Home Church,4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 30, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church,4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 30, 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: Dona Nobis Pacem - CCG Bell Choir & Allannah Dow

Dona Nobis Pacem.

Grant us peace.

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:  People of God, Divine Mystery comes to dwell among us.

          With hospitality, let us turn our attention to the Spirit.

All:    We welcome unfamiliar ideas.

          We open to surprising revelations.

          We celebrate a multiplicity of truths.

One:  People of God, 

          there is freedom in letting go of the need to be certain.

          Let us trade individual arrogance for collective humility:

All:    That fresh wisdom may emerge,

          Love may deepen,

          and paths of collective liberation may manifest.

One:  Come, Spirit, come.

Opening Prayer  -  Enfleshed

Holy One, when the world is full of so much uncertainty, we can cling tightly to what we know. We acknowledge that our need to feel secure can become a barrier to transformation. May your Spirit guide and support us  we seek to let go of the need to control through knowledge or ideas. Amen

Hymn: Let There Be Light - VU #679

1 Let there be light, let there be understanding,

let all the nations gather, let them be face to face;

Open our lips, open our minds to ponder,

open the door of concord opening into grace;

2 perish the sword, perish the angry judgement, 

perish the bombs and hunger, perish the fight for gain;

hallow our love, hallow the death of martyrs,

hallow their holy freedom, hallowed be your name;

3 your kingdom come, your sprit turn to language,

your people speak together, your spirit never fade;

let there be light, open our hearts to wonder,

perish the way of terror, hallow the world God made.

Prayer of Confession   -  Audry Asaad, adapted

One:  From the love of my own comfort

          From resistance to the moving Spirit

          From fear of the unknown

          Deliver me O God

All:    From the need to be right

          From a need to be accepted

          From the fear of humility

          Deliver me O God

One:  Draw us close to you, O God,

          and give us the grace to let go of

          the things that keep us from your

          presence in our lives. 

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

When we turn to God to God with honesty, we give God access to our

hearts again. God offers the love, grace, and assurance that you are still God’s own, now and always. Receive this grace today.

Peace of Christ 

One:  The peace Christ brings is healing, wholeness and reconciliation.

N-Z:  The work of Christ’s peace in our midst prepares us to receive gifts   of the Spirit.

A-M:  Let us celebrate these gifts and share this peace with one another!

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

A-M:  And also with you!

First Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (The Message)  -  Reader: Angela Nutter

The word of the Lord came to me – this is what it said:

“Before I shaped you in the womb,

    I knew all about you.

Before you saw the light of day,

    I had holy plans for you:

A prophet to the nations—

    that’s what I had in mind for you.”

But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.

    I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”

God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’

    I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.

I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.

    Don’t be afraid of a soul.

I’ll be right there, looking after you.”

    God’s Decree.

God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,

    “Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!

See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do

    among nations and governments—a red-letter day!

Your job is to pull up and tear down,

    take apart and demolish,

And then start over,

    building and planting.”

Second Reading: Psalm 71:1-6 (Voices United)  -  Reader: Angela Nutter

In you, O God, I seek refuge;

may I never be disappointed.

       In your righteousness, save and rescue me;

       incline your ear and deliver me.

Be a sheltering rock for me,

a fortress where I may find safety;

       for you are my rock and my stronghold.

Rescue me, O God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

       For you are my hope, my trust from my youth,

       from the time of my birth I have leaned on you.

Gospel Reading   -  Reader: Tim Leadem

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 4:21-30 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection  (see attached)     

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  -   Reader: Paddy Waymark  (see attached)   

One: Steadfast God

All:    Hear Our Prayers

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                                               

God has filled our lives with sources of wisdom and surrounded us with an abundance of divine messengers. The land is a teacher. The prophets, a lighthouse. Our bodies, carriers of stories ancient and intimate. For God dwells here among us, incarnate in flesh, at work in our congregation and the world. For these gifts of divine presence, let us acknowledge our offerings in thanks.

Offering Prayer 

Guiding One, we know there are times we have turned against your messengers. When our certainties are troubled or our comfort is threatened, we can push truth away. Still, we pray our community becomes a faithful and trustworthy friend to all your prophets and wisdom. Bless this offering to furthering the good news in all its liberative forms. Amen.

Hymn: How Firm a Foundation  -  VU #660

1 How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,

is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!

What more can he say than to you he has said,

to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

2 “Fear not, I am with you; O be not dismayed,

for I am your God, and will still give you aid.

I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,

upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

3 “When through the deep waters I call you to go,

the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,

for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,

and sanctify to you the deepest distress.

4 “When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,

my grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply.

The flames shall not hurt you. I only design

your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.

5 “The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to its foes.

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”

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!