Sunday Worship Service 10:00am

Hybrid Worship

17 November, 2024

Rev. Suzanna Bates

Music Director: 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!

Words For Worship

Words in bold italics, please say together

Prelude: Quiet                                                                       L. Fitzpatrick

Call to Worship

Strength is commanding the wind and sea to obey,

Strength is wielding a slingshot in the face of a raging giant.

Strength is accepting vulnerability from inside the boat,

Strength is standing in solidarity with the powerless.

Strength is turning a cheek.

Strength is loving an enemy.

We come to worship a God who redefines our vision of strength.

Opening Prayer

Gracious and all loving God,

you call to us across deep waters and dark places.  

Yours is the light which guides us 

and the voice which we follow.  

We pray that you would reveal yourself to us as we worship you.

May those without hope be encouraged; 

those who are sad, comforted; 

those who are seeking, find you; 

and in the end, may all things be according to your will. Amen.

Acknowledging the Land

We are here. God is here.

This space is holy ground.

Hymn: A Light is Gleaming                                                         VU #82

PRAYER OF RECONCILIATION                            (inspired by Mark 4:35-41)

God of love and power, we listen to the stories of miracles 

and doubt that these things can happen today. 

We look at the waves of misfortune, distress, misery, distrust, and anger and wonder how we can still those waves. 

We feel the pressures of power and fear flooding into our lives, threatening to drown us and wonder where you are. 

Forgive us for the littleness of our faith. 

Forgive us for our doubts. 

Help us to place out trust in you, O God. 

Help us to fix our eyes on you and on the ministries to which 

you have called us. For we ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Words of Assurance

Fear not! 

God is with us, stilling the storms and raging fears in our lives. 

We place our trust in God always. 

Amen.

Hymn: Hope Shines as the Solitary Star vs 1                         MV #220

Hope shines as a solitary star,

faith is the inward light.

You and I together mirror the Light of Lights,

and illumine the pathway home.

Star Words

Hymn: Hope Shines as the Solitary Star vs 2                         MV #220

Peace shines as a solitary star, 

faith is the inward light. 

You and I together mirror the Light of Lights,

and illumine the pathway home.

Gospel Reading:                                                        Reader: Betty Schultze

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 5:3-12                                                                       The Message

Jesus said, You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. God is food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.                                                

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even, - for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

This is the Gospel of Christ.

We give thanks for Good News today!

Mark 4:35-41                                                     

Jesus Calms the Storm                                             (Based on Mark 4:35-41)

Narrator: Jesus had been teaching and healing all day in Capernaum, near the Sea of Galilee. When evening came, Jesus said to his disciples

Jesus: Let us go over to the other side

Narrator: Leaving the crowd behind, the disciples took Jesus along, 

just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. 

The disciples woke him and said to him,

All: Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?

Narrator: Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves

Jesus: Quiet! Be still!

Narrator: Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Jesus: Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?

Narrator: They were terrified and asked each other,

All: Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!

Word: Let it begin with me

Poem: There Will Be Peace                                                Kathy Galloway

In laughter I will find you,

So many joys I have shared with you,

They will become the measure of our time,

And there will be love between us

And there will be peace between us.

In tears I will find you,

So many times, I will have cried for you,

I will offer you my song to ease your pain,

And there will be love between us

And there will be peace between us.

In anger I will find you,

So many times, I have hated you,

But your tenderness will disarm me,

And there will be love between us

And there will be peace between us.

In losing you I will find you,

So many times, I will be without you,

But things that you have given

will not leave me,

And there will be love between us

And there will be peace between us.

Hymn: Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace                             VU #684 

Mission & Service Story

Project Ploughshares is committed to making the world a better place.

Offering

Blessing the Offering

Prayers of the People                                                          Susan Brockley

God of Peace

Hear our Prayer.

The Prayer of Jesus (a paraphrase)                                         (VU 916)

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 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 that we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts that 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 that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,

now and forever. Amen.

Hymn: Peace Be With You                                                        MV #215 

Blessing & Sending

Send us into the world’s turbulence as instruments of your peace, O God and send us as agents of your justice, that all might know the truth of your ways.

Send us as artists who bear the joyful burden of your creativity,

that we might bring light into the darkness,and hope among the despairing.

May God bless you and keep you

May God’s face shine upon you 

and God be gracious to you

May God look upon you with kindness 

and give you peace. Amen.

Postlude: I Am Walking a Path of Peace              Janet Bauman Tissandier

 

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Resources:

·       Call to worship: Katherine HawkerSelf, 1997, “Liturgy Outside: reflections to foster faithful resistance”

·       Prayers for reconciliation: Nancy C. Townley, “Worship Connection” on “Ministry Matters” (www.ministrymatters.com)

·       Blessing: Rev. Mark S. Burrows. Included in the Spring, 1998 issue of Connections magazine.