Bulletin – February 7, 2021

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany / Communion

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

Powerful, Creating God, from the very beginning when you said “Let there be light,” you blessed creation. You have loved and shielded your people through all joys and trials of life. We light this candle today to remind ourselves of your light in our lives, rejoicing in the many blessings you have given to us. Let the light from this candle open our hearts again to hear your word for us and to gather strength and joy for service in your world. Be with us and bless us again, this day. Amen.

Call to Worship

One:   Call on the name of God,
All:     for God has called us by name.

One:   Lift your eyes and see,
All:     for Christ is with us in this time.

One:   Know that God is near,
All:     for the Spirit lives in each of us gathered together.

One:   Let us worship God this day.
All:     Let the Spirit connect us together as we worship in word and song.

Hymn – “We are One”

We are one as we come, as we come, joyful to be here,
In the praise on our lips there’s a sense that God is near.
We are one as we sing, as we seek, we are found;
And we come needful of God’s grace as we meet, together in this place.

We are one as we share, as we share brokenness and fear,
In the touch of a hand there’s a sense that God is here.
We are one as we care, as we heal, we are healed;
And we share warmth in God’s embrace as we pray together in this place.

Prayer of Approach

Gracious God, you gather us in as one people that we may worship together inn love. You provide for us and have given us so much. You care for us as beloved parts of your wondrous creation.

Health our broken hearts and bind up our wounds, so that we may come into your presence healthy and whole as we seek your wisdom and guidance in how you desire us to live each day. Help us to discern your greatness, as we honour the power and glory of your love.

Yet so many times, gracious God, we look at this world and so not sing of your praises. The beauty and majesty of the world is overpowering! Yet we have a tendency to take all that you do for us for granted. We treat the world with callous indifference, using its resources carelessly and with little regard to the future. We insist on conflict and war as solutions for problems rather than peaceful striving. We turn our backs on people in need, the weak and downtrodden go unnoticed in our midst. We always believe that someone else will care for those in need.

How foolish we are, O God! How ignorant we have become! You have given to us all that we need. You have blessed us with the witness of Jesus Christ who came so that we might learn how you would have us live, in honour and peace.

Forgive us. Heal our hearts and spirits. Make us fully aware of all our blessings and our responsibilities. Give us again a spirit of joy in serving you. Help us be agents of peace and hope to others. For we offer this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “You, God, are my Firmament”

You, God, are my firmament, roof for my head,
Shelter from storm, nourishing bread, tender and warm.
I will give thanks, I will sing praise with all of my heart, all of my days.

You, God, are a tower of strength.
I shall not fear, I shall not fall, knowing you’re near, guardian of all.
I will give thanks, I will sing praise with all of my heart, all of my days.

You God, are my guiding light, beacon from birth,
Helping to see, lighting the earth, enlightening me.
I will give thanks, I will sing praise with all of my heart, all of my days.

The Word

Scripture Reading:          Isaiah 40:21-31

²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; ²³ who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. ²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. ²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹ but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Scripture Reading:          Mark 1:29-39

²⁹ As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. ³¹ He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³² That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered around the door. ³⁴ And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷ When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸ He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “Scarcity and Abundance”

Anthem – “The Power of Your Love”

The Response

Communion

One:   May the God who created us be with you!
All:     And also with you!

One:   Open your hearts to the One who writes grace on them.
All:     May God’s words of hope and wonder guide our lives.

One:   Sing praises to your God, children of the Creator of the universe.
All:     Glad songs are lifted to the one who gives us new life.

One:   Into the silence of chaos, you call, Wonderful Creator, and creation responded, ‘here I am,’ as mountains pushed up to tower over the rivers that raced each other to the seas. Your words did not fall to the ground but became the stars that dance in the night. You shaped us in your image, telling us everything, hiding nothing from us. But the tempting songs of sin made our ears tingle and we did not restrain temptation’s demands. You refused to give up on us, continuing to call us through the prophets and mystics, poets and singers but we were dominated by death’s power. So you sent Jesus to us, to search us and know us for who we are meant to be—your people.

Sanctus (sung)

O holy, holy, holy God, O God of time and space.
All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace,
Hosanna in the highest heav’n, creation sings your praise.
And blessed is the one who comes and bears your name always!

One:   Holy are you, Knower of every though, and blessed is Jesus Christ, who is your heart. When he could have wandered the streets of glory, he searched up and down temptation’s paths to fund us. When we doubted anything good might come of humility and sacrifice, he called us to follow him into service to you. When he could have shunned the cross, he said, ‘here I am,’ confronting sin and death, defeating them as he was raised to new life, glorifying you in his resurrected body!
As we remember his ways of goodness and life, as we celebrate the gift of resurrection which is ours, we speak of that mystery we call faith.

Memorial Acclamation (sung)

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen,
Christ will come again!
Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen,
Christ will come again!

One:   You search for us down every path we wonder and, finding us, lead us to this Table of hope and peace, where the Spirit not only blesses these simple gifts, but all your children who gather at your feast. We ask for your blessing on those in this community whom we raise up to you this day…

Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening, so that as we are fed by the bread of life, we would be ready to go forth to carry healing to the world, so that as we drink from the cup of grace, we would go to tell everyone we meet that we have found the One who offers the life and joy we are all longing to have.

On the night before he gave himself up Jesus gathered with his friends for a meal. Jesus broke bread, give it to his friends saying, “Take, eat, this is the bread of new life, every time you eat of it remember me.” After supper he took the cup, poured the wine and passing it to his friends saying, “This is the cup of the new covenant, every time you drink of this cup remember me.” And so as we eat of this bread and drink of this cup we remember. And when our lives have come to an end, when we are gathered with your children from every age, we will sit at your Table, finally knowing your ways, and singing to you of our love and joy forever,

Great Amen (sung)

Amen, amen, O Holy One! Hosanna and Amen!
Amen, amen, O Holy One! Hosanna and Amen!

Distribution – “We are One”

We are one as we feast, as we feast, peace become the sign:
In the bread and the wine there’s a sense of love divine.
We are one as we come, as we feed, we are fed;
And we feel God’s refreshing grace as we meet at table in this place.

Prayer After Communion

God sends up from this place, nourished so that we might be healing hands to the world’s brokenness. At this table Jesus has called us as sisters and brothers, so that we might also accept others a completely as we have been embraced. In the gifts of bread and wine, the Spirit is at work through us, wherever we are—work, home, playground, shelter, school. As we leave nourished from this table, we will go to live as God’s people! Amen.

Hymn – “For Everyone Born”

For everyone born, a place at the table,
For everyone born, clean water and bread,
A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
For everyone born, a star overhead.

And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy.

For young and for old, a place at the table,
A voice to be heard, a part in the song,
The hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
For young and for old, the right to belong.

And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy.

For everyone born, a place at the table,
To live without fear, and simply to be,
To work, to speak out, to witness and worship.
For everyone born, the right to be free.

And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy.

Benediction

We are being sent into a world in need of healing. We have been given all that we need to be God’s messengers of peace. Go now into the world, rejoicing in God’s presence with you. Bring the news of peace and hope to all you meet. Amen.

Response “We are One”

We are one as we hear, as we hear, heart and hand unite.
In the word we receive there’s a sense that God is light.
We are one as we leave, as we love, we are loved;
And we seek justice in God’s ways as we move together from this place.