September 11th, 2022
Creation Time 1
Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live
Leading us today in Worship:
Worship Leader: Rev. Christine Smaller
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Scripture Reader: Mary Lou Gignac
~ Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung words: bold italics
Asterisk * Indicates when the congregation may stand if able.
PRELUDE:
Bagatelle Opus 33 No. 6 ~ L. van Beethoven
*NATIONAL ANTHEM: God Save the King
God save our gracious king!
Long live our noble king!
God save the king!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us;
God save the king!
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.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE TRADITIONAL TERRITORY
CALL TO WORSHIP:
God calls to the lost, the least, and all who long for home;
God calls when we wander from the path chosen for us
and waste the gifts we have been given.
God calls and welcomes us back to worship this day;
let us celebrate and rejoice in God’s presence forever;
let us worship God together.
*OPENING HYMN: VU 312 Praise with Joy the World’s Creator
1. Praise with joy the world's Creator,
God of justice, love, and peace,
source and end of human knowledge,
God whose grace shall never cease.
Celebrate the Maker's glory,
power to rescue and release.
2. Praise to Christ who feeds the hungry,
frees the captive, finds the lost,
heals the sick, upsets religion,
fearless both of fate and cost.
Celebrate Christ's constant presence:
friend and stranger, guest and host.
3. Praise the Spirit sent among us,
liberating truth from pride,
forging bonds where race or gender,
age or nation dare divide,
Celebrate the Spirit's treasure:
foolishness none dare deride.
4. Praise the Maker, Christ, and Spirit,
one God in community,
calling Christians to embody
oneness and diversity.
This the world shall see reflected:
God is One and One in Three.
OPENING PRAYER:
O Holy One,
you are our host as well as our shepherd.
You invite us to the banquet,the banquet of life.
All parts of the world are invited –
enemies and friends,
the alienated and powerful,
those close at hand and those far off.
You offer the abundance and lavishness
of bread broken and shared
and the cup of refreshment that leads to new life.
We praise and thank you for your abundant spirit.
Goodness and love unfailing,
these will follow us all the days of our lives,
and we shall dwell in the home of our God
for all eternity. Amen.
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION:
Un-stop our ears, O God,
that we may hear your Word proclaimed this day.
Open our minds and hearts to be changed.
Free us from the temptations of worry, fear, destruction, and pride.
Teach us, Lord, that we may follow you more faithfully.
READINGS:
Psalm 23 VU 749 Refrain 2
Refrain:
The God of love my shepherd is; what can I want or need.
God is my shepherd,
there is nothing I shall lack.
You, God, make me lie down in green pastures,
you lead me beside peaceful waters;
you revive my spirit,
you guide me in right pathways for your name’s sake.
Refrain:
The God of love my shepherd is; what can I want or need.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
you are with me,
your rod and your staff are my comfort.
You spread a table for me in the sight of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in God’s house my whole life long.
Refrain:
The God of love my shepherd is; what can I want or need.
Luke 15:1-10 The Parable of the Lost Sheep (NRSV)
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
RESPONSE:
The word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
ANTHEM:
Sing a New Song ~ Stan Pethel
SERMON:
*HYMN: VU 360 A Woman and a Coin
1. A woman and a coin -- the coin is lost!
How much it means to her, what time and toil,
what part it was to play in her bright dreams!
Am I that treasured coin worth searching for?
I’m found, and you rejoice!
What love! What love!
2. A shepherd and a sheep -- the sheep is lost!
Far from the flock, the one in hundred cries,
then, risking life, the shepherd’s voice and staff!
Am I that treasured sheep worth dying for?
I live, and you rejoice!
What love! What love!
3. A parent and a child -- the child is lost!
The parent feeds on memories and hope,
the prodigal on husks and one last chance.
Am I that treasured child worth waiting for?
I’m home, and you rejoice!
What love! What love!
4. Dear God, you sought us when the world was lost,
you gave your only son at what a cost;
your spirit welcomes home the tempest-tossed:
now we can be all you were dreaming of.
We’re safe, and you rejoice!
What love! What Love!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE:
THE LORD’S PRAYER
As a child turns to a loving caregiver who watches over them, we turn in prayer to you O God, who are our heavenly parent, our mother,
Our Father, who art in Heaven…
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:
Fantasy on a Hymn ~ C. Burton
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERING:
Donate online: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca, select “Give”
or contact the office by email: graceucworship@gmail.com
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:
*HYMN: VU 586 We Shall Go Out with Hope of Resurrection
1. We shall go out with hope of resurrection;
we shall go out, from strength to strength go on;
we shall go out and tell our stories boldly;
tales of a love that will not let us go.
We’ll sing our songs of wrongs that can be righted;
we’ll dream our dreams of hurts that can be healed;
we’ll weave a cloth of all the world united
within the vision of new life in Christ.
2. We’ll give a voice to those who have not spoken;
we’ll find the words for those whose lips are sealed;
we’ll make the tunes for those who sing no longer;
expressive love alive in every heart.
We’ll share our joy with those who still are weeping,
raise hymns of strength for hearts that break in grief,
we’ll leap and dance the resurrection story,
including all in circles of our love.
*COMMISSIONING and BENEDICTION:
*SUNG 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.
POSTLUDE:
Rondeau ~ J.J. Moreau
*****
RESOURCES USED
LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship: posted on the Presbyterian Church in Canada website. http://presbyterian.ca/worship/
Opening Prayer From Sonya Dyer’s Prayerbook, posted on the Seekers Church website.
Prayer of Illumination: written by Amy Loving, and posted on The Worship Closet: The Pllace for Creative Worship Ideas.
Prayer of Invitation & Dedication of Offering: Rev. Christine Smaller
Prayers of the People: Rev. Christine Smaller
HYMNS and SUNG VERSES
-“God Save the King:” Public Domain
- Psalm Refrain: Music: Charles Collignon
- “Praise with Joy the World’s Creator:” Words: The Iona Community 1985, alt.Music: John Goss 18868. Words copyright ©1987 WGRG, Iona Community (Glasgow, Scotland) G.I.A. Publications, Inc. One License 608577
- “A Woman and a Coin:” Words: Jaroslav J. Vajda 1990. Music: Fred Kimball Graham 1995. Words copyright © 1991 Jaroslav J. Vajda. Music © Fred Kimball Graham. One License #608577.
- “We Shall Go Out with Hope of Resurrection:” Words: June Boyce-Tillman 1993Music: Traditional Irish melody; arr. John Barnard, 1982. Words copyright © 1993 Stainer & Bell Ltd. Used by permission of Hope Publishing Company.One License #608577
- Sung Blessing: “May God’s Sheltering Wings:” Words and music: Judith Snowdon, 2004Words and music copyright © 2004 by Judith Snowdon. Used by permission.One License # 608577
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
Scripture Passage from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 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: Bagatelle Opus 33 No. 6 ~ L. van Beethoven
Anthem: Sing a New Song ~ Stan Pethel. © 1988 Triune Music, a division of The Lorenz Corporation. CCLI # 11203479
Music for Passing the Peace: Fantasy on a Hymn ~ C. Burton
Postlude: Rondeau ~ J.J. Moreau
