June 30, 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: Bonnie Hammond

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

We Gather 

PRELUDE
”The Gentle Waltz” - Oscar Peterson

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

A Prayer for Canada
We gather once again on sacred ground.
It is the ground of all those ancestors who lived here long before us.
As we gather to worship, we honour the land on which we stand
and pledge ourselves to the caretaking of it.
We stand as remnants of the past, remembering.
We stand as beneficiaries of the present, humbled.
We stand as harbingers of the future, determined.
There is much yet to do in the building of this land we know as Canada.
O God, we acknowledge the hurt and suffering of our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
We acknowledge the pain of all forms of racism which continues to this day.
We ask for forgiveness for intolerance toward those of other religions and traditions.
We pledge our commitment to making things new.
We offer our love, our own healing hands, our hearts full of blessing
toward the new day before us as a country.
Give us courage and strength to move forward with integrity.   Amen

* HYMN:  MV #1
“Let Us Build a House”,   vs 1, 2, 4, 5  

1. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

2. Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

4. Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

5. Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

A Canada Day Poem. 
     by Louise Bernice Halfe,  Sky Dancer

“Our daughter filled our home with friends
Of every colour.
An adult now with a child of her own,
She hosts this rainbow gathering
arched from Saskatchewan to Prince Edward Island,
Her home a colourful garden.
Our son stood his ground for his Cree and white blood,
the rivers that birthed him.
Now with a stethoscope,
Listening to the hearts of his people,
He stands between the heavens
A warrior who wields the language
For common good, weaving through those blood lines.
We can cross skin borders,
Bridge religious differences,
And find the common heart.
Believe in sakihitowin – where the sun rises to bring love.
Believe in wahkohtowin  -- the tree bent in relationship.
Our breath is dependent on this.
It is Canada Day when this rainbow is honoured.
It is the Earth’s celebration.
She will survive beyond us.

OPENING PRAYER
“Therefore we do not lose heart”, so goes the phrase by Apostle Paul.
And so, in our prayers, let us bring our hearts and minds and souls
To this moment,
And pray we do not lose heart.
We pray for our country, for those who have dreamed of a land of freedom and peace, and for those who still give their service to that dream.  We remember our veterans with love.
We pray for our children, that they will grow up without fear, without war, embracing one another in truth and spirit, regardless of who they are.
We pray for an end to racism, to hate based on religion or ethnicity, colour or creed.
We pray for our Indigenous brothers and sisters,  for the ongoing work of reconciliation, for they are our siblings.
We pray for all who are queer, who feel the burden of expressing their truth, who identify with words of their own choosing.
We pray for our churches, for other faith groups too,  that we might all work together to bring harmony and healing to the earth.
We pray for one another,  for courage and strength,  for resilience, and hope, and generosity of spirit.
God fill each of us to the brim with your gifts,
As we take steps forward to bring about your
KIN-dom on earth.
Help us to “not lose heart.”
Amen.

*HYMN: VU #639
“One More Step Along the World”

1. 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 travelling along with you:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

2. 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:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you. 

3. As I travel through the bad and good,
keep me travelling the way I should;
where I see no way to go
you’ll be telling me the way, I know:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

4. 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 travelling along with you:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

5. You are older than the world can be,
you are younger than the life in me,
ever old and ever new,
keep me travelling along with you:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

We Listen

SCRIPTURE READINGS

2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:1 New International Version
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Mark 5:  21-43          New International version
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.  Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.  He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him.  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”  Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.  Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.  He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.  When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.  He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”  But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).  Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.  He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

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

ANTHEM

SERMON
“Gospel Tips for Making Things Right”

We Respond 

*HYMN:  VU #713
“I See a New Heaven

Refrain:
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

1. There, there on the banks of a river bright and free,
yielding her fruit, firm in her root,
the Tree of Life will be.
Refrain:
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

2. There, there where death dies and our lives are born again,
body and soul, struggling but whole
like flowers after the rain.
Refrain:
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

3. There, there where the darkness brings visions from above.
There where the night, bearing new light,
reveals the promise of love.
Refrain:
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

4. There, there where we work with the love of healing hands.
Labour we must, true to our trust
to build a promised new land.
Refrain:
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.

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: (VU 910)

What’s Up at Grace?

We Go Out 

*COMMISSIONING

*Hymn: “O CANADA”

POSTLUDE
“Summertime” - G. Gershwin/C. Burton

*****

LITURGY SOURCES: The following are used with permission:
Call to Worship and prayers are written by Rev. Dr. John G. Smith
Poem: [1] Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer is Canada’s parliamentary poet laureate.  This poem is from Canada Day 2020.

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES

[1] Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer is Canada’s parliamentary poet laureate.  This poem is from Canada Day 2020.