Bulletin – Sunday, September 17, 2023 – Creation 2 / Communion

Sunday, September 17, 2023
Creation 2 / Communion

Approach

Welcome

Lighting the Christ Candle

One:   After darkness and death, there was a resurrected Christ, promising hope, and new life.
All:      After Noah and family survived the storm, there was a rainbow, promising hope, and new life.

One:   We will all face times of storms and darkness in our lives.
All:      But Christ and the Rainbow can show us the light and lead us back to new life.

Call to Worship

One:   We gather to celebrate all that we are and who we are. We are God’s beautiful creation, each a unique masterpiece formed with love. Here, in this place of warmth, acceptance, and equality, we are safe.
All:      We are whole. We are truly welcomed.

Hymn – “God is Here” (VU #389)

God is here! As we your people meet to offer praise and prayer,
May we find in fuller measure what it is in Christ we share.
Here, as in the world around us, all our varied skills and arts
Wait the coming of the Spirit into open minds and hearts.

Here are symbols to remind us of our lifelong need of grace;
Here are table, font, and pulpit, here the cross has central place.
Here in honesty of preaching, here in silence, as in speech,
Here, in newness and renewal, God the Spirit comes to each.

Here our children find a welcome in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;
Here as bread and wine are taken, Christ sustains us, as of old.
Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore
What it means in daily living to believe and to adore.

God of all, of church and kingdom, in an age of change and doubt
Keep us faithful to the gospel; help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day’s dedication, all we have to give, receive;
We, who cannot live without you, we adore you! We believe!

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Generous God, you have created us in your image. You have filled us—each one—with wondrous gifts. Yet we confess that we do not always recognize those talents within ourselves, or others. Sometimes we use them to hurt rather than build up. We confess that sometimes we want everyone to the same as us, to do things our way. Forgive us. Nurture within us the gifts you have given us. Empower us to nurture our gifts and the gifts of others.

Words of Assurance

One:   The God who created us continues to call forth great gifts from us.
All:      We are one body in Christ. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Hymn – “Make a Joyful Noise” (VU #820)

Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Come to this place with a song!

Know that your God has made you.
Know it’s to God we belong.
And come to this place with joyfulness and praise.
Worship your God with a song!

Enter these gates, thanks giving.
Enter these courts with praise.
Sing thanks to your God and bless the holy Name.
Worship your God with a song!

Ages through endless ages,
Seasons of endless years,
The love of our Maker ever shall endure.
Worship your God with a song!

Creation Connection

One:   It is our second Sunday in the season of Creation. Last week, we considered what song creation might be singing to God and to humanity at this time. This week, we are asked to consider the questions: How many times must the earth forgive us? And…what would the earth’s forgiveness be like? Today’s video is called “Nature is Speaking,” and features Julia Roberts as Mother Nature. It is from Conservation International, a group that is working to improve the lives of people everywhere by protecting oceans, forests, and other living ecosystems.

Nature Is Speaking – Julia Roberts is Mother Nature | Conservation International (CI)

One:   Let us pray.
All:      God, as we enter uncharted territory around global climate change, help us to follow the words of Jesus, to love one another. Through our actions, help us to show our love for the whole of Creation, not just our tiny piece of it. When we do not know what to do, help us to learn and work together in your name. Amen.

The Word

Scripture Reading:         A Story by Rev. Ken DeLisle based on John 11:1-44

(Lazarus, Come Forth!  Michael Graciano Craig Chaplain Award from the Montreal Diocesan Theological College (Dio) and United Church Studies at Dio

Scripture Reading:         Psalm 139:1-16

¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. ³ You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. ⁵ You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. ⁷ Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,” ¹² even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. ¹³ For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

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

Hymn – “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (VU #670)

Previous Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light;
Take my hand, precious Lord, lean me home.

When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

When the darkness appears, and the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

Reflection

Hymn – “Sing a New World into Being”

Sing a new world into being. Sound a bold and hopeful theme.
Find a tune for silent yearnings. Lend your voice and dare to dream:
Dream a church where all who worship find their lives and loves belong.
Sing a new world into being. Sing as Christ inspires your song!

Sing a new world into being where each gender, class, and race
Brings its rainbow gifts and colours to God’s limitless embrace;
Where the lines that once divided form instead the ties that bind.
Sing a new world into being – risk transforming heart and mind!

Sing a new world into being where the homeless find a home.
Where no children ever hunger but are filled with God’s shalom;
Where all people work for justice, where all hate and vengeance cease.
Sing a new world into being – raise the harmonies of peace.

Sing a new world into being. Join the ancient prophets’ cry
For a time of health and plenty when all tears have been wiped dry;
When compassion flows like waters, pouring balm for all who grieve.
Sing a new world into being – live the promise you believe!

Offering

We are blessed to be the answer to someone’s prayers by sharing our gifts. It may be here in our community or it may be elsewhere in Canada or around the world through gifts we give to the Mission and Service Fund.

Offering Response – “For the Gift of Creation” (VU #538)

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.

Generous and loving God, help us to see where there is a need and to fill it, in wildly imaginative ways, through this offering. Bless these gifts in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(adopted from a service by Rod Sykes, Seasons of the Spirit, 2010)

The Response

Communion

True Friend of all, you draw us to this special, yet disturbing place of self-giving, where we again re-live your body broken and life-blood shed.

Aware that within us all dwells great timidity and fear, still you encourage a depth of humanity that will go the full distance; sustaining friendships, exposing evil and sharing in the suffering of others until lasting change comes.

Therefore, upon these common, yet dignified symbols of bread and wine, and upon us, your common, yet dignified people, may the Spirit of humility and compassion come and gladly rest.

Words of consecration

Prayer after Communion

We thank you once again for this meal, this day, this gift of resurrection. Send us out into your world to be the presence of love and hope to all who despair and fear, that all may live, and live abundantly. Alleluia, alleluia, amen.

Prayers of the People

One:   Lord, hear our prayer.
All:      And in your love answer.

One:   Creator, we come to you with both the joys and the sorrows of our hearts. We are grateful for the gift of life and the joy that it can bring. For families and friends who love us. For allies who stick up for us, even when we cannot risk sticking up for ourselves. For the great diversity you have created in our world. Lord, hear our prayer.
All:      And in your love answer.

One:   We pray for those who suffer from discrimination because of their gender identity, sexual orientation, colour of their skin, their different abilities and so many other ways we put down others. Remind us, and help us to see all as our siblings, your children and help us end so much violence against the ones you love and created. Lord, hear our prayer.
All:      And in your love answer.

One:   We pray for those who worry about their employment or who cannot find a job. For those who must hide who they are to find housing. For those who are not safe on our streets. For those who do not feel safe in their place of worship. For those who gather at our outreach communities for coffee and fellowship. Lord, hear our prayer.
All:      And in your love answer.

One:   Help us to end all forms of discrimination and hate. Show us the way to make this world a better place for all. Lord, hear our prayer.
All:      And in your love answer.

One:   Faithful Lord, we offer you these prayers for ourselves and others as we join in the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.
All:      Our Father / Mother, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Prairie to Pine Regional Gathering 2020, based on a prayer by Ruth Wood, “Speaking Our Truth”)

Hymn – “You Call Us Out” (VU #569)

You call us out to praise you, the God who gave us birth,
To gather in communion, and treasure your whole earth;
We are your living story, to hear and to be heard;
We praise your name, who writes us,
The author and the word.

For varied hues and textures, new patterns, still your search,
To weave your seamless garments, the fabric of your church;
Our tattered faith you cherish, reclaim from wear and moth;
We praise your name, who twines us,
The weaver and the cloth.

The church that speaks forgiveness, confesses its own need;
The church that feels its hunger, finds grace to care and feed;
Our famished world is crying, its future filled with dread;
We praise your name, who fills us,
The baker and the bread.

The church that offers healing, discerns its wounds and loss;
The church that faces dying, shares life beyond the cross;
To people torn and broken, your mercy is revealed;
We praise your name, who loves us,
The healer and the healed.

Our feeble voices struggle, to sing your justice clear;
The world has sunk in silence, each discord echoes fear;
One voice alone is ragged, together we are strong;
We praise your name, who breathes us,
The singer and the song.

Benediction

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with your on the road. May the Christ who serves with wounded hands stretch out your hands to serve. May the Christ who loves with wounded heart open your hearts to love. May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.

(Traditional Celtic Blessing)

Response

Jesus, Lord, our true example, you have shown how we must live.
Teach us how to share with others everything we have to give.
Let our days be spent in service: bring us by your grace to know
Healing is the church’s calling, and the path that we must go.