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March 16, 2025: 2nd Sunday of Lent

Rev Dr John Smith

Sunday, March 16, 2025

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March 16th, 2025

2^nd Sunday of Lent

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: Candy Yeandle

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

We Gather

PRELUDE
“Eine Kleine Nachtmusik 2nd Mov’t” - W.A. Mozart

A Stewardship Second
It is not easy to be generous, to care for creation, and to love your neighbour when everything around you teaches greed and individualism, but stand firm.

WELCOME

LIGHTING the CHRIST CANDLE
In the season of Lent; the days lengthen a little each day.
The cold of winter is replaced by the warm winds of spring.
We seek signs of life and love and renewal in every small place.
So today, as we come together, we light the Christ candle
A sign of hope to come, a sign of the uprising of love,
A sign of the renewal of life’s blessings, a little more each day.
Thanks be to God for the light of Christ.

SONG: MV # 79 “Spirit, Open my Heart”
(Refrain, Verse 2, Refrain)

Refrain:
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love my I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.

2. Write your love upon my heart
as my law, my goal, my story.
In each thought, word, and deed,
may my living bring you glory.

Refrain:
Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.
As you love my I love, in receiving and in giving,
Spirit, open my heart.

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 27)
Love is our light and our hope: whom shall we fear?
Love is the strength of our life: of whom shall we be afraid?
When our fears assail us, and take over our thoughts,
We shall turn each one over in the light of God’s love.
When a multitude of worries and concerns seem ready to engulf us,
We shall turn each one over in the light of God’s love.
When guilt and shame gather steam in our hearts,
We shall turn each one over in the light of God’s love.
Over and over, we knead the bread of our lives.
Over and over, we seek to activate the yeast in the loaf ---
the active ingredient, the love of God in our hearts.
We are creators of bread for the festival of peace in our world.
We are purveyors of love in the lonely fearful places.
We are love-crafters in our community, continually adding more love-yeast
to the bread of our lives,
so that we might feed others a measure of what they need.
May our worship be yeast in our hearts.
May we turn over and over the concerns and worries we bring,
and let the strength of God’s love, the greatest power of earth, rise up within us. AMEN

*HYMN: VU #460 “All Who Hunger”
1. All who hunger, gather gladly;
holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wandering.
Here, in truth, we will be fed.
You that yearn for days of fullness,
all around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

2. All who hunger, never strangers;
seeker, be a welcome guest.
Come from restlessness and roaming.
Here, in joy, we keep the feast.
We that once were lost and scattered
in communion’s love have stood.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

3. All who hunger, sing together;
Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing.
Here, in peace, we have been led.
Blest are those who from this table
live their lives in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.

OPENING PRAYER
Thank you God for this day.
Thank you for bringing us together as your church on this Lenten Sunday.
Thank for growing our faith, for restoring our hope,
And for filling us with enough grace for today.
As we come together in prayer, lift our hearts and our spirits.
Help us find our courage. Help us find our voices.
Lift us up as a community of faith,
And help us grow with one another in grace.
On this second Sunday of Lent,
Help us to remember those who are truly hungry,
Those who must use food banks to survive,
Those who do not have enough to feed themselves after looking after their families.
Help us to remember those living in the cold.
For we cannot celebrate the bread of life which we find in Christ Jesus,
Without offering real bread and real life to those around us.

(A moment of silent prayer)

Now, O God, may your Spirit energize and awaken us.
May your Spirit lead us to follow the way of Jesus.
May your Spirit nurture the yeast of grace and love within us.
May your Spirit help us to model a new way of being in the world.
All these things, we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus, AMEN

The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

ANTHEM:
“Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” - S. Temple/arr. M. Barnard

Theme Conversation: Bread = Life

We Listen

SCRIPTURE READINGs

John 6: 25 – 40 (New International version)
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Luke 13: 18 – 21 (New International Version)
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

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

*HYMN: VU #477 “I Come With Joy”
1. I come with joy, a child of God,
forgiven, loved and free,
the life of Jesus to recall
in love laid down for me,
in love laid down for me.

2. I come with Christians far and near
to find, as all are fed,
the new community of love
in Christ’s communion bread,
in Christ’s communion bread.

3. As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share,
each proud division ends.
The love that made us, makes us one,
and strangers now are friends,
and strangers now are friends.

4. The Spirit of the risen Christ,
unseen, but ever near,
is in such friendship better known,
alive among us here,
alive among us here.

5. Together met, together bound
by all that God has done,
we’ll go with joy, to give the world
the love that makes us one,
the love that makes us one.

SERMON: “Bread as The Womb of God”

*HYMN: MV#173 “Put Peace Into Each Other’s Hands”
1. Put peace into each other’s hands
and like a treasure hold it,
protect it like a candle flame,
with tenderness enfold it.

2. Put peace into each other’s hands
with loving expectation;
be gentle in your words and ways,
in touch with God’s creation.

3. Put peace into each other’s hands
like bread we break for sharing;
look people warmly in the eye:
our life is meant for caring.

4. Give thanks for strong yet tender hands,
held out in trust and blessing.
Where words fall short, let hands speak out,
the heights of love expressing.

5. Reach out in friendship,
stay with faith in touch with those around you.
Put peace into each other’s hands;
the Peace that sought and found you.

We Respond

INVITATION to the OFFERING
And now we pause in our worship to commit an act of rebellion. When so much around us tells us to hold tightly to our money and resources or spend and consume beyond our means and rack up large debt, we choose the Way of Jesus and give some of it away. Please join me in rebelling and making fun of the world’s foolishness by giving generously.

PRAYER of DEDICATION of OUR OFFERINGS
Gracious and Holy God, your foolishness is wiser than our wisdom and your weakness is stronger than our strength. We give these gifts, as an act of faith in your care and of rebellion against an economy that devours and destroys. Thank you for this opportunity to raise up a new way. 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 for PIE Day (Public, Intentional, Explicit = PIE Day)

The LORD’S PRAYER (VU 910)

What’s up at Grace?

We Go Out

*HYMN: VU #651 “Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah”
1. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more,
feed me till I want no more.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield,
be thou still my strength and shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death, and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side:
songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to thee,
I will ever give to thee.

*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.