Hybrid Church, Sixth Sunday After Epiphany, February 12, 2023

 

Hybrid Church,

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany,

February 12, 2023

 

Rev. Sally Bullas

Musician: Steve Smith

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                                                                (Rev. Dr. James Bryan Smith)

“Spiritual life is not a life of laws and precepts but a life of participation, affection and love; a life mingled and mixing with God.”                                                                                                                                      

(invitation to sit in silence)

Introit: Gather Us In                                                                                                  MV #7 

Gather us in, ground us in you.

Gather us in, ground us in you.

Gather us in, gather us in, 
ground us, ground us in you.

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                                                                                                          (Enfleshed)

One:  Living God, Your Divinity is expressed through our bodies! 

All:    Intimacy, connection, and mutuality— 

One:  Sacred Wisdom learned through our bodies. 

All:    Creativity, grief, and praise— 

One:  Sacred Wisdom learned through our bodies. 

All:    Boundary-setting, resistance, and rest— 

One:  Sacred Wisdom learned through our bodies. 

All:    We gather in body and breath, in wisdom and wonder. The             Holy is with us and we are with Them!

Hymn:  Let Us Build a House                                                                                      MV #1

1Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,

a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;

here the love of Christ shall end divisions:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

 

2Let us build a house where prophets speak and words are strong & true

where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.

Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;

here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

3Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat;

a banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.

Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;

as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

4Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone

to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.

Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;

let us bring an end to fear and danger:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

5Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard

and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.

Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Opening Prayer                                                                                        (Uniting Church of Australia) 

Let there be joy in our coming together this morning.
Let there be truth heard in the words we speak and the songs we sing. Let there be help and healing for our disharmony and despair.
Let there be silence for the voice within us and beyond us.
Let there be joy in our coming together.
Let us be nurtured in the presence of God                                                                                                                                        

(a time of reflection)

Passing of the Peace

One:    The peace of Christ be 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

First Reading: Sirach 15:15-29 (NRSV, adapted)                Reader: Tim Leadem

If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.  The Holy One has placed before you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.  Before humankind are life and death, and whichever is chosen will be given.
For great is the wisdom of God who is mighty in power and sees everything; God’s eyes are on those who fear God, and God knows every deed of humankind.  The Holy One has not commanded any one to be ungodly, and has not given any one permission to sin.

 

Psalm 119 (VU #838 Part One)                                                                Reader: Tim Leadem

Refrain: “Happy are they who follow your law, O God!”

Happy are those who live a blameless life,

who follow your law, O God.

       Happy are those who keep your decrees,

       who seek you with their whole heart.

They also do no wrong but walk in your ways.

       You have given your precepts 

       for us to keep diligently.   R

O that my ways might be steadfast

in the keeping of your statutes.

       Then I will not be put to shame,

       when I hear all your commandments.

I will truly thank you from the heart,

when I learn your righteous decrees.

       I will keep your statutes. 

       O do not utterly forsake me.   R

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9                                        Reader: Tim Leadem

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Gospel Reading                                                           Reader: Tim Leadem

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 5:21-26 (NRSV)

‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

       

       Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

       All:           Praise be to Jesus Christ       

 

Reflection:                      “It’s A Matter of Choice”

Silent Reflection

Hymn: He Came Singing Love                                                                 VU #359  

1He came singing love

and he lived singing love;

he died singing love.

He arose in silence.

For the love to go on

we must make it our song;

you and I be the singers.

 

2He came singing faith

and he lived singing faith;

he died singing faith.

He arose in silence.

For the faith to go on

we must make it our song;

you and I be the singers.

3He came singing hope

and he lived singing hope;

he died singing hope.

He arose in silence.

For the hope to go on

we must make it our song;

you and I be the singers.

 

4He came singing peace

and he lived singing peace;

he died singing peace.

He arose in silence.

For the peace to go on

we must make it our song;

you and I be the singers.

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.

Offering Invitation

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                                                                                     (worshipwords.co.uk, adapted)
One:  Gracious God.  Bless our offering.
All:    Help us use it to share your love.
One:  Gracious God.  Bless our lives.
All:    Use each of us to share your love.
          Amen.

Prayers of the People                                                                                                      

One:  Gracious God,                                                                Betty Schultze

All:    Hear Our Prayers

Communion Hymn: One Bread, One Body                                     VU #467  

Refrain:

One bread, one body, one Lord of all,

one cup of blessing which we bless.

And we, though many, throughout the earth,

we are one body in this one Lord.

 

1Gentile or Jew, servant or free,

woman or man, no more.  R

 

2Many the gifts, many the works,

one in the Lord of all.  R

 

3Grain for the fields, scattered and grown,

gathered to one, for all.  R

We Celebrate at the Table                 (Namaste Church of the Vineyard, adapted)

One:  Let us open our hearts to the Presence among us.     

]All:   The Spirit of God is with us today.

One:  Sing out in thanks and praise to the Holy One.

All:    Hallelujah!  Sing God’s praise!

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 heaven, creation sings your praise.

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

One:  Our Creator God is the power of life, love and being that flows             through the universe.

All:     Jesus, the compassionate one, stood up for justice and     revealed the good news of our connectedness with God and with all people.

One:  In Christ, we have the power and the capacity to give people an             experience of God…

All:     by living fully, loving with our whole heart, and striving to be all we can be. 

One:  As a people walking together in faith, we are engaged in the search for meaning and the quest to be connected with the      Source and Sustainer of all that exists.

All:    As one body, and in Spirit-filled community, we come                 together at this table to break bread and share the cup.

One:  We bring together our lives and our giftedness and we                                   remember the life Jesus gave to us.

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:  On the night before Jesus died, he took bread, blessed and 

          broke it, (bread is broken) and gave it to his friends at table with him saying: 

All:    “Take and eat, this is my body, given for you.  

          When you         eat of it, remember me.”  

One:  That same night he took wine, blessed it and poured it out 
          (wine is poured) and gave it to them saying: 

All:    “Drink this all of you. This is the cup of the new covenant.              When you drink of it, remember me.”

One:  We give thanks that Jesus so clearly and courageously linked             our loving and dying with living on with God.  
All:    We rejoice that Jesus lives on in us…that death is not the             end, but rather a transformation into new possibilities. 

One:  We celebrate the Spirit of new life active in our lives as it was in             the life of Jesus.  

 

The Prayer of Jesus (sung)                                                                                        VU #959 Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name,

your Kin-dom 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 kin-dom, the power
and the glory are yours,

now and forever.

One:  Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion: 
All:    let us fill our hearts with our own compassion—towards             ourselves and all living beings.

One:  We are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same              source of life.

All:    As we partake of the bread and wine, we accept God’s                blessing and open ourselves to the Spirit of Love in our                         midst.

One:  The bread of compassion.  

          The cup of community. 

          (Communion is served)

 

Prayer After Communion

One:  May our hearts be filled with wisdom and spirit so that we may             listen to the Spirit, the Voice Within, that guides us in reclaiming                   and living anew as our sacred selves.  
All:    May we discern the power to live life fully, to love                                     extravagantly, and be filled with the grace and passion to                  act courageously in the way of our faith.  Amen.

 

Hymn: Sent Forth by God’s Blessing                                                                    VU #481

1Sent forth by God’s blessing, our true faith confessing,

the people of God from this dwelling take leave.

The supper is ended, O now be extended

the fruits of this service in all who believe.

The seed of Christ’s teaching, receptive souls reaching,

shall blossom in action for God and for all.

God’s grace did invite us, God’s love shall unite us

to work for the kingdom and answer its call.

2With praise and thanksgiving to God ever living,

the tasks of our everyday life we will face.

Our faith ever sharing, in love ever caring,

embracing God’s children of each tribe and race.

With your feast you feed us, with your light now lead us;

unite us as one in this life that we share.

Then may all the living with praise and thanksgiving

give honour to Christ and the name that we bear.

Thank You

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.

Right/The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories,

Zoom feeding you, challenging you.

Left:  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!