Bulletin – April 18, 2021

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

In the beginning, all was darkness and God said, “let there be light,” and because God had said it, there was light. We light this candle as a reminder of God’s presence with us in the light, the light of creation and the light of Christ. This candle reminds us that we are part of a much larger whole, that the light of God shines through all creation, all that has been, that is, and that will be. We gather in the light of God’s creation, in the light of God through Christ.

Call to Worship

One:   In the midst of darkness and chaos…
All:     God imagined.

One:   In the fury and darkness…
All:     God imagined a world filled with trees, and blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

One:   In the meadow, God stood and…
All:     imagined foxes, bluebirds, and slithering snakes.

One:   In a world of rainstorms and wildlife and cattle and grasses blowing in the breeze…
All:     God imagined humanity. God imagined a continuum of all genders.

One:   In a world teeming with billions of people…
All:     God imagined me.

One:   God imagined you and God imagined me. We are created in the image of God.
All:     God imagined us all. God loves each of us.

One:   Let us worship with the same imagination as the creating One!
All:     let us come together this day and worship the God of imagination, the God of all creation. Amen.

(adapted from Tim Graves)

Hymn – “All Things Bright and Beautiful”

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
In love, God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colours,
God made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful…

The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky;

All things bright and beautiful,…

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden:
God made them every one.

All things bright and beautiful,…

The rocky mountain splendour,
The lone wolf’s haunting call,
The great lakes and the prairies,
The forest in the fall;

All things bright and beautiful,…

God gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God our maker,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,…

Prayer of Approach

Eternal God Creator of all that is, in you we live and move and have our being. You have placed us on earth and sustained our being through the produce of the land and the cleanness of the air we breathe. You have made us each to tend and care for the weak and ensure a just sharing of the earth’s resources.

But we are part of a proud and hard-hearted people who hoard what the earth provides and seem loathe to share the fruits of our labours, who live for today with little thought for tomorrow, who are afraid to let pain and suffering affect us.

Incarnate God, you know us in our inner being. In your grace you offer us forgiveness even before we have the chance to articulate our sorrow. You embrace us in all our sinfulness, and in doing so, give us the chance to start again to learn from the example you have given us in Jesus, who chose the way of the Cross, that all might know the depth of your love for all you have made.

Spirit of God open our hearts and minds that we may grasp your forgiveness, and forgiven seek to forgive others and live a life of reconciling love modelled on the example of Jesus Christ in whose name we make this prayer. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Sung Response:

He is Lord, He is Lord.
He is risen from the dead and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord.

The Word

Scripture Reading:          Psalm 104

¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
² wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
³ you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
⁴ you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
⁵ You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
⁶ You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
⁸ They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
⁹ You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
¹⁰ You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
¹¹ giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
¹² By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
¹³ From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
¹⁴ You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,
¹⁵ and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
¹⁹ You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
²¹ The young lions roar for their prey,
²² When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.
²³ People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
²⁴ O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
²⁷ These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
²⁸ when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
³⁰ When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
³² who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
³³ I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!

Hymn – “It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker”

It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
The thrush 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.

Scripture Reading:          Isaiah 65:17-25

¹⁷ For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.
²⁰ No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD—and their descendants as well.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

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

Hymn – “I See a New Heaven”

I see a new heaven. I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,
Where the fountain of life flows and without price goes to all people who abide in the land.
There, there on the banks of a river bright and free,
Yielding her fruit, firm in her root, the Tree of Life will be.

I see a new heaven. I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,
Where the fountain of life flows and without price goes to all people who abide in the land.
There, there where death dies and our lives are born again,
Body and soul, struggling but whole like flowers after the rain.

I see a new heaven. I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,
Where the fountain of life flows and without price goes to all people who abide in the land.
There, there where the darkness brings visions from above.
There where the night, bearing new light, reveals the promise of love.

I see a new heaven. I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,
Where the fountain of life flows and without price goes to all people who abide in the land.
There, there where we work with the love of healing hands.
Labour we must, true to our trust to build a promised new land.

I see a new heaven. I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,
Where the fountain of life flows and without price goes to all people who abide in the land.

Video – “Reconciliation Begins with the Land”

Praise Singers Anthem – “Remember”

The Response

Time of Prayer

One:   God of grace, together we turn to you in prayer, for it is you who unites us: you are the one God—Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer—in whom we believe, you along empower us for god, you send us out across the earth in mission and service in the name of Christ. We confess before you and all people: We have been unworthy servants. We have misused and abused the creation. We have wounded one another by divisions everywhere. We have often failed to take decisive action against environmental destruction, poverty, racism, caste-ism, war and genocide. We are not only victims but also perpetrators of violence. In all this, we have fallen short as disciples of Jesus Christ who in his incarnation came to save us and teach us how to love. Forgive us, God, and teach us to forgive one another.

All:     God, in your grace, transform the world.

One:   God, hear the cries of all creation, the cries of the waters, the air, the land and all livings things; the cries of all who are exploited, marginalized, abused and victimized, all who are dispossessed and silenced, their humanity ignored, all who suffer from any form of disease, from war and from the crimes of the arrogant who hide from the truth, distort memory and deny the possibility of reconciliation. God, guide all in seats of authority towards decisions of moral integrity. Forgive us, God, and teach us to forgive one another.

All:     God, in your grace, transform the world.

One:   We give thanks for your blessings and signs of hope that are already present in the world, in people of all ages and in those who have gone before us in faith; in movements to overcome violence in all its forms, not just for a decade but for always; in the deep and open dialogues that have begun both within our own churches and with those of other faiths in the search for mutual understanding and respect; in all those working together for justice and peace—both in exceptional circumstances and every day. We thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ, and the assurance of resurrection.

All:     God, in your grace, transform the world.

One:   By the power and guidance of your Holy Spirit, O god, may our prayers never be empty words but an urgent response to your living Word—in non-violent direct action for positive change, in bold, clear, specific acts of solidarity, liberation, healing and compassion, readily sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. May our prayers today hold in our hearts those in this community whom we hope feel your healing presence in their lives as we pray for…We thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ, and the assurance of resurrection.

All:     God, in your grace, transform with world.

One:   Open our hearts to love and to see that all people are made in your image, to care for creation and affirm life in all its wondrous diversity. Transform us in the offering of ourselves to that we may be your partners in transformation to strive for the full, visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ, to become neighbours to all, as we await with eager longing the full revelation of your rule in the coming of a new heaven and a new earth. We thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ, and the assurance of resurrection.

All:     God, in your grace, transform the world.  Amen.

Hymn – “In the Bulb There is a Flower”

In the bulb there is a flower, in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Benediction

May we always walk gently upon the Earth,
in right relationship,
nurtured by your love,
open to the wind of the Spirit,
taking only what we need,
always open to the needs of others,
making choices that bring well-being,
living with generosity,
striving for justice,
honouring all with reverence,
reconciling and peacemaking,
mindful of those who will come after,
recognizing our proper place as part of your creation.

Grant us the strength and courage, Creator God, for such a radical transformation into your Kingdom. Amen.

Sung Response:

Christ is alive and comes to bring good news to this and every age,
Till earth and sky and ocean ring with joy, with justice, love and praise.