We Gather Together
Musical Prelude
Announcements
Promise of Divine Welcome
Centering Song: Lord, Prepare Me, MV 18
Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;
with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you. (2x)
Call to Worship:
| One: | We gather here this morning |
| All: | seeking to ground our lives in your love. |
| One: | We gather here this morning |
| All: | knowing that you sustain all life on earth. |
| One: | We gather here this morning |
| All: | All:to praise and worship God, the Creator. |
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Listening in the Light of Reconciliation
Opening Hymn: God, We Praise You for the Morning, VU 415
God, we praise you for the morning;
hope springs forth with each new day,
new beginning, prayer, and promise,
joy in work and in play.
God, we praise you for creation,
mountains, seas, and prairie land.
Waking souls find joy and healing
in your bountiful hand.
God, we praise you for your Spirit,
Comforter and daily friend,
restless searcher, gentle teacher,
strength and courage you send.
God, we praise you for the Saviour,
come that we may know your ways.
In his loving, dying, rising,
Christ is Lord of our days.
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Christ is Lord of our days!
Opening Prayer written by Cheryl Stenson
| One: | Creator God, we contemplate the vastness of your creation. We seek to grasp infinity and eternity, but our humanness restricts our vision, and we, in awe, simply are left to wonder. |
| All: | We are one people, on one planet, in one universe, in the infinite kingdom of you. |
| One: | Nurturing God, the blessings of this home, this earth, are overwhelming. Nature satisfies hunger, both for food and for beauty. Gratitude abounds and we thank you. |
| All: | Our home is here, on this side of the spirit journey. Nature is your reflection and our teacher. |
| One: | Devoted Parent, we turn to our neighbours, our siblings on this planet Earth, and discover hearts that reflect our own confusion, our own faith, our own mistrust, and our own passion and we know we are not alone. |
| All: | Blessed by you, we are part of each other and each of us is a part of you. We journey together in your light and thank you for love. |
| One: | Eternal Spirit, we are indeed your people, coming from and returning to you. Yet we discover that you are at our side all along. |
| All: | Though we are the blessed, we bless your name and celebrate your presence through all time and space. |
| One: | Creator, Christ, and Spirit, we proclaim your way, honour your truth, and journey in your light. |
| All: | Amen. |
Invitation to Confession
Song: Listen, God Is Calling, MV 97
Listen God is calling, through the Word inviting,
offering forgiveness, comfort, and joy.
Prayer of Confession
A time of silence
Words of Assurance
| One: | Hear this good news: God’s memory of our misdeeds and misdirection is short. But God’s loving grace is long and stretches over our whole lives. In Christ Jesus, God has let loose a stream of love that perpetually flows as a patient, persistent, power. By this, God has forgiven us and invites you and me to join in the journey of justice and joy. May this blessed forgiveness multiply itself in our life with others. |
| All: | Thanks be to God! |
Choral Anthem
Children’s Hymn: I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me, VU 575
I’m gonna live so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna live so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna work so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna work so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna sing so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna sing so God can use me
anywhere, Lord, anytime!
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art 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
forever and ever. Amen.
Children’s Prayer:
God, be in my eyes and in my looking.
God, be in my ears and in my listening.
God, be in my mouth and in my speaking.
God, be in my heart and in my understanding. Amen.
God Calls and We Respond to the Word
Psalm 14, with sung response:
Dear God, who loves all humankind,
Forgive our foolish ways.
The foolish have spoken in their heart,
And said “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable things;
There is no one who does what is good.
God looks down from heaven upon us all,
to see if any are wise and seek after God.
But all have gone astray; all alike are corrupted;
there is no one who does good; no, not one. R
Have they no knowledge, all those who do evil?
They devour my people like so much bread,
and do not pray to God.
But see, they will tremble with fear,
for God is on the side of the righteous.
Do not mock the hope of the poor,
for God is their refuge.
O that deliverance for God’s people
would come forth from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of the people,
then shall Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. R
Luke 15:1-10
“Finding What is Lost” – Rev. Cynthia O’Connell
Hymn: Amazing Grace, VU 266
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
this word my hope secures;
God will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
than when we’d first begun.
Invitation to the Offering
Music
Doxology: Grant Us, God, the Grace, VU 540
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
with a spirit large and free,
that ourselves and all our living
we may offer faithfully.
We Pray
Prayers of the People
Song: Send Your Holy Spirit, VU 370
Send your Holy Spirit on your gathered people,
merciful and loving God, hear us, as we pray.
Poem: Primary Wonder by Denise Levertov (1923–1997)
Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng’s clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.
Closing Hymn: How Firm a Foundation, VU 660
How firm a foundation, you servants of God,
is laid for your faith in God’s excellent word!
What more can be said than to you has been said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
‘Fear not, I am with you; O be not dismayed!
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen and help you, and cause you to stand,
upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.
‘When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.
‘When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
my grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply:
the flame shall not hurt you; I only design
your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.
‘The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not – I will not desert to his foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I’ll never – no, never – no, never forsake!’
Commissioning:
| One: | Go into the world: dance, laugh, sing, and create. |
| All: | We go with the assurance of your blessing, O God. |
| One: | Go into the world: risk, explore, discover, and love. |
| All: | We go with the assurance of your grace, O God. |
| One: | Go into the world: believe, hope, struggle, and remember. |
| All: | We go with the assurance of your love, O God. Thanks be to God! |
Benediction
Song: Go You Now in Peace
Go ye now in peace, and know that the love of God will guide you.
Feel his presence here beside you, showing you the way.
Go ye now in peace, go ye now in peace.
Postlude
