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August 14, 2022 - Sunday Service
Rev Hugh MacDonald
Rev Hugh MacDonald
Sunday, August 14, 2022
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AUGUST 14th, 2022          

10th Sunday after Pentecost         

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Guest Minister: Rev. Hugh MacDonald
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Lay Leader: Margaret Tirpkoff

Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung words: bold italics
Asterisk * Indicates when the congregation may stand if able. ______________________________________________________     

PRELUDE:
“Menuet” from Le Tombeau de Couperin ~ M. Ravel 

GREETING: (2 Cor. 13:13)                            
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you. 

WELCOME: 

INTRODUCTION:       

Acknowledgement of the Traditional Territory:
We acknowledge with gratitude that we gather on the traditional territory of the Anishinabek Nation: The People of the Three Fires known as Ojibway, Odawa, and Pottawatomie Nations. This territory is covered by Treaty 18 of 1818, and we are all treaty people.We give thanks to the Chippewas of Saugeen, and the Chippewas of Nawash, now known as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, as the traditional keepers of this land. We honour them for having lived here and cared for this land from time immemorial, and that they continue this caring in our time. We appreciate the opportunity to live, work and play in this beautiful place. (Phyllis Fleming) 

CALL TO WORSHIP:         (CGP)
This is no ordinary place: this is the house of God.
This is the place where the prophets cry out for peace and justice and righteousness. 
It is the place where God reaches down into the corners of our lives, to offer us the mystery of holy love. 
This is no ordinary gathering. 
This is no ordinary place:
this is the house of God.  

OPENING PRAYER:          (CGP)
Come to us, Holy God,
as we gather before you;
encircle us with your love.
Bless us with your sustaining presence;
surround us with your grace.
Draw us ‘round your living Word,
and bind us to one another as disciples of Christ,
whose Spirit is in our midst.
Amen. 

*OPENING HYMN: VU #409Morning Has Broken
1. Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word! 

2. Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where God’s feet pass. 

3. Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day! 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION:       (CGP)
Merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you,
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with all our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We are truly sorry.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may delight in your will and
walk in your ways;
through Jesus Christ.  Amen.        

WORDS of ASSURANCE:
God’s Spirit has given us life.
            Christ has set us free!
God forgives us.
            Christ has set us free!
Let us live by the Spirit.
            Christ has set us free! Alleluia! Amen.                  

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:        (CGP)
O God, your Word is a lamp to our feet,
and a light to our path.
Give us grace to receive your truth
in faith and love.  Amen

Readings:                                                                            

Scripture       New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Isaiah:5: 1-7                                 
I will sing for my beloved    
   my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
   on a very fertile hill. 
He dug it and cleared it of stones
   and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it 
   and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded rotten grapes. 
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem 
   and people of Judah,
judge between me
    and my vineyard. 
What more was there to do for my vineyard
    that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes, 
   why did it yield rotten grapes? 
And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, 
   and it shall be trampled down. 
I will make it a wasteland; 
   it shall not be pruned or hoed, 
   and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it. 
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts 
   is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
    but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
    but heard a cry! 

Psalm: 80 VU # 794 Parts 1 & 2
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

Part One (1-7, 18-19)
Shepherd of Israel, hear us, 
    you who lead Joseph like a flock,
     you who are enthroned amidst the cherubim.
Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh;
     stir up your might, come and save us.
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayer?
     You have fed us with the bread of weeping, 
     and given us tears in plenty to drink.
You have made a mockery of us to our neighbours,
     and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
Let your hand rest on the one at your right hand,
on the one you have made strong to yourself. 
    Then we will never forsake you;
     give us life, and we will call on your name.
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

Part Two (1-2, 8-19)
Shepherd of Israel, hear us,
     you who lead Joseph like a flock, 
     you who are enthroned amidst the cherubim.
Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh; 
     stir up your might, come and save us.
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

You brought a vine out of Egypt,
you drove out the nations and planted it.
     You cleared the ground for it;
     it sank deep roots, and filled the land. 
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
     It stretched out its branches as far as the Sea, 
    and its shoots as far as the River.
Why then have you broken down its enclosure,
so that all who go by pluck its grapes?
     The boar from the forest roots it up,
     and the beast of the field devour it.
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

Turn to us again, God of hosts, look down from heaven and see.
     Bestow your care on this vine, 
     on the stock which your right hand planted
.
As for those who set it on fire, who cut it down,
may they perish at the frown of your face. 
     Let your hand rest on the one by your side,
     on the one you have made strong for yourself.
Then we will never forsake you;
     give us life, and we will call on your name.
Refrain:
Your face, God, shine on us and give us peace. 

Luke 12 : 49-56 
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
    and son against father,
mother against daughter 
    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

RESPONSE:
The word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God. 

Musical Interlude:  Improvisation ~ G. Fauré 

SERMON:   God’s Great Expectations… 

*HYMN: MV #144Like a Healing Stream
1. Like a healing stream in a barren desert.
Spirit water bringing life to dusty earth.
God is trickling through our lives as in a dream unfolding
promising revival and rebirth…like a healing stream. 

2. Like a gentle rain on a thirsty garden,
Spirit water come to nourish tiny seed,
God is bubbling through the soil to coax a new creation,
yearning for an end to want and need…like a gentle rain. 

3. Like a river strong with a restless current,
Spirit water rushing on to distant shore,
God is carving out a channel in a new direction,
calling for an end to hate and war…like a river strong. 

4. Like a mighty sea reaching far horizons,
Spirit water with a love both deep and wide,
God is working in our hearts to shape a new tomorrow;
God will always challenge and provide!
Like a mighty sea, like a river strong, like a gentle rain,
like a healing stream.               

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE:
We thank you, God, that we have lived
in this great world and known its many joys.
For all of life,
we give you thanks.
Remembering the song of birds,
the strong, sweet scent of hay,
and cooling breezes in the secret dusk,
the flaming sunset at the close of day.
For all of life,
we give you thanks.

Remembering the lonely hills,
music at night and moonlight on the sea,
the beat of waves on the rocky shore,
and wild, white spray flung high.
For all of life,
we give you thanks.
Remembering the love of kin and the support of friends,
and all that makes life dear and beautiful;
remembering that there has come
a little sorrow, and sometime defeat,
a little heartache, and the loneliness
that comes with parting, and the word “Goodbye.”
For all of life,
we give you thanks.
Remembering the breaking dawn after dreary hours of pain,
the discovery that night’s gloom yields,
and morning light breaks through again.
For all of life,
we give you thanks.
Because of these and other blessings
poured unasked upon our heads;
because there waits an even richer and more glorious life;
and most of all, because your only Son
once sacrificed life’s loveliness for us,
we thank you, God, that we have lived
in this great world and known its many joys.
For all of life,
we give you thanks.  Amen.  

The Lord’s Prayer:
As a child turns to a loving care-giver who watches over them, we turn in prayer to You, oh God, who are our heavenly parent, our mother…  
Our Father,

PASSING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
The Peace of Christ be with you.         
And also with you. 

We share the peace of Christ by typing in the chat box..
You may also think of one person with whom you would like to share the peace of Christ.  

MUSIC FOR PASSING THE PEACE:
Improvisation on a Hymn ~ C. Burton 

INVITATION TO THE OFFERING :  

PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF GIFTS AND SELF: 
     Donate online:   www.graceunitedthornbury.ca,  select “Give”
     or contact the office by email: accounting@graceunitedthornbury.ca
     or  phone: 519-599-2438 to arrange a cheque pick-up, or an e-transfer
     Mail: Grace UC, 140 Bruce St. S. PO Box 219, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0

Care, Prayer, Share

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coffee Hour after the service

*HYMN: VU #330Jesus Shall Reign
1. Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
does its successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

2. People and realms of every tongue
dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim
their early blessings on his name. 

3. Blessings abound where’er he reigns;
and prisoners leap to lose their chains;
the weary find eternal rest,
and all who suffer want are blest. 

4. Let every creature rise and bring
peculiar honours to our King,
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud Amen! 

*COMMISSIONING & BENEDICTION: 

*SUNG BLESSING:  Go Now In Peace
Go now in peace. Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true,
Know God will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there, *within, around, above.
Go now in peace, in faith and in love.
Amen, amen, amen. 

*alternate words: watching from above 

POSTLUDE:
Rigaudon” from Le Tombeau de Couperin ~ M. Ravel             

*****

RESOURCES USED

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
 -Acknowledgement of Traditional Territory written by Phyllis Fleming
- Call to Worship, Opening Prayer, Prayer of Confession and Prayer of Illumination from Celebrate God’s Presence.
Other Prayers: Rev. Hugh MacDonald 

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES
 - Psalm Response: Music: John Wainright 1750, alt.Public Domain
“Morning Has Broken:” Words: Eleanor Farjeon 1921. Music: Gaelic melody, harm. Martin Shaw 1931. Words used by permission of Donald Higham Associates. Harmony by permission of Oxford University Press. One License #608577
- “Like a Healing Stream:” Words and music: Bruce Harding, 2003. Words and music copyright © 2003 by Bruce Harding. www. evensong.ca. Used by permission. One License. #608577
- “Jesus Shall Reign:” Words: Isacc Watts 1719, alt. Music attrib. John Warrington Hatton 1703. Public Domain
- Sung Blessing:”Go Now in Peace:” Words by Don Besig and Nancy Price. Copyright © 1988 Harold Flammere. Music: Inc. Alternate words used with permission. One License #608577 

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
Scripture Passage from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.  

Prelude: “Menuet” from Le Tombeau de Couperin ~ M. Ravel
Interlude: Improvisation ~ G. Fauré
Music for Passing the Peace: Improvisation on a Hymn ~ C. Burton
Postlude: “Rigaudon” from Le Tombeau de Couperin ~ M. Ravel