Welcome: –

Call to Worship                                                                                          

  The Psalmist writes:

“Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving; go into its courts with gladness.

Give thanks to God and praise Him.

For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever,

And His faithfulness to all generations.”  (from Psalm 100: 4 and 5) 

  What reason does the Psalmist give for a person entering the Temple grounds?  To express their thanksgiving to God, to worship and to praise Him.

  Why was this such a vital part of a person’s life?  Because God had committed Himself to being in a close and personal relationship with His people, because this close and personal relationship was an expression of His love for His people, a love that was unfailing throughout all of Time, a love that encompasses all aspects of existence, a love that encompasses all people.  (Study notes by John Stek in the NIV Study Bible p827, 897 & 899) 

  For over 152 years people have been entering the gates to this property with thanksgiving and gladness, to offer their worship of God and offer praise to God for the same reasons; because of His steadfast love and faithfulness towards them.  God’s nature does not change.  God’s commitment to those who worship and honour Him does not change. 

  We, too, gather today for the same purpose, with gladness in our hearts, to offer our worship of God, to offer our praise to God, and to express our thankfulness for His love and grace. 

  Upon that understanding, let us come together as the people of God in this place, and greet each other saying:

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Prayer of Praise                                                                                                     

Gracious and Almighty God, we give you thanks for the men and women who first established this Church in this place;

and for all those who have continued to worship and serve here, those who lived out their faith in loving words and deeds and prayers.

We give you thanks for all the hopes, fears, joys and sorrows that have been brought into this house of prayer;

and for the times of renewal and profound decisions that have been made here.

We give you thanks for your blessing on those who have celebrated significant milestones in their lives through this Church;

for those who have been baptised, for those who have been confirmed in their faith, and for those who have been married.

We give you thanks for those who gladly expressed their faith through the playing of music and the singing in choirs;

and for those who used their gifts and talents in the caring for finances and administration.

We give you thanks for those who led Sunday School classes, Ray’s, OK’s, KUCA, BHUGS, P1, youth groups, fellowship groups, Bible studies, and prayer groups;

and for all who grew in their knowledge of you through their involvement in the life of this Church.

We give you thanks for those who worked lovingly in the kitchen;

and all who cared for the buildings and property.

We give you thanks for the people whose faith has been nurtured here;

for those who have stayed in the Bald Hills areas and for those who have moved away and have continued your work and witness elsewhere.

Loving God, Creator, Sustainer, Forgiver, and Inspirer;

we praise you for all that has passed.

May your work and witness continue as we move away from here, with our assurance of the presence of the risen Christ wherever we are,

to heal our hurts, dampen our frustrations, and lead us on as we move forward into the future.  To your glory and honour we pray, Amen.

(adapted from UCA Assembly Liturgy Resources for a Congregation) 

Hymn   

“Glory be to God on high”

Verse 1 of 4

Glory be to God on high,

God whose glory fills the sky!

Lift your voice, you people all,

praise the God on whom you call.

Verse 2 of 4

God His sovereign sway maintains,

King o’er all the Earth He reigns.

All to Him lift up their eye;

He does every want supply.

Verse 3 of 4

We on Earth the triumph join,

praise Him with the host divine;

pure and holy hearts alone

He has chosen for His own.

Verse 4 of 4

Him, whose joy is to restore,

Him let all our hearts adore:

Earth and Heaven repeat the cry,

Glory be to God on high!

John Milton – 1623  John Antes  1740 – 1811 

Prayer of Confession 

(in part from Psalm 19: 12 to 14)                              

Merciful Lord, you search our hearts and minds and find us wanting.  How often have we wandered from the path you have laid out, and have followed our cravings and desires?

Forgive us God for the pain and disappointment that we cause you.

We spend our time admiring others for their beauty or intelligence.  We spend our time acquiring material objects in the vain hope that they will satisfy us and give us comfort.

Forgive us God for putting others and things before you.

We feel that we can do better in managing our lives.  We stop listening to your voice because we are satisfied with our way of life.

Forgive us God for trying to earn our own salvation.

We avoid the poor and the hungry.  We avert our eyes when we see others in need because we don’t want to get involved or to share what we have.

Forgive us God for the neglect we show to others.

We are quick to become angry with those who hurt us or take away our time and energy.

Forgive us God for failing to show the limitless love that you lavish upon each of us.

No-one can see their own errors.  Deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults.

Keep me safe from wilful sins.  Don’t let them rule over me.

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you.

This is my plea O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(based on Lamentations 3:22; 2 Timothy 1:9,10)

Through the steadfast love and endless mercy of God, our sins confessed are forgiven, not according to our works, not according to our own righteousness, but according to God’s purpose and grace – His grace revealed through our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Let us rest assured then of God’s forgiveness upon us.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of Illumination                                                                                          

Almighty, gracious Father, for as much as our whole salvation depends upon our true understanding of your holy Word, grant to all of us that our hearts, being freed from worldly affairs, may hear and comprehend your holy Word with all diligence and faith, that we may rightly understand your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honour, through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

(Prayer of Martin Bucer: 1538)

(https://www.reformedworship.org/article/september-1991/pioneer-reformed-worship-celebrating-500th-anniversary-martin-bucer)

Reformed Worship 21 © September 1991 Worship Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church.  Used by permission.

Bible Reading

A reading from Matthew 2.

1  Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was King.  Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem  2  and asked,

“Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  We observed the rising of his star, and we have come to worship him.”

3  When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.  4  He called together all the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law and asked them,

“Where will the Messiah be born?”

5  “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they answered.  “For this is what the Prophet wrote:

  6  “Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will guide my People Israel.’ ”  (Micah 5: 2) 

7  So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  8  Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9  And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East.  10  When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs!  It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 

11  They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him.  They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him. 

12  Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

13  After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said,

“Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him.  So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.” 

14  Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt,  15  where he stayed until Herod died.  This was done to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”  (Hosea 11: 1) 

16  When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious.  He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger – this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.  17  In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:

18  “A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping.  Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead.”  (Jeremiah 31: 15) 

19  After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt  20  and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.”

21  So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.  22  But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as King of Judea, he was afraid to go there.  He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the Province of Galilee  23  and made his home in a town named Nazareth.  (Mark 1: 24, Luke 2: 39, John 1: 45)  And, so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene” (which in Hebrew means ‘branch’) .  (Isaiah 11: 5, Jeremiah 23: 5 & 6, 33: 15 & 16, Zechariah 3: 8) 

[Today’s English Version]

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Hymn   

“O that I could repent” 

Wesley’s Hymns numbers 102 (v1), 103 (v1) and 105 (vs1 & 4)

Verse 1 of 4

O that I could repent,

with all my idols part,

and to your gracious eye present

a humble, contrite heart;

a heart with grief oppressed

for having grieved my God,

a troubled heart that cannot rest

till sprinkled with His blood.

Verse 2 of 4

O that I could repent,

O that I could believe

you, by your voice, the marble rent,

the rock in sunder cleave!

You, by the two-edged sword,

my soul and spirit part,

strike with the hammer of your Word

and break my stubborn heart.

Verse 3 of 4

To you, tremendous God,

my conscious awe impart;

your grace be now on me bestowed

upon my tender heart.

For Jesu’s sake alone

my stony heart remove,

and melt at last, O melt me down,

into the mould of love.

Verse 4 of 4

This is your will, I know,

that I should holy be,

should let my sin this moment go,

this moment turn to Thee.

O might I now embrace

your all-sufficient power;

and never more to sin give place,

and never grieve you more.

Charles Wesley

Sermon

The Magi’s journey to Jerusalem would have taken them many months, travelling slowly northwest through the lands of the Parthian Empire, following the only reliable source of water in the region, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, crossing into Roman occupied Syria, before journeying southwards through Roman occupied Syria and Palestine until they reached Jerusalem in Judea. There would not have been just their small number travelling to see the newly born child, as you normally see on Christmas cards or in Nativity scenes. They would have been accompanied by a reasonably large entourage, bringing with them provisions to sustain the group on their journey west to Judea and the return trip east, back home. (Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p328) Included in their group would have been an armed escort, to ward off attacks by bandits, and also to ensure that their valuable gifts arrived safely and securely. The Magi were not ordinary travellers or merchants, but men of enough status and prestige to warrant an audience with King Herod. (Matthew 2: 7) They would have carried letters of introduction and greetings, and letters guaranteeing their safe passage throughout the lands through which they would have travelled.
The size and appearance of their group as they entered Jerusalem would have caused people to stop and wonder at the purpose for their long and hazardous journey. But it was the question they asked upon their arrival that caused much consternation.
“Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?”, they asked, “We observed the rising of his star, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2: 2)
We read in Matthew’s account that when King Herod heard about the Magi’s search for “the baby born to be the King of the Jews”, he was “very upset” (GNB), “greatly perturbed” (NEB), “disturbed (NIV), “frightened” (NRSV), or “troubled” (ESV). Suffice it to say that “any King would have been worried at the report that a child had been born who was to occupy his throne.” (William Barclay in The Gospel of Matthew Volume 1 p28)
Perhaps it was the scholarly presentation by the Magi or their obvious grasp of ancient knowledge and understanding that aroused the interest of King Herod. The mention of a star rising in the sky could have been interpreted by King Herod as a celestial sign of certain changes which will occur, as was the current understanding of the time. King Herod needed to ascertain the motivation behind this question being asked by the Eastern visitors. Was there to be a new King of the Jews, or was this all just the mistaken ramblings of pagan astrologers? But Matthew records that it was so obvious to those who conversed with the Magi about the baby to whom they were referring, that even King Herod is led to ask his
religious advisors, “the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law”, “Where will the Messiah be born?” (Matthew 2: 4)
The reply of the Chief Priests and Teachers of the law was straightforward and concise, for there was only the one appropriate answer.
“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” the Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law answered, “for this is what the Prophet wrote.” (Matthew 2:5) , quoting from Micah 5: 2 & 3.
But that is the last that we hear from the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law. I find this puzzling. Here were the top religious leaders and teachers of Judah. They had grasped in the words of the Magi that the Magi had an understanding of the timing of the coming of the Messiah, something of which the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law had no understanding. How could this be? Should not this revelation have aroused in the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law the deepest desire to clarify once and for all, not just how the Magi obtained their understanding, but whether or not their understanding was correct. And, surely, the easiest way by which to test the veracity of the Magi’s claims was to accompany them to Bethlehem to determine whether or not the baby born to be the King of the Jews, the long hoped for promised Messiah, actually had been born. But they did not go.
We see King Herod’s religious advisors, the Chief Priests and the Teachers of the Law, those who had the ‘head knowledge’ regarding God’s Messiah, failing to choose to follow the Magi in their quest to visit the baby. They had no desire within their hearts to investigate whether or not what the Magi had shared with them was the truth, whether or not it was the evidence of God at work in the World. You would have expected that they, of all people, had the most to gain from following the Magi, and to offer their worship of the “Immanuel”. Yet they did not, and we can see how, later, Jesus was justified in calling them “hypocrites” (Matthew 15: 3) , displaying an outward faith in God but inwardly failing to live out such a faith.
We see in the lack of action by the Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law God’s condemnation of these Jewish religious leaders, for God was making His announcement of the birth of His Son through Gentiles, non-Jews, because God was unable to speak through the Jewish religious leaders, who had closed their hearts and minds to God. They were ‘worshipping’ God’s Law rather than worshipping God. They were more concerned with a strict adherence to the rites and rituals of their sacrificial worship, stating that this was the only way to please God, instead of the sincere faithfulness and worship which God required of them. (Micah 6: 8)
Alas, we see the identical ambivalence towards God today.
Nikki Gemmell regularly writes an article in The Australian Weekend Magazine. As a practice I don’t read it for I have found her writing to be light on content and logic. But last weekend’s article was titled “A Christmas Carol”, so my curiosity was aroused. In her article she writes,
“Now is the time of the seeking out of carols, despite not being a churchgoer (much). But my youngest has lucked on a school with an annual carol service, and oh, the joy in that night of enchantment; the joy in that stilling of the soul. … That feeling of belonging. And a quiet glittery joy used to stealth through me in the Carols in the Park (to which) we took the kids when (they were) younger. … Christmas is a time (when) the tired World pauses for a moment. Holds it breath. And if you let it, if you can find it, the wonder leaks into your soul. This sacred time feels like stillness, love, connection.”
(Nikki Gemmell in A Christmas Carol in The Australian Weekend Magazine December 20 – 21 2025 p9)
Such nice words, but in spite of talking of a “sacred time”, where is there a mention of God? God is not mentioned at all in her article, despite Christmas Carols drawing one’s attention to the Christ child. There is a disconnect between the head knowledge of the words of the carols to which she refers and the response to God to which the carols should draw you.
In last weekend’s edition of The Sunday Mail, Susie O’Brien wrote an article titled “’Tis the season to be jolly busy, but we do it for love”. In this article she writes,
“Every year I vow to do things differently, and every year I seem to go through the same insane chaos. It’s busy, it’s chaotic and it’s crazy. But we do it all year after year because we love our family and friends.”
(Susie O’Brien in ‘Tis the season to be jolly busy, but we do it for love in The Sunday Mail 21 December 2025 p63)
She writes such nice words about love for family and friends, but there is no mention of the love of God that came down at that first Christmas. That is the true reason for celebrating Christmas. Without any mention of the love of God, any talk of love is baseless.
Results from the last census, which was undertaken in 2021, indicate that 43.9% of the respondents identify themselves as affiliated with Christian religion. The other 56.1% of the population of Australia did not identify themselves as affiliated with the Christian religion.
In an article in The Weekend Australian, Chris Kenny, an Associate Editor of the Newspaper, wrote about the hypocrisy of this 56.1% of the Australian population, when he wrote:
“We do not hear from atheists or non-Christian devotees who disagree with the sacred provenance of Christmas and Easter, and demand (that) they should be able to work through those traditional holiday breaks. On the contrary, they seem capable of accepting these public holidays – religious origins and all – and making of them what they choose.” (Chris Kenny in an article titled “It’s a mixed-up, muddled up bizarro world” in The Weekend Australian December 23-24, 2023 p30)
Peter Craven, in an article also in The Weekend Australian, says much the same thing, when he writes:
“People continue (to) take their kids to Carols by Candlelight to listen to Silent Night or Away in a Manger, (in the belief that doing so is part of) the culture (that) we inherit.” (Peter Cravan in Story that unlocks our Culture in The Weekend Australian December 23-24, 2023 p34)
People who make up this 56.1% of the Australian population have appeased their conscience about taking holidays whose origins lie in the Christian faith, by erasing God from their celebrations and erasing God from their thoughts.
Henry Halley, in his Bible Handbook writes about King Herod, saying:
“The Herods were an Edomite line of Kings, who, under Rome, were granted control of Judea, the Land of the Jews before (the birth of) Christ. Herod the Great obtained his throne, and kept it by crimes of unspeakable brutality, murdering even his first wife and
two of his sons. He was cruel, cunning, (and) coldblooded.” (Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p329)
Alan Millard writes of Herod the Great, saying:
“Herod was suspicious of anyone whom he thought could try to take the throne away from him. One-time friends, servants, countless enemies, priests, and nobles, and all who crossed him in some way, were killed. (Alan Millard in The Lion Handbook to the Bible p552 & 553)
William Barclay writes of King Herod, saying:
“Herod had one terrible flaw in his character. He was almost insanely suspicious. He had always been suspicious, and the older he became the more suspicious he grew, until, in his old age, he was, as someone said, ‘a murderous old man’.” (William Barclay in The Gospel of Matthew Volume 1 p29)
Thus, we can find King Herod, in the latter part of his life and rule, choosing a tragic course of action. Judging “the baby born to be the King of the Jews” as a threat to his own position and rule as the current King of the Jews, “he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger.” (Matthew 2: 16)
Robin Nixon writes:
“This action is quite typical of what is known about (King) Herod. There may have been only a score or so children of that age-group in the area, so that there is no reason why this should have been recorded by secular historians in comparison with some of his more notorious deeds. (Robin Nixon in Matthew in the New Bible Commentary p819)
Henry Halley is led to write of Herod, “Strange that one who displayed a belief in the coming of the Christ (Matthew 2: 4) , could have been conceited enough and stupid enough to think that he could thwart His coming.” (Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p329)
Alas, we see the identical antagonism towards the Gospel message today, and the same foolish arrogance that presumes that Humanity can prevent God from enacting His will upon Earth.
We see it in the so-called MAGA evangelicals in the USA, who seek to reinterpret the teachings of Jesus so as to justify their racial and social and cultural prejudices.
We see it in the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party to exert pressure on the Churches in China so that those who attend these Churches show obeisance to the Chinese Communist Party over and above their obedience to the God of the Bible.
We see it in the Russian Orthodox Church promulgating the belief that the achievement of Nationalistic goals through violent, unjustified, and illegal means is God’s will for the Russian Nation and Russian speaking people.
Randolph Tasker writes, “the devices of Man can never thwart the ultimate purposes of God”. (Randolph Tasker in Matthew An Introduction and Commentary p42) If God wills it to be done, it will be done. As the Prophet Isaiah writes of the coming of God’s Future King:
“The LORD Almighty is determined to do all this.” (Isaiah 9: 7c)
In his Gospel, Matthew sharply contrasts the acceptance of the new King of the Jews by the Gentile strangers, with the violent rejection of Jesus by the Jewish ruler and the ambivalence towards Jesus shown by the Jewish religious leaders and Teachers of the Law. “For Matthew, this undoubtedly symbolized the future rejection of Jesus by his own people and the acceptance of the Gospel by the Gentiles.” (Douglas Hare in Matthew A Bible Commentary p15)
Knowing that God’s promised Messiah had been born, and knowing where God’s promised Messiah had been born, the Magi were compelled to make a response. Their choice was to continue their travels so as to see him in person and to “worship him” (Matthew 2: 2) . The Greek word that is used that is translated as “worship” in most English translations of Matthew’s Gospel, is the Greek word pros-koo-neh-o, and has been translated as “to prostrate oneself in homage, to revere, to adore” (Strong’s NT4352) .
Everyone, faced with the knowledge and understanding of the person of Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah, the Lord and Saviour of Humanity, is, likewise, called to make a response, to pay homage, to revere, to adore, to worship him. We see the Magi, fully understanding the person and position of this baby who has been born, prepared to make all the effort that is required to pay homage to him in person, to offer their worship to God in Human form, the one who came to work God’s redemption for Humanity.
In his narrative, Matthew clearly portrays Jesus as “truly God”, “God with us” as Isaiah writes (Isaiah 7: 14) , yet Matthew also clearly writes that “Jesus is also the fully Human one who ‘saves his people’ by the cross. Thus, Matthew invites his (readers) to consider and worship the God who accepted the ultimate vulnerability, born as an infant to humble and relatively poor parents into a World actively hostile to his very presence.” (Craig Keener in The Gospel of Matthew p97)
William Barclay writes that “when any (person) realizes the love of God in Jesus Christ, (they), too, in the same manner as the Magi, should be lost in wonder, love and praise”, and offer their worship of Jesus. (William Barclay in The Gospel of Matthew p31)
In her article in an edition of The Weekend Australian, Angela Shanahan writes:
“(Christmas) is a time of joy, for fun and family, yes. But most importantly, it is the Nativity that reflects the central mystery of Christianity: the birth of the Christ, the Saviour of the World, God come as a man.” (Angela Shanahan in an article “Nativity honours Francis, the Father of our Christmas” in The Weekend Australian December 23 – 24 2023 p13)
May this be the source of our inspiration and joy as we celebrate this Christmas season, and as we move into a new year of worship and service of Almighty God. Amen.

Hymn   

“Living for Jesus”

Verse 1 of 3

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

striving to please him in all that I do,

yielding allegiance, glad hearted, and free,

this is the pathway of blessing for me.

Verse 2 of 3

Living for Jesus who died in my place,

bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace.

Such love constrains me to answer his call,

follow his leading and give him my all.

Verse 3 of 3

Living for Jesus through Earth’s little while,

my dearest treasure the light of his smile,

seeking the lost ones he died to redeem,

bringing the weary to find rest in him.

Thomas Chisholm

Offering

Offering Prayer                                                                                                      

“For the life that you have given”  

TiS774 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVlg-LAI0Oo

For the life that you have given,

for the love in Christ made known,

with these fruits of time and labour,

with these gifts that are your own:

here we offer, Lord, our praises;

heart and mind and strength we bring;

give us grace to love and serve you,

living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others                                                                                                

Loving God, Lord of all times and all places, we bring before you our prayers for the World and for your Church.  We pray for those who groan under the weight of suffering.

May your love be made real to them in your comfort for them and in your relief from their burdens.

We pray for those whose lives are made difficult by the actions of others – by the tragedy of modern warfare, by the unfettered greed of big business, by the laws of uncaring Governments, by the prejudice of those twisted by hatred of race, or culture or religion.

May your love be made real to them in their experience of your loving care and protection.

We pray for those whose lives are made difficult by events or processes beyond their control – those who do not have enough to eat, those who do not have enough resources to live a meaningful and dignifying life, those who have experienced natural disaster.

May your love be made real to them in your provision for their needs.

We pray for those whose lives are difficult because of the ways of the modern world – those who are lonely in a world teeming with Humanity, those who are lost in a world where satellites can tell us exactly where we are, for those who are tempted by the glitter and the glitz, for those who must have the latest of everything.

May your love be made real to them in the understanding that it is in you that we find fulfillment and purpose.

We pray for those whose futures are uncertain – those facing an ongoing struggle with illness, those dealing with constant pain, those who have lost someone important from their lives, those who have life changing decisions to make.

May your love be made real to them in the provision of healing and wholeness, in the provision of guidance and wisdom so as to be positive about their lives and to move forward.

We pray for your Church in the World.  Where there is hunger may she bring food, where there is war may she bring peace, where there is hatred may she bring love, where there is hopelessness may she bring faith.

May your love be visible and real in this World through us.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross so that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace.

Enliven us by your Spirit so that we might reach forth our hands in love, and bring those who do not know you to the knowledge of your love for them.  To your glory we pray.

  (adapted from UCA Assembly Liturgy Resources for a Congregation) 

The Lord’s Prayer

Today we will remain seated and sing the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father, God in Heaven above” 

TiS550

Verse 1 of 4

Our Father, God in Heaven above,

we your family through your love,

your name be hallowed: help us, Lord,

to keep in purity your Word.

Your Kingdom come: yours let it be

in Time, and through eternity.

Verse 2 of 4

And may your will on Earth be done

as it is done before your throne.

Curb flesh and blood and every ill

that sets itself against your Will.

Give us this day our daily bread,

whatever for this life we need.

Verse 3 of 4

Forgive us all our sins, we pray;

take all their burdening guilt away,

as we the sins of those forgive

who us by their offences grieve.

When testing comes on every hand,

Lord, give us strength that we may stand.

Verse 4 of 4

Deliver us from evil days;

throughout our lives, protect our ways.

And when we die, grant calm release,

and take us home to you in peace.

Thus, in your name and at your Word

we say: Amen, O hear us, Lord.

Martin Luther

translated by Catherine Winkworth

condensed by David Schubert

Hymn   

“I don’t know about tomorrow” 

Verse 1 of 4

I don’t know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day.

I don’t borrow from its sunshine

for its skies may turn to grey.

Verse 2 of 4

I don’t worry o’er the future

for I know what Jesus said,

and today I’ll walk beside him

for he knows what is ahead.

Chorus

Many things about tomorrow

I don’t seem to understand;

but I know who holds tomorrow,

and I know who holds my hand.

Verse 3 of 4

I don’t know about tomorrow,

it may bring me poverty;

but the one who feeds the sparrow

is the one who stands by me.

Verse 4 of 4

And the path that be my portion

may be through the flame or flood,

but his presence goes before me,

and I‘m covered with his blood.

Chorus

Many things about tomorrow

I don’t seem to understand;

but I know who holds tomorrow,

and I know who holds my hand.

Ira Stanphill

Prayers of Remembrance                                                                                                                         

Loving God, you have sustained and guided your people through the generations.

Accept our gratitude for the faithful witness of the generations of people who have worshipped and served in Jesus’ name in the Bald Hills Uniting Church.

We seek to honour and remember with thanksgiving the many members and leaders of this Congregation who faithfully served God to the best of their abilities, through worship, teaching, pastoral care, and community service over many years.

By your grace continue to bless those who have, in recent years, called Bald Hills Uniting Church their spiritual home, and grant that the acts of love and care by which your people here have been blessed may continue in the communities of faith to which they will belong in future days.  In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray.

Amen.

People’s Response                                                                                                

God of our past, you appear and we refuse to recognise or to know you.

Free us from any misconceptions so that we may see you as you really are.

God of our present, you have promised to be with us always.

Free us from all distractions that could limit our understanding of your place in life and that we may recognise you in each other and in the world around us.

God of our future, we seek the safety of what we know.

Free us to let go, to step out into the future in faith.  Amen.

Final litany and Prayers of Thanksgiving                                                        

This worship spacehas been a blessing to all who have come here and sat in these pews over the years for Sunday worship, Church and Sunday School anniversaries, Ecumenical gatherings, weddings, funerals, baptisms, and other occasions celebrating God’s presence amongst us.

This Cross has been a visible reminder of the risen Christ, the source and inspiration of our Congregation.  It has been a symbol to all who have worshipped here of God’s promise of a new life.  It reminds us always of the ministry to which we are called beyond this place.

This Baptismal font stands as a symbol of God’s love for all.  Through its water and the Holy Spirit, infants, children and adults have become members of the Church universal, and have been warmly welcomed into this particular community of faith.  In the waters of Baptism, we have died and risen with Christ and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

From this lectern and pulpit the Biblical story has been read and the Gospel proclaimed.  From it our minds have been enlightened, our hope encouraged, and our lives challenged.  From here we have heard of God’s saving love and grace for all.

At this Communion Table we have been welcomed and given a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet.  We have united with Christ and with one another through the sharing of his body and blood.  And, in so doing, we have been strengthened for our mission and sent out to share Christ’s love in the World.

Church Music has also been a means of blessing for us.  With the help of faithful musicians playing organ, pianoand of late – the computer, and the words contained in hymn books and on the projector screen, we have declared our faith through praising God.   The gift of music has helped us to experience God here.

There are so many other things in our Church building for which we give thanks, so we all say together:

Dedication Prayer 

Gracious God, we thank you for our life together as this Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia in the Bald Hills and wider community

Together you have led us by the Holy Spirit to serve your people in this place, to build up your Church, and to glorify your name.

Together we have worked for the sake of the Gospel.

Together we have studied your Word.

Together we have broken bread at your table.

In thanksgiving, we praise you for raising up faithful servants among us to undertake various roles and ministries for the people in your Church, here, and in the wider community, in whatever form or function for which you have granted us gifts and talents.

But we also express a strong sense of grief as we say farewell to this hallowed place.

We pray that to wherever we are individually led we may continue to exemplify, in word and speech and deed, the Gospel of your Son.

Grant that we may continue to serve you in the Church on Earth, and be brought to rejoice in your Kingdom forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(amended from UCA Assembly Rite for conclusion of a Ministry Placement) 

(https://ucaassembly.recollect.net.au/assets/)

Benediction                                                                                                            

  It was God who chose Mary and Joseph to be the parents of His Son.  It was God who explained His intent and purpose behind the birth of His son, and guided and advised Mary and Joseph as to what they were to do and when they were to act.  God fulfills the promises that He made to Jews and to non-Jews as recorded in Scripture, “with or without mortal’s cooperation” as Craig Keener notes in his Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel  (Craig Keener in The Gospel of Matthew p87)  , affirming the authority and trustworthiness of the Old Testament writings.

  God did not need to rely on the right conditions or on beneficial circumstances for Him to act.  Jesus was born to young and relatively poor parents from a province that the religious and social elite in Jerusalem considered socially and culturally and religiously backward.  When Joseph and Mary were married, questions were being asked around Nazareth as to whose child Mary was carrying, causing humiliation for Joseph and Mary.  King Herod’s reaction to the birth of Jesus indicated that he was born into a world “hostile to his presence”.  (Craig Keener in The Gospel of Matthew p87) 

  It was God’s plan that was being enacted in the world, but it was a plan that did not conform to how the Jewish religious leaders conceived how God would act.  Jesus will be a Saviour of God’s people, but not from the physical oppression of the Roman occupying forces as the Priests and Teachers of the Law had hoped, rather he will save people from the “spiritual enslavement of their sins”.  (Gregory Beale and Donald Carson in Matthew in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament P3) 

  God was demonstrating His presence with the people of Israel, “not in the Temple but in something greater, the person of His Son”.  (Robin Nixon in Matthew in the New Bible Commentary p818)  God is demonstrating to us that He is present with us today and every day, for Jesus said to his Disciples “And I will be with you always, to the end of the age”.  (Matthew 28: 20)  As we move into a new and very different year for many of us, we have “the promise of the perpetual presence of the risen Christ” with us.  May we rest on that assurance as we awake each day to love and to serve our Lord and Saviour.  Amen.

Benediction Song   

“I am his, and He is mine” 

MHB443 and Alexander’s Hymns No. 3 number 193 

Verse 4

His forever, only His,

who the Lord and me shall part?

Ah, with what a rest of bliss

Christ can fill the loving heart!

Heaven and Earth may fade and flee,

first-born light in gloom decline;

but while God and I shall be,

I am His, and He is mine.

But while God and I shall be,

I am His, and He is mine.

George Robinson

Exiting of the Congregation

(The congregation leaves the building and gathers outside at the front entrance for the closing elements of the service and a photograph.)

Closing of the Congregation                                                                                                                     

And now, as we go and leave here today, we acknowledge that the Congregation of the Bald Hills Uniting Church, which can trace its history back to 1873, has officially ended.

Closing of the Door                                                                                                                                     

Geoff Webber closes the door and Jamie Smith says:

May we remember, the door to the building may be closed, but God’s love, hope and grace will continue to live in this place. 

Prayer at the Closing                                                                                                                                  

Always renewing God, comfort us as we continue our fellowship and seek other congregations of your people where we will continue to worship and serve you.

Amen.

Release of the Building                                                                                                                              

This building, which was dedicated as a place of worship in 1892 is now released from its commission at this time.