Home Church, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 23, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 23, 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. 

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.

Introit: Come Now, O God of Peace - VU #34

 Come now, O God of peace, we are your people;

 pour out your spirit that we be one body.

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:  This body of Christ is a holy collection of lives and stories.

All:    Braided into each other, the one is made of the many.

One:  This body, God has woven together:

All:    That we may find our hope in each other.

          That we may hold grief in community.

          That we may remember no life is disposable.

One:  By the Spirit, we are made one body.

          Joined together, let us seek the flourishing of all.

Opening Prayer     Enfleshed

Creator of all, though you have shaped us as an ecosystem, we are surrounded by illusions of individualism. People suffer in isolation. Even joy is hoarded. May we be a community brave and vulnerable enough to live otherwise. That we may become so much more together than we could ever be alone. Amen.

Hymn: We Are One As We Come v. 1, 2    VU #402

1 We are one as we come,

as we come, joyful to be here,

in the praise on our lips

there's a sense that God is near.

We are one as we sing,

as we seek, we are found;

and we come needful of God's grace

as we meet, together in this place.

2 We are one as we share,

as we share brokenness and fear,

in the touch of a hand

there's a sense that God is here.

We are one as we care,

as we heal, we are healed;

and we share warmth in God's embrace

as we pray together in this place.

Prayer of Confession        Audry Asaad, adapted

As we come to the prayer of confession today, I invite you to consider from what you want to be free today. We come to this time each Sunday to unburden ourselves, to offer over to God the things that are too heavy to carry, that no longer serve us, things that keep us from being the people we are called to be.

One:  From the love of my own comfort

          From the fear of having nothing

          From a life of worldly passions

          Deliver me O God

All:    From the need to be understood

          And from a need to be accepted

          From the fear of being lonely

          Deliver me O God

One:  From the fear of serving others

          from the fear of death or trial

          And from the fear of humility

          Deliver me O God

All:    Draw us close to you, O God, 

          And remind us that we don’t need 

          the things that keep us from your goodness.          

          In relationship with you, we do not want for anything

          because we are filled with your love.

Silent Prayer of Confession

 

Assurance of Grace           Enfleshed, adapted

God does not bind us to our regrets or forever hold us to what we once believed. Each day you are a new creation, beloved, and essential to the whole.

Peace of Christ 

Please unmute your mics for the Peace of Christ. Though we are many, we are one in Christ. Though we are in different places, we can share the peace of Christ with one another and celebrate our unity.

N-Z: The Peace of Christ be with you!

A-M: And also with you!

First Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10     Reader: Don Butt

All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a    Reader: Betty Schultze

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.

Gospel Reading  Reader: Don Butt

One:  God be with you.            

All:    And also with you.

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

All:    Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 4:14-21 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection                

Silent Reflection

New Zealand Creed

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

You, O God, are supreme and holy.

You create our world and give us life.

Your purpose overarches everything we do.

You have always been with us.

You are God.

              You, O God, are infinitely generous,

              good beyond all measure.

              You came to us before we came to you.

You have revealed and proved

your love for us in Jesus Christ,

who lived and died and rose again.

You are with us now.

You are God.

              You, O God, are Holy Spirit.

              You empower us to be your gospel in the world.

              You reconcile and heal; you overcome death.

              You are our God. We worship you.

Prayers of the People - Susan Brockley

One:    Our Rock and our Redeemer,

All:    Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s 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: Minute for Mission  -   Pat Armstrong                  

Offering Prayer 

While we live in the illusion that we are separate, O God, you teach us again and again that we are One, that we are all connected. No one is safe until all are safe. Bless every effort to stop this virus and keep the people of the world connected to one another and to the things that matter. Amen.

Hymn: In Christ there is no East or West    VU #606

1 In Christ there is no east or west,

in him no south or north,

but one great fellowship of love

throughout the whole wide earth.

2 In Christ shall true hearts ev’rywhere

their high communion find.

His service is the golden cord

close binding humankind.

3 Join hands, then, people of the faith,

whate’er your race may be.

All children of the living God

are surely kin to me.

4 In Christ now meet both east and west,

in him meet south and north.

All Christly souls are joined as one

throughout the whole wide earth.

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.

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!