June 23rd, 2024

6^th 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: Heather Dickson

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

We Gather 

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

WELCOME

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
We look at the hills around us;
We are awestruck by the beauty of the lake.
We are captivated by the endless skies at night;
and our hearts resonate with joy
for all that God has given us.
We gather together as a community of faith,
A circle of belonging and friendship.
We remember the support and encouragement of our family and our friends in the journey of life,
and our hearts resonate with gratitude
for all that God has given us.
We reflect on all that is good, that is holy;
We reflect on the teachings and values we have learned in this place.
We remember all the hymns and songs that have been sung in this place
and our hearts resonate with praise
for all that God has given us.
As we come to worship once again,
We bring our hearts, open and ready, to receive
all that God has given us,
so that we can live as truly human as we can be,
this day, and every day.  AMEN

* HYMN:  MV #30
“It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker”  

1. It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
the thrush sings high in the tree.
It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
The gray whale sings in the sea,
Refrain:
And by the Spirit
you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

2. It’s a call of life to the Giver
when waves and waterfalls roar.
It’s a call of life to the Giver
when high tides break on the shore,
Refrain:
And by the Spirit
you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

3. It’s a hymn of love to the Lover;
the bumblebees hum along.
It’s a hymn of love to the Lover,
the summer breeze joins the song,
Refrain:
And by the Spirit
you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

4. It’s the chorus of all creation;
it’s sung by all living things.
It’s the chorus of all creation;
a song the universe sings,
Refrain:
And by the Spirit
you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

OPENING PRAYER
O God, today in our worship,
Let us bring to mind all the things we treasure.
Let us bring to mind the people we treasure.
Let us bring to mind the values we treasure.
Let us bring to mind the words we have treasured.
Let us bring to mind the love we have treasured.
Let us bring to mind the times and the moments we have treasured.
As we consider the treasures of our lives,
Help us to remember how rich we really are.
Even when we are running on empty;
we are full of the treasures you have given us.
Even when we are stretched too thin,
Or worried sick about someone in our family,
we are full of the treasures you have given us.
Even when our world seems to be cracking at the seams,
even now,  we are full of the treasures you have given us.
In this moment of silence,
Let us remember all the treasures of our lives:

(moment of silence)

In our worship today, let us reconnect with the source of our life.
Let us find the light shining deep within.
Let us allow the peace of God to settle in our hearts.
Let us open our minds and our hearts to the breadth
of the unconditional love of Love Eternal.
Fill us once more to the brim, we pray,
That we might see you more clearly,
Love you more dearly,
And follow you more nearly, day by day.   AMEN.

*HYMN: VU #374
“Come and Find the Quiet Center”

1. 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.

2. Silence is a friend who claims us,
cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
knows 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.

3. 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!

We Listen

SCRIPTURE READINGS
2 Corinthians 4:  5 – 12   Good News Translation
For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  The God who said, “Out of darkness the light shall shine!” is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us.  We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed.  At all times we carry in our mortal bodies the death of Jesus, so that his life also may be seen in our bodies.  Throughout our lives we are always in danger of death for Jesus' sake, in order that his life may be seen in this mortal body of ours.  This means that death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Mark 3:  13 – 19         New International Version
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.  He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.  These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),  James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),  Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot  and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

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

ANTHEM
“Amazing Grace” - choral setting by Jack Schrader

SERMON: “Saying Yes Can Cost a Bundle”

We Respond 

*HYMN:  VU #506
“Take My Life and Let it Be”   

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

2. 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.

3. Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee;
take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

4. 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.

5. Take my love: and I will pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.

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 #649
“Walk With Me “ 

Refrain:
Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.

1. When Moses heard the call of God
he said, ‘Lord, don’t send me.’
But God told Moses, ‘You’re the one
to set my people free.’
Refrain:
Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.

2. Now Peter was a most unlikely
man to lead the flock;
but Jesus knew his holiness
and he became the Rock.
Refrain:
Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.

3. Young Mary Magdalene was sure
her life could be much more,
and by her faith she dared to let
God’s love unlock the door.
Refrain:
Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.

4. And when you share your faith with me
and work for life made new,
the witness of your faithfulness
calls me to walk with you.
Refrain:
Walk with me, I will walk with you
and build the land that God has planned
where love shines through.

*COMMISSIONING
Teresa D’Avila’s prayer:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but ours,
No hands, no feet on earth but ours,
Ours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but ours.

*SUNG BLESSING
“GO NOW IN PEACE”

Go now in peace. Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day,
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true,
Know God will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there, *within, around, above.
Go now in peace, in faith and in love.
Amen, amen, amen.

*alternate words: watching from above

POSTLUDE
“Gigue” from English Suite No. 3 - J.S.Bach

 *****

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship and prayers are written by Rev. Dr. John G. Smith
Commissioing Authored by Teresa D’Avila. Revised for worship by Rev. John Greg. Smith.

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES