ORDER Of Service – Sunday 14 February 2021 – EPIPHANY 6

Click the link below to download the Order of Service.

CALL TO WORSHIP

God, the Lord God, has spoken;

His summons covers all the earth,

like the sun from its rising to its setting.

God has shone forth from Zion;

perfect in its beauty.

The Lord God comes and will not be silent;

consuming fire goes before the Lord,

who is surrounded by raging storm.

The Lord God calls upon the heavens above

and the earth, so that He might judge His people.

Gather to me my faithful ones;

the ones that make covenant with me by sacrifice.

The heavens declare God’s righteousness

and proclaim, “God, the Lord God, is judge.”

                                                                                                  (Psalm 50:1-6)

PRAYER OF PRAISE

We come before You, O God, in awe of Your power and might. Heaven and earth are surely full of Your glory. We come celebrating our belief that You – God of the whole universe – chose to reveal Yourself to us in Jesus Christ.  In Him Your abundant love for all people is made visible.  We adore You, O God, and we praise Your holy name, and we pray that this time of worship will bring honour and glory to You. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

HYMN:       143       “Immortal, Invisible”

PRAYER FOR CONFESSION

Lord Jesus Christ, God’s glory and love shone through You that day on the mountain and You persisted in revealing that glory and love through Your words and deeds; through Your life of humble service. We hear again these wonderful words of God “You are my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!”. We confess our failure to listen to You because of the influence on our lives of the gods of this world. When this happens, our attitudes conceal rather than reveal Your glory and Your love.

If we conceal Your love because our pursuit of other priorities prevents us from seeing and serving people in need:

      forgive us, Lord.

If we conceal Your glory because all we reflect is our own self-centredness:

      forgive us, Lord

If we conceal Your truth through our lack of credible witness:

      forgive us, Lord.

If we conceal Your justice through our failure to empower those who are powerless:

      forgive us, Lord.

If we conceal Your mercy because of our hard and unforgiving attitudes:

      forgive us, Lord.

If we conceal Your compassion because of our prejudice and intolerance:

      forgive us, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, cleanse our lives of all shameful attitudes of mind and heart so that we reveal Your glory in and through all we do and say and are. This we pray in Your name and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

It is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6) The good news is that we are not only enlightened by our belief in Christ, we are cleansed and we are forgiven!

Thanks be to God!  Amen!

HYMN:       453       “We Limit Not the Truth of God”

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

God of the transfigured Christ, in Your mercy transfigure us and the whole world, till the glory of Christ is seen in the most unexpected places.

Transfigure our schools, universities, medical schools, and military colleges; transfigure our hospital wards our foster homes and our funeral parlours and transfigure our politics, business and industry, and our laws and lawcourts.

Transfigure our friendships, marriages, neighbourhood and all places of work.

Transfigure our charities, overseas aid programmes our refugee procedures and hostels.

Transfigure the church universal, the churches of the Uniting Church in Australia and this congregation at Longueville as we meet in a different way for worship and service.

And in Your boundless grace, O God, transfigure our own personal faith, hope and love.

Lord of the mountain and plain, of vision and sacrifice, let us live in the light and glory of Your love today and forever.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us to pray saying….

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name ….

BIBLE READINGS –

2 Corinthians 4:3-6                                                                       Mark 9:2-9

MESSAGE:                      “Listen To Him ”                                 Bob Minton

HYMN:       675       “Lord, the Light of Your Love is Shining”

OFFERING  –   Honour your God with your generous offering!

OFFERTORY PRAYER

In these days of changed circumstances and the different ways we contribute our gifts of time, talents and money we ask O God that You bless both our gifts and us the givers. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

HYMN:       212       “Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies”

BLESSING

Go on your way with quiet confidence in the transfiguring light of Christ.

It is the same God who at the beginning said: “Let there be light,” who has shone in our hearts with an understanding of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The love of God encircle you, the grace of Christ enthral you, the friendship of the Spirit enliven you, now and evermore.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ.

Amen!

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To contact Krikor call   0418 417 411

Church Website:  http://www.longueville.unitingchurch.org.au

Church email: standrewsunite@tpg.com.auChurch Office phone: 9427 4740