Home Church 15th Sunday after Pentecost September 13, 2020 Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church 15th Sunday after Pentecost September 13, 2020 Rev. Karen Hollis

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Preparing the Space Around Us

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! Welcome if you are gathering on zoom or if you are Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! Welcome if you are gathering on zoom or if you are worshipping at home with the bulletin. We are one community and all part of the body of Christ. I invite you to prepare the space around you

so that for the next hour you can be fully in this worship experience, not to keep out the realities of the world, rather to focus us in the midst of it all on God. If you need to go and get something or shift something around you, feel free.

Preparing the Space within Us

For the next 5 weeks we will be observing a Season of Creation along with both the United and Anglican churches. This is a time to reflect on creation and our relationship with it. Our worship during these weeks

will be based mostly on Earth Gospel by Sam Hamilton Poore, which outlines a 4 week series of daily readings, reflections, and blessings

on this topic. We will observe the following themes over the 5 weeks: Creation, Wisdom, Humankind’s Vocation, Sin and God’s Recreation, and Sabbath. Now let us prepare the space within us for a time of worship. I invite you to sit quietly, perhaps with feet on the floor, taking

a couple of deep breaths and bring yourself into this moment. Open yourself to the presence of God who is with us and within us . . . as you intentionally open yourself to God, open yourself also to what you need from this time of worship.

Opening Words  Joseph Renville

Many and great, O God, are Thy things,

Maker of earth and sky;

Thy hands set the heavens with stars,

Thy fingers spread the mountains and plains.

Lo, at Thy word the waters were formed;

Deep seas obey Thy voice.

Opening Prayer                                                        
Christ open our eyes that we may see the light of creation.

Christ open our ears that we may hear the song of the earth.

Christ open our hearts that we may give and receive love.

Hymn: Joyful, Joyful   v. 1,2 VU #232

1Joyful, joyful, we adore you,
God of glory, life and love;
hearts unfold like flowers before you,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
drive our fear and doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.

 

2All your works with joy surround you,
earth and heaven reflect your rays,
stars and angels sing around you,
center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain,
sound their praise eternally.

Prayer of Confession                                                 

Let us bring our full selves before God most loving . . .

Before I condemn the actions of others, the ways they use and abuse your creation,

Let me not be blind, loving God, to my own ways and habits, those practiced in my home and within my own soul that turn away from the needs of your creation. Give me a heart of humility and a commitment to change.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace Hear these words from Paul’s letter to the Romans . . . I’m sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus.

Peace of Christ

Christ is with us and in the space between us. 

Let us share the peace he brings!

              The Peace of Christ be with you!

              And also with you!

First Reading: Exodus 14:19-31 Christine Blackburn

The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.  Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

                                                                      

Gospel Reading    Charlie Blackburn

One:      God be with you.       

All:        And also with you.

One:      The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Matthew

All:        Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 6:25-33 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection:  Power of Creation  (Reflection attached below)        

Silent Reflection

A New Creed: Let us affirm our faith . . .

We are not alone,
    we live in God’s world.

 We believe in God:
    who has created and is creating,
    who has come in Jesus,
       the Word made flesh,
       to reconcile and make new,
    who works in us and others
       by the Spirit.

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church:
    to celebrate God’s presence,
    to live with respect in Creation,
    to love and serve others,
    to seek justice and resist evil,
    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
    God is with us.
We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

Prayers of the People   Betty Schultze (attached below)

One:    God of love,

All:      Hear Our Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen.

Offering Pat Armstrong

Let us pray . . .

Loving God, we come to you now in prayer, and in thanksgiving for being your people. We come to you again and again, for as the chaos of this year swirls around us, we find stillness in you . . . where we can connect as a community, heal and be renewed. In Christ Jesus we pray, Amen.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn: How Great Thou Art   v. 1,2                                             VU #238

1O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
The power throughout the universe displayed;

Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee;
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee;
How great thou art! How great thou art!

2When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze; [Refrain]

Blessing

If you are with another person, you’re invited to bless each other, taking every other line.

One:      The Creator’s blessing be yours on your road, on your journey,    guiding you, cherishing you.

Female:The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories, feeding you, challenging you.

Male:     The Spirit’s blessing be yours, wind and fire, joy and wisdom, comforting you, disturbing you.

All:        The Angel’s blessing be yours, on your house, on your living, guarding you, encouraging you. Let us walk together, a community on a journey, sustained in God’s blessing. Amen!

One:      Let us go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All:        Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

Hymn: How Great Thou Art   v. 3,4   VU #238

3And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin;

Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee;
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee;
How great thou art! How great thou art!

4 When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, "My God, how great thou art!" [Refrain]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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