, which means ‘anointed’, is someone who will establish God’s reign, a royal figure, a ‘king of the Jews’ like David. As a figure of hope, he is not a figure of failure but of success and power. So it clashes with who Jesus himself is. Instead of identifying himself with royalty, Jesus identifies himself with the people; he is a human person. Yet this ‘Human one’, ‘Son of Man’, is someone special. He is the human one before whom all human beings must stand and give account.

 

No one can own Him. But those who believe in Him may live now and forever, sharing his words and acts with many people. At all time, this leads Jesus’ ministry amongst the followers. Nothing separates from Him and God the Father. Once Peter tried to separate Him, Jesus rebuked, saying, “Satan.”

 

Then Jesus mended the gathered people and began again to explain about how people of God might live with Him and other fellow human beings. Jesus had these quests, “Deny self, take up the cross and follow”.

 

What does “deny self, take up the cross, and follow me” mean for us—Christians living in these challenging times? What does it mean for us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus who died but rose again from the grave in our context as citizens of Australia? Before these quests, we are feeling afraid. Because we could have faced our real being of individual or community. I believe that to avoid this quest is to refuse to encounter the powerful challenge of this reading in our contemporary world. We should wrestle with it to answer and to act, though inevitably we may face challenges.  

 

From our reading of the passage, we see that to “take up our cross” has specific political and physical implications. Taking up the cross does not mean shouldering the personal burdens in life and carrying on in the hope of heavenly rewards. “Bear the cross” does not mean that we should deny our own experience, needs, pain, pleasure, and rights. It has meant servanthood instead of self-purification or achieving religious achievement. Study of the bible passage warns this spiritualized and personalized interpretation. Jesus was speaking of the “execution chance” that is the consequence of posing a threat to earthly powers and all wrongdoings. Now where does Jesus call you to take up the cross and follow him? What are the possible consequences of our following this path? What do we most fear? Remember that Mark’s Jesus did not call people to walk the path of discipleship alone, but rather to do so in loving community. Who is the community that is called to be with us on this path?

 

I want to remind the traffic sign again. At all times. To follow Jesus means not only to walk in his path but also to be in intimate relationship with him and God at all times. It means being embraced by God’s compassionate and self-giving love. It means to receive God’s promises, and to be filled with the Spirit at all times. To “take up the cross” is to continue on this life’s journey no matter what challenges and circumstances we might face. To “follow” Jesus is to affirm and re-affirm that with each other we live as God’s people to rebuild our community grounded in justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.

 

Wholehearted commitment to this way is true life; not to choose this path is to choose to death-in-life. The consequences of faithfulness to this way can be embraced only in the awareness that the end of this story is God’s yes of resurrection life.

 

I want to conclude my sermon sharing by reading a powerful bible passage from Romans 12. I had this passage yesterday at my dear friend’s ordination service. He chose this passage that he wants to hold as he are being set apart toward his ordained ministry where he might face many challenges, suffering and tests. I want us to read this together, mediate it and pray.

 

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 12:9-18 NRSV

 

 

Prayers of the People         Phoebe Kim

 

Father, in this time of Lent, we find ourselves reflecting and wondering about the world you have given us.

A world you gave as pure, whole and good. But Father, this is now a world that has been tainted with our sins.

We know the COVID-19 is just one of the consequences of our wrongdoings.

Help us take care of the world you have given us. And help us in caring for each other.

We are so grateful that we are able to return to church for face-to-face worship. And so thankful that you have kept us healthy. However, let us remember that not everyone else is happy or as fortunate as we are.

Help us not to think that everyone in the world will be also safe just because we are safe.

Let us pray and remember that there are still people everywhere on earth suffering for so many reasons.

There are still people dying of starvation, and there are those who are naked, shivering in the cold, and suffering in the war.

Lord, when we are comfortable, please give us warm hearts to help and remember our neighbours in need and give us the courage to start taking small steps with the discomfort for the global environment.

In this time we pray for all the world leaders. We pray that they will consider the good of the world and justice for their citizens rather than act out of selfish greed.

We take this time to especially think of the nations, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands. We think of their people, of the tense relations and conflicts.

We pray that they can overcome cultural, linguistic and political barriers and suspicions that remain tough.

We pray that you will be forever present for these people.

We also think of the congregation in, Hunters Hill Congregational Church. We think of their minister, our brothers and sisters in Christ and their mission.

Finally, Father, we pray for our own congregation at Boronia Park Uniting Church. We pray for all those who are unwell and ill.

We ask for your leadership and your love. We pray for guidance in our mission.

We thank you for our minister Seungjae and his beautiful family.

We thank you for the young generation and ask for your wisdom in fostering their growth under you. We pray for those who are not with us today and ask for your safekeeping. We ask that you keep us all in your arms over the next week and that you remain in our hearts so that we follow your will in whatever we do.

We pray all these things in your name, Amen.

 

 

Lord’s Prayer

 

Our 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 yours

      now and forever.

Amen.

 

 

Offering

 

The offering will be used for the congregation’s continuing mission and ministry in these challenging times. Please make your offering through a Bank Deposit or a personal cheque whichever is convenient to you.

 

Account Name: Boronia Park Uniting Church

BSB: 634-634

Account: 100023784

Reference: Offering

 

Please contact Robyn Harvey, Treasurer on 0418 783 290 or robyn.49@bigpond.net.au for more information about offering.

 

 

Song   Comfort, comfort all my people

 

Comfort, comfort all my people

with the comfort of my word.

Speak it tender to my people:

All your sins are taken away.

 

Though your tears be rivers running,

though your tears be an ocean full,

though you cry with the hurt of living,

comfort, comfort.

Every valley shall be lifted,

every mountain shall be low,

every rough place will be smoother:

comfort, comfort.

 

Comfort, comfort all my people

with the comfort of my word.

Speak it tender to my people:

All your sins are taken away.

Though your eyes see only darkness,

though your eyes can see no light,

though your eyes see pain and sorrow:

comfort, comfort.

Every night will have its morning,

every pain will have an end,

every burden will be lightened:

comfort, comfort.

 

Comfort, comfort all my people

with the comfort of my word.

Speak it tender to my people:

All your sins are taken away.

Robin Mann | CCLI #260394

 

 

Benediction

 

On our Lenten journey through way of the Cross,

may you trust in God’s promises to his people:

peace, security, blessing,

even when they are difficult to believe.

 

May you know that God’s news is good news,

nourishing, true,

even when people tell you it is not.

 

And when you encounter doubt,

may you strengthen your belief

guiding you in his lifegiving wisdom and understanding

on this way to the Cross.

 

Amen.

 

 

Sung Blessing     Shalom to you now

 

Shalom to you now, shalom, my friends.

May God's full mercies bless you, my friends.

In all your living and through your loving,

Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.