Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

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August 6, 2023: Sunday Service

Rev Hugh MacDonald

Sunday, August 6, 2023

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August 6th, 2023

Proper 13 – 10th Sunday After Pentecost

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Worship Leader: Rev. Hugh MacDonald
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Lay Leader: Mary Lou Gignac

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

We Gather

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 & Safe Space
Grace United Church is situated on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Petun, Huron-Wendat, and Mississauga peoples, located within the boundary of the region of Treaty 18 of 1818. We humbly acknowledge the First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples of Canada as traditional stewards of the land on which we work and worship and are committed to working actively toward genuine restitution and reconciliation.
At Grace, we strive to make all of our spaces - including oursanctuary during worship - as safe a place as possible. We celebrate and honour the holy truth that all people are made in the image of God and are innately entitled to dignity and respect. Any practice, religious or otherwise, which explicitly or implicitly indicates that some people are more beloved than others, goes against our core beliefs here at Grace. We join together in an ongoing commitment to learning how we can live out genuinely welcoming and inclusive behaviour in all ways and at all times.

CALL TO WORSHIP:
This is no ordinary place: this is the house of God. This is the place where the prophets cry out and ordinary folks like us are called to take action.
It is the place where God reaches down into the corners of our lives, to offer us the mystery of holy love, and demand that we not remain indifferent to the urgent needs of this world.
This is no ordinary gathering.
This is no ordinary place: this is the house of God.

OPENING PRAYER:
Gracious God, we pray for your blessing
on the church in this place.
Here may the faithful find salvation,
and the careless be awakened.
Here may the doubting find courage,
and the anxious be calmed.
Here may the tempted find help,
and the sorrowful be comforted.
Here may the weary find rest,
and the strong be renewed.
Here may the aged find consolation,
and the young be inspired,
in Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

*OPENING HYMN: VU 222
Come, Let us Sing

1. Come let us sing to the Lord our song,
we have stood silently too long;
surely the Lord deserves our praise,
so joyfully thank God for our days.

2. O thirsty soul, come drink at the well;
God’s living waters will never fail.
Surely the Lord will help you to stand,
strengthened and comforted by God’s hand.

3. You dwell among us and cause us to pray,
and walk with each other following your way;
our precious brothers and sisters will grow
in the fulfilling love they know.

4. Deserts shall bloom and mountains shall sing
to the desire of all living things.
Come, all you creatures, high and low,
let your praises endlessly flow.

PRAYER of CONFESSION:
Jesus, who sat at the table with outcasts and sinners,
we confess that too often our words and actions
are not consistent with our beliefs.
Often we ignore the needy,
show indifference to the lonely,
and reject those who seem different from us.
Forgive us, we pray.
Empower us to reach out in love and acceptance.

WORDS of ASSURANCE:
God in Christ and the Spirit is reconciling all things to one another. We are no longer bound by the things that destroy, old things have passed away and we are a new creation. Let us live into this wondrous promise.

We Listen

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:
O God, open our hearts and minds
by the power of your Holy Spirit,
that as the scriptures are read
and your Word is proclaimed,
we may hear what you are saying to us today. Amen.

SCRIPTURE:
Old Testament: Genesis 32: 22-31 (NRSVUE)
Jacob Wrestles at Peniel
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Gospel:
Matthew 14: 13-21
Feeding the Five Thousand
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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

MUSICAL INTERLUDE:
“Improvisation” ~ G. Fauré

SERMON

*HYMN: VU 766
As the Deer Pants for the Water (Psalm 42)

1. As the deer pants for the water,
so my soul longs after you;
you alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.
Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield,
to you alone may my spirit yield;
you alone are my heart’s desire,
and I long to worship you!

2. Day and night I cry,
my heart is breaking, tears are my only food;
while my enemies jeer and taunt me,
saying: “Where is now your God?”
Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield,
to you alone may my spirit yield;
you alone are my heart’s desire,
and I long to worship you!

3. Why am I so sad, so troubled;
why must suffering be so long?
I will hope in you, my God and saviour,
praise you with a song!
Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield,
to you alone may my spirit yield;
you alone are my heart’s desire,
and I long to worship you!

We Respond

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE:
O Great Spirit,
whose voice we hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear us.
We come before you as your children.
We are small and weak; we need your strength and wisdom.
Let us walk in beauty,
and make our eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
May our hands respect the things you have made,
May our ears be sharp to hear your voice.
Make us wise, that we may know the things you have taught your people,
the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
We seek strength, not to be superior to our brothers and sisters,
but to live in harmony with ourselves and all your creation.
Help us to be ever ready to come to you,
so when life fades as a fading sunset,
our spirits may come to you without shame. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER (Spoken, traditional words, VU 921)
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:
Improvisation on a Hymn ~ C. Burton

INVITATION to the OFFERING

PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF GIFTS AND SELF:
We bring our gifts to you, God.
Here is the work of our hands,
and here is the love of our hearts.
Accept them and use them,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

WHAT’S UP AT GRACE ?

We Go Out

*CLOSING HYMN: VU 713
I See a New Heaven

Refrain
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

1. There, there on the banks of a river bright and free,
yielding her fruit, firm in her root,
the Tree of Life will be.
Refrain
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

2. There, there where death dies and our lives are born again,
body and soul, struggling but whole
like flowers after the rain.
Refrain
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

3. There, there where the darkness brings visions from above.
There where the night, bearing new light,
reveals the promise of love.
Refrain
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

4. There, there where we work with the love of healing hands.
Labour we must, true to our trust
to build a promised new land.
Refrain
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

*COMMISSIONING & BENEDICTION:
We are ambassadors for Christ. God’s appeal is made through our daily witness.
Go from this time and place of worship trusting in the Love of God, the Peace of the Risen Christ and the steadfast fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

*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.