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March 2, 2025: Sunday Morning Service and Annual Congregational Meeting

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, March 2, 2025

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March 2nd, 2025

Transfiguration Sunday

Annual Congregational Meeting

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: Mary Lou Gignac

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
“Prelude in E Major” - J.S. Bach

A Stewardship Second
Living in God’s presence changes us. We will become more generous, more caring, more loving.

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 territory of the Saugeen Ojibway First Nation. We acknowledge that they are the first stewards of this land and we respect their histories and past and present cultures. We will work to recognize and remove barriers to full reconciliation.

CALL to WORSHIP (from Psalm 96)
O sing a new song to the Beloved!
Let our hearts be lifted up with the light of Christ.
Let our spirits be lifted up with the light of the cosmos.
Let all that is in us offer praise and thanksgiving
As we lift our voices in song.
Let us praise the Creator and bless the Name above all names!
Let us praise the Glorious One, who lights up our souls!
Let us praise the Radiant One, whose love lights up every moment of our lives!

As we gather together today,
Let us declare the Infinite Love Song of God as OUR song.
Let us find the cadences of grace and mercy ringing true in our hearts.
Let our bodies loosen up to feel the movement of the Spirit in our veins
And in our spirits.
Let THIS be the day that God has made for us!
So we sing a new song to the Beloved!
We lift our hearts with the light of Christ!
We lift our spirits with the light of the cosmos!
Let all that is in us offer praise and thanksgiving,
For this day, for this moment in time, for this meeting today,
For love, for grace, for hope, for the strong power of community,
For truth, for trust, for vulnerability, for belief in the goodness of others,
For justice, for justice-seeking, for healing, for belief in the healing power of church:
THANK YOU GOD! AMEN! MAY IT BE SO! AMEN!!

*HYMN: VU #412 “This is the Day”
1. This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made, that our God has made;
we will rejoice, we will rejoice,
and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that our God has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made.

2. Open to us, open to us
your gates, O God, your gates, O God;
we will go in, we will go in,
to your holy place, to your holy place.
Open to us your gates, O God,
we will go in to your holy place.
Open to us, open to us
your gates, O God.

3. You are our God, you are our God,
we will praise your name, we will praise your name;
we will give thanks, we will give thanks,
for your faithfulness, for your faithfulness.
You are our God, we will praise your name,
we will give thanks for your faithfulness.
You are our God, you are our God,
we will praise your name.

4. This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made, that our God has made;
we will rejoice, we will rejoice,
and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that our God has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made.

OPENING PRAYER and MEMORIAL
As we come together on this annual meeting Sunday,
May we form a community of love and blessing.
May our words and actions be full of love and blessing.
May our prayers and our thoughts about the future of our church
be full of love and blessing.
May our desires and our dreams be full of love and blessing.
May our hearts and spirits be full of love and blessing.
May our young ones and our older ones be full of love and blessing.
May our choir and our organist be full of love and blessing.
May our minister, our lay leaders, our administrator, our custodian,
Be full of love and blessing.

Now let us turn our hearts and minds to those who have loved and blessed us in the past, but who have died this year:
We remember:
Jim O’Brien, Peter Roberts, Norma Darling, Roy Elliott.
We remember their families and their grief today.

Now let us turn our hearts and minds to those who have gone before us in other years, all those who are the saints of this church, those who gave time and talent to make us who we are, those who bless us from a different place: (we name them out loud in this moment, if you wish to do so)

A moment of quiet

As we light this memorial candle, we ask you God to bless their memory.
We ask that their love and their blessing be with us, even now.
We ask that their truth and their goodness might rest within us, even now.

We pray in the light of Christ, AMEN.

*HYMN: VU #703 “In the Bulb There is a Flower:”
1. In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

2. There’s a song in every silence,
seeking word and melody;
there’s a dawn in every darkness,
bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
what it holds, a mystery,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

3. In our end is our beginning;
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing;
in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

We Listen

SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 9: 28 – 36
(New International Version)

The Transfiguration
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

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

ANTHEM
“Spirit God, Be Our Breath” - B. Harding

SERMON: “Too Bad it’s Not Easter Morning Today”

*HYMN: VU #168 “The Risen Christ”
1. The risen Christ, who walks on wounded feet
from garden tomb through darkened city street,
unlocks the door of grief, despair, and fear,
and speaks a word of peace to all who hear.

2. The risen Christ, who stands with wounded side,
breathes out his Spirit on them to abide
whose faith still wavers, who dare not believe,
new grace, new strength, new purpose they receive.

3. The risen Christ, who breaks with wounded hand
the bread for those who fail to understand,
reveals himself, despite their lingering tears,
enflames their hearts, then quickly disappears.

4. May we, Christ’s body, walk and serve and stand
with the oppressed in this and every land,
till all are blessed and can a blessing be,
restored in Christ to true humanity.

*COMMISSIONING (Teresa of Avila)
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.
Ours are the hands, ours are the feet,
ours are the eyes, we are his body.
Christ has no body now but ours.
So rejoice and be the light of Christ for our world!
AMEN

*****