April 28th, 2024

5^th Sunday of Easter

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
     Minister: Rev. Dr. John Greg. Smith
     Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
     Scripture Reader: Bonnie Hammond

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
“Consolation” -  F. Liszt

WELCOME

The CHRIST CANDLE
Today we light the Christ candle as a sign and symbol of God’s great light,
A light that shines in our hearts and in our church.
In this season of Easter, let us pause to remember
That there is nothing on earth, or in life or death,
That can extinguish the light of Christ.
It is this truth that gives us hope and courage for the living of these days!   Amen!

OUR COMMITMENT to SAFE SPACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the LAND
We believe all people are made in the image of God and are entitled to dignity and respect.  At Grace United Church we try to offer a safer, inclusive and generous space for all who are seeking a faith community.  We offer full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, all races, ages and abilities in the life and work of the ministry.

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.

CALL to WORSHIP
“I thank you God for most this amazing day!”
For the joy of it!
For the grace of it!
For the delight in it I know I will discover!

I thank you God “for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,
For the blue dream that is sky,
And for everything that is natural that is infinite that is yes!”

I lift my hands and my head up in praise!
For I thought I was alone, I thought I was unworthy, I thought I was dying!
Yet I am alive, and this is the first day, the birth day,
of my new life inside the love of God.

On this day, how shall I live?  How should tasting or touching,
Hearing or seeing or breathing
NOT lead me to your deep love for me, O God?

For today I remember I am born of God, I am born of Love Eternal,
I am here on earth to bear the eternal beams of love.

So thank you God for this day!

* HYMN:  MV #156
“Dance with the Spirit”

1. Dance with the Spirit early in the mornin’,
walk with the Spirit throughout the long day.
Work and hope for the new life a-bornin’,
listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

2. Move with the Spirit early in the morning
Move with the Spirit throughout the long day,
Work and hope for the new life a-bornin’,
listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

3. Sing with the Spirit early in the morning
Sing with the Spirit throughout the long day,
Work and hope for the new life a-bornin’,
listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

4. Love with the Spirit early in the morning
Love with the Spirit throughout the long day,
Work and hope for the new life a-bornin’,
listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

OPENING PRAYER
It has been said that every seed has a story, a history, a meaning.
A seed is small, yet rich with potential and possibility,
Sprouting a whole oak tree that lasts for generations,
From one single acorn.

Your love O God is like a seed.
You have planted it deep within our DNA, so deep we cannot see it.
Hiding in the folds of our souls,
Help us nurture this seed, the possibility to change someone’s world,
A chance to save the soul of the world.

The seeds inside the food we eat contain thousands of years of story,
A story of evolution, of survival through floods and fires,
A story of being lifted as on the wings of eagles,
From one beginning place to another.

Your love O God uplifts our souls.
Your love has taken root within our spirits.
Your love expands within our hearts, and sends out shoots in every direction.
Help us tender this love gently, and follow where it leads.
Help us trust in this love, as we are lifted on eagle’s wings
And carried from one beginning place to another.

Like love and seeds, there are so many diverse varieties.
Thank you God for showering and nurturing our lives with such a rich display of your joy in creation.
Thank you for the 10,000 ways we can hear your Love-song in our lives.
Thank you for the 10,000 ways we turn to you in our prayers.
Thank you for the 10,000 ways we can learn to appreciate every single one of your diverse creations.

Your love is so vast and so diverse O God, that there is even room for little old me in it!
Your love is so deep, we cannot quite expect to uncover all its secrets.
But today, let us open our hearts and our spirits and our mouths and our hands,
And receive the abundance of love you have placed before us.
And let there be at least 10,000 new ways for our response
As we seek to be people of love and justice in this world!

AMEN!  May it be so!  AMEN!

*HYMN:  VU #808
Psalm 91: “On Eagle’s Wings”

1. You who dwell in the shelter of our God,
who abide in this shadow for life,
say to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my Rock in whom I trust.’
‘And I will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of my hand.’

2. The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
and famine will bring you no fear:
under God’s wings your refuge,
God’s faithfulness your shield.
‘And I will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of my hand.’

3. You need not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day;
though thousands fall about you,
near you it shall not come.
‘And I will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of my hand.’

4. For to God’s angels is given a command
to guard you in all of your ways;
upon their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
‘And I will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of my hand.’
‘And hold you, hold you in the palm of my hand.’

PRAYER CANDLES

We Listen 

SCRIPTURE READING:
John 21:   1 – 17    (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples
Jesus later appeared to his disciples along the shore of Lake Tiberias.  Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the brothers James and John, were there, together with two other disciples. 
Simon Peter said, “I'm going fishing!”
The others said, “We will go with you.” They went out in their boat. But they didn't catch a thing that night.
Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize who he was.  Jesus shouted, “Friends, have you caught anything?”
“No!” they answered.
So he told them, “Let your net down on the right side of your boat, and you will catch some fish.”
They did, and the net was so full of fish that they could not drag it up into the boat.
Jesus' favorite disciple told Peter, “It's the Lord!” When Simon heard it was the Lord, he put on the clothes he had taken off while he was working. Then he jumped into the water.  The boat was only about 100 meters from shore. So the other disciples stayed in the boat and dragged in the net full of fish.
When the disciples got out of the boat, they saw some bread and a charcoal fire with fish on it.  Jesus told his disciples, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”  Simon Peter got back into the boat and dragged the net to shore. In it were 153 large fish, but still the net did not rip.
Jesus said, “Come and eat!” But none of the disciples dared ask who he was. They knew he was the Lord.  Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave some of it to his disciples. He did the same with the fish.  This was the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from death.

Jesus and Peter
When Jesus and his disciples had finished eating, he asked, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than the others do?”
Simon Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I do!”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus said.
Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus told him.
Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked him three times if he loved him. So he told Jesus, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.”
Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

RESPONSE
These words from scripture are meant to guide us,  nurture us, and teach us.
Thanks be to God!

ANTHEM
“Saviour, Again to Your Dear Name” - E.J. Hopkins

SERMON

We Respond 

*HYMN: VU #202
“O Breath of Life “   (tune VU #437)

1. O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and power;
O Breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us
and fit your church to meet this hour.

2. O Wind of God, come bend us, break us
till humbly we confess our need;
then, in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore - for this we plead.

3. O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in every part.

PRAYER of DEDICATION for OUR OFFERINGS
The work of creating a world that works for all,
Requires many gifts, many talents, many resources.
We bring all that we have, our courage, our strength,
Our prayers and our dreams,
Our gifts of time and treasure,
And all the love and acceptance we embody,
To create God’s world of justice and joy.
Thanks be to God.
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
     or Offering Plate at the back of the sanctuary.

     Care, Prayer, Share

PRAYERS of the PEOPLE & the LORD’S PRAYER (VU 910)

What’s Up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN: MV # 89
“Love is the Touch” (tune VU #642)

1. Love is the touch of intangible joy;
love is the force that no fear can destroy;
love is the goodness we gladly applaud:
God is where love is, for love is of God.

2. Love is the lilt in a lingering voice;
love is the hope that can make us rejoice;
love is the cure for the frightened and flawed:
God is where love is, for love is of God.

3. Love is the light in the tunnel of pain;
love is the will to be whole once again;
love is the trust of a friend on the road:
God is where love is, for love is of God.

4. Love is the Maker and Spirit and Son;
love is the kingdom their will has begun;
love is the path which the saints all have trod:
God is where love is, for love is of God.

*COMMISSIONING

*SUNG BLESSING
“In All of my Life”

In all of my life
In all of my ways
In all my priorities
Through all of my days
In all that I choose
In all that I say:
May love be supreme in my life
This I pray.

In all of our life
In all of our ways
In all our priorities
Through all of our days:
In all that we choose
In all that we say:
May love be supreme in our lives
This I pray!

POSTLUDE
“Sonata in E flat Major, 3rd Mov’t” - F.J. Haydn

*****

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship: (from E.E. Cummings,  William Blake,  and John’s letters)
The quotes from “I thank you God for most this amazing”, are © 1979 by George James Firmage, COMPLETE POEMS of ee cummings, edited by George J. Firmage,  Liverlight Publishing Co.
Prayers are written by Rev. John G. Smith

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES
- “Dance with the Spirit:” Words and music: Jim Strathdee, 1995 Words and Music copyright © 1995 by Jim and Jean Strathdee (Desert Flower Music), PO Box 1476, Carmichael, CA 95609l (916) 481-2999, www.strathdeemusic.com. One License #608577
- “Psalm 91” On Eagles Wings:” Words, Music: Michael Joncas © 1979, 1991 New Dawn Music, administered by Oregon Catholic Press. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Words, Music: New Dawn Music, administered by Oregon Catholic Press. One License #608577
- “O Breath of Life:” Words: Elizabeth A.P. Head. Music VU #437 Music: Clement Coterill Scholefield 1874. Public Domain