ORDER OF WORSHIP THIS MORNING The Gathering of the People of God

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1 Sunday, 24th February, :00am Ordinary Sunday 7 (Year C) Jesus said, Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. St Luke 6: ORDER OF WORSHIP THIS MORNING The Gathering of the People of God ORGAN PRELUDE GREETING Greetings and welcome in the name of Christ. God s grace, mercy and peace be with you. And also with you. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY CALL TO WORSHIP Come and learn the ways of life. Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. 1 Bless those who curse you and pray for those who persecute you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Come and learn the ways of life. OPENING PRAYER HYMN (TiS.160) Father all-loving and ruling in majesty

2 PRAYER OF CONFESSION Loving God, Lord of the Church, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed: We have not loved you with all our heart nor served you with all our strength; we have been blind to the vision of a renewed world and deaf to your call to costly discipleship; we have been indifferent to the suffering of others and unwilling to forgive one another. In your mercy, Lord, pardon and restore us, that together in the ministry of Christ we may serve you with joy all the days of our life. Amen. DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS (from Colossians 2: 13 14) Believe then this great good news: in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME OF THE DAY HYMN (TiS.650) Brother, sister, let me serve you The Service of the Word of God Before the Bible readings, the reader says: Your word, O Lord, is a lamp to our feet: A light to our path. Psalm 119: 105. FIRST READING 1 Corinthians 15: 35 38, Someone will ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as God has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being ; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. NRSV. GOSPEL READING St Luke 6: [Jesus said,] I say to you that listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that

3 to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. NRSV. After this final reading, the reader says: Here end today s readings. Lord, may your word live in us; And bear much fruit to your glory. SERMON We respond to the Word of God How can you love your enemies? THE APOSTLES CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The Apostles Creed ELLC, NOTICES & CONCERNS OF THE CHURCH OFFERTORY HYMN (TiS.599) Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE THE LORD S PRAYER The People of God are sent out HYMN (TiS.217) Love divine, all loves excelling DISMISSAL AND BLESSING THREE-FOLD AMEN. The cuppa (of tea or coffee) after the morning service is a great opportunity to chat with old friends and to meet new ones. Do come and join us in the Tea Shoppe! SERVICES TODAY AND NEXT SUNDAY TODAY S SERVICE 24th February, :00am 12:30pm 6:00pm MUSICIANS TODAY READER THIS MORNING MIDWEEK COMMUNION Afternoon Multilingual Service (am) Ruth Procter (pm) not required Fah Harman Every Wednesday, 1:00pm 3 SERVICES NEXT SUNDAY 3rd March, :00am (Holy Communion) 12:30pm Afternoon Multilingual Service 6:00pm (Holy Communion) MUSICIANS NEXT SUNDAY (am) Lorraine Jones (pm) not required GREETER NEXT SUNDAY am READER NEXT SUNDAY am NOTICES NEXT SUNDAY am Anne Valentine Bernice Pinfold Ron Samways

4 A Word from the Minister 24th February, 2019 Last Monday I spent the morning with the Revd Janice Freeston, the interim UCA Tertiary Chaplain, orientating her to the University of Wollongong Campus and developing a strategy for gathering students who are members of the UCA and/or interested in knowing more about the UCA. Please hold Janice in your prayers this week and all the students who will be attending O Week. I met with the Property Committee on Monday afternoon. From a financial perspective the good news is that rental income is tracking above budget and that the property committee is carefully managing its expenditure such that, for the year to date, our actual deficit is $13,000, 40% less than the budgeted deficit of $22,000. The property was surveyed last Wednesday to support the work of the architect who is investigating disability access to the Church. The Sunday Afternoon service continues to grow, and we welcomed two new families to Wollongong. There is now both an adult and a youth choir that are each practicing during mid-week and I hope there will be an opportunity soon for one or both choirs to sing in the morning service. Having given the matter a lot of thought, the Elders have decided that we will always celebrate Holy Communion in our 10:00am service at the rail for the time being. The pattern of celebrating in the round in March, June, September and December was started several years ago. At that time we had more people attending the church and, when people moved to the edges of the church, there were enough of them to leave no gaps. The sad fact is that we have thinned out somewhat since then. So, for the time being, we will gather in small settings of a 8 10 at the rail. The practices of Christians in celebrating Holy Communion are many and varied. As well as the This week I am involved in several meetings, beginning with the Wesley Community Centre Management Committee on Wednesday. Don t forget our Return and Earn Fundraiser for the Centre at Woolworths, Wollongong starts this week. On Thursday I am meeting with the Presbytery Standing Committee and on Friday we are hosting the Lifeline Australia Board meeting in the Committee Room. At 11:00am there will be a special morning tea in the auditorium to mark the 50th anniversary of the first crisis call answered by Lifeline South Coast. To round out what is shaping up to be an interesting week, Linda Knowles and I will be attending a UCA Conflict Resolution Workshop in Jannali next Saturday. Grace and peace, The Reverend Geoffrey Flynn, Wesley Uniting Church, Wollongong. At the rail or in the round? two methods with which we are familiar in this church, many churches have a soup kitchen queue whereby people line up in the centre aisle then, as each receives the elements of communion, they return to their seats down the side aisle, everybody moving in a continuous flowing stream. Some churches serve communion to the people where they are seated in the pews, though this does involve careful placing of people (often in every second pew) so that the Elders or other servers are able to reach everybody. However it is celebrated, the meaning of Holy Communion remains the same we are gathered at the Table of the Lord. 4

5 Monday, 25th February 8:45 & 10:00am School for Creative Living classes. Wednesday, 27th February 1:00pm Midweek Holy Communion and prayer in the church. Friday, 1st March St David s Day. David is not a Biblical saint but is the patron saint of Wales and today is Wales national day. David was born in Wales somewhere around the year 500ad and lived for around 90 years, maybe more. He was well known as a preacher and teacher and founded monasteries in Wales and elsewhere. His preaching was so impressive that his fellow monks elected him as primate of all Wales. There are many legends about him but you will need to find those yourself as there is no room here. His symbol is NOT the dragon (he doesn t seem to have one) but many Welsh folk may disagree! Saturday, 2nd March and Mrs Linda Knowles attending conflict resolution workshop in Jannali. EVENTS THIS WEEK LECTIONARY FOR NEXT SUNDAY The Transfiguration, Year C (3rd March, 2019) OT Reading: Exodus 34: Psalm: Psalm 99 Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3: 12 to 4: 2 Gospel: St Luke 9: (37 43a) When asked what she needed this week, the supervisor of the Community Centre, Karen Zaini, said, large tins of tuna, sugar, cheese and devon, please. Sounds very much like last week, doesn t it? By now you know what to do. From tomorrow (25th February) right through to 26th May, you can help raise funds for our Community Centre by taking suitable bottles and cans to the RVM machine at the rear of Woolworths Wollongong (63 Burelli Street). This is a fairly painless way for you to contribute to the Community Centre s operations. You will see that Wesley Community Centre is featured as one of the options on the donate panel. Funds raised by selecting this option will be lodged direct to the Wesley Community Centre bank account by the RVM operators at no cost to the Congregation. There is no room to reproduce the leaflet here, but most 150ml to three litre drink containers are eligible, whether they are glass, plastic, aluminium or steel. Unacceptable are containers for milk, fruit or vegetable juice, casks for wine or spirits and sachets for wine of 250ml or more. More details from 5 Don t say you weren t told! It will be in our Wesley Auditorium over two days, Thursday 7th and Friday 8th March, from 8:30am to 2:00pm each day. The setting up will be on Wednesday, 6th March after 11:30am. If anybody has SALEABLE items, they would be appreciated; but PLEASE, no electrical or large items. Offerings for Last Sunday, 17/02/19 Cash*... $ Envelopes... $ Afternoon Service... $ Received by EFT... $ Total collections for the day... $ Morning Tea... $ Donations Box... $ Total income for the day...$ *Larger offering, thanks to multicultural service. If you would like to transfer funds electronically to Wollongong Mission, talk to your bank. Our BSB is and our account number is

6 FRI DAY! THI S The next Spirituality in the Pub session is not at its usual Woonona venue but at St Michael s Church Hall in Thirroul. It will be on this Tuesday, 26th February, from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Even if you are not a philatelist (stamp collector), you should collect stamps. Why? Because the Uniting Church Stamp Committee collects from all over NSW and then sells the stamps to stamp dealers. The Committee is then able to distribute around $25,000 (2018 figure) to church agencies such as Burnside Family Care and Frontier Services. Your Wollongong Wesley stamp agent is Yvonne Webb ( ). She can give you all the details. The guest speaker will be Father Noel Connolly, a Columban Missionary priest who has served in a number of positions including twelve years as Vicar General of the Columban Order throughout the world. He is presently coordinator of mission and culture at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He has lectured widely on Pope Francis and is the author of a couple of books about the Pope. In fact, she collected a big bundle from the Church Office just this week many thanks to the person who brought them in! All are welcome at these gatherings that are designed to prompt discussion among Christians of all traditions. Further details from Ann on or wollsip@gmail.com. 6