Bulletin – Sunday, October 15, 2023 – Creation 6 / World Food Sunday
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Creation 6 / World Food Sunday
Approach
Welcome
Lighting the Christ Candle
Jesus is our guiding light. No matter where we are or whatever circumstances in which we find ourselves we are in Christ. We light this candle to remind us of the Light that never goes out.
Call to Worship
One: This is no ordinary place: this is the house of God.
All: This is the place where the prophets cry out for peace and justice and righteousness.
One: It is the place where God reaches down into the corners of our lives,
All: to offer us the mystery of holy love.
One: This is no ordinary gathering.
All: This is no ordinary place: this is the house of God.
Prayer of Approach
We feel your welcome, gracious God, in this time of worship. You welcome young and old, all seeking peace, and all brimming over with energy. You welcome newcomers and long-time members; all seeking a familiar expression of praise and prayer, and all seeking a startingly new celebration of faith. You welcome us all, welcoming God. Amen.
Hymn – “Give Thanks, My Soul, for Harvest” (VU #522)
Give thanks, my soul, for harvest, for store of fruit and grain,
But know the owner gives so that we may share again.
Where people suffer hunger, or little children cry,
With gifts from God’s rich bounty may thankfulness reply.
Give thanks, my soul, for riches of woodland, mine, and hill,
But know that gold and timber are the Creator’s still.
God lends to us, as stewards, abundance we might share,
And thus provide earth’s children the blessing of God’s care.
Give thanks, my soul, for labours, that strength and days employ,
But know the Maker’s purpose brings toil as well as joy.
Show forth, O God, your purpose; direct our will and hand
To share your love and bounty with all in every land.
Prayer of Confession
God of all creation, you love us into being, yet we often flee our rightful place in your creation. We confess that we exploit the gifts you place around us, and dominate the richness of the natural order. Forgive our greedy grasping. We confess our part in the devastation of our planet home, mirrored in the violence of cities, and the brokenness of hearts. Forgive and restore us, O God. Nurturing God, remind us of other ways to live and of a place called home, where creation reflects your goodness and each things lives in balance with all others. Come and take us home.
Silent Prayer…
Gentle God, mend our broken lives; restore, revive, repair. Recreate us in your image. Renew your creation. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Creation Connection
One: Today it is World Food Sunday. World Food Day began in 1945 to mark the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. World Food Day aims to increase awareness of global food issues and to advocate year-round action to alleviate hunger.
One: One of the most enduring misconceptions about hunger is that it is primarily the result of a global shortfall in global food production. If this were so, we might expect the food to disappear at times and for there to be no food in places where people die of hunger. Yet in the majority of cases, food has been available within the famine-affected area. People have died not for want of food, but because a system of entitlement to eat it. Questions need to be asked about social and political configurations around power over food, rather than about the mere presence or absence of food in the vicinity of a hungry individual. Today we will consider the local impacts of food insecurity in Manitoba.
Food Insecurity in Manitoba : Part 1 Experiences
One: Let us pray.
All: Creator, conspire with us to create a world where all have access to nutritious and sustainable food sources, and none live with scarcity or food insecurity. Redeemer, save us from oppressive and unjust systems. Mobilize us to be a part of a world response that works in partnership with those of good will to foster equitable resource sharing. Sustainer, cultivate our resilience and expand our imaginations, so that we might continually find new ways to answer the call to end hunger—until all may flourish. Amen.
(Alydia Smith)
Hymn – “Make Me A Servant”
Make me a servant, humble and meek
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak
And ma the prayer of my heart always be:
Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today.
The Word
Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about[d] these things. 9 As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 12:1-14
1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 How he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
9 He left that place and entered their synagogue; 10 a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!
Meditation – Kindness, not Sacrifices
Anthem – “Abundant Life”
We cannot own the sunlit sky, the moon, the wildflowers growing,
For we are part of all that is within life’s river flowing.
With open hands receive and share the gifts of God’s creation,
That all may have abundant life in every earthly nation.
When children have no bread but tears, and fond hopes die a-borning,
When bodies shiver in the night and weary, wait for morning.
God calls humanity to wake, to join in common labour,
That all may have abundant life in oneness with their neighbour.
God calls humanity to join as partners in creating
A world that’s free from want and fear, life’s goodness celebrating.
That world, it beckons bright and fair, invites our gifts, our labour,
That all may have abundant life in oneness with their neighbour.
Offering
We bring our gifts to you, God. Here is the work of our hands, and here is the love of our hearts. Accept them and use them, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Offering Response – “Grant Us, God, the Grace” (VU #540)
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
With a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living
We may offer faithfully.
The Response
Prayers of the People
One: In our prayers, let us give thanks for the gifts of God, and pray for all God’s people, saying, in response to the words: Lord, hear our prayer…
All: And in your love, answer.
One: O Lord, maker of all things, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. We thank you for crowning the fields with your blessings and helping us once more to gather in the fruits of the earth. Lord, hear our prayer…
All: And in your love, answer.
One: Loving God, you provide for our needs from the abundance of your grace. You fill your people with good things. We thank you God, for the food we eat, for the home we have, for the family we belong to, for the church we are a part of, and for the community that we live in. Lord helps us remember all our blessings and to praise you for them all. Lord, hear our prayer…
All: And in your love, answer.
One: Redeeming and loving God, you give us much. Help us to give as you give and to share as you share; to give joy and hope to those who have sadness and despair; to give food and drink to those who hunger and thirst; to give justice and mercy to those who cry out for both; and to give truth to those who have been deceived and love to those who are lost. Lord, hear our prayer…
All: And in your love, answer.
One: This we pray through our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray saying:
All: Our Mother and Our Father, who are 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 who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn – “O For a World” (VU #697)”
O for a world where everyone respects each other’s ways,
Where love is lived and all is done with justice and with praise.
O for a world where goods are shared and misery relieved.
Where truth is spoken, children spared, equality achieved.
We welcome one world family and struggle with each choice
That opens us to unity and gives our vision voice.
The poor are rich, the weak are strong, the foolish ones are wise.
Tell all who mourn: outcasts belong, who perishes will rise.
O for a world preparing for God’s glorious reign of peace,
Where time and tears will be no more, and all but love will cease.
Benediction
Response – “Sent Out in Jesus’ Name” (MV #212)
Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready no
To make the world the place in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
Into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is ours to do, to set it really free.
O, help us to obey, and carry out your will.
Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready no
To make the world the place in which the kingdom comes.
