South Stormont Pastoral Charge

  # Gathering Hymn This is God’s Wondrous World (#296 VU) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: We come to worship the God who meets us in hard places.    All: God is with us when the way is unclear. One: We come with our questions, our fears, and our hopes.    All: God receives us with mercy and love. One: On the mountain, Abraham named the place, “God will provide.” All: We trust the God who sees, provides, and makes a way. One: Come, let us worship God. All: We come with open hearts. Thanks be to God. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn Jesus Loves Me (#365 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Providing God, we confess that we do not always trust your care. When life feels uncertain, we try to control what we cannot hold. When we are afraid, we sometimes forget your promise. When others are in need, we may look away instead of sharing what we have. Renew our hearts, O God. Teach us to listen for your voice and ...

Genesis 21 begins with the birth of Isaac. The name Isaac means “laughter.” After Abraham welcomed the strangers, Sarah received the promise that she would bear a child. At the time, she laughed at the promise because it seemed impossible. She believed she was too old to have a child. But now she laughs with joy. As she experiences God's faithfulness, her laughter of doubt is transformed into laughter of gratitude and delight. However, Isaac’s birth does not lead to a simple happy ending. Abraham already has a firstborn son, Ishmael, the son of Hagar. When Sarah thought she would never be able to have a child, she gave her Egyptian slave woman, Hagar, to Abraham so that he might have a child through her. What Sarah once saw as a solution now becomes a source of conflict and tension.  When Isaac is weaned, Abraham holds a great feast. In the ancient world, it was never certain that a child would survive the early years of life. So, reaching this stage brought deep joy to the whole h...

  # Gathering Hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You (#232VU | vs. 1,2,3) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Come, people of God. God meets us in the wilderness and in the sanctuary.    All: We come to worship the God who sees us. One: God hears the cries of the forgotten and opens a way where hope seems hidden. All: We come to worship the God who hears us. One: The Spirit calls us to notice, to listen, and to love. All: Let us worship God with open hearts. Amen. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn We praise you, O God (#218VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Loving God, you hear the cries we often miss. You see the people we sometimes overlook. Forgive us when we choose comfort over compassion, silence over courage, and distance over love. Open our eyes to the people you see. Open our ears to the voices you hear. Renew us by your Spirit, and lead us in the way of Jesus. In silence, we bring to you our own confessions and ou...

Today's first reading from Genesis is a story about hospitality. It reminds us that hospitality can become a place where we encounter God's presence. By contrast, the next chapter tells a story of hostility in Sodom. Together, these stories reveal the true purpose of the blessing God intended to bring to the world through Abraham. Genesis 18 begins in an interesting way. It says that “the Lord appeared to Abraham.” This draws the reader’s attention. In the Hebrew Bible, seeing God’s face directly is often described as something human beings cannot bear, sometimes even to the point of death. So, this opening line raises a question: how will God appear to Abraham? Then, right away, three strangers appear. As soon as Abraham sees them, he invites them into his tent to rest and share a meal. Through welcoming these strangers, Abraham discovers that God is present in ways he did not expect. In Abraham’s time, strangers could be a real threat. Abraham had left his homeland and was li...

  # Gathering Hymn Bring Many Names (#268 VU | vs. 1,2,3,6) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Time calls us to this place    All: to find comfort, to find caring, to love one another. One: Time is a gift we are given each morning we rise. All: It is our responsibility to use it wisely. One: It is also our responsibility to use it gently. All: To be, rather than always “to do.” One: We are human creatures All: and we come to this place to honour our Creator. One: Come, sit, listen, and most importantly, BE in this place.    All: We have come answering God’s call. *Éric Hébert-Daly. Gathering Pentecost 1 2026. Page 38. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (#333 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Gracious God, there are times we feel weak, when we feel that we have not lived as godly people, times when we feel we deserve your anger, times when we know we betray and hurt others....

 About a week ago, I was driving home from the Regional Council Annual Meeting in Smiths Falls. The rain had stopped, but the clouds were still hanging in the sky. Then, suddenly, a rainbow appeared. Its bright colours arched across the sky like a beautiful bridge.  It had been a long time since I had seen a rainbow so clearly. For a moment, my tiredness seemed to fade away, and the drive home no longer felt long or boring. The rainbow changed not only the landscape before me, but also the landscape within my heart. As I looked at it, I remembered a poem by the English poet William Wordsworth:     My heart leaps up when I behold     A rainbow in the sky:     So was it when my life began;     So is it now I am a man;     So be it when I shall grow old,     Or let me die!     The Child is father of the Man;     And I could wish my days to be     Bound each to each by natural piety. For Word...