Acknowledgement
Yuma – Welcome! As this is the start of NAIDOC Week, I want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Ngunnawal people and other families and groups with connections to this land. We give thanks for their ongoing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and region.
I also acknowledge and welcome other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may be attending or viewing our service today.
Light candle
Call to Worship – Safina Stewart’s Prayer for the Voice – Wuthathi and moʊbiæɡ
God of wondrous possibility
Take my story and my life
Give me courage to stand for justice
God of dreaming and mystery
Forgive my blind complaining
Give me vision to walk remembering your history
God of truth and love
Take my bruised hands and feet
Give me strength and grace to stand for truth
God of safety and singing
Take my mouth and my voice
Give me words to inspire and encourage
God of knowledge and creativity
Take my whole being
Help me stretch, broaden and deepen
God of goodness and hope
Take my connections and influence
And help me stand for Voice and Justice
Amen
Intro to NAIDOC Week
Today is the start of NAIDOC Week as I mentioned and this year’s artwork was created by Deb Belyea from the Samuawgadhalgal – it’s good for us to learn new words – (Sum-oo-ow-guth-ull-gull) Cassowary Clan, whose people stretch from Saibai Island (just 4 km from PNG) to the Bamaga-Saibai community of Cape York.
Deb says – this painting represents the hands of the ancestors carefully dropping a burning ember on to a fire and stocking the flames. The linear detail represents the cultural knowledge transferred from our ancestors to us today – the fire of knowledge, wisdom and purpose. And the fire that it is our responsibility to maintain, practice, and pass on to our future generations. Culture that keeps us Blak, Loud and Proud.
Let’s give thanks for this week’s NAIDOC celebrations – using this prayer prepared by the Salvation Army –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHFLEsBYabY
Dedication of Morayo
We have something else to celebrate this morning – the arrival of Morayo – Johnson and Fredah’s little girl – so can I invite you to come forward…
Also want to acknowledge the wider family, Johnson’s parents, Mr Moses Abifarin and Mrs Hannah Abifarin and Fredah’s parent’s, Chief Fidelis Ali, and Mrs Handukna Ali, and… I want to invite Peter and Lucy to come as representatives of your Canberra Baptist church family.
- Today we want to give thanks to God, the creator of all things, and the giver of all life, for the birth of this child.
- We are also here to ask Johnson and Fredah, and all of us as their Christian community, to make a commitment to God and each other, that, we will endeavour to bring this child up in the knowledge and love of God.
- And we want to pray for God’s blessing on Morayo and on Johnson and Fredah as they continue in this adventure of life together.
- You have given the name Morayo to your child. What does her name mean?
- Johnson and Fredah, will you bring Morayo up to know God loves her so very much?
- Will you raise her in a home that practises that love with each other and extends that love in hospitality to friends and strangers?
- Will you model for Morayo the power of forgiveness and the incredible beauty of grace?
- Will you help to love the church and the Scriptures, and to know faith in Jesus so that she too may decide to follow Jesus and live out this faith with joy? (We will.)
Morayo means ‘I found joy’ – and Morayo, I would like to give you this verse on the day of your dedication. Psalm 5:11 says of our God: But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.
Lucy, can you take Morayo and introduce her to congregation? The task of raising a child belongs first to their family and we have heard the clear intention of Johnson and Fredah to raise their child in the truth and practice of the Christian faith. But this time in their lives, we are their church. And so, they look to us for support, prayer, love, and guidance as they share their faith with Morayo. Will you commit yourselves, in so far as it is in your power, to be such a supportive and loving community to this family? If so, please say yes by standing with us now.
Morayo, there is a verse in a song we often sing… I am a song of joy, I am a glimpse of God’s new creation. I am a song of joy. I am a song of joy.
We pray that you will be a song of joy – the joy of the Lord.
We pray that together with your parents and with others who love you, you will reveal glimpses of God’s new and perfect creation, of God’s love, of God’s mercy, of God’s hospitality and of God’s peace.
May you always take refuge in God, Morayo. May you ever sing for joy. May God spread God’s protection over you, so you can grow and thrive and exult in the God who loves you. Amen.
Steve – Bible presentation?
Johnson and Fredah, we are about to sing a hymn you have chosen that is popular in Nigeria. It speaks of homes where the Bible to loved and taught. Please accept this Children’s Bible as a gift from our community for Morayo. May she grow up to know its truth, to love its message, and to walk in its light all the days of her life.
Hymn
Bible readings
Message – Mustafa Jawardi
Song – Within our darkest night
Invitation to Communion
Thinking about Deb Belyea’s painting for NAIDOC Week, we also have, within the Judeo-Christian tradition, a story about a fire that never does away. As Exodus 3:2 says, “the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.”
I have always thought about this story – Moses encountering the burning bush and being told, “remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” – as reinforcing God’s alienness – God’s utter holiness.
But there is another reason to remove your shoes. In many cultures, removing your shoes is a sign you have come home or that you are a welcome guest.
Moses is the archetypal alien! To the Hebrews, he is an Egyptian. To the Egyptians, he is a Hebrew, and here in Midian, he is still called an Egyptian!
But at Horeb, the mountain of God, he discovers God is not alien, but familiar, part of the family! “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He discovers he is not an alien to God, but is welcomed home and given the task of welcoming others home.
Our New Testament reading, Romans 12:11, reads, “be ardent in spirit”, or “keep yourselves fuelled and aflame” as you love, as you honour others, as you rejoice, as you suffer, as you pray, as you contribute to the needs of others, as you show hospitality to strangers. In other words, the church is that ever-blazing bush, that welcoming campfire, where we know God’s welcome and discover what it means.
This meal we are about to celebrate is a variation on that campfire – where we remember that we are home – that God has given God’s all to welcome us – and that we are called to extend this hospitality to others.
As we come to partake of the Lord’s Supper, let us remember that this is both holy and welcome ground! Let’s sing as our prayer of thanksgiving – This is holy ground.
This is holy ground,
we’re standing on holy ground.
For the Lord is present
and where God is is holy.
This is holy ground,
we’re standing on holy ground.
For the Lord is present
and where God is is holy.
On the night before he died, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks
he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
‘Take and eat. This is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.’
As Jesus broke bread, we break this bread.
Let us sing together again – These are holy hands.
These are holy hands,
God‘s given us holy hands.
God works through these hands
and so these hands are holy.
These are holy hands,
God’s given us holy hands.
God works through these hands
and so these hands are holy.
After supper, he took the cup,
and again after giving thanks, gave it to his disciples, saying,
‘Drink from this, all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
As Jesus shared the cup, we share this cup.
Let us hold our cups and drink them together.
Let’s sing – These are holy lips.
These are holy lips,
God‘s given us holy lips.
God speaks through these lips
and so these lips are holy.
These are holy lips,
God’s given us holy lips.
God speaks through these lips
and so these lips are holy.
1982 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.), Birdwing Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
With the lips that God has made holy,
let us exchange a sign of peace with one another.
Prayer for NAIDOC Week – Safina Stewart
Creator God,
You are the sustainer of life, the composer of creation’s song
You taught our Elders how to listen to Country’s rhythm
To stand to protect, sustain and care for Country
Open our ears and enflame our commitment toward creation justice
We walk together to keep the fire burning
You are the celebrator of language, kinship and culture
You have taught our communities how to be resilient
Renew and encourage our disheartened spirits, restore our peoples to flourishing
Overflow us with vision, guide our paths, give us comrades for the journey
__________________________________________________
We walk together to keep the fire burning
You are the fire keeper, the Creator of time and place
You remember the silenced and ignored stories
Your stories connect us back to Your love to fuel the flame
Quicken our memory to Your way of justice, hope and love
We are Blak, Loud, Proud. We will keep the fire burning.
We are many different colours God, but we have a passion to follow you, to build community, to share your love and justice in our words and actions.
We walk together to keep the fire burning
You are the holy God of truth and justice
You hear the cry of our hearts, our laments and our mourning
You comfort and accompany us
We experience your faithfulness and peace.
Blaze us with your love and presence, holy God of truth and justice
We walk together to keep the fire burning
You are the Spirit of restoration and healing
You gave Jesus to show us how to live in right relationship
We take our place to listen, learn and build understanding
We walk together with honour, respect and celebration
We walk together to keep the fire burning
Amen
Blessing by Uncle Vince Ross
May the God of creation warm your heart like the campfires of old
Bring wisdom and peace as shown to the first peoples of this land
Shake off the dust from the desert plains by the refreshing rains
Followed by the glow and warmth of the sun
Let the light of God show us the right path and stand tall like the big
River gums drawing life from the ever flowing waters.
Amen.