Litany of Hope for July 2, 2017 -- #Canada150

we look at where we have come for, we see where we are – the positive and the negative,

and we ask what comes next.

God of our future,

we dream of what yet will be, we dream of who we could become

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

WE dream of abundance,

a country where all our neighbours have what they need for safe, healthy lives,

a place where food, shelter, education, safety and employment are provided to all

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

WE dream about the land,

seeking a time where we learn how to balance ecology and economy

envisioning a nation where we do indeed live in respect with creation.

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of leadership,

trusting that Canada has a place in your global community

hoping that Canada can be a force for peace and justice

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of reconciliation and right-relations

for relationships that are rebuilt

for respect between members of the various communities that make up this national

for open and truthful naming of injuries both old and new, and then actively working towards the healing of those injuries

...looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

We dream of the Kingdom,

even as we know that the Kingdom is larger than our country, we trust that the Kingdom includes our country

we dream of the day when the values of the Kingdom: peacemaking, unconditional love, community, hospitality, generosity, compassion, and passionate justice are embraced as Canadian values

as those who carry the name of Christ, as those who hear Christ’s call for transformation

and looking into a future of possibilities

we commit ourselves to live as people of The Way, people of love.

God of the past, the present and the future, help us live as people of hope for a better future.

And the people all said AMEN

Litany of Lament for July 2, 2017 -- #Canada150

God of possibilities,

we know that we have not always lived up to the promise that lies within us

as individuals, as communities, as a community of communities, we have injured each other, we have failed to live as people of love

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who calls us to live with respect in creation

we know that in our hurry to make use of the land we have not always been good stewards

forests have disappeared, fisheries have been depleted

humans take the space that once was shared with many other species, and drive them into far corners

the detritus of our industrial culture has changed the landscape

and we still wonder if we can find the balance between economy and ecology, if we can stop injuring and start repairing the land we love

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who calls us to love and serve others

we are not always good neighbours

the people who welcomed our predecessors to this land have been mistreated in word and deed

instead of celebrating who they were and are we have tried to turn them into good “proper” people

we have made promises and then broken them, leading some to wonder if the promises were made in good faith

we have invited others to come and enrich the nation and then expected them to be “like us” when they got here, or forced them to leave behind their own cultures and ways so they could “fit in”

we have forgotten that the rule of love is to accept others, we have forgotten that beauty lies in diversity,

at times we have forgotten to love, we have expected to be served more than to serve

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God who challenges us to seek justice and resist evil

we look at the news: local, provincial and national and we lose heart

stories of people cast aside, stories of missing women, stories of justice denied

we challenge the system even while we are all too ready to benefit from the same system, and our resistance loses teeth

we grow complacent, not seeing the very real struggles faced by our neighbours

we begin to wonder if we can make a difference, if the effort is worth the pay off

...remembering that we have not always been the nation we could be

we lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.

God of grace, as we hear the laments of our selves and our neighbours, move us to cry out for justice, push us to help re-build the country into the nation where love and justice are the rule and norm.

And the people all said AMEN

Litany of Gratitude for July 2 2017 -- #Canada150

God made known in creation;

for rocks and trees and skies and seas..your hands the wonders wrought

for sweeping prairie skies and waving grasslands,

for striking mountain peaks and deep valleys,

for lakes and rivers, for forests and tundra

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God who is present in the new things of life;

for those brave adventurers who struck out to explore a new place

for the people they met along the way who offered wisdom, and guidance and support,

for those who set the wheels in motion so that something new and different could begin, something that would grow from a notion into a nation

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God of community;

for the people who have challenged us to become a better, more caring community

for those who have helped us learn that we can be a community even while not being the same

for those who have stood up to speak for the members of our communities who were being abused, or oppressed, or simply ignored

for those who have made us better, those who have helped us draw the circle of what it means to be “Canadian” wider

for all our neighbours, near at hand or living many provinces away

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

God who calls us to make use of your gifts;

for lumber shaped from forests to build ships and houses and cities,

for gold and iron and copper and other minerals mined from the rock

for coal and oil and natural gas, giving energy for us and the world,

for the fruit of the earth, the food which sustains and strengthens us

...for all these gifts

God of all to you we raise words of gratitude and praise

Gift Giving God, we thank and praise you for the wonders of your love we see around us.

And the people all said AMEN

For June 25, 2017 -- Working with Ruth 2

CALL TO WORSHIP

The God who casts the seed,

is the God who gives the growth.

The God who gathers the grain,

gathers God’s people together.

We are part of God’s family,

and we have gathered for worship.

Come! Sing, pray, listen, reflect.

We celebrate God’s presence among us.

As we gather for worship, we greet our brothers and sisters with words and signs of Christ’s peace...

OPENING PRAYER

God of the harvest, God of abundance,

even the gleanings of your love fill us to overflowing.

God who has called us together today,

move within and among us, allow us to know oyour presence and hear your voice.

God who calls us to be your people, God who challenges us to care for each other,

in our time together reawaken in us the desire to serve, to share your love as we share the gleanings of our lives.

We pray as those who bear the name of Christ, who pledge to follow his path, and who pray as he taught his friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien, You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien (Lev 23:22. Lev 19:10)

God we hear your command to provide for those who are vulnerable among us.

When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:15-16)

God we hear how Boaz went above and beyond what was commanded.

God of grace, there are days,

times when we find ourselves standing in emptiness, wondering what we can find to sustain our souls

God, when we face the times of scarcity,

remind us to look, that we could glean the grace that overflows wherever you are found.

God, when our cups are full,

remind us to be like Boaz, passing the abundance to those who are struggling.

And in all these things,

May we find and share the grace that passes all understanding. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered. We have sung, prayed, listened, reflected..

Now we go out to live and serve.

God calls us to search the world for the gleanings of grace that have been left for us to find.

God calls us to ensure that we share from our abundance so that others can glean together a living.

We are the gleaners, we are the harvesters, the givers and the receivers.

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow.

Go with God who creates, redeems, and sanctifies.

Amen.

For July 2, 2017 -- A service reflecting on #Canada150

(note: this service will also include litanies of Gratitude, Lament, and Hope.  These are yet to be written)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TREATY LAND

We gather here on land that is covered by Treaty #8, specifically the traditional land of the Beaver in the traditional territory of the Cree.

We thank them for their care for this land before our ancestors arrived. We pledge to work with them as we share this land into the future.

CALL TO WORSHIP

From a variety of backgrounds, different countries, different cultures,

we are drawn together.

We share a belief that God is with us,

and we gather to worship.

With the rest of the country us we celebrate our national birthday,

with the rest of the country we reflect on our shared story,

with the rest of the country we wonder what the future will bring.

We open ourselves to God’s presence,

as people of faith we invite God to be a part of our future as individuals, as a nation, as a church.

OPENING PRAYER

God of many faces, languages, places, names;

we gather to worship as one of the communities that makes up your global community.

God of our past, our present, our future;

we reflect on our past as a nation – the good and the bad,

we look at our present as a nation – the joys and the struggles,

we dream about our future as a nation – the possibilities and the challenges.

As we sing and pray and reflect,

awaken in us the vision of what this community of communities could be

send us out committed to ensuring that the love we see in Christ is a part of how we help to build the nation we want to live in.

We pray in the name of Jesus, who calls us to look beyond ourselves and our boundaries to experience the breadth of your love. Amen

COMMISSIONING:

This is God’s land, and we are people of God.

We are called to care for the land, to care for our neighbours.

We go back into the world,

to live in The Way of Christ,

to work for reconciliation and rebuilding of relationship,

to help build a community and nation where love is the guiding principle.

Go with God, who creates us anew,