Bulletin – Sunday, October 4, 2026 – 4th Sunday Season of Creation / World Wide Communion

Windsor Park United Church
4th Sunday Season of Creation /
World Wide Communion
Sunday, October 4, 2026

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Lighting the Christ Candle

Around the globe on this World Wide Communion Sunday    We gather—one in Christ. Each believer part of the body of Christ who is the Bread of Life, the True Vine
and the Light of the world.

(The candle is lit)

Christ came and broke the darkness: The darkness of death with the resurrection and the darkness of fear and guilt with the promise of new life.

Please join in the singing of the hymn – ”All Who Hunger” (Voices United #460)

All who hunger, gather gladly,
Holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wandering.
Here, in truth, we will be fed.
You that yearn for days of fullness,
All around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

All who hunger, never strangers;
Seeker, be a welcome guest.
Come from restlessness and roaming.
Here, in joy, we keep the feast.
We that once were lost and scattered
In communion’s love have stood.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

All who hunger, sing together;
Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing.
Here, in peace, we have been led.
Blest are those who from this table
Live their lives in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

Call to Worship

God calls us to worship just as we are. We cannot pretend to be what we are not. God our creator knows us  and knows what we are called to be. In our weakness let us pray for strength. In our strength let us pray with thankfulness. God will grant us the courage to face the truth and the humility to recognise we will always need to grow in a deeper understanding of Gods love.

Prayer of Confession

God, as we gather we do not have to tell you who we are as individuals or the church, what we want or what we need. You know. As we bring to you our corporate and private confessions we admit to you and to ourselves the things we have done and the people we have hurt by our actions or inaction. We beg your forgiveness. (silent prayer)  Give us the backbone to heal the brokenness we have caused and if it is not possible, grant us the grace to support those who can. As we need the freedom forgiveness brings to us help us see this need in others. Amen

Words of Assurance

God forgives us. God does this….Our only need is to accept it.  Avoid the temptation to fall back into guilt or self loathing. Or to take it as a cheap gift and not let it change our hearts at all.  Accept this new lease on life . Walk in the way of Christ. Amen

Sung Response – “Grant To Us Your Peace” (Voices United #955)

Grant to us your peace on earth,
Grant to us your peace, O God.

Time for All Ages: The United Church of Canada’s 1998 Apology to First Nations

We Hear God’s Word

Scripture Readings

The first scripture reading is from the book of Isaiah 5:1-7

¹ I will sing for the one I love  a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. ² He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.³ “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴ What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? ⁵ Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. ⁶ I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

⁷ The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

The second reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 21:33-46

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Reflection

We Respond to God’s Word

Please Join in the Singing of the Hymn – “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation” (Voices United #325)

Christ is made the sure foundation, Christ the head and cornerstone,
Chosen of the Lord, and precious, binding all the church in one,
Holy Zion’s held forever, and its confidence alone.

To this temple where we call you, come O Lord of hosts today;
With your faithful loving kindness hear your servants as they pray,
And your fullest benediction shed within its wall always.

Here bestow on all your servants what they ask of you to gain,
What they gain from you forever with the blessed to retain,
And hereafter in your glory evermore with you to reign.

Laud and honour to the Father, laud and honour to the Son,
Laud and honour to the Spirit, ever three and ever one,
One in might, and one glory, while unending ages run.

Invitation to Share

No matter if you are on Par or pay by monthly allotments  and the plate passes you by, or if you found yourself rooting in your purse or pocket for a loonie because you left your envelope at home or for any other good reason. This is a time to offer more than coin. Now is the time to remember our confirmation vows  or our intent to walk in the way of Jesus. We are God’s creation  here for a purpose. For the goodness of God let us live in peace and thankfulness.

Offering Sung Response – “All That We Have” (Onelicense.net by G. Ault)

All that we have and all that we offer
Comes from a heart both frightened and free.
Take what we bring now and give what we need.
All done in God’s name.

Offering Prayer

Bless us as your gifts for each other and the world. Bless the bread  the wafers)  and the juice that we may embody your Spirit and live out your love. Amen

Communion Liturgy

Let us Celebrate:

One:   The Lord be with you.
All:      And also with you.

One:   Lift up your hearts.
All:      We lift our hearts in prayer.

One:   Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All:      It is right to give God thanks and praise.

One:   We praise you loving God, maker of all things, You created us in your image You seek us out when we are lost and alone.

We thank you for being embodied in Jesus the Christ and throughout all creation your mystery and wonder is shown. Your love and mercy show no bounds.

Holy God of wind and fire Your Spirit renews the face of the earth and warms the hearts of your people.

Your spirit grounds us in compassion and peace. Fresh breezes that blow down walls and break barriers which separate us from you and one another.

And so it is that we join our voices on earth and in the heavens to give you praise:

All:      Creator of all things, nature gives you thanks, your creatures all give you thanks,  our praise rises in us like a great flowing river. God of all things, Creator, Provider, we thank you in the name of Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. We know you are here

One:   Let us remember together that vision of God’s reign shown to us in Jesus at table: he shared food with followers and friends, with saints and sinners, with crowds of thousands on the hillside, and a few friends in an upper room.

On the night before he died, he had supper with his companions. He took a loaf of bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “Take, eat. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then, he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he passed it among them, saying: “Drink this. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through this loaf and cup, Jesus lives within us. In word and deed, Jesus lives among us.

One:   O God, Redeemer of all things, with grateful hearts we offer this bread and this wine. Fruits of your earth and of your labour, signs of your redemptive purpose for our lives and for all your creation. Therefore, we proclaim our hope and faith:
All:      Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restored our life. Christ is with us and will come again in Glory.

One:   By these signs of bread and wine, we recognize the longings of our hearts. For a time when all humanity will be one family – when justice and compassion will be the way we live. Holy Spirit, hover over our lives and embolden our hearts. Unite us in these signs. Strengthen us to live the resurrected life of Christ in the world.

Praise be to God, the Source of Love! Praise be to Christ, love incarnate! Praise be to the Spirit, Love’s power! Praise be to God! Amen.

 One:   The bread which we break
All:      Is our communion in the body of Christ

One:   The cup of blessing which we bless
All:      Is our communion in the blood of Christ.

One:   The gifts of God for the people of God.

I invite you to share now, the food of life, the juice of spiritual nourishment.

Communion Sung Response: Eat This Bread (Onelicense.net Taizé)

Eat this bread, drink this cup,
Come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this bread, drink this cup,
Trust in me and you will not thirst.

Closing Communion Prayer

One:   Please join in praying our closing communion prayer.
All:      Creator God, you give seed for us to sow, And bread for us to eat; make us thankful for what we have received and generous in supplying the needs of others so all the world may give you thanks and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Invitation to the Passing of the Peace

Please offer one another the peace of Christ in a way that you feel comfortable and respects others’ space.

The Prayer that Jesus Taught

One: Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: using the words of his time and place
All:    Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

We Go Into God’s World

Announcements

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (Voices United #664)

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.

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.

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.

Commissioning

Although we extinguish the candle  we can never extinguish the light of Christ. The light of Christ will shine through your forgiveness and your peace that is greater than any animosity or division. It will continue to shine in the shadow of deep grief, loneliness and despair.  It will high light all beauty and sing the heart’s song. Your life will praise our God.  Go in peace. Amen

Extinguish Candle

Benediction……Amen

Sung Response – “Amen” (Voices United #969)

Amen, Amen, Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen