Home Church 16th Sunday after Pentecost September 20, 2020 Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church 16th Sunday after Pentecost September 20, 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

We are currently in the Season of Creation that is observed both by the United and Anglican churches. This is a time to reflect on creation and our relationship with it. Our worship during these 5 weeks is 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 are observing the following themes: 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 John Chrysostom (c. 347-407)

[God] hath placed His Creation in the midst,

before the eyes of all people;

in order that they may guess the Creator from His works. . . .

This it was which the prophet signified when he said,

The heavens declare the glory of God.

How then, tell me, do they declare it?

Voice they have none; mouth they possess not; no tongue is theirs!

How then do they declare?

By means of the spectacle itself.

For when thou seest the beauty,

the breadth, the height, the position,

the form, the stability thereof during so long a period;

hearing as it were a voice,

and being instructed by the spectacle,

thou adorest Him who created so fair and admirable a body!

The heavens may be silent,

but the sight of them emits a voice,

that is louder than a trumpet’s sound.

Opening Prayer    Kathy Galloway, Iona
The sky does it simply, naturally day by day by day.

The sun does it joyfully, like someone in love,

like a runner on the starting line.

The sky, the sun, they just can’t help themselves.

No loud voices, no grand speeches,

but everyone sees, and is happy with them.

Make us like that, Lord,

so that our faith is not in our words but in our lives,

not in what we say but in who we are,

passing on your love like an infectious laugh:

not worried, not threatening, just shining,

like the sun, like a starry night,

like a lamp on a stand, light for life –

your light for our lives. Amen.

Hymn: Spirit of Gentleness   VU #375

Spirit, spirit of gentleness,

blow through the wilderness, calling and free,

Spirit, spirit of restlessness,

stir me from placidness, wind, wind on the sea.

 

You moved on the waters, you called to the deep,

then you coaxed up the mountains from the valleys of sleep;

and over the eons you called to each thing;

“Awake from your slumbers and rise on your wings.”

 

You call from tomorrow, you break ancient schemes.

From the bondage of sorrow all the captives dream dreams;

our women see visions, our men clear their eyes.

With bold new decisions your people arise.

 

Spirit, spirit of gentleness,

blow through the wilderness, calling and free,

Spirit, spirit of restlessness,

stir me from placidness, wind, wind on the sea.

 

Prayer of Confession   U.N. Environmental Sabbath                                

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

Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand;

never to take from creation’s beauty more than we give;

never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;

never to deny to give our hands

for the building of Earth’s beauty;

never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand

that to destroy Earth’s music is to create confusion;

that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;

that to callously pollute her fragrance

is to make a house of stench;

that as we care for her she will care for us. Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

May the risen Christ, who fills all creation with his glory and grace, rest a hand on you this morning, offering the grace and peace you need today.

Amazing Grace    Turner Ivany on the CCG organ

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: Proverbs 8:1-3, 14-31  Translation by Robert Alter

Look Wisdom calls out,

  and discernment lifts her voice.
At the top of the heights, on the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand,

by the gates, at the city’s entrance,

  at the approach to the portals she shouts:
Mine is counsel and prudence,

  I am Discernment, mine is might.
Through me kings reign,

  and rulers decree righteous laws.

Through me princes hold sway,

  and nobles, all the judges of earth.

I, all my lovers I love,

  and my seekers do find me.

Riches and honour are with me,

  long-lasting wealth and righteousness.

My fruit is better than all fine gold,

and my yield, than the choicest silver.

On the path of righteousness I walk,

  within the ways of justice,

to pass substance on to my lovers,

  and their storehouses to fill.

The Lord created me at the outset of His way,

  the very first of His works of old.

In remote eons I was shaped,

  at the start of the first things of earth.

When there were no deeps I was spawned,

  when there were no wellsprings, water sources.

Before mountains were anchored,

  before hills I was spawned.

He had yet not made earth and open land,

  and the world’s first clods of soil.

When he founded the heavens, I was there,

  when He traced a circle on the face of the deep,

when He propped up the skies above,

  when He powered the springs of the deep,

when He set to the sea its limit,

  that the waters not flout His command,

     when He strengthened the earth’s foundations.

And I was by Him, an intimate,

  I was His delight day after day,

     playing before Him at all times,

playing in the world, His earth,

  and my delight with humankind.

Second Reading: Exodus 16:9-15

Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, 'Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.'" And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. The LORD spoke to Moses and said, "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'" In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

Reflection:   Rev Karen Hollis  Presence (Sermon attached)                                   

Silent Reflection

Apostle’s Creed: Let us affirm our faith . . .

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of the People Alie Lee

One:    (waiting to hear from Alie)

All:      Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s Prayer    New Zealand Prayer Book – Jim Cotter

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that 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 one earth.

With the bread 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

Offering   David Soy

Let us pray . . . We give thanks O God, for your love and how specifically you love each of us. When you created us to be in community, you also gave us a place to learn about love, to embody love and share it with each other and the world.  May love continue to be our teacher and our calling. 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: You Shall Go Out with Joy   VU #884

You shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace;
the mountains and the hills
Will break forth before you.
There'll be shouts of joy
and all the trees of the field
will clap, will clap their hands.

And the trees of the field will clap their hands,
the trees of the field will clap their hands,
the trees of the field will clap their hands,
while you go out with joy.

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!

 

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