Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

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January 19, 2025 : Sunday Service

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, January 19, 2025

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January 19^th, 2025

2nd Sunday after Epiphany

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Minister: Rev. Dr. John G. Smith
Director of Music: Dr. Christopher Burton
Lay Reader: Debby Weale

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
“Menuet” from Le tombeau de Couperin - M. Ravel

A Stewardship Second:
We believe in a God who is creating, reconciling, and making new. As stewards and disciples, we use our resources to be co-creators with the Spirit, transforming and being transformed.

WELCOME

LIGHTING the CHRIST CANDLE
We light this candle, a sacred symbol of divine light.
May the divine light dance in our worship today.
May the divine light ignite our hearts and souls.
May the divine light lift us up and give us peace.
Thanks be to God for this divine light!

SONG
Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts,
Shine through the darkness.
Christ be our light!
Shine in your church, gathered today. (2X)

OUR COMMITMENT to SAFER 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
May our worship today be filled with divine blessing!
May our worship be filled with divine love!
May our worship be filled with hope for a better world!
May our worship be filled with encouragement for our faith journeys!
Let us give our whole hearts to the divine seed within us.
Let us give our whole hearts to the gifts of each other,
And work to bring these gifts to life.
Let us give our whole hearts to the care and feeding of the world around us.
Let us give our whole hearts to living with courage and strength, following the path Jesus has shown us to follow.
We unite our hearts and spirits with the Divine Heart of All,
As we come together in this warm and wonderful community of faith!
AMEN!! May it be so!! AMEN!!

*HYMN: VU # 820 “Make A Joyful Noise”
Refrain:
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth.
Come to this place with a song!

1. Know that your God has made you.
Know it’s to God we belong.
And come to this place with joyfulness and praise.
Worship your God with a song!
Refrain:
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth.
Come to this place with a song!

2. Enter these gates, thanks giving.
Enter these courts with praise.
Sing thanks to your God and bless the holy Name.
Worship your God with a song! R
Refrain:
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth.
Come to this place with a song!

3. Ages through endless ages,
seasons of endless years,
the love of our Maker ever shall endure.
Worship your God with a song!
Refrain:
Make a joyful noise all the earth!
Worship your God with gladness.
Make a joyful noise all the earth.
Come to this place with a song!

OPENING PRAYER
(We begin with a quiet moment))
Let us say the following prayer together and allow some quiet time in between verses:

Joy is deep within me; it is part of who I am.
When I access this deep joy, my heart is at peace.
I release my anxiety, and let the blessings of God’s love wash over me.
(quiet moment)

Wisdom is deep within me; it is part of who I am.
When I access this deep wisdom, my heart is at peace.
I release my anxiety, and let the blessings of God’s love wash over me.
(quiet moment)

Love is deep within me; it is part of who I am.
When I access this deep love, my heart is at peace.
I release my anxiety, and let the blessings of God’s love wash over me.
(quiet moment)

Thank you God for this day, and for the divine blessings all around me.
Thank you for this worshipping community.
Thank you for surrounding us with light and love, and strength for the journey.
AMEN

A Prayer of Intention
May I be a source of love today.
May my words and actions bring love to others.
May my heart be always in the right place.

May I be a source of peace today.
May my thoughts and prayers lead to calm waters.
May my own peace bring peace to others.

May I be a source of joy today.
May my attitude of joy lift the spirits of others.
May my own heart bubble up with joy.
May I be a source of joy, peace and love,
This day and every day. Amen.

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

PASSING the PEACE
The Peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Everyone is invited to share the peace of Christ. You may also wish to think of someone you would like to pass the peace to this week.

We Listen

FIRST READING
“The Journey” by Mary Olliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
Mend my life!
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

SECOND READING
Luke 2: 41 – 52
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this.Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.”He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor.

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

ANTHEM
“Love Grows Here” - D. Besig

SERMON: “On Being Wholehearted”

*HYMN: MV #12 “Come Touch Our Hearts”
1. Come touch our hearts that we may know compassion,
from failing embers build a blazing fire;
love strong enough to overturn injustice,
to seek a world more gracious, come touch and bless our hearts.

2. Come touch our souls that we may know and love you,
your quiet presence all our fears dispel;
create a space for spirit to grow in us,
let life and beauty fill us, come touch and bless our souls.

3. Come touch our minds and teach us how to reason,
set free our thoughts to wonder and to dream;
help us to open doors of understanding,
to welcome truth and wisdom, come touch and bless our minds.

4. Come touch us in the moments we are fragile,
and in our weakness your great strength reveal;
that we may rise to follow and to serve,
steady now our nerve, come touch and bless our wills.

5. Come touch us now, this people who are gathered,
to break the bread and share the cup of peace;
that we may love you with our heart, our soul,
our mind, our strength, our all, come touch us with your grace.

We Respond

INVITATION to the OFFERING
As Paul told the people of Corinth, we are all given gifts. We all have skills to offer our families, our communities, and God. We are blessed, and as Christians we are called to share our blessings with others. During this time of offering, we are invited to share financially with this church, but I want to encourage you to also consider the skills, gifts, and blessings we can offer this community and beyond.

PRAYER of DEDICATION of OUR OFFERINGS
We pray that the gifts we give today will go further in God’s world than we can imagine. Bless these gifts. Amen.

Donate online: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca, select “Donate”
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.

Tap your debit card at the door of the church, or Donate to Grace United Church Thornbury through CanadaHelps.org. Our account is set up with them now and it is easy to register. Tax receipts are given automatically at the time of giving.

Care, Prayer, Share

PRAYER CANDLES

What’s up at Grace?

We Go Out

*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.

*COMMISSIONING

*SUNG BENEDICTION
“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.