Sept 02 Bulletin

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 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:
"There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their toil." Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NRSV)

*Hymn: “This is the Day” #412 VU

Call to Worship:
We come in awe of
the sculptor,
the architect,
the artist,
the designer,
the potter,
the Lord, our God.
Let us worship the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
http://spillbeans.org.uk

*Hymn: This Is God’s Wondrous World” #296 VU

Prayer:
Let the favour of God be upon us and prosper for us the work of our hands -- O prosper the work of our hands! Psalm 90:17
Creator God,
on this Labour Day Sunday, we thank you for the blessing of work
We ask for strength to complete each day.
We ask for rest when we are weary.
We ask your guidance for those who are seeking employment, and we ask that you be with those -- whom we may never see or meet -- who work tirelessly each day for the good of us all. Amen. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/472737292119058034/

*The Peace:
As we greet one another, we share signs of peace and reconciliation in and as the body of Christ.

Special Music

Reading: “On the Seventh Day” (Genesis 1, paraphrased)http://spillbeans.org.uk

*Hymn: “Each Blade of Grass” #37 MV

Minister's Message

*Hymn: “God Who Gives to Life Its Goodness” #260 VU

Invitation for Offering:
Let’s take a few moments now to pray and meditate on our daily work—its joys, challenges, worries, and relationships—and how these might be more fully dedicated to God in the coming year.

*Offering Hymn: “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me” #575 VU

Prayer of Dedication:
O God, you have bound us together in this life. Give us grace to understand how our lives depend on the courage, industry, honesty, and integrity of all who labour. May we be mindful of their needs, grateful for their faithfulness, and faithful in our responsibilities to others. Amen.
Written by Reinhold Niebuhr and reprinted, with permission, from page 534 of Celebrate God’s Presence.

Prayers of the Gathered Community
Let us invite the Spirit of God to blow through our lives and our world, as we lift our needs to God in prayer.
& The Prayer Jesus Taught, sung version #959 VU

Blessing: For Work, by John O’Donohue, page 146 of To Bless the Space Between Us
*Closing Hymn: “To Show by Touch and Word” #427 VU