Bulletin – Sunday, November 1, 2020

Sunday, November 1, 2020
Homecoming Sunday
Communion

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

This candle that we light represents, for us, the Spirit of God among us. All are welcome within the glow of its flame, all are welcome in warmth of its light. We gather as a community together, being open and welcoming to all who come to this place, living out this welcome as a symbol of God’s love to all.

Call to Worship

Hear these words of invitation: the hospitality of God knows no bounds.
The love of God is immeasurable.

The generosity and favour of God is beyond our wildest dreams.
We gather together today as invited ones, as beloved ones, as blessed ones.

We gather today as Fathers, Mothers, Grandparents, Friends, Neighbours, Siblings, Co-workers.
We come as individuals, yet God unites us as one.

So, welcome, as we come together in community to worship.
May we meet God in new and surprising ways today, as we worship in word and song.

Hymn – “Joyful, Joyful We Adore You”

Joyful, joyful we adore you
God of glory, life and love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before you,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the gloom of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.

All your works with joy surround you,
Earth and heaven reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around you,
Centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain,
Sound their praise eternally.

You are giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Source of grace and fount of blessing,
Let your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals join the mighty chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
God’s own love is reigning o’er us,
Joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph song of life.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

We gather together this day knowing, loving God, that you are already in our midst. We know that you who ordered the world and breathed life into our lungs is already in our midst. That you who is beyond our understanding, yet closer than our next breath is already in our midst.

And here we gather: as friends, as strangers, and members, as guest, all bound by a common love, all bound by a God who extends a generous welcome to all people and who is already in our midst. The one thing that binds us all together is our humanness—our challenges, our failures, our missteps, our brokenness.

Together we can confess those ways in which we’ve failed to live up to our own values. We ask for your forgiveness and we hope to learn from those mistakes in order to become the person you, Creating God, have created us to be.

We take this time to confess those things that in our humanness we have done that have not shown love of God, neighbour or ourselves. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “For the Faithful Who Have Answered”

For the faithful who have answered when they heard your call to serve,
For the many ways you led the testing will and stretching nerve,
For their work and for their witness as they strove against the odds,
For their courage and obedience we give thanks and praise, O God.

Many eyes have glimpsed the promise, many hearts have yearned to see.
Many ears have heard you calling us to greater liberty.
Some have fallen in the struggle, others still are fighting on.
You are not ashamed to own us. We give thanks and praise, O God.

For this cloud of faithful witness, for the common life we share,
For the work of peace and justice, for the gospel that we bear,
For the vision that our homeland is your love – deep, high, and broad –
For the different roads we travel we give thanks and praise, O God.

The Word

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 43:18-25

18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
22Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
24You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

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

Meditation – “The Road That We Have Travelled!”

Anthem – “Love Grows Here”

The Response

Communion

God is with us!
We are not alone!

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.

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

Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love, you are beyond complete knowledge, above perfect description. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love, you are creative and self-giving, generously moving. In all the near and distant corners of the universe, nothing exists that does not find its source in you.

(based on A Song of Faith)

Even when we turn away from you, you are with us; your presence never fails us, your gifts of hope and new life transform us. We praise you for Jesus Christ, eternal as your love, our bond to one another. We rejoice with all your people of every time and place, and with angels and archangels, to proclaim the glory your name:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

It is Jesus, God incarnate, the Risen Christ, who joins us together as a community of broken but hopeful believers: loving what he loved, living what he taught, and striving to be his faithful servants in our time and place. As hopeful believers we long for your presence, Risen Christ, in our live and the lives of those for whom we now pray…

In this meal we remember, Jesus, his promises, and the price he paid for who he was, what he said, and what he did. On the night before Jesus died, he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “Take and eat; whenever you do this, remember me.” After supper, Jesus took the cup, and poured, saying, “This is the new covenant, remember me.” We do remember. We remember his life of love, his friendship, his teaching, his dying, and his rising to life again. In sharing this meal, we live out the mystery of our faith, saying:

Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again!

Holy Mystery, God the Spirit, we call on you to transform these familiar things, as you continually transform the world around us. Bless this bread and this cup, the wheat and the grape, the farmer and the harvest, the seed and the sower. So that in the sharing of these simple elements in community, we may taste and see your goodness, so that we might catch a glimpse of what it is to be in communion with you and with one another. Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all gory is your, God most holy, now and forever.

Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!

The body of Christ,
the bread of life.

The lifeblood of Christ,
the cup of blessing.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God!

Bread for the journey, food for the way.
Cup of God’s blessing, tomorrow, today.

Prayer after Communion

Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life, We are fed by your love; we are strengthened by your life. We are sent forth into this world to live into the visions God has laid on our hearts. We are now commissioned to: feed as we have been fed, forgive as we have been forgiven, love as we have been loved. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Hymn – “One More Step”

One more step along the world I go,
One more step along the world I go,
From the old things to the new,
Keep me traveling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me traveling along with you.

Round the corner of the world I turn,
More and more about the world I learn;
All the new things that I see
You’ll be looking at along with me:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me traveling along with you.

As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me traveling the way I should;
Where I see no way to go
You’ll be telling me the way, I know:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me traveling along with you.

Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving though the world is tough,
Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me traveling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me traveling along with you.

You are older than the world can be,
You are younger than the life in me,
Ever old and every new,
Keep me traveling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me traveling along with you.

Benediction

They are right, those who doubt what we do. It is purely the product of over-active imaginations. Who but the foolish would look at barren ground and imagine food for all, see past desolation and believe it will become an oasis, would not be stopped by war, but live for the day it will be peace, and reach deep into the world’s fear and trust in the coming of new life.

So if faith is the terrain of the deluded then may you leave here with the faith of the fools who have loved the world since its beginning and will live for that day, for the coming of a world of peace, love and justice, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness for all, the coming of God’s kingdom. Amen.

Response – The New Creed

We are not alone,
We live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
Who has created and is creating,
Who has come in Jesus the Word made flesh,
To reconcile and make new.
Who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
To celebrate God’s presence,
To live with respect in Creation,
To love and serve others,
To seek justice and resist evil,
To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
Our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.

Categories: Sunday Bulletin and Announcements, Worship