Hybrid Worship 19th Sunday of Pentecost, 4 OCTOBER 2026, Minister: Mona Smart Music: Frances Armstrong

The law of the Lord is perfect,    reviving the soul;

 the decrees of the Lord are sure,                   

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.    Psalm 19: 7-8

Hybrid Worship

19^th Sunday of Pentecost

4 OCTOBER 2026

Minister: Mona Smart

Music: Frances Armstrong

We acknowledge that 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!

Words for Worship

Words of response are in bold & italics

Prelude

Gathering Words

Acknowledgement of the Land

We prayerfully acknowledge with thanksgiving that we gather on the unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw people. Gracious God, help us to seek a new relationship with the first peoples here, one based in honour and respect. Amen.

Call to Worship                                                               2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Sprit, be with you all.

And also with you.

Lighting of Candle                                                                        Episcopal Church

(Lighting of the candle)

Holy God,

You are the lamp for all who wander in the wilderness,
you go before us as beacon and guide.
Light our way to bring us home to the

land you have prepared for us. Amen.

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

Prayer of Forgiveness                    (Episcopal Church, Contemporary Resources)

Merciful God,

We have often looked to outward gifts and measures

when what we need is your love in our hearts.

We have often aimed toward where we stand in relation to others, when what we desire is the integrity your love bestows.

We confess our need for your illumination and to be made whole.

Prayer for Illumination and Grace (Episcopal Church, Contemporary Resources)

God forgives all our errors and heals all our infirmities.

God lifts us from the low places and sets mercy and love upon us. God fills us with goodness and renews our lives.

Thanks be to God.

Affirmation of Faith                                                              United Church

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.

Peace of Christ                                                                         John 14:27

Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you;” my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

The Peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Let us share the peace of Christ with one another.

Prayer Before the Reading of Scripture                 The Wisdom of Solomon

(A petition for God’s Holy Wisdom)

Wisdom is brilliant; she never fades.

By those who love Wisdom, she is easily seen; by those who seek her, she is readily found. She is a breath of God’s power, an image of God’s goodness, the eternal light and mirror of God’s glory. Now let Wisdom do all things, renew all things, and pass into holy souls everywhere to make them friends of God. Amen.

 

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20        Reader: Nancy Hetherington Peirce

Then God spoke all these words, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet   

your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything  

that belongs to your neighbor.”

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

This is the Word of God

Thanks be to the Holy Wisdom of God.

Gospel Reading                                         Reader: Nancy Hetherington Peirce

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

God be with you.

And also with you

The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to Matthew.

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

Matthew 21:33-46

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect hisproduce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

This is the Gospel of Christ.

Thanks be to God

Word: A Reflection

Hymn of Response: Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise    VU #264

Life & Work of the Church

Prayers of the People                                                         Paddy Waymark                                                                                                   

Holy Spirit, your love abides in us,

      Hear our prayers.

The Lord’s Prayer (sung)                                                        VU #959

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 forever. Amen.

Offering (offering now to be collected)

Offering Prayer                                                           Based on Romans 12:1

Ever-present God,

with these offerings we present also ourselves:

all that we have been, all that we are, and all that we shall become.

Give us the resolve to walk in your way and to use these gifts to do your work in the world. Amen

Closing Hymn: God Be With You Till We Meet Again         VU #423

Blessing & Sending

Glory to God,

whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen

Postlude

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