Order of Service / World Communion Sunday & Creation 5 / October 6, 2024

*Gathering Hymn Come, Children, Join to Sing (#345 VU)

Welcome& Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship & Opening Prayer

One: Come to rejoice, celebrating the abundance flowing from God’s grace at this table.

All: Knowing we are blessed, we come to give joyful thanks and praise.

One: Come as a people offering our very selves for Christ’s harvest of life.

All: Dancing in delight, the Spirit frees us from scarcity’s bondage.

One: Open to possibility and to transformation, come to embrace God’s reign in prayer.

All: Generous God, whose bounty is shared so we may share in return, turn our understanding upside down, open our hearts with your challenge to create grace-full community, feed us that we may taste Christ’s living bread, and enflame us with the Spirit’s passion for justice. Amen.

*Gord Dunbar. Gathering Pentecost 2, 2024. Page 44.

*Opening Hymn As We Gather at Your Table (#457 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

God, we come to you today, admitting the wrongs in our hearts and minds that harm our relationships in our faith community. You have called us to unity in your church and asked us to live out the grace of forgiveness. Some of us try to be perfect, while others try to fix others through criticism. We often forget that your idea of perfection is to love each other, live in peace, and be thankful for the life we share in Christ. Forgive us when our attempts at perfection go against your will, and help us to follow your will by your Holy Spirit. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

*Attributed to Carol E. Bayma. Gathering Pentecost 2, 2024. Page 45.

Words of Assurance

One: God, who is full of grace and compassion, hears our prayers and understands our struggles. In God’s endless love, we are always invited back into wholeness.

  All: We are embraced by God’s love, forgiven, and set free to begin anew.

One: As we seek to live in love and justice, may we trust in the Spirit’s guidance, shaping us in God’s image.

  All: Empowered by grace, we commit to walking together in peace, humility, and gratitude.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Job 2:1-10 Job’s faith in affliction

Psalm 8 (VU p.732) How majestic is God’s name in all earth!

Hebrews 2:5-12 God gave the world to humans, not angels.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn We Are One (#402 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (Tune: #374VU)

Acts of kindness, times for sharing; bringing Christ to human need.

Caring for the least among us; simple actions plant the seed.

By our giving and forgiving, work a miracle of love.

Holy presence to us offered; Praise the One who reigns above.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)

Redeeming God, at this table, we have found peace and communion with your blessed Spirit. What a gift! May these offerings ensure that your church continues to be a place of renewal and sacredness, here and around the world. We humbly share, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Sacrament of Communion

< All are welcome to this table.>

* This order of the communion is mostly attributed to Celebrated God’s Presence

 

Invitation to Communion

Call to Give Thanks

One: God be with you.

  All: And also with you.

One: Lift up your hearts.

  All: We lift our hearts in prayer.

One: Let us give thanks to God.

  All: It is good to give God thanks and praise.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Creator, Christ, and Spirit, we praise you for your love revealed to us in Jesus, who walks with us, our Wisdom and our Way, sharing our joy and sorrow, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and setting the captive free. So it is that we join the song of all creation to proclaim your goodness:

The Song of Creation Holy, Holy, Holy (#203 MV)

O holy, holy, holy God, O God of time and space.

All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace.

Hosanna in the highest heav'n, creation sings your praise.

And blessed is the One who comes and bears your name always!

The Story Remembered

On the night before he died, it was Jesus who took a loaf of bread, gave you thanks, broke it, and said, “Take and eat; whenever you do this, remember me.”Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, saying, “This is the new covenant; remember me.”

Prayer of Self-Giving

Loving God, we rejoice in the gift of your grace, remembering Christ’s life and death, proclaiming his resurrection, waiting in hope for his coming again. Grant that in praise and thanksgiving, we may so offer ourselves to you that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith:

Affirmation of Memory and Hope Memorial Acclamation (#204 MV)

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again! (X 2)

Prayer for Transformation

Send, O God, your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts, that all who share in this bread and cup, may be the body of Christ: light, life, and love in the world. In this hope, and as your people, we praise you:

DoxologyGreat Amen (#205 MV)

Amen, Amen, O Holy One! Hosanna and Amen! (X2)

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

Sharing of Bread and Wine

Prayer after Communion (Unison)

Thank you, Gracious God, for all the ways we are nourished and fed, body, mind, and spirit. Help us to be open and to hold on to the hope we have experienced at this table. In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray. Amen.

*Sharon Ballantyne. Gathering Pentecost 2 2024, Page 45.

*Closing Hymn Let Us Talents & Tongues Employ (#468 VU)

*Commissioning

One: Just as we have been welcomed to the table of Christ, we are called to share that welcome with others.

  All: We will go forth to reach out to our neighbours, embracing them in God’s love.

One: May our tables be places of acceptance and unity, reflecting the diversity of God’s creation.

All: We commit to inviting others to join us in fellowship and grace.

One: As we leave this sacred space, let us carry the spirit of communion into the world.

All: We will spread love, joy, and hospitality, welcoming all to share in the feast of God’s abundant love. Amen.

*Commissioning Song Peace be with You (#215 MV)

Peace be with you, peace forever, peace be with you my friends.

Till we meet again, may God be with you. Peace, peace, peace.

 

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