Bulletin – Sunday, October 25, 2026 – Reformation Sunday
Windsor Park United Church
October 25, 2026
Reformation Sunday
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Lighting the Christ Candle
Let us light these Candles reminding us when we grow weary our Creator God oversees the unfolding of our lives. The light of Christ warms our hearts. The Spirit of God permeates throughout all of creation. Our hope rests in the presence of the light of Christ.
Please join in the singing of the Hymn: “We are Pilgrims” (Voices United #595)
We are pilgrims on a journey,
Fellow travellers on the road;
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.
Sister, let me be your servant,
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
Speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping,
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow,
Till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony,
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, let me be your servant,
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too.
Call to Worship
Come let us join our hearts and minds as one as we celebrate the gift of God’s love. Created in the image of God we are God’s beloved. Let us sing God’s praises, offer our prayers in gratitude. Let us be present to the unfolding of God’s nourishment. Here in this place for all who are gathered.
Prayer of Confession
God you are our refuge, a stronghold to keep us safe. God is our rock and fortress. Yet we turn away in times of trouble. Help us to lean into you calling out your name that our broken spirits may be made whole. In your name and through the power of your love.
Words of Assurance
One: The mountains may shake,
All: but God is our God, and we are God’s people.
One: The waters may roar and rage,
All: but God’s love is unfailing.
One: The earth may crumble,
All: but God builds us up.
One: The waves may crash,
All: but we will dance with joy!
One: There may be times of great trouble,
All: but we have found grace in the wilderness. Thanks be to God, our maker and sustainer. 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.
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Readings
The first scripture reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah 31:31-35
31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name:
The second reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 22:34-46
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 ‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ 43 He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
44 “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’”?
45 If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Love, Love, Love Your God” (Songs for a Gospel People #43)
Love, love, love your God
The commandment’s word is love
Love your neighbour as yourself
For God is Love
Love, love, love your God
The commandment’s word is love
Love your neighbour as yourself
For God is Love
Love, love, love your God
The commandment’s word is love
Love your neighbour as yourself
For God is Love
Reflection
Choir Anthem – “Shema” (Then Let Us Sing #161) (arranged by S. Coughlin)
Shema Y’israel
Adonai Eloheinu
Adonai Echad
Hear Israel
The Lord Is our God
The Lord is one
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
Give to him your mind and soul today
From this greatest law do not depart
For this is the true and holy way
Shema Y’israel
Adonai Eloheinu
Adonai Echad
Hear Israel
The Lord Is our God
The Lord is one
We Respond to God’s Word
Invitation to Share
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
O loving Creator we ask you to bless these gifts and bless the hands and minds that will work to use them with love, that we may always be mindful of being co-creators with you of your kingdom of heaven on earth.
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: Our Creator who is like Our Mother and…
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 “Spirit, Open My Heart” (More Voices #79)
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.
God, replace my stony heart
With a heart that’s kind and tender.
All my coldness and fear
To your grace I now surrender.
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.
Write your love upon my heart
As my law, my goal, my story.
In each thought, word, and deed,
May my living bring you glory.
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.
May I weep with those who weep,
Share the joy of sister, brother.
In the welcome of Christ,
May we welcome one another.
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.
Commissioning
Confident that God’s love is sealed on our hearts. Let us walk the way of Christ. Caring for the stranger. Challenging injustice with truth and conviction. We are all God’s children. Let us rejoice in this and be glad.
Extinguish Candle
Benediction
May God’s love envelope you. May the way of Jesus be the path you walk on. May the Spirit of God’s wisdom guide you. Amen.
Sung Response – “Amen” (Voices United #969)
Amen, Amen, Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen
