South Stormont Pastoral Charge

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most interesting passages in the Gospel of ...

  *Gathering Hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful (#291 VU | vs. 4,5) Welcome& Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Blessed is the One who surrounds us with care and grace. All: Our help is in the name of the Creator, who made heaven and earth. One: We gather in awe of the beauty of creation. All: The earth, the skies, the waters – gifts of God’s creative hand. One: Let us worship the One who sustains all things with steadfast love. All: We worship with joy and thanksgiving, for God is our refuge and strength. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn God of the Sparrow (#217 VU | vs. 1,2,6) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Creator of all, we confess that we often forget to care for your creation. We sometimes focus on our own needs and ignore the needs of others and the earth. Forgive us for our unkind actions and help us to live in harmony with all living things. Teach us to show love and respect in all that we do. (a ti...

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”   The Gospels are essential writings that show us what Jesus did while he was on earth. Through these books, many people over the past two thousand years have come to understand who Jesus is and why he is the Christ, helping them experience God's presence. This is why the Gospels are good news to us and are one of the precious gifts God has given to humanity. However, the wisdom in the Gospels is not only about Jesus Christ. Another important ...

*Gathering Hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful (#291 VU | vs. 3, 4) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Come into this sacred space to worship the Holy Mystery who is Wholly Love. All: We come troubled by the environmental Code Red, worried about destruction, war, and violence in our world, uncertain we have the wisdom to juggle the complexities of life today. One: Come to encounter the Spirit’s movement in song, in prayer, and in word. All: We come to be strengthened for life’s ongoing journey, communing in person and digitally with one another as a family of faith. Amen. *Gord Dunbar. Gathering Pentecost 2, 2024. Page 27. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn All Creature of Our God and King (#217 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Behold and praise be to you, God of the Living Sky! Eternal cycles of day and night, and seasons upon seasons, bring us again before you in amazement for your glorious, ever-chang...

20 Wisdom cries out in the street;      in the squares she raises her voice.  21 At the busiest corner she cries out;      at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:  22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?      How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing      and fools hate knowledge?  23 Give heed to my reproof;      I will pour out my thoughts to you;      I will make my words known to you.  24 Because I have called and you refused,      have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,  25 and because you have ignored all my counsel      and would have none of my reproof,  26 I also will laugh at your calamity;      I will mock when panic strikes you,  27 when panic strikes you like a storm,      and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,      when distress and angui...

*Gathering Hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful (#291 VU | vs. 2,3) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Lighting the Christ Candle Call to Worship One: Let us enter this place together, ready to worship with thanksgiving for the abundance of God that we experience every day.   All: God gave us a wide and wondrous world in which to live. One: Here, in this holy place, in community, surrounded by the wonders of God’s glorious Creation, we will worship with prayer, song, hearts, and minds. All: This is the day that God has made! Let us rejoice and be glad! *Allison Abbott-Wiebe. Gathering Pentecost 2, 2024. Page 27. Opening Prayer *Opening Hymn We Praise You for the Sun (#225 VU) Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison) Dear God, we come to you on this day from a society that tends to always be thinking of what we are lacking rather than what we already have. We confess that we might have an abundant list of wants yet may be deficient in our gratitude. As a ...