30 July 2023
God Invites Us To Gather
Words of Welcome
Acknowledgment of the Land –
Today we are worshiping on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, to the Attawandaron and the Haudenosaunee. These are the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit. The indigenous people have a deep connection to the land as well as the waters in this area – Lake Ontario, Sixteen Mile Creek, The Credit River and all of the creeks and tributaries that flow through this land. We acknowledge the relationship the first peoples had with the land and waters here and we acknowledge the importance of these continuing relationships, and the relationship between all peoples.
Our Christ Candle is lit. We give thanks for the light of Christ in our life and in the work and worship we do together. If you are at home I invite you to light your own candle to celebrate the light that lives in our world. Let us prepare our hearts and minds for our worship, as we listen to our prelude.
Prelude: “Raindrop” by Frederic Chopin
Call to Worship
God is with us always and calls us each by name.
When we pass through difficulties and stress,
God is with us and calls us by name.
When we are discouraged and feel lost and alone,
God is with us and calls us by name, and heals us.
Blessed be God who knows us and calls us by name.
Let us worship God.
*Hymn: Crashing Waters At Creation VU 449
Prayer of Approach & The Lord’s Prayer
God of Hope and Light, in the midst of darkness and difficulties you offered new life to people who lived in uncertainty.
Today that light comes to us as we remember the baptism of Jesus, and reflect on what it means to be your children,
what it means to live in your love and hope
and how water can be a symbol of healing and wholeness in our faith.
Open our hearts this day and remind us that you have marked us as people of hope and light. May this time of worship fill us with hope courage to take our place with you on that river bank, to answer the call you place on our hearts, to serve you, by serving your world.
These prayers we bring in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray together saying
Our Creator
in heaven
Hallowed be your name
Your kindom come
Your 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 yours is the kindom
The power and the glory
Forever and ever
Amen.
Children leave for Light Connection with Alex
Prayer of Confession
God of new beginnings, we confess that we have not always paid much attention to the baptism of Jesus.
We don’t always see ourselves as standing in that long line of those marked for service; and therefore it is easy for us to dismiss this as a nice story and nothing more.
Yet you have called us by name, knowing each of us, and loving us.
We know that there have been times we have behaved in very unloving ways
we have not always reflected your love and peace.
Forgive us for our blindness.
Turn us around.
Help us to be people who not only recognize the light,
but who are willing to live in that light,
bringing help to others in your name.
This in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
People of God, you are known and loved by the Creator. You are marked as God’s chosen ones to bring hope and peace to others. Be at peace and live in hope. AMEN.
The Word of God Proclaimed
Prayer of Illumination (Cathy Dodge Smith)
Living God, as we listen to your word today
Give our hearts the wisdom to receive
the love that is offered.
Send your Spirit to fill us with hope and your resurrection promise.
Amen.
Reading: Luke 3:15-17,21-22
As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,[a] 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21 Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;[a] with you I am well pleased.”[b]
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Water and Faith: Remembering our Song
Hymn: Open My Eyes That I May See. VU 371
Our Response to God
Offering Prayer – Let us now give thanks and offer to God the gifts given throughout the week.
Loving God, you have shown us the true meaning of generosity, blessing us with abundance. Thank you for calling us by name and giving us the opportunity to be part of your work of peace and redemption in this world. We ask that you receive our gifts and use them to further your purposes in our lives and in the lives of others. Amen.
Meditative Music – “Morning” from the Peer Gint Suite
By Evard Grieg
Prayers of the People
Loving God, we thank you for the gift of your Spirit which has always been and will always be with us, helping us to live together in loving community, guiding us and sustaining us when we need wisdom and strength for the road ahead.
This fills us with courage God as we answer the call to to reflect your light and hope in the world.
May the memories of baptism, and memories of other kinds of sacred moments and encounters with you nourish our hearts and serve to remind us of your faithfulness which never dies.
May we have the courage and the faith to open ourselves to the holy moments that unfold in the small and common moments in our life.
We thank you for the life we share with one another as members of this congregation and for the mystery of the unity which is ours with all humanity and all creation.
Help us to find ways to remember the connections that we all share in this world,
regardless of the differences that too often separate us;
Our prayers this day are for all, those who we easily consider within our circle and those on the margins who we seek to include;
God we pray for our world heaving under the impact of the climate crisis.
We pray for those who are impacted by extreme weather, extreme heat, crop failure and loss of habitat.
We pray for those grieving, and especially we hold the family of David Johnson in our prayers following the celebration of his life.
We pray for those who are receiving medical treatments and those preparing for and recovering from surgeries. We pray for all who need your healing and hope.
We pray for people in positions of power and leadership,
those who are making decisions that impact the future of their countries and our world.
We pray for the people of Israel and Palestine,
For the people of Ukraine
And all who are impacted by aggression and wars, all who feel called to protest and protect democracy.
We pray for all creating pathways to peace.
We pray for the refugees who are seeking new life and who are struggling with the new life they have found in Canada.
We pray for all impacted by the housing crisis, all who are hungry, all who are worried about the economy.
God these are difficult days for our society and for our world. We pray that those who need help this season be given it, and we pray that in the midst of our own stress and fears that we may we be given opportunities and wisdom to help others, share love, reflect light and hope and make this world a more comfortable and hopeful place for someone we meet this week.
Help us God to remember who and whose we are.
Help us live into the love you give us and the hope you promise us.
We pray God that in all the different seasons of our lives and in all the many roles we are called to fulfill or journeys that we willingly or unwillingly find ourselves on,
you will be with us, a clear and faithful presence,
bringing us courage, wisdom and hope for the journey and the choices we make.
Remind us who we are.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
*Hymn: Come O Fount of Every Blessing. VU 559
*Benediction
Sung Blessing: Go Now In Peace
