Home Church, 4th Sunday in Lent, March 27, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church, 4th Sunday in Lent, March 27, 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: Open Our Hearts    recorded by Strathdees MV #21

Open our hearts, open our minds.

Open our lives to you O loving God.

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, adapted

One:  The Spirit of God that breathes us into life, whispers: Come home.

All:    We come home to the open arms of Love.

One:  We come as we are.

All:    We come with joy.

One:  We come hungry for nourishment.

All:    We come beaten down and burnt out.

One:  We come eager to find our place in the whole.

All:    We come bringing all of who we are;

One:  our grief and our anger

All:    our regrets and our longings.

One:  We give thanks, O God for Christ’s eternal welcome. Gather us together in this time of worship to experience with you a sense of home. Amen.

Hymn: Let Us Come into Your Presence  recorded by Tom Hunter

Let us come into your presence, O God, O God

Let us come into your presence, O God (repeat)

Let us gather here for worship, O God, O God

Let us gather here for worship, O God (repeat)

Let us stand and lift our voices, O God, O God

Let us stand and lift our voices, O God (repeat)

Let us come into your presence, O God, O God

Let us come into your presence, O God (repeat)

Prayer of Confession           BAS

Let us bring our whole selves before God, confident in God’s grace.

Why do we do what we don’t want to do, O God? Why do we sabotage ourselves? Why do we indulge the parts of us that don’t serve our highest needs? Accompany us as we search within ourselves for places that need healing; help us to acknowledge our limitations and our need for your grace.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace 

God runs towards us with infinite love and grace. May the mercy we experience transform us, body, mind and soul.

Gospel Reading     Reader: Don Moser

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 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

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:  Holy God,

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: Why I Give . . .  Brian Field                                                                                

Offering Prayer 

Loving God, we are grateful for this community and for the dream and vision you have given us. Bless us in all we do and all we strive to be; bless each person and all the ways we give, all the ways we serve, that by coming together we may make your love known.

Hymn Video: Take This Heart of Mine    Recorded by Strathdees

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.

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

A-M:  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!