Acknowledgement of Country
The Ancient of Days breathed life into this Land and her Peoples. From time beyond our reckoning the First Peoples have blessed this place through their care and concern. We gather today on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation (or name the First Nations people in your region).
We pay our respects to their elders past and present. We stand in solidarity with the call of the Statement from the Heart for Treaty, Voice and Truth.
Welcome and Gathering Sisters and brothers, we gather here in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate Pentecost, the genesis of the Church. The Church was instituted by the Spirit in the midst of diversity and with the unifying and prophesying power of the Holy Spirit. Today we also acknowledge the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Unity in the midst of diversity and this unifying and prophesying power fuels the work of justice, making plain our common humanity and giving us the ability to communicate, despite differences as well as the ability to bear witness to and through the power of God. All of creation is endowed with the Spirit of God, therefore we are all related. Today we also acknowledge Reconciliation Sunday, the first Sunday of National Reconciliation Week. Reconciliation Sunday encourages us to participate in one of the major themes of our Christian faith – in God’s great love for us, God has reconciled us through Jesus Christ, entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. We contribute to this movement of reconciliation by developing mutually respectful relationships between First and Second Peoples within congregations and the wider church.
Prayer of adoration God of Holy Dreaming, Great Creator Spirit, from the dawn of creation you have given your children the good things of Mother Earth. 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. 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. Amen. (Aunty Rev’d Leonore Parker, adapted)
HYMN: In Christ there is no east or west (Together in Song 459)
Sharing a sign of peace
May the peace of Divine Presence be with you.
And also with you.
A sign of peace is shared
Reading: Psalm 104: 24-34 and 35B Our God, we cannot count the living things that all pour out from your wisdom; all creatures that cover the earth are yours. Around us is the sea, deep and wide, which teems with countless fish, and living creatures small and huge. Out there is the restless ocean where the brave ships sail and enormous whales play. All creatures depend on you, they look to you for food given in the right season. As you freely give, they gather it; when you open your hands they are filled with good things. If you hid your face, they would be dismayed, if you took away their breath, they would die and their bodies return to the dust. If you breathed again with your Spirit, they would be created again, renewing the face of the earth. Please let your glory, God, last forever, smile on your handiwork and be happy For if you frown, the earth will tremble, at your touch the mountains will smoke. I will sing to my God as long as I live, I will give praise while I have being. May my meditations give you pleasure, for I delight in you, loving God With all my being I celebrate God! O yes, my soul! Praise God! (B.D. Prewer 2000)
Prayer of Lament and Confession
Gracious God, we give thanks for our place in the world that offers deep connection with land, the waterways and oceans, plants, and living creatures. We pause to acknowledge that there have been times when we, in part or in whole, have caused loss, hurt and pain. At this time, we humbly acknowledge the actions that have caused pain or loss to the First Peoples of our land, for the years it took for the First Peoples to be embraced by the Church, for the mistreatment, abuse and neglect of those vulnerable people who placed their faith in the church and its care, for the harsh words, lack of care, ignorance, insensitivity and pride that have damaged relationships and the people so dear to you. May we open our hearts, that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us and play our part in naming and overcoming our divisions, and to welcome truth telling about systems and structures that have contributed to the fracturing of communities. As you brought reconciliation through Jesus, we pray that you will also enable all of us to become reconciled to one another through the power of your Spirit. Amen. (Rev Mark Schultz, adapted)
Music for reflection
Readings Acts 2:1-17 John 20: 19-23
(optional readings for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – Isaiah 1:12-18 and in particular v.17 – Learn to do right; seek justice. defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Mt 25: 31-40)
Contemporary reading
For Wisdom revealed in scripture and poetry, For Wisdom made known among us, For the Wisdom that dwells within us, We give thanks.
HYMN (local choice, depending on focus for reflection)
REFLECTION/HOMILY/SERMON (note: the WPCU resource has sermon notes for a homily using the Matthew reading)
HYMN (local choice, depending on focus for reflection)
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE God of love, Creator of this land and of all: You sustained the people who had lived in this place for thousands of years, a people whose soul is one with this earth and will always be. And, those who have arrived by boat or plane in these last centuries and those who now call this place home, not understanding how much has been lost, how much has been taken.
Teach us and show us the way.
Creator God, today we live with the consequences of actions that have made life unsustainable for some and overabundant for others. Teach us to know how to responsibly use the resources you have given to us for the benefit of all and the respect of your creation. The groaning creation cries out to you.
Teach us and show us the way Just as Christ Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit onto the disciples to birth the community of the new creation, send your grace to heal our divisions and gift us with the unity for which Jesus prayed.
Teach us and show us the way.
Just as Christ embodied justice in his ministry on earth by the good that he did, breaking down the walls that divide and the prejudices that imprison, may we play our part in acknowledging the pain, treasuring the truth, and working for peace, justice and reconciliation.
Teach us and show us the way.
In a time of silence we offer our own prayers… for people and places close to our hearts. A silence is kept
These are the prayers of our hearts, May our prayers move to live with passion and compassion. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
(or use invite people to pray in their mother tongue, or have several people lead the Lord’s Prayer in their mother tongue)
HYMN: God of freedom, God of Justice
Shirley Erena Murray; Together in Song 657
OFFERING/OFFERING PRAYER Source of life, whose heart abounds with gifts, we bring our offerings as a sign of our intention to live surrounded by your compassion, inspired by your Spirit, open to the joy of your presence, hospitable toward one another, and generous toward your world. Amen.
NOTICES
HYMN: Sing for God’s glory
Sing for God’s glory that colours the dawn of creation, racing across the sky, trailing bright clouds of elation; sun of delight succeeds the velvet of night, warming the earth’s exultation.
Sing for God’s power that shatters the chains that would hold us, searing the bleakness of fear and despair that would mould us, touching our shame with love that will not lay blame, reaching out gently to find us.
Sing for God’s justice disturbing each easy illusion, tearing down tyrants and putting our pride to confusion; lifeblood of right, resisting evil and slight, offering freedom’s transfusion.
Sing for God’s saints who have travelled faith’s journey before us, who in our weariness give us their hope to restore us; in them we see the new creation to be, spirit of love made flesh for us.
Words: Kathy Galloway; Tune: Lobe den Herren
Benediction May our footsteps, on these ancient lands remind us of creation and connectedness, in our search for truth. May the gum tree, from its roots to its branches, remind us to dig deep and reach high, in our action for justice. May the eagle, who soars in the sky, remind us of the power, in our call for love. May the expanse of the lands and seas, of the sky and stars, remind us of God’s timing in our faith in hope. May the holy three – Creator Spirit, Lord God, Papa Jesus, remind us of community. So go with grace, mercy and peace, go in truth, justice, love and hope. Amen. (Brooke Prentis)