Order of Service / Baptism of the Lord / January 7th, 2024

 *Gathering Hymn Will You Come and See the Light (#96 VU)

Welcome

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: Water is the stuff of life.

All: Water surrounded us before we were born.

One: There was water in the font at our baptism.

All: There was water in the font at our baptism.

One: Water is the stuff of life.

All: May our presence, our lives, and our ministry be a source of water, both physical and spiritual, for when we feel like our lives are dried up and being carried away on the wind.

One: May we help one another to centre on the journey of true life, the journey to the deep well of God’s generous love.

*Beth W Johnston. Gathering ACE 2023-2024, page 40.

Opening Prayer (Unison)

Holy and life-giving God, may your creating Spirit hover over us this day as it did over the waters millions of years ago. May you bind us, one to the other, that we might view our humanity as the sacred gift it is. May all your children be free to worship you in safety and call upon your many names in peace. We pray this in hope and anticipation. Amen.

*Nora Vedress. Gathering ACE 2023-2024, page 38.

*Opening Hymn Christ, When for Us You Were Baptized (#99 VU)

<Welcoming New Member>

Statement of Purpose

The church is a community of people with varied gifts, united by the Holy Spirit. We gather to celebrate God’s presence, to discern God’s truth, and to follow the way of Jesus. By our baptism we are made members of Christ’s church. We exercise this membership in the denomination to which we belong, which for us is The United Church of Canada, and within the context of a local community of faith. We are now to welcome into this congregation one who is already a member of the church of Jesus Christ.

Presentation of Candidates

On behalf of Ingleside-Newington United Church, I present the following person whom we welcome into the membership of this community of faith: Sena Kim

Commitment of New Member

One: Sena Kim, will you join with us as together we celebrate God’s presence, live with respect in creation, love and serve others, seek justice and resist evil?

I will, with God’s help.

*Congregational Commitment

One: Dear friends in Christ, let us pledge to Sena our support and care.

ALL: As your brothers and sisters in Christ, we rejoice in the gifts you bring to us. We pledge to you our love and our support. With God’s help, we will together live out the mission and ministry of Christ’s church.

*Welcome (Unison)

In the name of Jesus Christ, we welcome you to the privileges and responsibilities of membership in this congregation. We give thanks to God for your witness among us.

<The Celebration of Confirmation>

Statement of Purpose

At various moments on the journey of our life in Christ, we have opportunity to reaffirm and renew the faith proclaimed in baptism. As those who have been baptized profess for themselves the faith of the Christian community in which they have been nurtured, we gather to reaffirm the power of the Holy Spirit and to celebrate the confirmation of Judy Paquette in the people of God. We give thanks for her gifts as witnessed in this community of faith, and promise to continue to walk with her.

Presentation of Candidates

On behalf of the congregation of Ingleside-Newington United Church, I present the following person who seeks to renew the faith proclaimed in her baptism: Judy Paquette.

Profession of Faith and Promises

One: Do you believe in God, Source of love; in Jesus Christ, love incarnate; and in the Holy Spirit, love’s power? 

Candidate: I do, by the grace of God.

One: Will you follow in the way of Jesus Christ, resisting oppression and evil, seeking justice, and witnessing to God’s love for all creation?

  Candidate: I will, God being my helper.

One: Will you join with your brothers and sisters in this congregation to share in the life, work, and ministry of Jesus Christ?

   Candidate: I will, God being my helper.

*Congregational Commitment

One: As a baptized and baptizing church, will you continue to support and nurture these persons within a community which worships God, resists evil, and seeks justice?

  ALL: We will, God being our helper.

*Affirmation of Faith (Unison)

Before conscious thought or action on our part,

  we are born into the brokenness of this world.

Before conscious thought or action on our part,

  we are surrounded by God’s redeeming love.

Baptism by water in the name of the Holy Trinity

  is the means by which we are received, at any age,

  into the covenanted community of the church.

  It is the ritual that signifies our rebirth in faith

  and cleansing by the power of God.

Baptism signifies the nurturing, sustaining,

  and transforming power of God’s love

  and our grateful response to that grace.

*from A Song of Faith (2006)

Prayer of Thanksgiving and the Pouring of Water

Gracious and Holy God, we bless you for the gift of life, and, within it, the gift of water. Over its unshaped promise your Spirit hovered at creation. By water, comes the growth of the earth. Through water, you led the children of Israel to freedom. In the waters of the Jordan your Child Jesus was baptized. Now may your Spirit be upon us and what we do, that this water may be a sign for all of new life in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen

The Act of Renewal of Baptismal Faith

Remember your baptism and be thankful that you are God’s beloved child and with you God is well pleased.

Laying On of Hands

May the Holy Spirit, Love’s power, guide you, inspire you, and work within you, all the days of your life. Amen.

Symbolic Action

Prayer for the Candidate

Gracious God, giver of life, you have called us by name, and pledge to each of us your faithful love. We pray today for your blessing on Judy, watch over her and guide her as she continues to grow in faith. Remind us of the promises of our own baptism, and renew our trust in you. Strengthen us to do your will, and to serve you with joy, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessing (MV. 214 – May God’s Sheltering Wings)

May God’s sheltering wings, her gathering wings protect you,

May God’s nurturing arms, her cradling arms sustain you,

And hold you in her love, and hold you in her love.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Genesis 1:1-5 The first days of creation.

Psalm 29 (VU 756) God’s voice is over the waters.

Mark 1:9-11 Jesus is baptized by John.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Crashing Waters at Creation (#449 VU, tune #2 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#540 VU | Grant Us, God, the Grace)

Grant us, God, the grace of giving, with a spirit large and free,

That ourselves and all our living we may offer faithfully.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)

O God, in baptism, you claim us as your own. We are a visible symbol of your ever-present love, a love that we remember and give thanks for this day. Therefore, we now give you symbols to represent our love. May the money and time we offer show our devotion and thanks to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

*Taylor Croissant. Gathering ACE 2022/2023. Page 41.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn God, We Pray at This Beginning (#443 VU)

*Commissioning

One: Remember the baptism of Jesus as you leave this church.

All: Remember that we are a baptized and baptizing church, and as members of a faith community, marked by the cross, be about the work of Jesus in the coming week: a caring, compassionate work, a life-bringing, justice-seeking work.

One: The blessing of God, Loving Source, the blessing of Jesus, Leader and Patter, and the blessing of the Holy Spirit, Inspiration to Action, go with you and those you love into the coming week. 

  All: Thanks be to God. Amen.

*David Sparks, Gathering ACE 2017/2018. Page 39.

*Commissioning Song Walk with Me (#649 VU | Refrain)

Walk with me, I will walk with you and build the land that God has planned where love shines through (x2)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Like Mom's Food / Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:      “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.      “Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled.      “Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more