Home Church Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 2, 2021, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church Fifth Sunday of Easter May 2, 2021 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 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.

Greeting
One:    The joy of the risen Christ be with you all.

All:      And also with you    

Call to Worship                                            

One:    Life is forever open-ended.

            No vine or tree is meant to be forever fruitless.

All:      Loss is only for a little while

            and joy comes in the morning.

One:    Despondency and despair

            have no permanent ground in this universe.

All:      Faith, hope and love are gifts that last forever.

            But the greatest of these gifts is love.

 

Opening Prayer   - Elaine Bidgood Sveet, Gathering, edited

Holy God, meet us in this place. Meet us where we each are, be it sick of heart, worried, worn, joyful, peaceful or content. Meet us where we are and touch us with your love. Move us to be thoughtful; move us to be faithful; move us to love as you love; and move us toward you, to rejoice with you and praise you. In the name of our risen Saviour we pray, Amen.

 

Hymn: Praise, My Soul, the God of Heaven   -   VU #240

1Praise, my soul, the God of heaven;

glad of heart your carols raise;

ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven

who, like me, should sing God's praise?

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise the Maker all your days!

 

2Praise God for the grace and favour

shown our forebears in distress;

God is still the same forever,

slow to chide, and swift to bless:

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Sing our Maker's faithfulness!

 

3Like a loving parent caring,

God knows well our feeble frame;

gladly all our burdens bearing,

still to countless years the same.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

All within me, praise God's name!

Prayer of Confession:  BAS

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

God’s love is the foundation of all of creation; there is nothing more fundamental to the world in which we live and there is nothing more readily available to us. In the sea breeze, in bird songs, in the support of a chair, a nourishing meal, in the quiet mysteries within you, receive the love of God. Thanks be to God.

Peace of Christ

Because God loves us, God supports our journey of wholeness, and offers us peace through the risen Christ who comes and dwells with us even in this unusual space. Let us unmute ourselves and share Christ’s peace with one another!

            One: The Peace of Christ be with you all!

            All:   And also with you!

Special Music: Spring (by Vivaldi)   Arranged and played by Turner Ivany

First Reading: 1 John 4:7-21  -   Nancy Hetherington Peirce

Listen for the word of God to you this morning . . .

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

 

Psalm 22:25-31  -  Owen McCooey

From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,

and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Gospel Reading   -   Owen McCooey

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 15:1-8

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection:   Rev Karen Hollis                                 

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  -  Betty Schultze      

One:    Loving God,

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 on 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

Minute for Mission    -  Gail R                   

Hymn: I Love to Tell the Story  -   VU #343

1I love to tell the story

of unseen things above,

of Jesus and his glory,

of Jesus and his love.

I love to tell the story

because I know 'tis true;

it satisfies my longings

as nothing else can do.

[Refrain:]

I love to tell the story,

'twill be my theme in glory,

to tell the old, old story

of Jesus and his love.

2I love to tell the story

more wonderful it seems

than all the golden fancies

of all our golden dreams.

I love to tell the story,

for some have never heard

the message of salvation

from God's own holy Word. [Refrain]

3I love to tell the story,

for those who know it best

seem hungering and thirsting

to hear it like the rest.

And when, in scenes of glory,

I sing the new, new song,

'twill be the old, old story

that I have loved so long. [Refrain]

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!