5 November 2023
Remembrance Sunday
God Invites Us To Gather
Gathering Music – Piper Iain Gomme
Welcome & Announcements
Thank you for joining us today for our Remembrance service as we reflect today and on the week ahead on the sacrifices of Canadians throughout the ages. Members of The United Church of Canada have served in every major conflict since the church’s formation in 1925 and still do today. It is appropriate for us to affirm the lives lost in war, bring them to mind here with us as we worship in freedom and peace, and commit to working toward peace in our time.
Many thanks to everyone who are contributing in our service today, those who are regular participants – Dr. Deborah Henry, Eran Rozen, our choir, and our guest musicians Piper Iain Gomme and our trumpeter Jo-Anne Thompson. Thank you as well to Liturgical assistants Owen Wheable, Alan Wheable, to our scripture reader Arnaud, our greeter Jane, to Charlotte on livestreaming and Greg on sound.
Thank you as well to those who are hosting our coffee hour after church. I hope that you can stay for some refreshment and conversation.
A reminder that we will be having our Silent Movie fundraiser. Juno award winning organist Ian Sadler will bring The Charlie Chaplin movie Gold Rush to life for us on November 17. Tickets available at the door or after church.
Acknowledgment of the Land
We acknowledge that the land upon which we are privileged to worship is part of Treaty 14 and Treaty 22.
Today as we remember and honour those who gave their lives in the horrors of war for our freedom, we acknowledge that among them were many Indigenous peoples. In gratitude for the sacrifice they gave and in hope of relationships transformed, we commit to the work of reconciliation and seek to live with respect in creation. May there be peace and respect among all peoples, in our time.
And now I invite you to prepare your hearts and minds for worship as Owen and Al bring forward our Remembrance wreath.
Processing the Wreath & Prelude (with bagpipes)
Poem: In Flanders Fields – Owen Wheable, grandson of Alan Wheable
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
(John McCrae)
Hymn: O God Our Help In Ages Past VU 806
Call to Worship
This is a day when we remember.
We remember those who served in world conflicts
And we remember their families.
We remember a world torn apart
And we pray for a world put back together.
And most of all,
We remember that God is with us,
With us and for us
For justice and for peace,
For all God’s creation.
Come and let us worship God.
Prayer of Approach & The Lord’s Prayer
O God, at this annual time of remembrance,
our thoughts turn to the violence,
fear and pain of war.
Come gently in our worship this morning
That we may know your peace –
Not the peace of violence ignored and fear repressed,
but the true peace of evil confronted,
Injustice exposed,
and reconciliation achieved.
We pray in the name of the Prince of Peace
Who taught us to bring our prayers to you 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.
Time of Remembrance
Please stand as you are able
Hymn: O Canada. VU 524
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Do you hear the cries and anguish of the world?
We go, trusting in the Spirit’s companionship,
Listening for the guidance of God’s whispers,
Strengthened by Jesus’ touch.
Last Post
Moment of Silence & Lament
Reveille
Time of Intercession
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. Amen.
Anthem: Pachelbel’s Canon of Peace
The children and youth leave for Light Connection.
The Word of God Proclaimed
Prayer of Illumination (Arnaud Painvin)
God of all creation,
send your Holy Spirit among us this day,
that the seed of your Word might take root in our hearts,
and bear the fruits of peace, love, and justice for all.
Amen.
Reading: Mark 12:38-44 (Arnaud Painvin) on page 49 of the New Testament in your pew bibles.
As he taught, Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: What Can You Do?
Hymn: God Make US Servants of Your Peace. VU 676
Our Response to God
Introduction of Offering: Now let us take time to offer to God and give thanks for the gifts that have been given to our church community. Let us join together in our offering hymn, Take up His Song, MV 213
Offertory Music: Take Up His Song. MV 213
Offering Prayer
You have trusted us with a great abundance, O God. You have blessed us with immeasurable gifts. Not only do we bring our offerings forward, we also bring our whole lives asking that you would bless us and our gifts for the work of peace in our world. Amen.
Music for Reflection:
Prayers of the People
You God are with us in all the times of life to offer hope
and light and comfort.
We come to you now with thanks: thanks for our freedom; thanks for our relative peace;
thanks for our prosperity and security here in Canada.
On this Remembrance Sunday, we thank you,
especially, for the men and women who gave of themselves in times of war to help
to ensure the blessings that we enjoy. The names, the faces, the stories come to
us, once again, and we honour them, their courage, their sacrifice, their willingness to put themselves in harms way to help create a world of peace and freedom, a world transformed.
May we never forget. As we find ourselves drawn toward the cusp of war, yet again, help us still God, to bring about peace in our time.
Help us not lose sight of this vision of a world renewed and healed.
Help us God to live our lives fully and clearly pointing to your vision of peace, justice and hope for our world.
And when we get discouraged God, remind us that in your all things are possible. Remind us to be courageous, because you are overcoming all of the pain and trauma of this imperfect world.
On this Remembrance Sunday God we give thanks not only for our veterans and those who went before, but we give you thanks for those who kept life at home hopeful and live-able.
We give thanks for the women who worked so hard, often in new and different jobs to support the families and the economy.
We give you thanks for the chaplains that lived amidst the muck and mud, the horror and the pain of war,
who gave others courage and reminded them that even in the darkest of days, you never left this world God and that the whole time you were fighting to break in with hope and peace and light.
We give thanks for all who answer the call to service today.
Keep us faithful, O God, and give us
the encouragement that we need.
May we encourage one another in the faith and
ministry of Jesus Christ so that when things get dark in our world again, when things seem dark in our lives,
we can remember to have courage.
Even when others leave us, you never do.
You are faithful to us, and you are overcoming the sorrow of our world.
Thank you God,
May your light and hope of peace break in to this world, and may we have the wisdom and strength to work toward a world transformed.
Amen.
*Hymn: O Day of Peace VU 682
*Benediction
The world seeks light amidst the shadows. Jesus calls us to shine in the darkness.
May we, in our lives, be examples of God’s love.
Sung Blessing: Go Now In Peace