Grace United Church | United Church in Thornbury, ON

Grace United Church is live

January 26, 2025: Sunday Service

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Chat

Service and Hymns

Playlist

Loading chat...

January 26^th, 2025

3^rd 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: Jim Oliver

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
Selections from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

A Stewardship Second
Proclaim the good news! Believe the good news! Let us be good stewards of God’s good news.

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
If life is a journey, then today is another step.
If today is another step in the journey, then we must be “on the way”.
If we follow the WAY of Christ,
We will find ourselves on the edge of our seats,
And on the edge of our lives.
If we follow the WAY of Christ, we will find ourselves awash
with possibility, creativity, reconciliation, and hope.
Following Christ, we’ll make a pathway through our lives,
sometimes groping along, as through fog,
sometimes absolutely sure we are going the right way.
But often, life has other plans.
And so on the journey we make as Christ’s people,
We find tokens and blessings to help us deepen the experience.
We find mystery. We find wisdom.
We find companionship. We find depth of meaning.
We find inner power. We find we are part of a larger power.
We find our footsteps. We find: our Way.
Thanks be to God for this journey we are on.
May our footsteps be guided by the love and light of Christ.

*HYMN: VU #595 “We Are Pilgrims”
1. We are pilgrims on a journey,
fellow travellers on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

2. Sister, let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

3. I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

4. I will weep when you are weeping,
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow,
till we’ve seen this journey through.

5. When we sing to God in heaven,
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.

6. Brother, let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

OPENING PRAYER
Our journeys are best shared with a companion.
And in the night time of our fear, when our anxiety is peaking,
Or in the depths of our sorrow, when our grief is overwhelming,
Our faith tells us we are never alone.
We pray that Christ sends his light into our hearts,
That Christ’s love and light will fill our inner beings,
And that Christ’s mission and vision be our mission and vision too.
Today in our prayer, let us know that we are right now, in this moment,
held in Christ light.
Let us know we are a community OF the Christ light, that this light never goes out
and continues to give us courage for these difficult days.
Let us know that the risen Christ still rises in our spirits each and every day,
That our hearts and minds and souls are leavened each day by the spirit of Christ’s undying love.
And let us know that, with this blessing,
we are given the courage, energy, and power, to bless others.

Let our church be a home filled with light, O God.
Let our church be a place of transformation and peace.
Let our church be open to the indwelling spirit of Christ each day, O God.
Let our church be a place of possibility.
Let our church be open to mystery, open to the journey you’ve given us O God.
Let our church be a place which welcomes and blesses, encourages, loves, actively seeking justice in this small corner of the kin-dom.
Let the Spirit of Christ fill us now, and give us a vision of a transformed world,
To which we might pledge ourselves as we seek to serve your name.

(a moment of silent prayer)

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 #684 “ Make Me A Channel of Your Peace”
1. Make me a channel of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me bring your love;
where there is injury, your healing power,
and where there’s doubt, true faith in you:
Refrain:
O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.

2. Make me a channel of your peace:
where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, only light;
and where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Refrain:
O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.

3. Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving to all that we receive,
and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

We Listen

FIRST READING
“Now I Become Myself” by May Sarton
Now I become myself. It's taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
"Hurry, you will be dead before—"
What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)

Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!

The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.

All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.

As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.

Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

SECOND READING
Luke 4: 14 – 21    The Message version
Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure.
He came to Nazareth where he had been raised. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s time to shine!”
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

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

ANTHEM
“Supplication” - L. Spevacek

SERMON: “UNSUBSCRIBING from this list!”

*HYMN: VU #603 “In Loving Partnership We Come”
1. In loving partnership we come,
seeking, O God, your will to do.
Our prayers and actions now receive;
we freely offer them to you.

2. We are the hands and feet of Christ,
serving by grace each other’s need.
We dare to risk and sacrifice
with truthful word and faithful deed.

3. Loving community we seek;
your hope and strength within us move.
The poor and rich, the strong and weak
are brought together in your love.

4. In loving partnership, O God,
help us your future to proclaim.
Justice and peace be our desire,
we humbly pray in Jesus’ name.

We Respond

INVITATION to the OFFERING
We all come to worship with different needs and leave with different answers. Spending this time as community, sharing sacred story, singing holy song, and translating worship into our lives are core spiritual practices for many of us. Sharing financial gifts is also a spiritual practice. You are invited to support the work of this church, Mission and Service, and beyond by giving freely what you can.

PRAYER of DEDICATION of OUR OFFERINGS
God, as we offer our gifts, please use them along with those already given through PAR and online to create a space where we feel your presence. Please help us to be your people, to be a blessing to others, and to lead others to you. We ask this in Christ’s name. 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

PRAYERS & the LORD’S PRAYER

What’s up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN: VU #510 “We Have this Ministry”
1. We have this ministry
and we are not discouraged;
it is by God’s own power
that we may live and serve.
Openly we share God’s word,
speaking truth as we believe,
praying that the shadowed world
may healing light receive.
We have this ministry, O God, receive our living.

2. O Christ, the tree of life,
our end and our beginning,
we grow to fullest flower
when rooted in your love.
Brothers, sisters, clergy, lay,
called to service by your grace,
different cultures, different gifts,
the young and old a place.
We have this ministry, O God, receive our giving.

3. The yoke of Christ is ours,
the whole world is our parish;
we daily take the cross,
the burden and the joy.
Bearing hurts of those we serve,
wounded, bruised and bowed with pain,
Holy Spirit, bread and wine,
we die and rise again.
We have this ministry, O God, receive our loving.

*COMMISSIONING
God of the Way,
You are the road we travel, and the sign we follow;
You are bread for the journey, and the wine of arrival.
Guide us as we follow in your way,
Holding on to each other, reaching out to your beloved world.
And when we stray, seek us out and find us,
Set our feet on the path again, and lead us safely home.
In the name of Jesus our Companion, we pray. AMEN.

*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.