Bulletin – October 18, 2020

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

May this spark Divine Energy, this flame that dances atop this candle, be a beacon of hope to all. We welcome Christ who, through this candle’s flame, will brighten and ground our worship.

(adapted from Jani Francis, Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2020, page. 33)

Call to Worship

We come to worship this morning, some with joyful hearts, and some with hurting souls.
Christ is here, ready to celebrate, ready to heal.

We come to worship this morning, some of us tired, some of us full of energy.
Christ is here, giving us strength, giving us purpose.

We come to worship this morning, some righteous, some repentant.
Christ is here, full of grace, full of forgiveness.

We come to worship this morning, some of us full of questions, some of us sure in our faith.
Christ is here, present in our doubt, present in our assurance.

We come to worship this morning, all of us, knowing…
Christ is here.

(written by Sandra Jenkinson, Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2020, page 33)

Hymn – “Come and Find the Quiet Centre”

Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter; clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.

Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, know our being, face to face,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.

In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain
There’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare!

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Holy One, we gather on this ordinary day to do something extraordinary. We hear stories of prophets who risked death to call people back. We sing songs trying to describe the indescribable. We listen to the teaching of one described as fully human, and fully divine.

Merciful God, we come before you to confess that we have not always been the people you intend us to be. You intend us to use our gifts in service, yet sometimes our fears prevent us from offering ourselves. You call us to give our time in service, but we easily fill up our time with unnecessary busyness. Our gifts remain undiscovered treasure.

Forgive us and help us to say yes to you so that your gifts might be brought to birth in us. Help us say yes, so that the world around might be blessed by the good that you can do in and through us. Help us to say yes, that we might be blessed as we give ourselves in blessing to a world in need. Amen.

(adapted from Ryan McNally and Dainne Astle, Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2020, pages 36, 39)

Words of Assurance

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “God Says”

God says, “Be still so you may hear the words I whisper in your ear.
If you will listen, you will know I’m with you always where you go.”

God says, “Look up and see the prize I’ve placed here right before your eyes.
Find beauty in the things of earth, a cause for wonder and rebirth.”

God says, “Come here! I need your voice. Please teach my people to rejoice.
In who you are, in what you do your life will show my love for you.”

God says, “Reach out! The world’s in need and wants a word, a song, a deed.
I send you forth to speak, to sing, to act for Christ in everything.”

The Word

Scripture Reading:

Exodus 33:12-23

¹² Moses said to the LORD, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”

¹⁷ The LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The LORD’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” ²¹ And the LORD continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; ²³ then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” ²¹ They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God

Meditation – “Giving to God What is God’s”

Anthem – “All I Have”

The Response

Prayer

Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace!

God of majesty, Your glory fills the earth and the heavens. You are the maker of all that is, of all that is good, of all that seeks good, of all beauty and truth and nobility. You surpass all that we think of you. You are found in places that we do expect to find you. You speak to us in ways that are so ordinary that we often fail to hear you and you reveal yourself in things that are so wonderful that we often fail to grasp that you are behind them and in them. Lord, we pray that you may help us to see you and hear you this day.

In silence now, O Lord, we ask that you speak to us and that you hear us and help us. We offer to you our prayers—and we offer to you our hearts and minds and souls so that you may fill them with what you want us to have. Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.

Father and Mother of us all—we know you care for all that you have made and for all whom you have made. Hear now our prayers for our world and for the nations that fill it—for those who hunger and thirst for the bread and water you give in abundance, for the justice and the mercy that you want all to experience, for the peace and the wholeness that you want all to know. Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.

Tender and caring Lord, hear our prayers for those whose pains and sorrows and joys and thanksgivings are upon our hearts this day. We lift them up before you by name in our hearts—and with the words of our lips…

Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.

Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace!

Hymn – “Take My Life and Let it Be”

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, all for thee,
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of thy love,
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and purposeful for thee.

Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from three,
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it thine,
It shall be no longer mine,
Take my heart, it is thine own;
It shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love: and I will pour
At thy feet its treasure store,
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for thee.

Benediction

We go forth from here with a renewed sense of service to God and a deepened awareness of God’s gifts to us. We head into this week with replenished hearts and minds, assured of God’s love for us all, God’s children. Together we are nurtured and inspired to grow and love and serve God. Amen.

(written by Gill Le Fevre, Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2020, page 44)

Response

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us, for the truths that still confound us,
Most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.