Hybrid Church September 10, 2023 “Season of Creation – Let Justice and Peace Flow” Rev. Sally Bullas

Hybrid Church September 10, 2023
“Season of Creation – Let Justice and Peace Flow”

Rev. Sally Bullas

Musician: Dorothy Dittrich

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!

Welcome & Announcements

Whether you are gathering in person, on zoom or worshipping at home with the bulletin, welcome! We are one community, one in the body of Christ. 

Centering & Stillness                                                                                 

Our Dilemma: “We’ve changed the planet, changed it in large and fundamental ways. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen.” 

                                   (Bill McKibben, as cited in ACEN’s “Season of Creation” resource)

Our Hope: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”                                                                           (Amos 5:24)

                                                (invitation to sit in silence)

Introit: River vs 1                                                                                                       MV #3

River, rush-a-down to the ocean blue,

River from a mountain high.
River, as you do what rivers do,

River, draw the Spirit nigh.  x2

Lighting of the Christ Candle  

One:  Christ is our Light.

All:    Thanks be to God!

(the Christ Candle is lit)

Greeting
One:   The grace of Christ Jesus, the love of God, 

           and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All:       And also with you

Opening Words                                 

One:  Blessed be the One who creates all things.
All:    The Holy One’s love is new every morning.

One:  This is the day the Creator has made. 

All:    Let us rejoice and be glad in it.                     

Hymn: Called By Earth and Sky                                                                      MV# 135

Opening Prayer                                 
One:  Holy God, your mercy is over all your works, and in the web of life each creature has its role and place. 

All:    We praise you for ocelot and owl, cactus and kelp, lichen and whale; we honor you for whirlwind and lava, tide and topsoil, cliff and marsh. 

One:  Give us hearts and minds eager to care for your planet, humility to recognize all creatures as your beloved ones, justice to share 

the resources of the earth with all its inhabitants, and love not limited by our ignorance. 

All:    This we pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.                                                 

Passing of the Peace

One: Peace with yourself.
          Peace with Creation.
          Peace with one another.
          The peace of Christ be always with you. 

All:    And also with you.

You are invited to turn to those directly around you and share Christ’s peace. Those on zoom, please unmute and share with one another.

Reader: By the gift of your Spirit, calm and quiet our souls that we may hear your Word today and be lifted up to walk with you. In Christ’s        name we pray. Amen

Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)                                                   Reader: Susan Brockley

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in 

your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the 

gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 149                                                                                                               VU #873

Refrain (1):  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!

Sing to God a new song;

       give praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;

       let the children of Zion exult in their Sovereign!

Let them praise God’s name with dancing;

       let them sing God’s praise with tambourine and harp!   R

For you, O God, take delight in your people;

       you crown the humble with victory.

Let the faithful exult in their glory;

       let them sing for the joy as they feast.   R

Let God’s praise be on their lips,

       the two-edged sword in their hands,

to bring the nations to justice,

       and call to account the peoples,

to bind their rules with fetters,

       their great ones with bonds of iron,

to execute on them the sentence decreed.

       This is the glory of all God’s saints!   R  

Gospel Reading:                                                                         Reader: George Westarp

As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel. 

Reader: God be with you.  
All: And also with you

Reader:           The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to Matthew

All:  Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

Matthew 18:15-20

‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

All: Praise be to Jesus Christ       

Reflection: “Creation Justice”

Hymn: God of the Sparrow                                                                            VU #229 

Offering

Doxology                                                                                                                             CP #669

Praise God the Source of life and birth,

Praise God the Word, who came to earth.

Praise God the Spirit, holy flame.

All Glory, honour to God’s name.

Offering Prayer                                                  (Collect for the Healing of Creation)

Gracious God, the air sings with songs of glory, water flashes silver with creation, and the forests bloom with leaves for healing nations. May your light and love fill our hearts and souls and minds, that we may share your abundant grace with the world. Amen.

Prayers of the People                                                              Tim Leadem                                                                                              

One:  Loving God,

All:    Hear Our Prayers

Communion Hymn: Come Touch Our Hearts vs 1,2,4,5      MV #12

A Statement of Faith            

We believe in God, who creates all things, 

who embraces all things, who celebrates all things, 

who is present in every part of the fabric of creation. 

We believe in God as the source of all life, 

who baptizes this planet with living water. 

We believe in Jesus Christ, the suffering one, 

the poor one, the malnourished one, the climate refugee, 

who loves and cares for this world and who suffers with it. 

And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life, 

who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, 

who moves with God and who moves among and with us today. 

We believe in everlasting life in God. 

And we believe in the hope that one day God will put an end to death and all destructive forces.

We Celebrate at the Table

One:  God be with you…

All:    and also with you.

One:  Lift up your hearts...

All:    we lift our hearts in prayer.

One:  Let us give thanks to God.

All:    It is good to give God thanks and praise.                                                                                                                                        

One:  Praise and thanks are yours, our Creating God. From the dust of 

          the earth you shaped human beings in your own image, and you 

          filled the earth and seas and skies with a myriad of wonders. 

All:    Yet we consistently turn your generosity into our scarcity, your elegance into our meanness, and your simplicity into our corruption. 

One:  Though we poison and destroy your good Creation, you continue to offer us your abundance. In your mercy, you have redeemed us through your Son, Jesus, transforming death into life. 

All:    Through the Spirit you continue to call us into covenant with you—for the restoration of Creation and the reconciliation of all people. 

One:  And so we give you thanks, rejoicing with all of Creation, as we             join the saints and angels in their unending hymn:

Sanctus                                                                                                                                                MV #203

O holy, holy holy God, O God of time and space.

All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace.

Hosanna in the highest heav’n, creation sings your praise.

And blessed is the One who comes and bears your name always.

One:  In the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, and gave thanks to God.  He broke the bread, gave it to his friends and said:

All:    “Take and eat, for this is my body, given for you. Do this in  remembrance of me.” 

One:  He took the wine, and gave thanks to God, Creator. He gave it to 

          his friends saying:

All:    “This is my blood of the new covenant, shed for you and for 

          all creation for the forgiveness of sins. Every time you drink 

          of the wine, do this in remembrance of me.” 

One:  So we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Memorial Acclamation                                                                                               MV #204

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

One:  Merciful God, we come to this table seeking reconciliation: with us, with one another, and with all creation.

All:    Through these mysteries reconcile us to our world and empower us to restore your Creation and fulfill your will.

One:  Send your life-giving Spirit upon us, and upon this bread and wine. 

          Stir in us the creative and redeem the destructive. 

All:    Heal your stricken world, that the soil, the skies, and the seas 

          may be filled with your life anew. 

One:  Fill every heart with the sure and certain hope that we shall enter 

          into the fullness of your joy, when your whole Creation is justified 

          by faith and sanctified by love, and you are all in all. 

The Prayer of Jesus:                                                                                    

One:  Our Father/Mother in heaven

All:    You are also at home in the air, soil, forests and oceans 

One:  Hallowed be your name

All:    By the care we take of your Creation 

One:  Your kin-dom come

All;    All that you see is good

One:  Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven

All:    Your will to till and care

One:  Give us this day our daily bread

All:    That all may have enough to live life in fullness 

One:  Forgive us our trespasses

All:    Our greed, our exploitation, our lack of concern for other 

          species and for future generations

One:  As we forgive those who trespass against us

All:    By reconciliation with justice and peace.

One:  Lead us not into temptation

All:    The temptation to equate dominion with exploitation

One:  And deliver us from evil

All:    The evil of destroying your gift of creation

One:  For yours is the kin-dom

All:    Yours, Lord, not ours

One:  The power and the glory 

All:    In the cross and resurrection 

One:  For ever and ever 

All:    You are the beginning and you are the end.  Amen.

One:  So be it.

One:  In the breaking of this bread, we remember God’s creation and the groaning of this planet earth, bruised by thoughtlessness and greed.  

(bread is broken)

One:  We pray for the day when the earth in all its fullness will reflect the 

          glory of its Creator. 

(wine is poured)                                                                   

One:  The gifts of God for the people of God. 
All:    The bread of life!

          The cup of blessing!                                                      

(Communion is served)

Post Communion Prayer

One:  Holy One, you feed us with bread from heaven and the gifts of mother earth. In this communion, you have drawn us into your embrace and you call us to friendship with one another. 

All:    You have given us the gift of reconciliation. 

One:  May we who have tasted that gift from you, offer ourselves in peace and humility to one another. And may you always walk among us as friend.

All:    Amen. 

Hymn: Touch the Earth Lightly                                                                      VU #307

Thank You

Blessing                                                         

One:  Let us join with the Earth and each other—

All:    To bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh 

          the air, to protect the animals, to treasure the trees,         to gaze 

          at the stars, to cherish the human community, to heal the 

          Earth, to remember the children. 

One:  Let us go forth to put our words into action.

 

(Unless otherwise noted, the liturgy for today’s service is drawn from “Season of Creation:  A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes (2023),” a resource of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network)