Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

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May 26, 2024: Sunday Morning Service

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, May 26, 2024

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May 26th, 2024

2^nd Sunday of Pentecost

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Minister: Rev. Dr. John Greg Smith
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Scripture Reader: Debbie Potts

Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung words: bold italics.
Asterisk * Indicates when the congregation may stand if able.

We Gather

PRELUDE
“Allemande” from English Suite #3 - J.S. Bach

WELCOME

*INTROIT: MV #14 (Please stand if able)
“Where Two or Three are Gathered in My Name”

Where two or three are gathered in my name,
I am there, I am there. (X4 in rounds)

The CHRIST CANDLE
As we come to worship in this Pentecost season
We turn to light the candle which reminds us:
Christ’s Spirit is always with us!
Christ's spirit fills us, heals us, and completes us.
Christ’s light enlivens us, and gives us strength,
for the living of these days.
May it be so! Amen!

OUR COMMITMENT to SAFE SPACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the LAND
We believe all people are made in the image of God and are entitled to dignity and respect. At Grace United Church we try to offer a safer, inclusive and generous space for all who are seeking a faith community. We offer full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, all races, ages and abilities in the life and work of the ministry.

Grace United Church is situated on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Petun, Huron-Wendat, and Mississauga peoples, located within the boundary of the region of Treaty 18 of 1818. We humbly acknowledge the First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples of Canada as traditional stewards of the land on which we work and worship and are committed to working actively toward genuine restitution and reconciliation.

CALL to WORSHIP
Come together friends! You are Welcome Here!
Come with your doubts and your longings.
Come with your hopes and your dreams.
Come with your worn-out hopes, and your almost defeated dreams.
Know that here in this place at this time,
There is nothing but SPIRIT energy and love pouring all over you.
We come with our struggles,
We come with our disappointments.
We come with our hearts weary and sad.
We come with our prayers for the world.
We come with our prayers for our family members and others in our circles of care.
Know that inside our struggles, the Spirit of God still lives:
nothing can take it away, or remove it from the heart of our lives.
We come with gratitude for each day’s renewed energy.
We come with gratitude for the Spirit’s loving force in our lives.
We come with gratitude for our church, for here we celebrate goodness and lift up our hearts for the living of these days.
For we are always better when we gather in community,
Here in this place, the body of Christ is renewed and enlivened.
Here in this place, Christ’s love rushes in to our hearts.
Here in this place, we remember the presence of Christ’s Spirit deep within
And we breathe again, the breath of God.
May it be so! Amen!!

* HYMN: VU #509
“I The Lord of Sea and Sky”

1. I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in deepest sin my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Refrain
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

2. I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain,
I have wept for love of them; they turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them.
Whom shall I send?

Refrain
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

3. I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them; my hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide
till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?

Refrain
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

OPENING PRAYER
We carry so much cargo in our hearts O God.
We are heavy. We are weighed down.
We journey through our life with so much baggage.
Like arriving at the airport with too many bags,
yet wanting to bring it all on the trip just the same.
We store memory and hurt and grief in the unseen parts of us.
We bear the marks of all that has happened to us,
whether we have become resolved to it or not.
We know that we have trouble letting go.
Mostly, we have trouble with forgiveness.
We are stubborn, and we don’t like to think of ourselves as weak.
O God, how will we ever mend the world, when we cannot mend ourselves?
Send your Spirit to us today, to open us up,
and to let our hearts bear some light instead!
Tune us to the Divine Song, that we might hear songs of joy all around us.
Open us to the breath of the Spirit of Life, that we might feel and know once again your deep love for us in the far reaches of our being.
Help us hold those close to us, close to us.
Help us hold a light for those who are struggling, carrying more than they can or should.
Help us find the words of comfort and hope to give to a friend who needs it today.
Fill our community this morning with your loving Spirit, we pray.

(A moment of silence)

SUNG RESPONSE: VU #381
“Spirit of Life” (seated)

Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.

We Listen

Theme Conversation
What to do with John’s Gospel??

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Romans 8: 14 – 17 (NIV)
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

John 3: 1 – 17 (GNT)
There was a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. One night he went to Jesus and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God. No one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him.”
Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”
“How can a grown man be born again?” Nicodemus asked. “He certainly cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!”
“I am telling you the truth,” replied Jesus, “that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again. The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?” asked Nicodemus.
Jesus answered, “You are a great teacher in Israel, and you don't know this? I am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message. You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven.”
As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.

RESPONSE
These words from scripture are meant to guide us, nurture us, and teach us.
Thanks be to God!

ANTHEM
“For Where Love Is, There Is God” - D.E. Wagner

SERMON
“The Secret Path of Christianity”

We Respond

*HYMN: VU #248
“When Long Before Time” verses 1, 2, 4, 5

1. When long before time and the worlds were begun,
when there was no earth and no sky and no sun,
and all was deep silence and night reigned supreme,
and even our Maker had only a dream...

2. ...the silence was broken when God sang the Song,
and light pierced the darkness and rhythm began,
and with its first birth-cries creation was born,
and creaturely voices sang praise to the morn.

4. Though, down through the ages, the Song disappeared,
its harmonies broken and almost unheard,
the Singer comes to us to sing it again,
our God-Is-with-Us in the world now as then.

5. The Light has returned as it came once before,
the Song of the Lord is our own song once more;
so let us all sing with one heart and one voice
the Song of the Singer in whom we rejoice.

PRAYER of DEDICATION for OUR OFFERINGS
The work of creating a world that works for all,
Requires many gifts, many talents, many resources.
We bring all that we have, our courage, our strength,
Our prayers and our dreams,
Our gifts of time and treasure,
And all the love and acceptance we embody,
To create God’s world of justice and joy.
Thanks be to God. AMEN

Donate online: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca, select “Give”
or contact the office by email: accounting@graceunitedthornbury.ca

or phone: 519-599-2438 to arrange a cheque pick-up, or an e-transfer
Mail: Grace UC, 140 Bruce St. S. PO Box 219, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0
or Offering Plate at the back of the sanctuary.

Care, Prayer, Share

PRAYER of the PEOPLE & The Lord’s Prayer

What’s Up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN: VU #424
“May the God of Hope Go With Us”

1. May the God of hope go with us every day,
filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.
May the God of justice speed us on our way,
bringing light and hope to every land and race.
Praying, let us work for peace,
singing, share our joy with all,
working for a world that’s new,
faithful when we hear Christ’s call.

2. May the God of healing free the earth from fear,
freeing us for peace, both treasured and pursued.
May the God of love keep our commitment clear
to a world restored, to human life renewed.
Praying, let us work for peace,
singing, share our joy with all,
working for a world that’s new,
faithful when we hear Christ’s call.

*COMMISSIONING

*SUNG BLESSING
“In All of my Life”

In all of my life
In all of my ways
In all my priorities
Through all of my days
In all that I choose
In all that I say:
May love be supreme in my life
This I pray.

In all of our life
In all of our ways
In all our priorities
Through all of our days:
In all that we choose
In all that we say:
May love be supreme in our lives
This I pray!

POSTLUDE
“Sonata in C minor, Opus 10#1 1st Movement” - L. Van Beethoven

*****