Bulletin July 15, 2018
July 15, 2018
Welcome, Gathering, and Announcements:
(Portions of the service printed in bold are spoken by the whole congregation. The asterisk (*) indicates congregation stands, but please feel free to sit at any time. Children are always welcome at our services. Books/toys are available at the front and back of the sanctuary.)
Candle Lighting & Centring:
In the heated days of summer, we seek, and sometimes find, that cool, green space; a sanctuary for a weary soul... a space apart; a holy place where Creation’s Spirit moves and renewed life begins.
Call to Worship, with sung response: “For the Beauty of the Earth” #374 VU (please remain seated)
One: This is the day that God has made, that God has called “good”, that God offers as gift!
All: Sung response, vs 1 For the Beauty of the Earth #226 VU
One: The quiet dark of night offers shelter and restoration. The sun’s bright warming rays bring light and life. The Earth, the ground, the soil we walk upon, made holy by the Creating One.
All: Sung response, vs 2 For the Beauty of the Earth #226 VU
One: Gathered into community, young and old, faithful and fretting, filled with wonder and worry, we bring our hopes and hurts, our love for our planet home, our longing for the healing strength of the Spirit.
All: Sung response, vs 3 For the Beauty of the Earth #226 VU
One: Come, whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey. The One who creates all, loves all, welcomes all meets us here. Come let us open our hearts, minds and spirits to receive the Love that never lets us go. Come, let us worship together!
MARY WESTFALL, april2016.uccpages.org/KeepItintheGroundLiturgy.rtf
All: Sung response, vs 4 For the Beauty of the Earth #226 VU
Prayer for and Assurance of Grace:
Gracious God, you blow life's breath into our lungs.
We live in you, we live through you.
You call us to live lives marked by forgiveness, love, hope, compassion.
And we strive to do so.
But, in all honesty, sometimes our lives are marked by resentment, dis-interest, fear, self centeredness.
God of Grace, when we get it right celebrate with us, when we miss the mark gently guide us back to the path of wisdom.
...time of silent prayer...
God is gracious and merciful. God celebrates our successes and mourns our missteps. God continues to call us back to the Way with forgiveness and grace and mercy.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
http://stpaulsuc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/bulletin-july-2015.pdf
Sharing Peace and Blessings:
God’s peace be with you.
And also with you.
We join in passing the peace as a spiritual practice of extending ourselves in forgiveness and reconciliation.
Special Music
A Reading from Luke 18:9-14
This parable contrasts the demeanor and the prayers of two men... speaking against self-righteous pride and commending the virtue of humility.
The Reading of Psalm 24
A song affirming that the earth is the Lord’s, along with all its inhabitants, because God is the one who created it, but only people of purity and integrity can enter God’s sanctuary.
*Hymn: Creator God, You Give Us Life #27 MV
Minister’s Message
*Spiritual: “Standin’ in the Need of Prayer”
Refrain:
It's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord
Standing in the need of prayer
It's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord
Standing in the need of prayer
1. Not my brother, nor my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer (repeat)
2. Not the elder, nor the deacon…
3. Not my father, nor my mother…
4. Not the stranger, nor the neighbour…
Invitation for Offering:
Let us open our hearts and our lives to God and to one another. The pledges of our hearts, and our financial offerings will now be received.
*Offering Hymn: “What Can I Do?” #191 MV
*Prayer of Dedication:
You lift us up; now let us lift up others. These gifts are to encourage and empower, to raise up issues and advance solutions. May lives be lifted up and renewed through them, in our congregations, and beyond; in the name and in the way of Jesus. Amen.
Written by Karen Boivin. Reprinted, with permission, from page 45 of gathering Pentecost 1, 2018
Prayers of the Gathered Community
& The Prayer Jesus Taught
*Hymn: “For the Healing of the Nations” #678 VU
* Blessing:
Those things, generous God, that your servants have prayed for,
give us grace to work for;
and in the purpose of your love,
answer our prayers and fulfill our hopes.
May the rich and daily blessings of God
be with us as we journey on.
http://www.firstunited-bathurst.ca/docs/bulletins/Bulletin%20August%2018,2013.pdf
*Choral Closing: ‘When You Walk from Here’ #298 VU