WINTER ROSE 

Plant winter rose in soil enriched with compost and give it lightly dappled shade.

It is perfect for planting beneath deciduous trees.

Winter sunshine will encourage more flowers

and the summer canopy of the tree overhead will protect it from too much heat.

Photo: Scott Hawkins

(From website "12 Best Winter Flowers")

 

 

Important Announcement

 

We are getting ready to return to church!

 

Boronia Park Uniting Church has been considering public health advice and the needs of our members and guests.

The Synod of NSW and the ACT has been meeting regularly to discuss the current issues and plan for the gradual relaxing of regulations. As the result, with the state government's guideline, we are now able to create a safe path to reopening some church activities including Sunday worship service.

The Church Council has discussed what we should prepare before reopening.

Please be patient as we are getting back to a new normal.

While creating and preparing for reopening, physical distancing is required and all worship resources will be continued online.

More information on the Synod Website Here to click/tab

 

 

Preparing for Worship - NAIDOC Week 2020

 

THIS WEEK, we worship God who created the universe, revealing Himself to the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders through law, custom and ceremony. Those people who are the traditional owner of the land of Australia and its islands had already encountered the Creator God before the arrival of the colonisers (The Preamble to the Constitution and Regulation of the Uniting Church in Australia). During this NAIDOC week 2020, we may be one in Christ who shared the same love and grace on the cross and in His Resurrection.

 

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is: Always Was Always Will Be. This theme is in reference to the continuing connection of the First Peoples to these lands, waters, cultures and spiritual relationships as the oldest living history on the planet. (Note that due to COVID-19 the July celebrations are postponed. The new dates for 2020 are 8-15 November. This may give us two opportunities to celebrate.)

 

Also this Sunday, we have a communion service. If you are able, bread and wine/a cup of grape juice may be prepared on your table or your proposed worship space. Today it is ok to share communion at home as we had practiced it at church.

 

 

Acknowledgement for the First Peoples

 

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, Elders past and present, on which we gather today. We recognize their special relationship with the land and all creation.

 

 

Greeting to Members

 

We greet each other, especially those who is listed on the last page of the Congregation Directory. We call them by their names:

 

Elaine Wallbank,

Jennifer and Sebastian Warren,

John, Sharnie, Lisa, Carey, Andrew, Chelle West,

John Wilson AND

Seung Jae Yeon, Grace Song, Joshua, Daniel and Heather Yeon

 

And in our imagination, let us have big waving hands to each other.

 

 

Opening Prayer

 

John 3:16-17 says,

 

God loved the people of this world

so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who has faith in him

will have eternal life

and never really die.

 

God did not send his Son into the world

to condemn its people.

He sent him to save them!

 

Let us pray:

 

God of love,

you are the Creator of this land

and of all good things.

 

Our hope is in you

because you gave your son Jesus

to reconcile the world to you.

 

We pray for your strength and grace

to forgive, accept and love one another as you love us

and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.

 

We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

(Prepared by Wontulp Bi-Buya Indigenous Theology

Working Group) NATSICC 2003

 

 

Hymn   Make me a channel of your peace (607, CHANNEL OF PEACE)

 

 

Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there is hatred let me bring your love;

where there is injury, your pardon, Lord;

and where there’s doubt, true faith in you.

 

Refrain

O Master, grant that I may never seek

so much to be consoled as to console,

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved, as to love with all my soul.

 

Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope;

where there is darkness, let me bring your light;

and where there’s sadness, ever joy.

Refrain

 

Make me a channel of your peace.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

in giving of ourselves that we receive,

and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

 

Words and music by permission of Oregon Catholic Press

CCLI #260394

 

 

Prayer of the Day

 

This word of prayer is the Affirmation of our Faith. We may say this prayer with one voice.

 

Let us pray:

 

We say God created the universe,

and the world we live in,

and every living thing on this earth.

 

We believe the Creation shows us

the power and presence of God,

and makes us want to praise

and give thanks to God,

and take good care of the earth

God has made.

 

We are full of joy that across the world

different peoples have their own culture and language,

and that in God we are all united together as one.

 

We say God is Spirit, breath of life,

who is always working to bring people to life in God.

 

We believe

the Spirit has been alive and active

in every race and culture,

getting hearts and minds

ready for the good news:

the good news of God’s love and grace

that Jesus Christ revealed.

 

We are full of joy that from the beginning

the Spirit was alive and active,

revealing God through the law, custom

and ceremony of the First Peoples

of this ancient land.

 

We say Jesus is Saviour and Lord,

and that he began the church

and prayed that the church might be together as one.

 

We believe that in the risen Jesus

we are all brothers and sisters

in the one great family of God,

and that God calls us to live in faith, hope and love

for the sake of the Kingdom of God

here on earth.

We are full of joy

that we can learn, grow and serve together

as a pilgrim people

in the name of Christ.

 

We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Scripture Reading    Jenny Keast

 

 

Today's Bible reading comes from Matthew 11:16-19 and 25-30 (New Living Translation).

 

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

 

¹⁷ ‘We played wedding songs,
    and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
    and you didn’t mourn.’

 

¹⁸ For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

 

Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving

 

²⁵ At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. ²⁶ Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

 

²⁷ “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

 

This is the Word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

 

 

Reflection on the Scripture       Seung Jae Yeon

 

 

 

To be honest, my first response for the bible passage was giving thanks to God. Also, with the theme of 2020 NAIDOC Week Always Was Always Will Be, I was so thankful to Jesus who shares the same message with us today as well as He did with his friends. I am so glad that this wondrous opportunity to read the bible passage would invite us all to reflect with a deep thought on how fortunate we are able to go well during the Pandemic with each other in Christ Jesus. So, I thank God and you all today because we are all dwelling in Christ, the Stronghold.

 

Where am I today? This question asks me always where my life journey go through. It is not about physical location but about my spiritual coordinates in life. Recently, due to the Pandemic, I have found myself as human being who has the human fear of ambiguity. I have asked again and again. Where am I today?  That human fear keeps holding me in one question about “as a local church minister, where is my coordinates between the world and members of the Boronia Park congregation?” I truly believe that God knows me where I am. Yes. But I am not saying to myself that I just do my best in ministry because God answers every question. I acknowledge that God comes to us closer but never resolve all matters and issues on behalf of us. By showing all His works in the Creation and demonstrations of Jesus Christ, His Son, I believe that God wants us to seek to find His will in all events in human history and person’s life. In this process or progress, we may name it journey that we would travel with each other toward the kingdom of God, building the body of Christ to fulfil God’s creation. I can continue this journey with my human ambiguity because of your support and yourself as a christ.

 

We are all vulnerable so we may need each other’s company. And in that relationship, we are growing, learning and sometimes making mistakes. That’s because we don’t know the ultimate way to be perfect. Particularly one of areas where we need to go through is welcoming each other as who we are. We have learnt selectively how to judge or criticize those who are not in our group before thinking about deeply who they are. Maybe we have stereotypes about others.

 

For instance, our thoughts about the Aboriginal people would be very different from who they really are. We have knowledge about their long history of custodianship, uncivilized-but-so-unique-cultures, and many languages groups etc. But the brief history of 250 years of encountering with European civilization tells us that the Aboriginal people are less educated, lazy, dangerous and strange. We would unknowingly pick up a newspaper, click on a web site or listen to the news giving lenses to see them and giving notice that groups of black people from somewhere in bush rather than recognize their ownership of the land and their culture that has nurtured them and their emerging generations. 

 

We, Boronia Park Uniting Church, have done so well in terms of building our connection with the Aboriginal people last 6 years. We have done acknowledgement of country on each Communion Sunday, NAIDOC Week Sunday, fundraising concert for UAICC and inviting Aboriginal Christian leaders to speak. In this unique time of journey, I believe that may have been the human anxiety of uncertainty about what we do or why we do. But I am for sure that we have prepared room for the Aboriginal people in our church’s life, recognizing that it is important to answer God’s call to walk with them. We’ve welcomed them as part of us, which not many church communities do. Even though we have felt about the human anxiety in our relationship with the First Peoples, it makes all of us face each other and claim where we are journeying through. That anxiety would make us more vulnerable. This vulnerability becomes our heavy burden.

 

2016 NAIDOC Week Sunday led by the UAICC ministry team

(Sunday 21 June 2016)

 

Pastor Ray Minniecon sang and shared his story at Boronia Park UC’s winter concert

(Sunday, 25 June 2018) 

 

We wish that God may intervene in our vulnerability. Instead of giving us the direct answer, we are able to listen to God’s message in Christ’s clear welcome voice in the Matthew’s reading.

 

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.

Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

(11:28-30, NLT)

 

The invitation of Jesus is just beautiful. It is the kind of thing that sages said. This is a call to learn a new way, especially a new way of receiving and understanding God's will. That will, God's Law, God's word, was commonly portrayed as giving drinkable water to the thirst and feeding the hungry souls. This is not a call to heaviness, but a call to lightness of being. (Bill Loader)

 

 

Brook Prentis with members of Boronia Park Uniting Church

(Sunday, 16 March 2020)

 

 

Christian leader Brook Prentis, Common Grace peached

(Sunday 16 March 2020)

 

This invitation also appears to draw on wisdom traditions. As wisdom is close to God, and the wise person God's child, so Jesus affirms his unique closeness to God. In verse 27,

 

“My Father has entrusted everything to me.

No one truly knows the Son except the Father,

and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and

those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

The religious wise who seriously go about trying to protect God have missed the point. Jesus' deeds of mercy and compassion are the evidence of God's will. That was what Jesus had been communicating to John's messengers. That was what explained the claim of true wisdom.

 

The words, “wisdom is shown to be right by its results”, is a very typical stance of Jesus Christ. He sees himself in the tradition of the sage who knows God's wisdom and seeks to live by the truth of God. Jesus represents and embodies this kind of wisdom, God's wisdom, life's wisdom. Meals celebrate this presence just as they foretaste the great dream of all peoples coming together in reconciliation in a great feast at the end of the days. Jesus was not only fond of feasting or hospitality; he also employed the image throughout his teaching. It became the location for his famous last act of self-giving which gave rise to the tradition of the eucharist. 'Eucharist' means thanksgiving and needs to keep the joy of thanksgiving that described Jesus' ministry, which then makes sense of his death. We are the people of God who have had God’s wisdom through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

 

This is what the bible passage witnesses. We are also following Jesus’ words and deeds as his disciple. How do we participate in retaining the joy of thanksgiving instead of struggling with the anxiety of uncertainty? And how do we take his yoke and light burden as we journey through with the First Peoples? And how do we relieve us of our burden about the human anxiety to the Traditional Owner of the land?

 

My encouragement with sincere prayers is this. Let us continue to pray and think of the First Peoples in our faith journey. For my reading in verses 27 and 28, Jesus in my imagination was taking a step forward to welcome his disciples and followers, not stood somewhere just to wait until they would come. He paid his attention first all the time. His action, taking one-step forward, perhaps made a huge difference to his people because in Him God the Creator had a step toward human beings and their all sorts of human anxieties. And he touched them, not poking, not pinching, not nudging or not pushing. He just gently touched their lives as God created them in His image. Christ chose to reveal His Father to them. That touching changed many lives, including my life and your life.

 

Sisters and brothers in Christ! Please don’t be anxious about the First Peoples and our ministry with them. As Jesus teaches us today, let us learn from Him who is gentle and humble in heart for all humanity. And please be blessed with his yoke and burden, that Jesus already takes a step forward and touch his people, whether they are sinners or righteous. Christ Jesus is for us “the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 New International Version)

 

Amen.

  

 

Prayers of the people     Barnabas Joo

 

This prayer has been taken from Lutheran CORE and modified accordingly by Barnabas Joo.

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Thank you for Jesus, our friend and yokefellow. Thank you for soul’s refreshment and heart’s ease; for mind’s nourishment and body’s rest. Thank you for faith, family, and freedom; for liberty and justice; for the countless blessings we so often take for granted.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Grant that your Church should always be as gentle and lowly of heart as its Saviour. Use us to draw people who are heavy-laden by the world, the devil, and their own sinfulness, to the One who will give them rest. Let the Church’s high calling – of faith toward you and fervent love toward others – be a light and joyous burden to bear.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Give refreshment, rest, and respite to your suffering Church throughout the world. Help us, who are richly supplied with your good gifts, to share generously with them; to pray for them; and to speak and act on their behalf before their tormentors.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Thank you for the people of this congregation. Help us to see one another with the eyes of Jesus. Some are carrying heavy burdens, known only to them and to you. Ease their load; and give each of us such gentle hearts and words that we, too, refresh their spirits. Shape all our words and works, so that many may find encouragement, forgiveness, hope, and renewed joy in loving and serving you.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Thank you for this beautiful world, over which you have set us as your stewards. Give us a double measure of your Holy Spirit, so that we may be wise, responsible, and compassionate as we tend the land and its creatures. Help us to enjoy the loveliness of creation, finding in it refreshment for our souls and relaxation for our bodies.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Bless, purify, and guide this nation. Grant to the people of every nation favourable weather, peaceful times, and respite from the burdens of sickness, poverty, and violence. Teach us all to eagerly seek and share your mercy, guidance, and blessings.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Ease the heavy burdens borne by all who risk their lives to keep us healthy, safe, just, and free. Grant success to all they do in accordance with your will. Heal those wounded in body, mind, or spirit. Comfort and strengthen their loved ones. May their service be honoured and their skills re-purposed when their duties are finished.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Give rest and refreshment, respite and healing to everyone who are weighed down by sin, sorrow, or suffering. Ease also the heavy load of care and worry that their loved ones shoulder; and give to us all the joy of your saving help.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Thank you, dear Father, for the life, love, and labour of your faithful departed servants. Until we are reunited with them and with your children of every time and place, bless us with your steadfast mercy and loving-kindness. Yoked to our Saviour, and guided by his Spirit, let us help one another in bearing the necessary burdens of this life. Lead us into the eternal rest and unending joy which you have promised to everyone whom you have redeemed through the merits of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

 

Receive and graciously answer our prayer, heavenly Father, for the sake of your dear Son; and by the power of your Holy Spirit, give us the strength and will to accomplish whatever you call us to do.

 

Amen.

 

THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

 

The Peace

 

Christ has reconciled us to God

in one body by the cross.

We meet in his name and share his peace.

 

The peace of the Lord

be always with you.

And also with you.

 

 

Hymn    Father, we give you thanks (495, SPIRITUS VITAE)

 

 

Father, we give you thanks, who planted

your holy name within our hearts.

Knowledge and faith and life immortal

Jesus your Son to us imparts.

 

Lord, you have made all for your pleasure,

and given us food for all our days,

giving in Christ the bread eternal;

yours is the power, be yours the praise.

 

Over your church, Lord, watch in mercy,

save it from evil, guard it still,

perfect it in your love, unite it,

cleansed and conforming to your will.

 

As grain, once scattered on the hillsides,

was in the broken bread made one,

so may your world-wide church be gathered

into your kingdom by your Son.

 

Words © Church Pension Fund, Group Administration Church Publishing Inc, USA

CCLI #260394

 

 

Great prayer of thanksgiving

 

 

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.

 

God of holy dreaming,

Great Creator Spirit,

from the dawn of creation

you have given your children

the good things of Mother Earth.

 

You spoke and the gum tree grew.

 

In the vast desert and dense forest,

and in cities at the water’s edge,

creation sings your praise.

 

Your presence endures

as the rock at the heart of our Land.

 

When Jesus hung on the tree

you heard the cries of all your people and

became one with the wounded ones:

the convicts, the hunted, and the dispossessed.

 

The sunrise of your Son coloured the earth anew,

and bathed it in glorious hope.

 

In Jesus we have been reconciled to you,

to each other and to your whole creation.

Lead us on, Great Spirit,

as we gather from the four corners of the earth;

enable us to walk together in trust

from the hurt and shame of the past

into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ.

 

With all your people of every time and place

we shout out songs of praise:

 

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might.

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 before he died,

Jesus gathered with his friends

to share a meal and wash their feet,

teaching one more lesson of love.

He took bread

and blessed you

and broke it.

 

He gave it to them and said:

“Take this and eat it.

This is my body.”

 

He took a cup of wine

and blessed you

and gave it to them.

 

He said:

“Take this and drink it.

This is my blood,

sealing God’s promise to forgive your sins.

Whenever you do this,

do it in memory of me.”

 

As we share these holy gifts,

we remember the Lord Jesus.

 

For the love you taught us,

the sacrifice you made for us and

the hope you give us, we acclaim you, O Christ:

Dying you destroyed our death.

Rising, you restored our life.

Christ Jesus, come in glory.

 

And now, faithful God,

send us your Spirit

to feed us with the body and the blood

of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

 

Make us one body in Christ.

 

Send us as your messengers in the world and

fill us with energy, courage and love.

Now to you, most holy God,

through Christ your Son and in the Spirit’s power,

we bring our worship and our songs of praise:

 

Blessing and honour and

glory and power are yours

for ever and ever. Amen.

 

 

The Breaking of Bread and The Communion

 

Followed by saying the words below, you may eat bread and drink from your cup to join in the Life in Jesus Christ.

 

We who are many are one body.

For we all share in the one bread and one cup.

 

 

The 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.

 

 

Song      Community of Christ (473, LEONI)

 

 

Verse 1

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 race

and every song.

 

Verse 2

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 your wash

your neighbour’s feet.

 

Verse 3

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.

 

Verse 4

When menace melts away,

so shall God’s will be done,

the climate of the world be peace

and Christ its Sun;

Our currency be love

and kindliness our law,

our food and faith be shared as one

for evermore.

 

Words: Shirley Erena Murray

CCLI # 260394

 

Offering

 

 

Let us pray:

 

Blessed are you,

O Lord our God,

Creator and Redeemer of the whole world;

from you we receive the gift of life,

and by your grace we have gifts to offer you.

 

Accept our offerings and our lives

in praise and thanksgiving,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who brings us again from death to life,

and holds forward the promise

of your everlasting kingdom.

 

Amen.

 

The offering will be used for the congregation’s continuing mission and ministry in these changing 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 how to make Direct Debit.

 

If you are in a position to help others, Sydney Community Services, where we have donated foods and goods to support the need in our local community, may ask us to donate ANY pasta sauce or chunk soup cans. SCS has passed their appreciation for our donation. If needed to pick up donations from your home, let Robyn or Seung Jae know.

 

And many thank those who have donated for your sharing love and generosity.

 

 

Benediction

 

May the God of creation

warm your heart like the campfires of old.

 

Bring wisdom and peace

as shown to the first peoples of this land.

 

Shake off the dust from the desert plains

by the refreshing rains.

 

Followed by the glow

and warmth of the sun.

 

Let the light of God show us the right path

and stand tall like the big.

 

River gums drawing life

from the ever-flowing waters.

 

 

KidsLife Episode 8