Home Church 2nd Sunday after Christmas, January 2, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church 2nd Sunday after Christmas, January 2, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

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

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!

Preparing the Space Around Us

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. We are in the Christmas season, celebrating the birth of Christ in the world again.

Preparing the Space within Us

Let us prepare now 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.

Prelude: Angels, from the Realms of Glory v. 1,3,4                   VU #36

1 Angels, from the realms of glory,

wing your flight o'er all the earth;

ye, who sang creation's story,

now proclaim Messiah's birth:

come and worship, come and worship,

worship Christ, the new-born King.

3 Sages, leave your contemplations;

brighter visions beam afar;

seek the great desire of nations;

ye have seen his natal star:

come and worship, come and worship,

worship Christ, the new-born King.

4 Saints before the altar bending,

watching long in hope and fear,

suddenly the Lord, descending,

in his temple shall appear:

come and worship, come and worship,

worship Christ, the new-born King.

Greeting                                                         
One:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 

          and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All:     And also with you       

Call to Worship    Enfleshed

One:   There is a Wisdom that goes before us

All:     This Wisdom weaves through all life

One:   There is a Love that is ancient and still unfolding

All:     From this Love, we are birthed

One:   In this Love, we are held

All:     To this Love, we will return

One:   There is a Holy Presence that embraces us eternally

          This Presence is here, bearing the flesh of the earth

All:     Thanks be to God, Divinity with us and among us.

Opening Prayer     Enfleshed

Incarnate One, you bear flesh like ours still today. You live among us. You cry our tears. You eat at our tables. You feel our pain and share in our joy. And like our ancestors, still, we struggle to recognize you. Transform us in mind and heart that we may learn to perceive. Amen.

Hymn: O Little Town of Bethlehem v. 1,3,4                                 VU #64

1 O little town of Bethlehem,

how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

the silent stars go by;

yet in thy dark streets shineth

the everlasting light;

the hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight.

3 How silently, how silently,

the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

the blessed gift of heaven.

No ear may hear his coming;

but in this world of sin,

where meek souls will receive him, still

the dear Christ enters in.

4 O holy Child of Bethlehem,

descend to us, we pray;

cast out our sin, and enter in;

be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels

the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us,

our Lord Emmanuel.

Prayer of Confession     VU #63

One:   God of stable, stars, and surprises, of light and hope and new life:

All:     open our eyes and hearts to your presence in our world; 

One:   forgive our obsession with property and possessions; 

All:     forgive our compromises and narrowness of vision.

One:    Open us to your grace, that we might hear again the song of the       angels, and respond with a song in our hearts, and in our lives.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

In God’s Word we live and move and have our being; God's grace is always with us. Indeed to receive it, we need only say yes and open ourselves to God's grace. God is with you and for you today and every day. Thanks be to God!

Peace of Christ 

Christ has been born to us in a new way. Let us celebrate the peace Christ brings to us and all the world.

            One: The Peace of Christ be with you!

            All:   And also with you!

First Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 (NRSV)    Reader: Brad Nixon

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.       

Reflection     Shelagh Huston

Silent Reflection

Gospel Reading       Reader: Tim Leadem

One:  God be with you.           

All:     And also with you.

One:  The Good News of Jesus Christ according to John;

All:     Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 1:1-18 (KJV) 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection    Jacqui Parker-Snedker              

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                                                                        Susan Brockley

One:  Loving God,

All:     Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s Prayer                                                                   Ecumenical Version 

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.

Minute for Mission ~ Video:  “A Fresh Start: Aria's Story"                           

Offering Prayer 

Hymn: Once in David’s Royal City v. 1,2,4                                  VU #62

1 Once in royal David's city

stood a lowly cattle-shed,

where a mother laid her baby

in a manger for his bed.

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ her little child.

2 He came down to earth from heaven,

who, with God is over all,

and his shelter was a stable,

and his cradle was a stall.

There among the poor and lowly

lived on earth our Saviour holy.

4 And our eyes at last shall see him,

through his own redeeming love;

for that child who seemed so helpless

is our Lord in heaven above;

and he leads his children on

to the place where he is gone.

Blessing                                                                                Iona Community

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.

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

N-Z:       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!