worship@home – Croydon Uniting Church

During lockdowns for COVID-19 during 2020, Croydon Uniting Church held services online which members joined from their own home.

Each week during lockdowns, a worship@home resource was created to help members follow at home and appreciate worship even if they weren’t able to attend the online services. You can download the resources from the links below.

More recent messages can be downloaded at Sermon messages.

Blessing and justice - 13 Dec 2020

After the year of 2020 that we’ve all experienced, who would like some good news, divine favour, comfort and joy? These are some of the blessings promised in the reading from Isaiah 61. However bleak the situation is facing God’s people on their return from exile in Babylon, God promises great blessing and hope for the future.

Similar claims are made in Mary’s song the Magnificat (so-called because this is the opening word of the song in its Latin translation) … God has done great things for those who fear him (like Mary), the lowly have been lifted up, the hungry fed. Blessings abound!

There’s just one small problem. Nobody seems to have told the leaders and rulers of the nations about these new arrangements. They still rule through military might and oppression, they still hoard most of the wealth, and they’re not about to give up these privileges, whether we’re speaking of the Romans in the time of Mary, the Persians in the time of Isaiah, or the wealthy elite in many countries of the world today. The vision we are offered in Isaiah and in Mary’s song doesn’t seem to match our world’s lived reality. So are these just idle promises? Or is our call to seek justice to turn the world right side up? When Jesus preached on the Isaiah passage (as recounted in Luke 4), his audience were quite happy to accept God’s blessings but far less keen to share them with others. They were also angry that Jesus didn’t stress God’s judgment on their enemies. It seems that our sense of and commitment to justice may not match that of Jesus. Will we accept both God’s blessing and God’s call to seek justice?

Click to download: 434 downloads
13-Dec-worship-resources.pdf – 968.41 KB
A new beginning - 6 Dec 2020

This week still feels like a new beginning – as we will be gathering together for the first face-to-face worship at Croydon in many months. The whole season of Advent is about beginnings – the beginning of the church year, the beginning of the hope and promise of the Messiah, the beginning of the good news of Jesus.
In the reading from Isaiah, God’s people are invited to imagine a new beginning in their relationship with God and in a promised return to their home in Jerusalem. Their past sins will be wiped away and God will prepare the way through the desert for their journey. It will be like a new Exodus for the people.
The opening verse in Mark’s gospel reads ‘The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ’. It’s not immediately clear whether the beginning stands for the whole Gospel to follow or for the ministry of John who is preparing people for the coming of Jesus. Mark identifies John as the voice crying in the wilderness from Isaiah 40:3, indicating that the good news is beginning in the wilderness, at the margins.
I wonder what new beginnings you have experienced this year? Perhaps learning new ways to keep in touch with others? New ways to shop? New ways to worship God at home? Has it felt like a wilderness experience that caused you to trust more in God’s provision?

Click to download: 306 downloads
6-Dec-worship-resources.docx – 624.42 KB
Welcome to Advent - 29 Nov 2020

This week feels like a new beginning – with some of us joining together for the first face-to-face worship in 8 months. So it feels like a time to give thanks and voice hope for the future.

But this week many of us will continue to gather virtually by Zoom and others again will be worshipping at home alone. So it also feels like a time to mourn for the lives, the freedoms and the hopes that we have lost this year and acknowledge what has been and continues to be a dreadful year for many people in many places across the world.

This week is also a time to wait on God and pray for God to act to restore what has been lost and to heal what has been broken and what is still hurting in the world.

Welcome to the season of Advent, the season of waiting. It is a season that invites us into a space of lament and suffering and longing – longing for justice, longing for restoration, longing for healing. Perhaps for the first time for many of us, we can resonate with the feelings of lament in the Hebrew prophets for God to act and bring change to a hurting world (as expressed in Isaiah 64:1-9).

Advent is also a season of hope. It invites us to a space of trust that God has not forgotten or abandoned us but rather is still at work in the world in quiet and unexpected places bringing new life and new possibilities for change and for good. In the gospel reading this week we are invited to be alert and to look for such signs emerging around us. I wonder what you are seeing?

Click to download: 318 downloads
29-Nov-worship-resources.docx – 551.57 KB
Practical faith - 22 Nov 2020

There has been a long theological debate – lasting millennia – about the relative importance of faith and works. As Protestants, we may recall that this was one of the key turning points of the Reformation with Luther and others arguing that we are saved by faith alone.
I think it would have been fun – and informative – to host a debate between the apostle Paul and the writers of the Gospel of Matthew and the letters of James and John. Paul and John insist that we are saved by faith alone yet encourage their communities to act with compassion towards the poor and needy. Matthew and James insist that it is our works of mercy and compassion that demonstrate our faith and that without them our faith is useless. Yet each of these writers assumes we have faith in God.
In this week’s parable about the sheep and the goats it is interesting that faith is never mentioned as a criterion for obtaining eternal life – whether faith in God or faith in Jesus. Instead it is whether people have shown practical love to the hungry, the homeless and the stranger. This is consistent with the teaching and ministry of Jesus presented throughout Matthew’s Gospel. What is at stake is how our faith is lived out in practice.
Our challenge is finding the right balance between our beliefs and how we live, which are like two sides of a coin. One way forward is by taking to heart verses like Micah 6:8:

God has shown you, O human, what is good:
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice
and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God.

Click to download: 473 downloads
22-Nov-worship-resources.docx – 620.74 KB
Talents and how to use them - 17 Nov 2020

It’s not too often that biblical words and phrases take on a whole new life in the English language. But some images and phrases do stick. Think of the images of a Good Samaritan or a Prodigal Son (or Daughter) that have entered common parlance. There is a word from this week’s parable that has enjoyed similar treatment, namely the concept of a talent. English has picked up this word from the Greek talanton, which was a measure of weight used for gold, silver or coins.

In the parable a wealthy Master gives varying numbers of talents (representing large amounts of money) to three of his servants, to each according to their ability. In English it is this latter association that has stuck, so that a talent is seen as a skill or ability that a person possesses to be used to enrich the lives of those around them. So the common interpretation of this parable is that we have all received talents from God that we are to grow and use to benefit others. The warning is to not be like the third servant who buries his talent in the ground (i.e. doesn’t use or develop it). Of course, the talents may not be individual traits but rather a measure of God’s abundant love and grace freely given to all and to be shared widely.

There are some problems with this interpretation. These relate to Jesus’ teaching elsewhere about money and wealth (key aspects of the parable) as well as the character of the Master (seen as greedy, vindictive). An alternative interpretation (also not without its share of difficulty) is that the Master represents the Emperor (or King Herod) who encourages people (or Israel) to make money at the expense of the poor and thus to play along with an oppressive system. The most faithful response is that of the third servant who refuses to play the game but who pays for his lack of engagement when the Master returns.

So we are invited to reflect on this parable and see what its message may be for each of us. Perhaps a call to use what we have at hand to build up God’s kingdom in our midst. Perhaps a reminder of the great value of God’s love that is not to be hoarded but rather shared. Or perhaps a warning not to participate in systems that are geared towards wealth creation over caring for people. May God give us ears to listen.

Click to download: 572 downloads
15-Nov-worship-resources.docx – 110.01 KB
Sensible or stupid? It’s your call - 8 Nov 2020

I’m not always very patient when it comes to waiting. I can get irritated by having to wait too long at red traffic lights and sometimes get impatient with what can feel like glacial change in the church. But Jesus’ warning to us in this week’s parable is not to get complacent or impatient but to be prepared to wait for what may come.

The parable tells of a wedding and the seemingly endless wait for the bridegroom to arrive. He is not a polite few minutes late but hours overdue. When the bridegroom is finally sighted in the distance, all the waiting bridesmaids light their lamps. But some forgot to bring extra oil. No bother – surely there’s enough to go round? The sensible bridesmaids hold onto their oil and send away the stupid bridesmaids on a fool’s errand to try and buy more oil in the middle of the night. While they are gone, the wedding feast begins and the doors are locked. The silly bridesmaids are left outside as the bridegroom refuses them entry, claiming not to know them.

Are these bridesmaids foolish because they forgot to bring extra oil (and what might this represent in our lives)? Or are they foolish to go off on a wild goose chase searching for oil (and what might this represent in our lives)? Or is their most foolish choice not to be personally known to the bridegroom who could let them into the feast? If we read the whole of Matthew’s Gospel, it is not enough to hear the words Jesus speaks. The sensible person will take Jesus’ message to heart and live by it, day in and day out. Then there will be no anxiety about gaining entry into the wedding feast (a metaphor for the coming kingdom of God) however long it is delayed in coming.

Click to download: 499 downloads
8-Nov-worship-resources.docx – 321.36 KB
Remembering all the saints 1 Nov 2020

There has been an outpouring of joy and thanksgiving across Melbourne this week as many aspects of our life that have been closed for months reopen, including most shops, cafes and outdoor sports. This is our reward for months of restrictions. Numbers at indoor gatherings will remain cautiously low for a while yet, which limits the possibilities for face-to-face worship, but we are already planning for what we might be able to do at Christmas.

This week in the church calendar is also a time for thanksgiving as we celebrate All Saints Day, a tradition that dates back to at least the sixth century. In the Bible, a saint is anyone whose life is devoted to God, which included all the members of the churches Paul wrote to (e.g. Rom 1:7, 1 Cor 1:2). In the Protestant tradition, we remember saints both living and dead, whether famous or obscure, who have brought us to faith, nurtured us in faith or who continue to inspire and stretch our faith today. As you reflect on the people who have influenced your life, what can you learn from their priorities and approach to life?

Click to download: 354 downloads
1-Nov-worship-resources.docx – 475.94 KB
A wise answer to another tricky question - 25 Oct 2020

Whether we’ve happily complied with or loathed the Covid19 restrictions of the last several months, most people in Melbourne have been co-operative in following the law. Most of us see the benefit to the wider community of getting the disease under control and the best way to do this is to follow the health laws about wearing masks and so forth.

The Jewish Law contained in the Bible covers a multitude of topics that impinge on community life including disease control, food handling, settling of legal disputes and of course matters of worship. One day Jesus is asked what is the single most important or greatest commandment in this vast array of laws. His answer is succinct and memorable – love God with all your heart, soul and strength and also love your neighbour as yourself.

As Christians we are so familiar with this teaching that it’s difficult to imagine it being anything other than central to our faith. Yet the question asked of Jesus is set as a test or a trap. Perhaps this is because Jesus has had numerous earlier skirmishes with the Pharisees over interpretation of the Jewish Law, especially regarding Sabbath regulations and purity laws. For the Pharisees, Jesus plays fast and loose with the Law. For Jesus, the Pharisees focus on minor matters of the Law and ignore the weightier matters of mercy and justice. So a simple sounding question masks underlying tensions.

While Jesus’ response is memorable, it’s also hard to live out in practice. How do we get the balance right between our call to love God and our call to love our neighbour? And besides, who is my neighbour that I’m called to love? Is it just those of my tribe or those who live nearby? And what might it mean to love them? It’s all very open ended … which is why Jesus’ response is so brilliant. He didn’t provide black and white answers that we could haggle over, but rather asks us to consider in each and every situation how might I best love my neighbour, both during the Covid 19 pandemic and when life has settled back to a more predictable routine?

Click to download: 557 downloads
25-Oct-worship-resources.docx – 184.37 KB
Paying taxes and honouring God - 18 Oct 2020

Last week the Federal Government handed down its Budget and there was the usual commentary on ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. While people with higher taxable incomes and business seemed to do well, other groups including university students and staff, overseas workers, the unemployed, refugees and people working in hospitality, the arts, retail or tourism seemed to be largely forgotten.

In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus is asked whether it’s necessary and okay to pay taxes. Jesus dodges the question as either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer will probably land him in trouble. He requests instead that the coin for paying the Roman tax be brought, which carried the inscription Tiberius Caesar, divine son of Augustus, thus making rival claims to Jesus about his identity. Jesus’ wise and challenging response to the question of paying taxes is to give the Emperor his dues – and so pay the taxes he imposes – but also to give due honour to God’s demands, which are rather more all-encompassing as God is the Creator and Sustainer of every aspect of life.

Coming back to our government’s Budget, the cuts to personal and business taxes are no doubt welcome, but I wonder about neglecting those people struggling the most. As I look at the lists compiled of winners and losers from the Budget, it’s hard not to think that our government’s priorities do not line up with Jesus' priorities for the outcast, the poor and the least. Hence the great challenge of Jesus’ response to give to God what rightly belongs to God – including our worship, our love for neighbour and our commitment to care for the last and the least.

Click to download: 506 downloads
18-Oct-worship-resources.docx – 333.92 KB
Pressing on with Jesus - 04 Oct 2020

In these days of coronavirus and the extensive changes we are living through, it’s easy to get despondent and impatient with progress. As individuals and as a community we face an uncertain future over the next few weeks and months that is likely to continue into next year. Psychologists tell us that this continuing stress can cause serious harm to our mental health. Someone who knew plenty about stress and some ways of overcoming it was the apostle Paul.
Paul is nothing if not a polarising figure. He seemed to stir up controversy wherever he went and in the book of Acts is accused of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). In a rare autobiographical passage in Philippians, Paul describes the stress of seeking perfection as a Jew. This changed when he encountered Christ. Paul no longer had to rely on his own effort to please God, but now enjoyed a close personal relationship with God through Christ. This led to other problems, however, as Paul was seen by some as selling out his Jewish heritage and so was persecuted by Jews, by some rival Christians and also by Greeks who saw their commercial interests being threatened by Paul’s new religion. And we think we have it tough!
In the midst of the storms and controversies that seemed to follow Paul, his solution was to remain focused on Jesus – not being distracted by his past or rocked by present difficulties – but always pressing ahead. Paul was like a runner in a marathon race – never giving up and always striving to keep putting one foot after the other in pursuit of his calling. Despite his reputation for being uncompromising, Paul suggests that we need to accept differences between us while agreeing on what is central, which for Paul is all about following and knowing Jesus. In our days, how might this focus help us overcome the stress and uncertainty that we face?

Click to download: 315 downloads
4-Oct-worship-resources.docx – 428.48 KB
Rivers that provide life - 27 Sep 2020

Water is essential for life. Hence rivers and creeks are important parts of the natural landscape and are our focus in this final week exploring the season of creation. Rivers are like the arteries of the land, carrying life-giving water to where it’s needed. But when there is too much rainfall, rivers can flood causing considerable devastation and when there is too little rainfall, creeks and rivers can dry up.
Living in an arid land, God’s people Israel knew plenty about drought and the famines that followed. Prophets such as Amos drew on this imagery and compared the unjust actions of a people ignoring the word of God to the land lacking water. In both cases there is no life. Amos called instead for justice to roll on like a river. Likewise in Genesis 6-9, God sees the unjust ways of humanity and floods the earth before providing the sign of the rainbow and the promise to never flood the whole earth again.
In this country, rivers have always been important. They provided food and life to indigenous people for millennia. For we second peoples, rivers have provided water for stock, irrigation to grow crops and for hydroelectricity. Yet we have done much damage to our rivers through building dams, through extracting too much water for irrigation and by allowing excess fertiliser to pollute the water. The massive fish deaths in the Darling River system in 2019 illustrated the effects of our greed and shortsightedness. The rivers are groaning and crying out for justice. Will we change our ways and value the life that rivers support or will we continue to see rivers mostly as a resource to be exploited for profit?

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 390 downloads
27-Sep-worship-resources.docx – 790.01 KB
Learning from a wilderness experience - 20 Sep 2020

This week the season of creation encourages us to focus on wilderness. This term may evoke images of Tasmania’s rugged landscapes or the arid landscape of central Australia or even the remote areas of the Kimberley. What these places share is a lack of people and an intrinsic beauty. They can also be deeply spiritual places where we feel close to God.

In the Scriptures, the wilderness or desert was an uninhabited and dangerous place. It was generally a place to be avoided due to its lack of food and water. Some notable characters fled into the wilderness to avoid persecution (e.g. Moses, David, Elijah) while others were driven into the wilderness against their will (e.g. the Israelites escaping from Egypt during the Exodus, Jesus after his baptism). One common element of these stories is that the people encountered God in the wilderness, who provided their basic needs and also shaped their faith. So spending time in the wilderness can be transformative.

Sometimes the wilderness is not a geographical place but rather a psychological or mental space that we find ourselves in. So for many people the extended Covid19 lockdown in Melbourne has felt like a wilderness experience, cut off from other people and with a focus on just getting through each day. What might we learn from such an experience? Perhaps that we can’t rely on our own limited resources. Perhaps that God provides what we really need. Perhaps that we can discern what really matters in life. However difficult these days may feel, may they be a season of growth and transformation for ourselves as individuals and also for our communities.

Click to download: 504 downloads
20-Sep-worship-resources.docx – 922.53 KB
The groaning of the land - 13 Sep 2020

This week’s focus in the season of creation is the land. Many of us may be fondly attached to our small suburban block where we live and may have a favourite location to visit on holidays, but our relationship with the land is very different to that of indigenous people. For them the connection to land is visceral and spiritual.

In our reading from Genesis 3 this week, we learn that the land was implicated in the fallout from the earlier incident involving Adam and Eve and the serpent. It will grow weeds and thorns and not readily yield crops. It is not clear why the land is implicated except that the rift between God and humanity involves the whole of creation, including the land. In Paul’s commentary on this Genesis passage in Romans 8:18-25 he notes that creation is groaning and frustrated and longs for freedom. These deep emotions are not something that we white people readily associate with the land, but indigenous people do feel the connection.

Why is the land groaning? Because we have mistreated it through over cropping and over grazing it, through prolonged droughts worsened by climate change and through overuse of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. It is time to repent and change our thinking and our ways. Our greed and appetite for ever more things is slowing killing the planet. Yet the Romans reading suggests there is hope for creation, tied in with the broader Christian hope of redemption. We humans are clearly part of the problem but we are also a key part of the solution.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 648 downloads
13-Sept-website-message.docx – 88.25 KB
The beauty and importance of forests - 6 Sep 2020

With spring in the air it seems most appropriate to focus on the season of creation during the next month. This first week the focus is on forests and the creation story from Genesis 2 highlights that the original home of humanity was in a garden surrounded by trees. These trees were beautiful to look at and their fruit and seeds were useful for food. There was an easy interdependence as humanity for its part was called to care for the garden and the trees.

During this season of creation we are also being encouraged to reflect on what it might mean to enact a Jubilee for the earth, a year where crops were not planted or harvested and the earth had a rest. In some ways, the Covid19 pandemic has provided this unexpected rest for the earth as plane travel has all but stopped and car travel is greatly reduced. It’s provided an opportunity for many of us to slow down, to hear the calls of birds singing, to go for more walks and appreciate the natural beauty in our neighbourhood.

But we must also recognise that the greatest threats to our forests are human based – land clearing and climate change – and these carry on apace, unaffected by the pandemic. Unless all of us start to take these threats seriously and choose to make some changes in our own daily habits, then our beautiful and spirit-restoring forests will continue to dry out, burn or be bulldozed. To learn more about what we can do, make an effort to watch or rewatch the recent series on ABC TV Fight for Planet A. We can also write an email or letter to our politicians asking them to take meaningful action on climate change.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 548 downloads
30-August-worship-resources.docx – 1.42 MB
Jesus’ inconvenient invitation - 30 Aug 2020

Our prayers often involve asking God to bless us and those we love with good health, with strength and with peace. In praying these prayers we take our cue from the Psalms, where people and communities cry out to God for help, reminding ourselves – and God – about God’s character of love and faithfulness.

Sometimes, though, the situation is reversed and God asks things of us. And these requests and invitations are not always easy or comfortable. In two of our readings this week, people are called upon to make momentous decisions that have far-reaching implications for their lives. In one instance, God calls Moses to return to Egypt to rescue God’s people from slavery under Pharaoh. This is more than inconvenient for Moses – it’s extremely dangerous and difficult. God promises to go with Moses, but it’s a big call.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus invites the disciples – and anyone else who wants to follow him – to embrace suffering, just as he will walk a path of suffering all the way to the cross. According to Jesus this is the way to find true life. Again this is most inconvenient, especially in our culture that seeks comfort and pleasure at every opportunity and avoids suffering if at all possible.

The challenge for us, then, is to have the faith to hear and the courage to respond to God’s call, wherever it may take us. As the proverb suggest, a boat in the harbour is safe, but that is not what boats are built for.

What inconvenient but life-giving invitation may God be calling you to and how will you respond?

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 381 downloads
30-August-worship-resources.docx – 1.42 MB
The question that won’t go away - 23 Aug 2020

The question ‘Who is Jesus?’ lies at the heart of the whole of the New Testament. It is a question that each of the Gospel stories tries to answer in its own way, while the later books and letters deal with further implications of this question (e.g. why did Jesus have to die? who then is God? how are we to live?).

It’s the question that Jesus poses to his disciples roughly mid way through the story. Based on all that you have seen and heard, friends, who do you think I am? Peter’s response is regarded as the bedrock of Christian faith, namely that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. It’s why followers of Jesus are known as Christians, followers of the Christ, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah.

In our day, the question is still relevant, although the answers we might get to it cover a spectrum of views – ranging from Jesus was just an ordinary and misunderstood Jewish man to Jesus was a great moral teacher to Jesus was a mighty prophet to Jesus was God in human form. How we answer this question for ourselves will not only illuminate our faith but also influence how we live and what we give priority to.

How will you answer this question?

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 475 downloads
23-August-worship-resources.docx – 417.51 KB
A lesson from the margins - 16 Aug 2020

Change rarely comes from the centre of a group or an organization. Usually lasting change comes from the margins. This week’s text illustrates this truth.

Jesus and the disciples have travelled to the region of Tyre and Sidon, coastal cities in modern day Lebanon. They’ve gone there for some rest and peace, but are soon confronted by a loud and insistent woman seeking help for her daughter. Matthew calls her a Canaanite woman, a derogatory term from the days of Moses used to describe the original inhabitants of the land of Israel. Jesus ignores her cries and later insults her, calling her a dog.

Where is Jesus’ famed compassion? Where is his welcome of the outcast? Both have seemingly gone missing on this occasion. The woman persists, however, and reframes the discussion by suggesting that even dogs belong to the wider family and are therefore worthy to receive the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.

The penny finally drops for Jesus as he recognises that his mission – and indeed God’s love and grace – are for everyone. This startling insight overcame centuries of history and prejudice and set the future direction for the emerging Christian community as a place of inclusion. The Black Lives Matter movement in Australia shows how far we still have to change our attitudes in this country.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 471 downloads
16-August-worship-resources.docx – 239.45 KB
Getting through the storms of life - 9 Aug 2020

We’re currently in the middle of a storm – the pandemic caused by Covid19, which is affecting people’s health, their sense of connection with others, their work routines and, for many, their financial security. Where is God during such a storm? What is God up to in the midst of this pandemic?

In the Gospel story this week, Jesus is not with the disciples as they battle wind and waves. Some see this as a metaphor for the church (the boat), battling opposition and alone on the ocean of the world. In these days it may feel that we are indeed struggling alone.

But that is only half the story. Jesus comes to the disciples in the midst of their struggles and even encourages brave/foolish Peter to get out of the boat and come to him on the water. Peter is soon distracted by the storm around him and starts to sink, before Jesus reaches out and grabs him by the hand, hauling him to safety.

The good news in this story is that if we’re able to trust that Jesus really is Emmanuel – God with us – then we can live with courage and with hope, knowing that we will get through this storm together. Further, we can continue to seek the good of others in our community – knowing that God is always there for us in Jesus.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 481 downloads
9-August-worship-resources.docx – 277.84 KB
God feeds us with more than just food - 2 Aug 2020
During these days of lockdown we have lots of time to ourselves to ponder about life. I fear that there will be plenty of funerals in the days and weeks ahead for aged care residents – and for loved ones that will be very difficult. Jesus also knew about grief and suffering. In this week’s Gospel reading he is mourning the brutal death of his cousin John the Baptist and wanting to get away by himself for some time of rest and reflection. But crowds follow Jesus to the remote place and it eventually comes round to dinner time.

What to do? Jesus challenges the disciples to give them something to eat. All they have to hand are five small loaves and two fish. Jesus takes what they have, prays, blesses the food and everyone eats and is satisfied, 5000 plus people.

But is there more to this story than simply filling hungry stomachs? Jesus demonstrates what the kingdom of God is like and points to the character of God who generously provides what we need. I wonder what we most need this day? What are we most hungry for?

God abundantly provides what will ultimately satisfy our deepest needs … and sometimes asks us to be part of the answer to our prayers, to use what little we have available to help and transform the lives of others and to carry God’s blessing to them.
Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.
Click to download: 431 downloads
2-August-worship-resources.docx – 357.34 KB
God is with us … always - 26 July 2020

It’s a strange time we’re living through when the highlight of the day is the regular announcement of new Covid-19 cases. This week the new development is the compulsory wearing of masks whenever leaving the house. It seems that even the statues in the Bourke Street mall are getting on board with the latest guidelines.

I suspect that many of us are feeling a deep weariness with this second lockdown and the uncertainty of what happens next. How should we be praying? Where is God in the midst of all this? This week’s Bible readings speak to this question, especially the reading from Romans

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 526 downloads
26-July-worship-resources.pdf – 745.32 KB
The problem of weeds - 19 July 2020

This week’s parable about weeds is every farmer’s or home gardener’s nightmare. You plant good seed into your carefully prepared soil and what comes up? A surprising mix of the plants you want plus a whole lot of unwanted weeds. Where did the weeds even come from? You certainly didn’t plant them – but there they are anyway! The question is … what to do now?

The wisdom from the parable is to be patient and to let the weeds be and let them grow up along with the plants you want, lest you uproot the good plants. Then when it’s harvest time, it will be obvious which are the weeds and they can be pulled up and tossed out and you can then gather the plants you want.

Who does the parable apply to? Commentators have seen it as applying to both the good and evil in the world at large and also within the church community, where sometimes the weeds simply must be removed (e.g. evidence of child sexual abuse that was not acted upon). But perhaps it also applies to our own hearts, where there are both good desires and blind prejudices. It’s good that God is patient with us and allows the gentle work of the Holy Spirit to keep working at our flaws and failings.

Click to download: 338 downloads
19-July-worship-resources.docx – 740.44 KB
Puzzling over parables - 12 July 2020

Jesus loved using parables to get his message across. These simple stories and images drawn from everyday life conveyed deeper truths for those with ears to hear. For many in the crowds who heard these stories, however, they appeared more like riddles that obscured the message. It’s hard for us to gauge their initial impact of course – because we have heard them so many times and therefore think that we know exactly what they mean.

But now – as then – parables are open to multiple interpretations. So in the well-known parable of the sower, for instance, we think that the meaning depends on how we interpret the types of soil that the seed falls onto, for this is the interpretation offered later in the chapter – whether by Jesus or by Matthew and his community. The parable may also
speak about the generosity and extravagance of God and the call to put our understanding of the gospel into action.

Where do you find hope and encouragement in this parable?

Where do you find challenge?

And how could you express its meaning using contemporary images?

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 311 downloads
12-July-worship-resources.docx – 828.72 KB
The invitation of Jesus - 5 July 2020

In these days of coronavirus, many of us are feeling weary and burdened, worried now by the recent spike in new infections in Melbourne just as life seemed to be gradually returning to some sort of normal. It’s a reminder that we are in the midst of a pandemic that is much more of a marathon than a sprint.

Jesus’ invitation to those feeling weary or burdened is to come to him to find rest and to take on his yoke which is easy and to bear his burden which is light (Matt 11:28-30). These are certainly comforting words. But the last time I checked out Jesus’ message about how to live (e.g. in the Sermon on the Mount earlier in this same Gospel), his guidelines seemed to be more demanding than many other ways of living. So in what ways is Jesus’ yoke ‘easy’ and his burden ‘light’?

Rather than providing a long list of rules, Jesus does make it simple and clear – love God wholeheartedly and love your neighbour as you love yourself. Like a wise person building a house, the question is whether we will hear these guidelines and live them out in practice. They provide a ready means of assessing all our actions – do they demonstrate God’s love in a practical way – as shown by Jesus? If the answer is ‘yes’ then our spirits will be at peace and we will find rest for our souls.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 333 downloads
5-July-worship-resources.docx – 350.93 KB
Grappling with a hard text - 28 June 2020
Although we probably all prefer to read biblical texts that speak of God’s promises of blessing and abundant life, there is value in grappling with hard texts that we would rather ignore. This week we are faced with such a text in Genesis 22:1-14, which is given various titles such as ‘Abraham tested’ or ‘God commands Abraham to offer Isaac’.

Whichever way you approach this text, there are so many unanswerable questions:
- What on earth were Abraham and Isaac thinking as they climbed up the mountain?
- How do we reconcile the call to obedience and the exercise of freedom?
- How do we follow the God who seemingly commands death yet who also offers life?
Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.
Click to download: 560 downloads
28-June-worship-resources.docx – 412.33 KB
Reflecting on 43 years of the Uniting Church - 21 June 2020

This week we are given the opportunity to reflect on the journey of the Uniting Church since its inauguration in 1977. For some of us this is a time to celebrate the many achievements of the Uniting Church over the last 40+ years. For others it is a chance to reflect on the difficulties and struggles of the church during this period. For those born since 1977 or new to the church since Union, their experience is quite different from those involved in the lead-up and high expectations associated with forming a ‘new’ church from three existing denominations.

As you reflect on your own experience of the Uniting Church, what are you most thankful for?

And what do you see as the main challenges facing the Church?

Where might our priorities need to change?

This Sunday we will not be meeting by Zoom for worship. Instead we encourage people to watch and participate in the collaborative service prepared by Heathmont, Ringwood, Ringwood North and our two Croydon congregations. You will see and hear from several familiar faces from Croydon and Croydon North, including a message from Rev Peter. To log in to the service go to the following website https://nruc.online.church/ before 10 am.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 515 downloads
21-June-worship-resources.docx – 186.03 KB
Opening our hearts on Refugee Sunday - 14 June 2020

Due to violence, famine and persecution, there are currently an estimated 70 million displaced people in the world. Some of these have made their way to Australia, where our response during the past 20 years has mostly been to incarcerate them in prisonlike conditions or leave them in limbo living in the community, but without any government assistance or work rights. It was not always this way. Following World War 2, we welcomed many refugees to our country with open arms … and welcomed many Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s.

It’s interesting to reflect on which biblical characters were refugees or asylum seekers. The list is long and includes Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and his entire extended family, David, Jeremiah, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah … and of course Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The contemporary causes that make people flee their homes to seek safety and shelter in other places have long been part of history and have been the lived experience of many of God’s people. Unsurprisingly, then, there are multiple calls in Scripture to care for and welcome refugees (e.g. Exod 23:9, Lev 19:34, Deut 10:17-18).

How might we live out God’s call to welcome refugees and asylum seekers in our midst? First, we must recognise that these are people, and not merely statistics, who – like us – have parents, partners and children. They did not choose to become refugees, but were usually forced to flee their homes suddenly due to threats against their lives. They are not ‘queue jumpers’ as usually there was no time or place to write their names on a list. Instead they are vulnerable people who need our welcome and support.

Our welcome may include supporting organisations like the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) who help provide food, medical needs, counselling and legal support. Our welcome may be to visit the Detention Centre in Broadmeadows and provide a little human kindness (although visits are currently suspended due to Covid19). Our welcome may include speaking to local politicians about changing our government’s harsh and cruel policies. And we can always pray for change and for compassion.

How might you offer welcome to these people?

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 497 downloads
14-June-worship-resources-for-Refugee-Sunday.docx – 311.89 KB
Thinking about the Trinity - 7 June 2020

The Trinity is one of those mysteries that is hard to get one’s mind around. We proclaim that there is only one God – and then we name God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit – which implies a threeness, which has biblical precedent from passages such as Matthew 28:19 – raises other issues for us as it sounds quite patriarchal to our contemporary culture. And yet here we are on Trinity Sunday, invited to reflect on who God is for us and what it means to be God’s people in the world.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 358 downloads
7-June-worship-resources-for-Trinity-Sunday.docx – 281.48 KB
Pentecost - catalyst for change - 31 May 2020

The Pentecost story has several overlapping strands. It’s about God’s promise and presence and power, it’s about praise and prophecy, and it’s also about people and purpose. This week I am focusing on the people aspect and how Pentecost builds community.

Online Sunday morning worship service for Pentecost Sunday, that was shared with North Ringwood, Heathmont, Croydon and Croydon North Uniting churches is also available to view courtesy of North Ringwood UC.

Rev Dr Peter Mallen's sermon is also available

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 343 downloads
31-May-worship-resources-for-Pentecost.docx – 1.37 MB
Being witnesses to Jesus - 24 May 2020

In the opening passage from Acts, Jesus commissions the disciples for their new role, that of being witnesses. It is as if Jesus is handing on the relay baton to them. But just what are they to be witnesses of and how are we called to be witnesses of Jesus in our context and situation?

The message by Rev Dr Peter Mallen is also available.

Click on the blue button to download the worship@home resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 283 downloads
24-May-worship-resources.docx – 323.08 KB
If you love me - 17 May 2020

How do we live the life Jesus spoke about and experience the peace he promises to give? How do we express our love for Jesus? And what is the role of the Holy Spirit in connecting us with Jesus and with God? These are all questions that arise from our Gospel reading this week from John chapter 14.

Click to download: 211 downloads
worship@home-17-May-2020.pdf – 92.68 KB
Jesus promises to be with us - 10 May 2020

How and where is Jesus present to guide and sustain us in these troubling times? The long discourse in John’s Gospel that runs from chapter 13 through to chapter 17 offers us some encouragement.

The disciples are troubled, probably by Jesus’ repeated statements that he is going where the disciples cannot follow (13:33, 36), so Jesus reassures them about life when he will no longer be physically present with them. This is also highly relevant for the situation of John’s later community – and for us. Like much else in this Gospel, the disciples don’t understand what Jesus is saying...

A recording of Peter's message from the shared Zoom service is available below.

Click on the blue button to download the resources. Please feel free to use them in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 395 downloads
10-May-worship-resources.docx – 951.45 KB
Good Shepherd Sunday - 3 May 2020

Today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, when we reflect on Jesus as our good shepherd … a widely used metaphor for pastoral care in the church. Today’s Gospel reading also includes Jesus’ statement that he came to guide us towards the abundant life.

How do we envisage the abundant life that Jesus speaks of and how can we help point others towards this abundant life, which is available here and now?

Online Sunday morning worship service for Good Shepherd Sunday, that was shared with North Ringwood, Heathmont, Croydon and Croydon North Uniting churches is also available to view courtesy of North Ringwood UC.

Dr John McDowell's sermon is also available

Click on the blue button to download the resources. Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 375 downloads
3-May-worship-resources.docx – 922.17 KB
Journey to Faith - 26 April 2020

In this week's story, two disciples travel from disappointment to fresh insight, from discouragement to enthusiasm, from noting the absence of God to celebrating the presence of God. Their transformation comes about as they welcome a stranger into their midst, allow themselves to be vulnerable and as they experience God’s hospitality.

A recording of Peter's message from the shared Zoom service is available below.

Click on the blue button to download the resources. Please feel free to use them in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings.

Click to download: 292 downloads
26-April-worship-resources.docx – 230.70 KB
It's OK to doubt - 19 April 2020

Please feel free to use these resources in a way that best suits you. Hymn words, Bible readings and links to YouTube songs are included because some people value these. Images and more open-ended questions are there for others. Add your own prayers & musings

Click to download: 233 downloads
19-April-worship-resources.docx – 1,001.67 KB
worship@home for Good Friday 2020

We all approach Good Friday with mixed emotions. Even the name of the day can be confusing and confronting. What is ‘good’ about this day? The answer to that question depends very much on your perspective. Today we invite you to hear and reflect on three statements that Jesus makes from the cross.

Let us worship our Holy God.

Click to download: 243 downloads
Good-Friday-worship-2020.pdf – 877.38 KB
worship@home resource 05 April 2020

The worship resources this week introduce two spiritual practices for you to try at home. One is a way of engaging imaginatively with Scripture called lectio divina. The other is an invitation to start a journal, with reflections on your response to the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other thoughts, prayers or inspirations from your reading. Give them a try and see how you go.

Next week you will also be receiving a few extra resources for Good Friday and Easter prepared by Carolyne Chandler, including an invitation to our many photographers. Look out for these in your mailbox.

Click to download: 252 downloads
worship@home-5-April-2020.pdf – 121.84 KB
worship@home resources for 29 March 2020

These resources are a guide to worshipping at home. Feel free to modify or adapt to fit your circumstances. You may like to begin your worship at 10 am on Sunday morning as we usually do, being assured that you will be joining many of our regular worshippers in spirit if not in the same physical space. You could worship with a friend over the phone or via Skype or Facebook Messenger. Your worship will be enhanced if you say the call to worship and the prayers out loud.

Next week we will offer some more adventurous ideas to try.

Click to download: 214 downloads
29-March-worship-resources.pdf – 491.66 KB