Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

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August 13, 2023: Sunday Service

Phyllis Fleming

Sunday, August 13, 2023

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August 13th, 2023

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live
Leading us today in Worship:
Worship Leader: Phyllis Fleming
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Lay Leader: Bonnie Hammond

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

We Gather

PRELUDE:
“Raindrop Prelude” ~ F. Chopin

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 and 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 Treaty 18 region 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:
God is in you.
And also in you!
We have come together to worship and pray,
to feel God’s presence in a personal way.
There are scriptures to receive;
gifts of music and praise.
We are ready to learn;
we have hearts to raise.
The dance of Love goes on and on.
The music of Spirit is our song.
Come, let us worship God.

LIGHTING the CHRIST CANDLE
The light of Christ shines through our voice and words, through our gestures and actions, and through the face we present to the world.
So let us light this candle to remind us that we can be the Light of Christ for all.

OPENING PRAYER
We come, O God, yearning for communion within your restorative Spirit. When our energy and our enthusiasm wane, recharge our will that we may reach out into the world. When we question and doubt, immerse our souls within your wisdom and your guidance. When we worry and wonder ceaselessly, calm our hearts, settle our minds, and free our dreams. In our praying, in our engaging with scripture, and in our singing, may we be restored, renewed, and replenished into the Way of Jesus. Amen

*OPENING HYMN: MV 1
Let Us Build a House

1. Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

2. Let us build a house where prophets speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

3. Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat;
a banquet hall on holy ground,
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

4. Let us build a house where hands will reach
beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

5. Let us build a house where all are named,
their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed
as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace;
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

PRAYER of CONFESSION:
Merciful God, week after week, we turn to you with our confessions, trusting in your forgiveness. You know our every weakness. Some of us are burdened with the load we are carrying, while others of us are unaware of the guilt we bear. Receive our confession and set us free. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

WORDS of ASSURANCE:
God’s love is so all-encompassing that forgiveness is granted to all who turn away from the path of sin.
We are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

We Listen

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:
Give us, O God, the will to receive again the stories of scripture,
well-worn, well-learned but always full of new and rich meaning.
Give us not only senses to receive the story but hearts to understand. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 (The Message)
Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers.
Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.
This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him - they wouldn’t even speak to him.

His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father’s flocks. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them.”
Joseph said, “I’m ready.”
He said, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report.” He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.
A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
“I’m trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?”
The man said, “They’ve left here, but I overheard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.
They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We’ll see what his dreams amount to.”
Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, “We’re not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn’t any water in it.
Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, “Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.

PSALM Psalm 85: 8-13 VU # 802, second section

Refrain: God, show us your love, show us your love and mercy.

Let me hear what you will say, O God, for you will speak peace to your people, to the faithful who turn their hearts to you.
Surely salvation is near those who fear you, and your glory will dwell in our land.
Mercy and faithfulness will meet, justice and peace will embrace.
Faithfulness will spring up from the earth, and righteousness look down from heaven.
You, O God, will give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Righteousness will go before you, and the paths of your feet will be peace.

Refrain: God, show us your love, show us your love and mercy.
Romans 10:5-15 (The Message)
The word is near you and in you.
Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy - every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story - no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest.
It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God - “Jesus is my Master” - embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!
Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!

Matthew 14: 22-33 (The Message)
Jesus walks across stormy waters.
As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared to death. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come ahead.”
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”

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

MUSICAL INTERLUDE:
“Clair de Lune” ~ G. Fauré

MESSAGE

*HYMN: MV 138
My Love Colours Outside the Lines

1. My love colours outside the lines,
exploring paths that few could ever find;
and takes me into places
where I’ve never been before,
and opens doors to worlds outside the lines.

2. My Lord colours outside the lines,
turns wounds to blessings, water into wine;
and takes me into places
where I’ve never been before
,and opens doors to worlds outside the lines.
We’ll never walk on water
if we’re not prepared to drown,
body and soul need a soaking from time to time.
And we’ll never move the gravestones
if we’re not prepared to die,
and realize there are worlds outside the lines.

3. My soul longs to colour outside the lines,
tear back the curtains, sun, come in and shine:
I want to walk beyond the boundaries
where I’ve never been before,
throw open doors to worlds outside the lines.
            We’ll never walk on water
if we’re not prepared to drown,
            body and soul need a soaking from time to time.
            And we’ll never move the gravestones
if we’re not prepared to die,
            and realize there are worlds outside the lines.

4. My soul longs to colour outside the lines,
tear back the curtains, sun, come in and shine:
I want to walk beyond the boundaries
where I’ve never been before,
throw open doors to worlds outside the lines.

We Respond

PROFESSION OF FAITH A New Creed
We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.

We believe in God:
who has created
and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus,
crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
We praise you for this wonderful world, Creator God.
The glory of a summer morning,
( … )
We see pictures of polluted waterways, despairing parents, and abused older persons,
but you have shown us, O God,
how it could be.
We praise you for your way of compassion, Loving God.
The uproarious birthday party in a group home
( … )
We hear tell of the rejection of mentally challenged persons, of pets that are neglected, and bereaved persons told to get over it,
but you have shown us, O God,
how it could be.
We thank you for the Spirit alive in the church, Holy God.The service of worship that throbs with musical joy and sacred silence,
( … )
We hear of the decline of the church and the neglect of spiritual practice,
but you have shown us, O God,
how it could be.
We thank you for your goodness to each one of us, O God.
We have friends and family members,
( … )
We are challenged by sickness, by the jobs we do, by our financial situations, and by some of our relationships.
but we realize, O God, how much we have to be thankful for.

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
No one knows when we will need God.
Our offering readies us for the time of need, in our own lives, in our community, and in our world.
We need God when we are tested.
We need God when we are afraid.
We need God when we celebrate.
We need God to bring us together.
We need God to deepen our spirit of fellowship.
We need God to send us out to bring laughter and healing.
Are you ready?
We are ready to think about our offering.
And so we pray:

PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF GIFTS AND SELF
It seems odd that we ask for your blessing on our offering, O God, when what we have given is mostly through digital exchange.
Zeros and ones, on and off switches in solid-state circuits seem so impersonal.
Bless, then, what we offer, so that electrons become a personal touch for your work in the world.
Bless us in our generosity as we give, paying forward the love we receive each day from you.
We ask this in the name of the One who gave fully of himself, in Jesus’ strong, yet vulnerable name. 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

*HYMN: VU 691
Though Ancient Walls (Walls That Divide)

1. Though ancient walls may still stand proud
and racial strife be fact,
though boundaries may be lines of hate,
proclaim God's saving act!
Walls that divide are broken down;
Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside;
Christ is our liberty!

2. When vested power stands firm entrenched
and breaks another's back,
when waste and want live side by side,
it's Gospel that we lack.
Walls that divide are broken down;
Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside;
Christ is our liberty!

3. The truth we seek in varied scheme,
the life that we pursue,
unites us in a common quest
for self and world made new.
Walls that divide are broken down;
Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside;
Christ is our liberty!

4. The church divided seeks that grace,
that newness we proclaim;
a unity of serving love that lives
praise to God's name!
Walls that divide are broken down;
Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside;
Christ is our liberty!

5. This broken world seeks lasting health
and vital unity.
God's people by God's Word renewed,
cast off all slavery!
Walls that divide are broken down;
Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside;
Christ is our liberty!

*COMMISSIONING & 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
“Sonata in E Flat Major 3rd Mov’t” ~ J. Haydn

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