FOr June 21, 2015 -- NAtional Aboriginal Day

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Cultural Genocide

The words echo through our country and through our hearts

Cultural Genocide

The words make us stop. Make us think again about who we are and how we are as a church, as a nation.

Creator God, Great Spirit,

we pause and remember the wrongs done on our behalf.

Creator God, Great Spirit,

we name that good intentions sometimes lead to the same results as bad intentions.

God of community,

we acknowledge the broken-ness of our community, the relationships that need to be rebuilt.

God of community,

move among us, push us to do the hard work of reconciliation, give us the courage and endurance to see the long task through.

God of forgiveness, God of grace,

help us to be honest and truthful with each other. Move in our hearts to hear each others stories. Place in our souls the desire to create a new relationship where we see you clearly in each others faces. Give us the humility to accept the need for repentance.

...time of silent prayer...

God is Gracious, God calls us to be Gracious. God moves among us to remind us that in Christ's life and death and New Life there is forgiveness, there is the possibility of repaired relationships, there is hope. Though the road may be long we have God to guide and strengthen us along the way.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

As we close our worship, we continue to pray,

for healing, for truth-telling, for truth-hearing, for reconciliation

As we leave this space we go out into the world,

committing to work for healing, for rebuilding relationships, for the coming of the Kingdom

As we live and serve we trust that God is with us,

moving in the hearts of all, pushing us to be more than we are.

Go with God

For June 14, 2015 -- Looking at Psalm 113

OPENING PRAYER

Holy Mystery who is Wholly Love,

we gather to worship, we gather to celebrate your presence.

In this place and time we join with the voices of ages,

sharing thanksgiving and praise, lifting our voices in songs of praise.

In this time together,

open our eyes and hearts to see all the reasons we have to offer praise.

And then when our worship closes,

send us out with praise-filled hearts, so full that we cannot keep from singing.

We voice our prayers and our praise in the name of Jesus the Christ, whose name we bear, and who taught us to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

Creator God, we see wonders all around us,

and yet somehow we take them for granted.

We use awesome to talk about TV shows and skateboard tricks,

but somehow we wonder if we have lost our sense of awe.

In our world of wonders, in our lives of abundance,

reawaken in us that sense of awe, loose our tongues to sing our praises.

And when we forget, when we become accustomed to the world, when we are blinded to the wonders of life...

wake us up, remind us, help us see clearly, so that once again we sing.

God of Grace, God of Wonders, God of Mystery, when we see clearly the world around us,

How can we keep from singing?

In grace, help us remember the song.

Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We leave this worship space

to go out into the wider world, where we worship and praise.

We leave this worship space,

to go out and see the wonders of life that astound us every day.

We leave this worship space,

we go out with joy and song.

God, Holy Mystery, Wholly Love, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer goes with us.

How can we keep from singing?

For June 7, 2015 -- To Go with Psalm 1

Call TO WORSHIP/OPENING PRAYER

Like trees sending their roots out in search of water,

we seek God's presence in our lives.

Like trees drinking deep, pulling nutrition from the soil,

we soak in the wisdom of Scripture, seeking to grow strong as God's people.

God of wisdom, God of the Law,

speak to our hearts and minds and souls, grant us wisdom, anchor us in your Way.

God of the table, God of the world,

in our worship feed us, then send us back into the world to share your love, your wisdom, your hope.

Amen.

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

Blessed are those who delight in the Law of God.

Sometimes we find the Law to be a gift. Sometimes we find it to be a straitjacket.

They are like trees planted beside a stream,

God of grace, help us seek out the life-giving water of faith and wisdom and law.

As we walk along The Way of Jesus the Christ,

keep us from being blown about like chaff, help us grow strong and bear fruit.

As the winds of life attempt to drive us away from the path of wisdom,

help us sing the old words “like a tree that's planted by the water we shall not be moved”

God of grace,

help our roots dig deep, grounding us, stabilizing us, feeding us.

...time of silent prayer...

God is gracious, offering us the wisdom of the ages. God is gracious, offering to feed our hearts, souls, and minds. God is gracious, calling us to the Way of wisdom even if we turn aside.

Thanks be to God who nourishes us, helping us grow, helping us be fruitful. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Our worship comes to a close. Our service continues.

We go out to carry on the story of faith, the story we inherited from our ancestors.

We go from this place as those who have been, are, and will be nourished by God's Word, God's wisdom, God's life-giving water.

We go out to share the nourishment we have received with our neighbours. We go out to drink deep, to grow strong, to be fruitful.

As you go, know that God is with you.

Always and everywhere. Amen.

For May 17, 2015

CALL TO WORSHIP

As a baptized and baptizing community.

We gather to sing, to pray, to listen, to worship

As people who are being changed, transformed, sanctified,

We respond to God's call, we embrace the Spirit moving in our midst.

As a community of Christ-followers, we share the peace of Christ with our neighbours.

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of life, in our baptism,

we walk through life into death and back into life.

God of transformation, in our baptism,

you make us a new being, changing us, making us more than we were.

God of grace, in our baptism,

we are set free from the bondage of sin, we are set free to be people of life.

Transforming, Empowering, Gracious God

help us live as those who are freed from sinfulness, help us put the old ways behind us, help us live into the new people we are becoming.

...time of silent prayer...

The God whose love flowed over us with the waters of baptism, the Christ who redeems and teaches us, the Ruach who fills our lungs with the breath of life, is Gracious. God leads us through the mis-steps of life and, grace-filled, pulls us forward, transforming and sanctifying us as we grow into what is made true in our baptism. This is Good News!

Thanks be to God! Amen.

For May 10, 2015, to go with Romans 5:1-5

CALL TO WORSHIP

Jesus said “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest “

We gather in the loving presence of God, who gives us rest.

Here we lay out our lives, here we are refreshed for the continuing journey

We gather to worship,

And as we gather we turn to our neighbours and exchange the Peace of Christ.

OPENING PRAYER

Loving and Gracious God, we gather together again.

Here we celebrate your presence, here we give thanks for your gifts, here we come to drink from the spring of your wisdom.

Supporting God, we carry our burdens into this place.

Seeking to lay them in your hands.

Guiding God, we bring our struggles with us to this time of worship.

Trusting that you are with us in the struggle, that you will help us endure and give us hope for the future.

Challenging God, when this time of worship is over.

Send us back into the world, ready to carry our burdens, prepared to continue the struggles, open to see how you are active in our lives.

These things we pray in the name of Jesus, who walks with us, who offers to share our load, and who taught us to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of life, we acknowledge that the world is sometimes a confusing place.

A place that challenges our understandings and expectations of life.

In a world where we are told that if we do/buy/say the right things life will be easy,

we wonder why there is such suffering.

We meet our own struggles, our own suffering, small and great,

and we wonder what we are supposed to gain from it.

God of grace, God of presence, God of hope,

you promise to share our burdens, you promise to be with us always.

In grace, help us work through the struggles of life.

Through grace, push us to support others in their struggles, to ease the suffering where we can.

And if it is the right time, may we learn and grow in the struggle.

...time of silent prayer...

God is Gracious. God's grace is shown in the wonder that we are never alone in our suffering and struggles. God's grace is shown when we move forward and learn and grow. And also when we simply survive. This is Good News!

Thanks be to God! Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Our time of worship ends, our time of service continues.

We go from this place back out into the wider world with its joys and its sorrows, its celebrations and its struggles.

As we live and serve, may we carry the love of God with us.

Sharing it with all we meet

And may we help each other with our burdens

Even as God walks with us and lifts the weight from our shoulders.

Go with God.

Always. Amen.

For April 19, 2015 -- Peter's Dream, Opening the Circle of Faith Wider

CALL TO WORSHIP

People of God! Gather together for worship!

We come in this Easter Season to celebrate the promise of new life.

People of God, gather together for worship!

We celebrate the diverse family of God, with whom we gather to celebrate God's presence.

And so we turn to our friends and neighbours, our brothers and sisters in faith, to share the Peace of Christ.

OPENING PRAYER

God of life in all it's wondrous diversity,

we come from many different places, many different tasks, many different realities.

Here in this place you call us together.

Here we worship together, naming what makes us united, celebrating our diversity.

During this time of prayer and song and word,

challenge our ideas of who is welcome in the community, open us to draw the circle wider.

This things we pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who taught his friends to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God you call us to embrace each other as part of one circle,

but we insist are drawing lines that keep some in and some out.

You tell us that what you have called clean, we should not call profane,

but we find ourselves unwilling to live that out.

You tell us that in you the old dividing lines don't count anymore :no more male or female, Jew or Gentile,

but we find comfort in knowing who fits and who doesn't.

God of grace,

move in our hearts, opening us to be channels of your abundant grace and love.

...time of silent prayer...

There is a wideness in God's mercy. God draws the circle wider than we can imagine – keeping all of us inside the line. This is Good News!

Thanks be to God!

Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered to celebrate the God who welcomes us all into the circle.

Now we go out into the many other circles of our lives.

Into those circles we carry a precious precious gift:

the love of God, the word of acceptance, the promise of welcome.

Go now with the knowledge that God: Parent, Child, and Spirit, Three-in-One goes with you

Wherever we go. We are not alone. Thanks be to God

For March 22 -- Looking at the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

CALL TO WORSHIP

May the Peace of Christ be with you

And also with you.

We have been called together in this place

To celebrate God's presence, to listen for God's wisdom, to be renewed as God's servants

As we gather to worship, let us greet each other with God's peace...

OPENING PRAYER

God of life, who calls us to be the church,

we gather together as a community to listen for how you are speaking to us today.

God of justice, who calls us to live lives of love,

we gather as a community of people who try to understand what that means day to day.

God of promise, who calls us to be people of hope,

we gather as people who are looking for signs that the Kingdom is being made real in our midst.

In this time of worship,

refresh us, challenge us, renew us.

We pray in in the name of the one who taught about the way of love, who challenges us to serve each other, and who taught us to pray by saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God, when we look around we see so much need.

And we wonder how best to respond.

God we hear your voice in the old stories.

Challenging us to feed the hungry, to visit the lonely, to comfort the suffering.

Not in search of reward or payback,

but simply because it is the loving thing to do.

God of grace, we hear the voice, we understand the challenge,

but we find it hard to live out. God of grace, give us the grace to live the way of love.

...time of silent prayer...

God challenges us to be people of love. In grace God helps us along the way. In mercy, God works with us through our mis-steps and our mis-understandings. We are forgiven, set back on the path, and urged to try again. This is Good News.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

FOr March 15, 2015 -- Looking at the Day Labourers and the Generous Landowner

OPENING PRAYER

God you meet us where we are, when we are ready.

Maybe in the light of dawn, or the heat of mid-day, or in the last hours of sunlight.

Whenever we meet you, whenever we pick up your invitation, you say:

Come, join in the labour, I have work for you.

And when the day's labour ends you say:

here is your payment, here is what you need for today.

In our worship, in our songs and prayers, in our lives,

open our hearts and souls to the wonder of you mercy, your grace, your justice.

This we pray in the name of Jesus, our rock and Redeemer, who taught his friends to pray saying...

COMMISSIONING:

Our time of worship, a break from the busy-ness of life, draws to a close.

And we return to the world where we live and serve, where we share God's love in word and deed.

Go from this place as agents of justice, as carriers of grace, as workers in the vineyard.

We go to share in the preparation of the Kingdom.

And as you go, remember that you do not walk alone.

The one who has called us saying “Come, I have work for you” is with us always.

Guiding and supporting. Parent, Child and Spirit.

Amen.

For February 8, 2015 -- Jesus Feeds the Multitudes, Peter Walks on Water

CALL TO WORSHIP

In a world of storms and winds and want.

God calls us to trust, to listen, to step out boldly.

As the storms of life are raging,

we gather to worship the God who stands by us.

As people who trust that the Peace of Christ can calm the storms,

we share that peace with our neighbours...

OPENING PRAYER (uses words from the hymn “Stand By Me”)

God of life, God of the wild wind and the still calm, we gather for worship.

When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.

God who calls us to step out into the storm, to take risks in faith and trust,

When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea
Thou Who rulest wind and water, stand by me

In this time of worship remind us that though the storms may rage we are held in your arms.

So that we would have the courage to step out of the boat.

We pray in the name of the One who stilled the water, the One who taught his friends to pray saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

(uses words from Let It Go from the movie FROZEN)

God of grace, the wind blows, the snow piles up, the waves threaten to overwhelm us. And yet you would have us say:

It's time to see what I can do to test the limits and break through... Let the storm rage on

God of challenge, you call us to step out of the boat, out of our safe places, to take risks for the Gospel.

But we are afraid, we are sure we will sink and be overwhelmed.

God of grace, God of power, help us take the risk, overcome the fear, help us trust in your wisdom and power. Help us stand tall and proclaim:

Here I stand in the light of day let the storm rage on,

Walking on water, or maybe swimming, as we live out who you have formed us to be.

And maybe we we will find that the storm won't bother us anyway. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Our hour of worship comes to a close,

and now it is time to step out of the boat, to walk into the storm.

We go from this place with faith and trust,

those things that keep us going, that keep us from floundering.

We go to share the promise and possibility of life with the storm-bound world,

so that the peace that passes understanding would bring hope and calm.

Go with God, who stands by us as the wind blows and the storm roars.

Our rock, our anchor, always.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

For February 1, 2015 -- Don't Worry, Be Like the Flowers of the Field and the Birds of the Air

CALL TO WORSHIP

In a world which presents us with so many worries,

we need to be reminded to trust, to relax, to not worry so much.

As we gather we bring our worries, our anxieties, our fears.

May we set them aside for a time while we celebrate the presence of the One who helps us to relax.

As our time of worship begins, let us greet our family of faith with words and signs of God's peace...

OPENING PRAYER

God of life, we come to this place with many things on our mind,

concern about parents and children, anxiety about the economy, worry about our own health.

And yet through the voices of many you tell us:

Don't Worry, Be Happy.

In this time of worship,

remind us to let go of our anxiety, help us to re-focus our energy on our most valuable treasures.

And then when we have been fed and refreshed,

Lead us out to live lives a little bit more worry-free.

We pray in Jesus' name,

Amen.

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

(uses words from Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin)

In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double

God, the worries of life are so numerous.

Ain't got no place to lay your head...Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style

Sometimes we find it hard to let go, to open ourselves to trust.

And yet you continue to sing to us:

... when you worry your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy don't worry, be happy now.

God of grace, God who calls us to be like the flowers of the field and the birds of the air,

help us to trust, help us to let go, help us to relax.

So that we can all sing together:

Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Don't worry, be happy
I'm not worried, I'm happy

Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered, we have eaten, we have listened.

Now we head back out into the mission field, the world outside the church doors.

As we go, may we carry the peace that passes understanding, the Peace of Christ, with us.

To share with all we meet, to shape the way we live our lives.

And as we go, may we be secure in the trust that God

Parent, Child and Spirit, Love Incarnate in the world

Goes with us wherever we go.

Amen.

For January 25, 2015 -- BLessings and Woes

CALL TO WORSHIP

Children of God! Gather together to worship!

We come to share the life of faith with friends new and old.

Children of God! Open your hearts and souls and minds and ears!

We open our very beings to let God speak and move in our midst.

Children of God! Your brothers and sisters in faith are all around you. Let us greet them with words and signs of God's peace...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

Blessed are those who...

God of life, we give thanks that we have been blessed in so many ways.

But woe to those who...

God of life, we wonder if we are the hungry or the filled, the winners or the losers in the game of life.

Blessings and curses, praises and woes, all seem so intermingled.

God of life, help us to sort them out, help us to seek the path of blessing.

As we walk the road that leads to the Kingdom,

may we be open to the upturning of the world, ready to challenge the injustices we see, willing to risk the changes that Kingdom living brings.

And may we be graceful and grace-filled as it happens.

God of grace, God of blessings, God of the Kingdom, we pray and wait in hope. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

Children of God! Our time of worship draws to a close.

And we prepare to return to the mission field, the world where we live and work and serve.

Children of God! As those who have been blessed,

we go out to share our blessings with others.

Children of God! In a world where there are winners and losers,

we go to share God's word of hope and promise for the Kingdom of Justice and peace.

Children of God! Go with God: Parent, Child and Spirit; One in Three.

We go secure in the knowledge that God is with us every step of the way. Amen.

For January 18, 2015 -- The Temptation of Jesus.

CALL TO WORSHIP

As the week begins anew we come together for worship.

Gathering with friends new and old to explore where God is in our world.

Here in this place we open ourselves to look beyond our understandings

Here we come to be challenged to live as residents of the Kingdom of God

We open our worship together by exchanging words and signs of God's piece with our brothers and sisters in faith.

OPENING PRAYER

God of light, of love, of life,

we open our hearts, our ears, our minds, our souls to your presence.

In this time of singing, of praying, of listening,

challenge us about the ways we face temptation, awaken in us a vision of who you would have us be.

God of transformation, as we hear your call to a new life,

give us the courage to embrace transformation as we follow a new path.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our rock and redeemer, our teacher and guide, who taught his followers to pray saying...