Bulletin – Sunday, April 23, 2023 – Third Sunday of Easter / Earth Day
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Third Sunday of Easter / Earth Day
Approach
Lighting the Christ Candle
We come together today for this Earth Day worship service! Like so many days, this day holds wonder and sorrow. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 as a day to honour the Earth and to participate in environmental teach-ins. Since then, the environmental movement has grown in this country and environmental awareness permeates much of our society.
At the same time, the environmental problems we face have grown as climate change—which had already begun in 1970 but was barely recognized—has had deeper and graver impacts on Earth. Problems with consumption and other environmental degradation have also grown with the world’s economy and population.
There are promising signs, too. Alongside these problems, people have begun working for solutions. In the process, we’re healing some of the other hurts of our society.
Today, as we light this candle as a symbol of Christ with us, we join together to hold our hope and our pain, to honour Earth, and to recognize how deeply our relationship with Earth and our work for environmental justice is intertwined with all of our spiritualities. This is not the work of one day, and on this day we honour Earth.
Call to Worship
One: Like Job in the whirlwind, or Jonah in the storm at sea, we come before you in awe of your power, God.
All: We come before you in worship this Earth Day to honour and protect your creation.
One: We recognize that today’s storms and whirlwinds are not your judgment on your people, but the distortion of natural systems through our own sin and hubris.
All: We come before you in worship this Earth Day to honour and protect your creation.
One: As the storms and whirlwinds of the climate crisis accelerate around us, may our sanctuary be a place of refuge and resilience, where all of God’s creation might be protected and sustained, and from which we, People of God, might be sent forth to bring healing and justice.
All: We come before you in worship this Earth Day to honour and protect your creation.
Hymn – “It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker”
It’s a song of praise to the Maker, the thrust sings high in the tree.
It’s a song of praise to the Maker, the gray whale sings in the sea,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.
It’s a call of life to the Giver when waves and waterfalls roar.
It’s a call of life to the Giver when high tides break on the shore,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.
It’s a hymn of love to the lover; the bumblebees hum along.
It’s a hymn of love to the Lover, the summer breeze joins the song,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.
It’s the chorus of all creation; it’s sung by all living things.
It’s the chorus of all creation; a song the universe sings,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Good and Gracious God, Source of the evolving Universe, Source of all Life, all creation is charged with your Divine Energy. Ignite your Spark within us that we may know ourselves as truly human and holy, irrevocably part of the Web of Life. All creation—each star and every flower—each drop of water and every person—each and every atom, down to its very electrons explodes with the revelation of your sacred mystery. Our minds alone cannot fathom such splendor, our hearts can only respond in awe, praise, and gratitude.
Forgive us, we pray, our ignorance and insecurities which—blind us to your presence in all creation, deafen us to the sacred space between two heartbeats, prompt us in arrogance to demand and dominate, numb us to the destruction we’ve caused, and hold us hostage to “either-or” thinking and living.
May we always walk gently upon tis earth, in right relations, nurtured by your Love, taking only what we need, giving back to the earth in gratitude, honouring all with reverence, reconciling and healing, mindful of those who will come after, and recognizing our proper place as part of, not apart from, your creation.
Grant us the strength and courage, we pray, for such radical transformation into your Kin-dom. That we too, with the very stones, will shout “Hosanna.”
Words of Assurance
Time for All Ages
Hymn – “O Beautiful Gaia”
O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.
Soil yielding its harvest,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Soil yielding its harvest,
Calling us on.
O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.
Waves crashing on granite,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Waves crashing on granite,
Calling us on.
O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.
Pine bending in windstorm,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Pine bending in windstorm,
Calling us on.
O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.
Loon nesting in marshland,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Loon nesting in marshland,
Calling us on.
O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.
The Word
Scripture Reading: Psalm 19:1-6
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:26-30
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!
Meditation – “One Small Step”
Anthem – “Community of Care”
Imagine the dream of Creation,
Imagine the song of a thousand seas.
Sun and moon, the colours of dawning,
The Holy in all that we see.
Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.
Beyond all that’s broken and shattered,
Beyond all that tears us so far apart.
Still, our gifts, our healing, our wholeness,
Lie deep in the dream of your heart.
Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind.
As a caring community.
When justice cries out from the shadows,
When kindness and mercy have lost their way.
Lead us now, our faith turned to action,
With strength and with courage we pray.
Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.
We offer the work of our living,
And lift up the love of our open hearts.
Share the joy, the laughter, the daring,
Remembering all that we are.
Called to this covenant, called to the Dream,
Guided by Love we will be,
Gathered by Spirit, one body, one mind,
As a caring community.
Offering / Response
For the gift of creation, the gift of your love,
And the gift of the Spirit by which we live,
We thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give.
The Response
Prayers of the People
One: To bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To recall our destiny, to renew our spirits, to reinvigorate our bodies
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To recreate the human community, to promote justice and peace, to remember our children
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To challenge governments to live up to their commitments on climate change
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To lift up in prayer all of creation that suffers and groans
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: To lift up those whom we know need your presence in their lives, God of all Creation…
All: we join with the earth and each other.
One: We join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery: for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life. Amen.
Hymn – “To Show By Touch and Word”
To show by touch and word devotion to the earth,
To hold in full regard all life that comes to birth,
We need, O God, the will to find the good you had of old in mind.
Renew our minds to choose the things that matter most,
To speak and do the truth, creating peace and trust.
For every challenge that we face we need your guidance and your grace.
Let love from day to day be touchstone, guide, and norm,
And let our lives portray your Word in human form.
Now come with us that we may have your wits about us where we live.
Benediction
As we go forth from this sacred space, may we celebrate Earth and our shared lives. May we recognize your connections to all that is in and on Earth. May we truly and deeply value the inherent worth of all. In this awesome interconnected web of existence, may we commit ourselves to a new way, and may we hold our commitments and each other gently yet firmly. Blessed by and Amen.
Response
Creation now awaits humanity’s rebirth
At last to claim one common aim: to nurture life on earth.
Awake, all humankind, the challenge now embrace;
Apply your strength, your voice, your means, as stewards of God’s grace.
