Home Church, Sixth Sunday of Easter May 9, 2021 Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church Sixth Sunday of Easter May 9, 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. Today is Covenanting Sunday, where we are establishing our covenant (the covenant we passed at the congregational meeting 2 weeks ago) with God.

 

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.

 

Centering & Stillness

On this Covenanting Sunday, we acknowledge the long road we have walked together . . . from the days of St. Martin’s and Gabriola United through the establishing of Christ Church Gabriola, calling your first minister, starting a visioning process, living through COVID. As we center ourselves for worship this morning, I invite you to remember the journey and offer authentic gratitude to God for that journey . . . let us offer together authentic gratitude for God bringing us through to this Covenanting Sunday.

 

Greeting   -  BAS
One:    Alleluia! Christ is risen.

All:      The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

One:    May his grace and peace be with you.

All:      May he fill our hearts with joy.

 

Opening Prayer  -   BAS

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, so that we may truly love you and worthily praise your holy name. Amen

 

Hymn:  Joyful, Joyful We Adore You  - VU #232

1 Joyful, joyful, we adore you,

God of glory, life and love;

hearts unfold like flowers before you,

opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,

drive our fear and doubt away;

giver of immortal gladness,

fill us with the light of day.

 

2 All your works with joy surround you,

earth and heaven reflect your rays,

stars and angels sing around you,

center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain,

flowery meadow, flashing sea,

chanting bird and flowing fountain,

sound their praise eternally.

 

3 You are giving and forgiving,

ever blessing, ever blest,

wellspring of the joy of living,

ocean depth of happy rest!

Source of grace and fount of blessing,

let your light upon us shine;

teach us how to love each other,

lift us to the joy divine.

 

4 Mortals, join the mighty chorus

which the morning stars began;

God's own love is reigning o'er us,

joining people hand in hand.

Ever singing, march we onward,

victors in the midst of strife;

joyful music lifts us sunward

in the triumph song of life.

 

Invitation to Confession

As we turn to our time of confession, I invite you to recall our congregational journey again and acknowledge before God parts that don’t bring a smile to your face. Perhaps there are things about our congregational journey of beginning that don’t need addressing exactly, but still weigh on you. During the prayer of confession I’m going to invite you to consider what you are ready to put down before God: perhaps hurts, regrets, resentment, frustration . . . as we establish this covenant, I invite you to lighten your load so that we can all walk forward together with greater ease, with lightness and life. Please join me in the prayer of confession:

Prayer of Confession  - BAS

(with palms down as a gesture of putting down)

One:    Loving God, as we recall the long journey we have walked together, we breathe deeply, offering to you the things we no longer need to carry, things that have been weighing us down that we have not been able let go.

All:      Loving God, receive my hurt, my anger, my regret, my resentment, my frustration, my desire to control, my distrust and disappointment; receive them, O God, I don’t wish to carry them any longer.

 

Silent prayer of confession

Assurance of Grace

(with palms up as a gesture of receiving)

God’s love is specific for each of us. God loves you in just the way you need in the places you need today, and offers you grace for the things that you leave behind. Receive the new life God offers today. 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!

 

First Reading: James 2:8, 12-18 - Don Butt

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

You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

Psalm 98   - Don Butt

Sing to God a new song,

       for God has done marvelous things.

Your right hand and your holy arm have brought victory.

You have made known your salvation, and revealed before the nations your saving power.

You have remembered your steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;

       all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;

       break into joyous praise, sing psalms.

Sing psalms to God with the harp,

       with the harp and melodious voice.

With trumpets, and the sound of the horn

       make a joyful noise before our sovereign God.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,

       the world, and its inhabitants

Let the rivers clap their hands,

       the hills sing together for joy before God.

You come to judge the earth, O God,

to judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

 

Gospel Reading -  Angela Nutter

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 15:9-17 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

 

One:  This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:    Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection  - Rev Karen Hollis (see attached)                                       

Silent Reflection

                                      

Affirmation of Faith  Let us affirm our faith . . .

You are the new song.

You are the next beat in my heart.

You are the praise and possibility.

You are the present and the future.

I believe the Light of the World has come this day.

I see it now in all days.

Those gone and those to come aflame in love.

Your love wrapped in human form,

Your love learned in justice and in mercy,

Your love risen over death.

I believe love has come on this day.

I believe love has and will always come.                                            

 

Covenanting with God

Thank you to Vision Team As we turn now to establishing our covenant with God, let us extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Vision Team for the extensive time and energy they put into this process – muted claps and waves are encouraged.

Covenanting In a moment we are going to proclaim the covenant together, aloud, but muted. We will be following different voices for each section of the covenant, and then we will all unmute for the very last line and proclaim it together. “We covenant as a community in Christ’s name. Amen.”

 

The Christ Church Gabriola Covenant

Gracious and Loving God,

We, Christ Church Gabriola, followers of Jesus Christ in a shared Anglican and United Church ministry, covenant as a community with You:

 

to WORSHIP You

•     with openness to the movement of Your Spirit, by using inclusive language, musical diversity, creativity, and the grounding we have in our traditions

 

to CONNECT with each other and our neighbours

•     by welcoming and integrating into our community all persons as Your children

•     by lovingly supporting each other as we grow in Christ, creating opportunities to connect with each other in fellowship

•     by finding ways to become more multi-generational

•     by sharing the good news of Your love with everyone

to LEARN AND GROW together

•     by developing our faith through scripture studies, prayer and other spiritual practices

•     by exploring the Christian tradition and a range of theological studies

•     by informing ourselves about issues of social and ecological justice

•     by using respectful communication

•     by examining issues from multiple perspectives

•     by offering to the wider community opportunities to safely engage in conversations about matters important to life, faith and the world

 

and to SERVE our community and the world

•     by living in love and justice, and by working for the well-being of the earth and its inhabitants

•     by serving the island community through offering our own resources, collaborating with other agencies, and drawing on our connections with the wider community

•     by listening and responding to a changing world, recognizing its needs so we know how to serve

 

We covenant as a community in Christ’s name. Amen.

 

Covenanting Prayer

Let us pray . . .

God of all creation, bless this covenant we have made, and seal it with your love and grace. May this covenant be our joy, our life, our vision, our accountability and our hope for the future. As we live into this vision, partner with us and grow your life in us, O God. Help our community to grow deep roots on this island, that our congregational life and acts of service may be in constant conversation and feed each other with love and inspiration. Together with you, may we grow your kingdom in this place and bear the fruit you call into this world. We are One in Christ and you are our God; we make this covenant today in response to your call; you are our faithful God and we look to you to lead us. In Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Prayers of the People   - Paddy Waymark  (see attached)    

One:    Your Light sustains us,

All:      Hear Our Prayers

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

 

Offering  - Hiromi Bradshaw

 

Offering Prayer                                

Hymn: God, Whose Love is Reigning o’er Us  v. 1,3,4,5            VU #399

1 God, whose love is reigning o’er us,

source of all, the ending true;

hear the universal chorus

raised in joyful praise to you:

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

worship ancient, worship new.

3 Holy God of ancient glory,

choosing man and woman, too;

Abraham’s faith and Sarah’s story

formed a people bound to you.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

to your coveant keep us true.

 

4 Covenant, new again in Jesus,

Starchild born to set us free;

sent to heal us, sent to teach us

how love’s children we might be.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

risen Christ, our Saviour he!

 

5 Lift we then our human voices

in the songs that faith would bring;

live we then in human choices

lives that, like our music, sing:

Hallelujah, hallelujah, joined

in love our praises ring!

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!