Hybrid Church  21 June 2026 “Fourth Sunday of Pentecost” National Indigenous Day of Prayer

Hybrid Church 

21 June 2026

“Fourth Sunday of Pentecost”

National Indigenous Day of Prayer

Rev. Sally Bullas

Musician: Frances Armstrong

 

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!

 

Words for Worship

Words of response are in bold & italics

 

Prelude

 

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.

 

Centering & Stillness                              Richard Wagames, One Story, One Son      

“There is enough for everyone on this earth. There always was.

When you gaze up at the sky on a starry night, that’s what we need

to remember.”                                                                                                            

(invitation to sit in silence)

 

Introit: Many and Great, O God, Are Your Works                   VU #308

 

Opening Words and Prayer of Approach                          

Let us pray together. God, by whatever name we call You, and how

ever we experience You in our individual lives, we come today ready

to celebrate Your Presence. As we gather together, open our hearts

to notice your voice.

In the song of birds, in the rustle of leaves, in the warmth of             the sun and the gentle rain.

In the wisdom of other peoples and cultures.

In our own longing for connection and Oneness.

Thank you for this time of prayer, reflection and learning.

            We come ready and grateful to receive Your Word. Amen.

                                            

Lighting of the Christ Candle                 Steve Garnaas-Holmes, worshipwords.co.uk

I am the wick              

       You are the flame

I am the silence          

       You are the presence

I am the space           

       You are the stillness

I do not know how to pray as I ought

       But I hold still and you pray in me.

I am the seen 

       You are the rest

(Christ Candle is lit)

2

Prayer of Confession and Affirmation

Before God, with the people of God, I admit to my fears and failings.

To the way I wound my life, the lives of others and the life of the world.

May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love. Before God, with the people of God, we confess to our fears and failings. To the ways we wound our lives, the lives of others and the life of the world.

May God forgive you; Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.

 

With the whole church,

We affirm that we are made in God’s image,

befriended by Christ, empowered by the Spirit.

With people everywhere,

We affirm God’s goodness at the heart of humanity,

planted more deeply than all that is wrong.

With all creation,

We celebrate the miracle and wonder of life;

the unfolding purposes of God,

forever at work in ourselves and the world.

 

Hymn: O Beautiful Gaia                                                              MV #41

 

Passing of the Peace

May 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

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

 

Scripture: Genesis 21:8-21 (NRSV)                                        Reader: Don Butt

The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and  3              a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

 

This is the Word of God.

       Thanks be to God.

 

Gospel Reading                                                                                     Reader: Don Butt

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 10:24-39

“A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.                                                                    4

 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

 

This is the Gospel of Christ.  

            Thanks be to God.      

 

Reflection: “Resilience With Faith”

 

Hymn: Each Blade of Grass                                                       MV #37

 

Offering

 

Doxology (sung)                                                                                                                                  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                                                                                                        

God of abundance, help us to spend these gifts wisely, share our love bravely and use our hands, or gifts, for the good of all.

 

Prayers of the People                                                          Susan Brockley                                                                                            

One: Creator  

All:      Hear Our Prayers

 

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.

           

 

5

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.

 

Hymn: Breathe on Me, Breath of God                                      VU #382

 

Blessing                                                                                                           Traditional Celtic Blessing       

“Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

May, in every moment, you know the peace of God’s presence

within and all around.

Deep peace to you.  

Amen.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Liturgy was prepared for National Indigenous Day of Prayer by Rev. Anne Hines, Humber Valley UC, Toronto, Ontario.