July 7th, 2024

7^th Sunday of Pentecost

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
     Minister: Rev. Dr. John Greg. Smith
     Guest Musician: Camryn Ruthven
     Scripture Reader: Shirley Woolner

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

We Gather 

PRELUDE
“In Christ Alone” -  Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty, 2001

WELCOME & INRODUCTION

The CHRIST CANDLE
As we come to worship in this Pentecost season
We turn to light the candle which reminds us:
Christ’s Spirit is always with us!
Christ's spirit fills us, heals us, and completes us.
Christ’s light enlivens us, and gives us strength,
for the living of these 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
(Psalm 34 as adapted by Rev. John) 

I will bless the Beloved at all times:
A song of praise will forever be on my lips!
My soul speaks to the Beloved continually;
My soul and my spirit open up to God in every moment!
Let us come and hear the voice of the Beloved, for US!
Let us taste and see the goodness of God, for US!
Let us fill our souls with the love of Love Eternal,
And then turn to our neighbour to share God’s love!
When I searched for Love, I was afraid.
My emptiness consumed me.
My burdens kept me low.
I was poor in spirit, I could not sleep.
I was as forlorn as an oyster on the bottom of the sea.
Happy are those who turn their souls toward Love!
Happy are those who take refuge in God’s heart.
Happy are those who desire the fullness of Life,
And find the key to it, hanging around their neck.
Today, may our souls shine bright with Love Eternal.
May our worship shimmer inside our souls!
May the praise on our lips and the meditations of our hearts
Bring us closer to you O God, and to one another!
Amen!  May it be so!  Amen!

* HYMN:  VU #409
“Morning Has Broken”  

 1. Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

 2. Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where God’s feet pass.

 3. Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day!

OPENING PRAYER
Great Spirit of Oneness,
Great Source of Life and Love,
We are gathered in your spirit;
we are gathered in your love.
We open our hearts and our mouths;
they are filled with songs and praise.
We open our minds and our spirits;
they are filled with the prayers of our hearts.
As we gather in this sacred place together
our world beckons us to be the change that is needed.
Our community, our circles of care,
our partners and our friends,
all beckon us to choose life, to embrace hope,
and to be the love we wish to see in our world.
May this time together give us courage
and strength for these tasks…

(a moment of quiet prayer)

As I live every day,
I want to be a channel for peace.
May I bring love where there is hatred
And healing where there is hurt;
Joy where there is sadness
And hope where there is fear.
I pray that I may always try
To understand and comfort other people
As well as seeking comfort
and understanding from them.
Wherever possible, may I choose to be
A light in the darkness,
A help in times of need,
And a caring honest friend.
And may justice, kindness, and peace
Flow from my heart forever.  Amen.

*HYMN: VU #664
(Summer Throwback Hymn)
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”

1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

2. Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

3. Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Christ the Saviour is our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do our friends despise, forsake us?
Are we tempted to despair?
Jesus’ strength will shield our weakness,
and we’ll find new courage there.

We Listen 

SCRIPTURE READINGS

2 Corinthians 5: 6-10, 14-17   New International version
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Mark 6: 7-13, 30-32          New International version
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.  Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

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

SPECIAL MUSIC
“Lord I Need You”- Matt Maher, 2013

SERMON
“Remember the Sabbath:  it will keep you WHOLE”

We Respond 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER  (VU 910)

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

What’s Up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN:  VU # 642
“Be thou My Vision”   vs. 1, 2 & 5

1. Be thou my vision, O joy of my heart;
naught be all else to me save that thou art,
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

2. Be thou my wisdom, my calm in all strife;
I ever with thee, and thou in my life;
thou loving parent, thy child may I be,
thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.

5. Great God of heaven, after victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O ruler of all.

*COMMISSIONING

*SUNG BENEDICTION:  VU #431 
 “Sing Amen”

Sing amen: Amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen: Amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen: Amen, amen, amen, amen,
amen, we praise your name, O God.*

POSTLUDE
“10,000 Reasons” - Matt Redman and Steve Angrisano, 2013.

*****

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship: Psalm 34: adapted by Rev. John G. Smith
Prayers are written by Rev. Dr. John G. Smith
Opening Prayer: from As I Live Every Day, copyright © Scott Kearns and Gretta Vosper. Used with permission)

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES