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: | God calls us all to faith. |
| All: | In faith, we come to worship. |
| One: | God calls us all in love. |
| All: | In love, we come to worship. |
| One: | God calls us all to prayer. |
| All: | In prayer, we come to worship. |
| One: | God calls us all to share our praise. |
| All: | In praise, we come to worship. |
| One: | Let us worship with all that we are as we gather this day. |
Opening Hymn: Touch the Earth Lightly, VU 307
Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently,
nourish the life of the world in our care:
gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,
trust for the children tomorrow will bear.
We who endanger, who create hunger,
agents of death for all creatures that live,
we who would foster clouds of disaster,
God of our planet, forestall and forgive!
Let there be greening, birth from the burning,
water that blesses and air that is sweet,
health in God’s garden, hope in God’s children,
regeneration that peace will complete.
God of all living, God of all loving,
God of the seedling, the snow and the sun,
teach us, deflect us, Christ reconnect us,
using us gently and making us one.
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Listening in the Light of Reconciliation
One: We acknowledge that this is only the first step towards living in right relationship.
All: May we listen today,
May we learn today.
May we love today.
Song: We Are All One People, MV 141
We are all one people, we all come from one Creation way on high.
We are all one nation under one great sky, you and I.
We are all one people, we are all one colour in God’s eyes.
Opening Prayer
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:
| One: | Giver of life, in the midst of a plundered earth we groan with creation: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
| One: | Giver of life, in the midst of poisoned waters we groan with creation: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
| One: | Giver of life, in the midst of polluted air we groan with creation: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
| One: | Giver of life in the midst of mountains of waste we groan with creation: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
| One: | Giver of life, in the midst of a world at war we groan with creation: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
| One: | Giver of life, we who are made in the image of God have gone astray, and creation groans with us: |
| All: | have mercy on us. |
A time of silence
Words of Assurance
Choral Anthem
Children’s Hymn: I Can Feel You Near Me, God, MV 48
I can feel you near me, God, I can feel you near.
Yes, I know you’re with me, God, I feel you here.
I can feel you near me, God, I can feel you near.
Yes, I know you’re with me, God, Heaven is here.
Refrain:
And I’ll jump for joy I’m singing Alleluia
Jump for joy for you I will jump for joy
I’m singing Alleluia Jump for joy for you. (repeat)
I can feel you loving me, yes, I know you care.
God, I know you’re loving me; always, everywhere.,
I can feel you loving me, yes, I know you care.
God, I know you’re loving me; I know you’re there.
Lord’s Prayer (paraphrase by Jim Cotter):
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and shall be.
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth!
With the bread that we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for 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
Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Psalm 146, with sung response:
Give your praise to God, O my soul!
Praise God, O my soul. As long as I live I will praise God.
Yes, as long as I have life I will sing praises to God.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in any mortal,
for in them there is no help.
When they breathe their last they return to dust;
then their plans come to nothing.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
the One who keeps faith for ever,
who gives justice to the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry. R
God sets prisoners free, restores sight to the blind.
God straightens those who are bent;
loves those who are just.
God cares for the stranger in the land,
and sustains the widow and orphan;
but the way of the wicked God turns to ruin.
God shall reign forever, O Zion,
your God for all generations. R
Luke 16:19-31
“If I were a rich man” – Rev. Cynthia O’Connell
Hymn: We Cannot Own the Sunlit Sky, MV 143
We cannot own the sunlit sky, the moon, the wildflow’rs growing,
for we are part of all that is within life’s river flowing.
With open hands receive and share the gifts of God’s creation,
that all may have abundant life in ev’ry earthly nation.
When bodies shiver in the night and weary, wait for morning,
when children have no bread but tears, and war-horns sound their warning,
God calls humanity to wake, to join in common labour,
that all may have abundant life in one-ness with their neighbour.
God calls humanity to join as partners in creating
a future free from want or fear, life’s goodness celebrating,
that new world beckons from afar, invites our shared endeavour,
that all may have abundant life and peace endure forever.
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: O Great Spirit by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man
Oh, Great Spirit,
I pray for myself in order that I may be healed.
Oh, Great Spirit,
I pray for my close friend who is sick and needs help.
Oh, Great Spirit,
I pray for the world so that all these atomic weapons
And other bad things that we point at each other
Will someday soon all be destroyed.
I pray that adversaries will communicate
And all of the mistrust will be healed.
Oh, Great Spirit,
I pray for the environment.
I pray for its cleansing
And the renewal of our Mother Earth.
Closing Hymn: God Who Sings Us into Being (words by H. O’Driscoll, music by M. Case)
God who sings us into being, now we sing your praise as one;
As the rivers seek the ocean, in its deeps becoming one.
As the Raven warmly brooding births her children ‘neath her wing;
By the love of the Great Spirit drawn together, so we sing.
Sing we now of mighty waters bringing justice, flowing deep;
Sweeping us from old oppressions, bringing hope to those who weep.
May your church in every nation sing your kingdom into birth,
Bringing peace to your creation, and the greening of your Earth.
Songs of praise may not be ended till a thankful song we raise
For your Son who condescended, walking all our human ways.
On a Cross we glimpse His glory, in His risen life we live.
Thirsty traveler, hidden Saviour, living water He will give.
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 you now in peace, and know that the love of God will guide you.
Feel his presence here beside you, showing you the way.
Go you now in peace, go you now in peace.
Postlude
