Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

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May 12, 2024: Sunday Service - Mother's Day

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, May 12, 2024

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May 12th, 2024

7^th Sunday of Easter

Mother’s Day

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: Sandy Eagles

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
Selections from "The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book"

WELCOME

*INTROIT: MV #14
“Where Two or Three are Gathered in My Name”

Where two or three are gathered in my name,
I am there, I am there. (X4)

The CHRIST CANDLE
As we gather together on this most glorious day,
We turn to light the candle which reminds us:
Christ’s light dances within us,
Christ’s light enlivens us, and gives us strength,
And, Christ’s light fills us, holds us, and blesses us,
For the living of these particular days.
May it be so! 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
We gather to worship in the life-giving Spirit of Love Eternal.
We gather to learn our true worth, and to reflect our true light.
We gather to be the people we are called to be;
We gather to be the change the world needs us to be.
We bring our whole selves, body mind and spirit, to God.
We bring our troubles, our concerns, our sorrows.
and we bring our gratitude, our loves, our joys.
For in every part of our lives, Love Eternal shines light.
In every part of our lives, Love Eternal visits us with blessing.
In every part of our life,
A song of grateful praise rises up.
Its voice fills our being.
Its beat fills our hearts.
Its love embraces our whole lives.
And together, we breathe a little Spirit-breath
That we might live true once again.
Let that moment be NOW!

* HYMN: VU #236
“Now Thank We All our God”

1. Now thank we all our God, with heart,
and hands, and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mother’s arms has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

2. O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
and keep us strong in grace, and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ill in this world and the next.

3. All praise and thanks to God
for all that has been given,
the Son, and Spirit blest
who dwell in highest heaven,
the one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore

OPENING PRAYER
We gather our hearts and minds together on this Mother’s Day.
We are grateful for the mothers in our lives,
And for those who have been mom-friends to us along the way.
Today let us listen to the calls of mothers around the world;
For the world is hurting, and there is much to be done.
Let us remember mothers who struggle to feed their kids.
Let us remember mothers who have lost a child before their time.
Let us remember the mothers of missing Indigenous girls and women.
Let us remember the mothers of the dead in Israel and in Gaza.
Let us remember the mothers who seek to re-unite with their children.
Let us remember the mothers of the war in Ukraine.
God, help us to remember the needs of the earth, the call of mother Earth to us to care for all her children.
Let us hear the call of the orphaned whale as he searches for his mother now.
Let us hear the call of the newborn calf, hungry for milk at its mother’s breast.
Let us hear the call of the birds newly born in their nests.
We hold all these prayers and cries before us God, and place them in your tender hands. Your love is constant and unconditional. Your care for all of creation is never-ending. Like a mother’s heart, your love surrounds us with grace and hope.
Thank you God, for the blessings of your heart, this day, and every day.

(A time for quiet prayer)

SUNG RESPONSE: VU #381
“Spirit of Life” (seated)

Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.

We Listen

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Romans 8: 31 – 35, & 37-39 (New King James Version)

God’s Everlasting Love
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 13: 31-35, & 44-50 (Contemporary English Version)
Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches.
Jesus also said:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. Such a person is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a net is thrown into a lake and catches all kinds of fish. When the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones away. That's how it will be at the end of time. Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

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

ANTHEM
“Let Us Love One Another” - A.B. Sherman

SERMON
“Whole-Heartedness: the Antidote for Insanity”

We Respond

*HYMN: VU #227
“For the Fruit of All Creation”

1. For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
silent growth while we are sleeping,
future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.

2. In the just reward of labour, God’s will is done.
In the help we give our neighbour, God’s will is done.
In our worldwide task of caring"
for the hungry and despairing,
in the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

3. For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
for the truths that still confound us,
most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God

The Sacrament of Communion

Communion Prayer
May God be with you!
And also with you!
Lift up your hearts!
We lift them up to the Giver of Life.
Let us give thanks to God!
It is right to give God thanks and praise…
(Prayer continues)

The Lord’s Prayer: (Casa Del Sol version)
Ground of all being,
Mother of life, Father of the universe,
Your name is sacred, beyond our speaking.
May we know your presence always;
may your longings be our longings
in our hearts and in our actions.
May there be food for the human family today
and for the whole earth community.
Forgive us the falseness of what we have done
as we forgive those who are untrue to us.
Do not forsake us in our time of conflict
but lead us into new beginnings.
For the light of life, the vitality of life, and the glory of life
are yours now and forever.
Amen

Prayer after Communion
In this time of grace and communion,
We have been blessed by the ever-present love of God.
In this time of community as we shared the gifts of wine and bread,
We have been blessed by the ever-present love of God.
In our hearts, our minds, our spirits, whether troubled or free,
We have been blessed by the ever-present love of God.
In our coming and our going forth into the needy world,
We will be blessed by the ever-present love of God.
May it be so! AMEN!

What’s Up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN: MV #154
“Deep in our Hearts”

1. Deep in our hearts there is a common vision;
deep in our hearts there is a common song;
deep in our hearts there is a common story,
telling Creation that we are one.

2. Deep in our hearts there is a common purpose;
deep in our hearts there is a common goal;
deep in our hearts there is a sacred message,
justice and peace in harmony.

3. Deep in our hearts there is a common longing;
deep in our hearts there is a common theme;
deep in our hearts there is a common current,
flowing to freedom like a stream.

4. Deep in our hearts there is a common vision;
deep in our hearts there is a common song;
deep in our hearts there is a common story,
telling Creation that we are one.

*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:
“Rosemary” - F. Bridge

*****