Welcome to Aurora United Church …uniting hearts and hands on the journey.
World Communion Sunday October 4, 2020
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:17)
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SEEKING GOD TOGETHER
PRELUDE Brand New Life (Royal Wood) Steve Falk
WELCOME & CONGREGATIONAL LIFE PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP Lighting of the Christ Candle
Acknowledgment of Territory As we come into worship today, we acknowledge that we reside and worship on the traditional lands of the people of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation… and acknowledge their stewardship of this land throughout the ages.
CALL TO WORSHIP Sarah & Emily Crawley Light, love and freedom are the gifts of God. We come in peace. Bread, wine, and friendship are the gifts of Christ. We come in joy. Wisdom, compassion, and grace are the gifts of God. We come in hope. Across the world today, in a multitude of ways, we come in worship on this World Communion Sunday. Let us worship!
HYMN We Are One (D.Lankshear-Smith/J.Sam) VU 402
We are one as we come, as we come, joyful to be here, in the praise on our lips there’s a sense that God is near. We are one as we sing, as we seek, we are found; and we come needful of God’s grace as we meet, together in this place.
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We are one as we share, as we share brokenness and fear, in the touch of a hand there’s a sense that God is here. We are one as we care, as we heal, we are healed; and we share warmth in God’s embrace as we pray together in this place.
We are one as we feast, as we feast, peace becomes a sign; in the bread and the wine there’s a sense of love divine. We are one as we come, as we feed, we are fed; and we feel God’s refreshing grace as we meet at table in this place.
We are one as we hear, as we hear, heart and hand unite; in the word we receive there’s a sense that God is light. We are one as we leave, as we love, we are loved; and we seek justice in God’s ways as we move together from this place.
PRAYER FOR RENEWAL Jesus prayed that we may be one; one in spirit, one in mission, in union and in communion with each other and with you, O God. Today we acknowledge our struggle in accomplishing unity, as we set aside yet another day to remind our- selves of the task. On this World Communion Sunday, give us eyes to recognize your reflection in the eyes of those we meet. Give us a mind to accept and celebrate our differences. Give us hearts big enough to love your children across the world. We thank you for setting a table with space enough for us all. Amen.
WORDS OF GRACE God who accepts us will empower us. God who loves us will inspire us in our struggle for a healing and just world. Thanks be to God!
THEME STORY The Peace Crane Project (2014) YouTube (Each year, children from around the world join together in folding cranes to celebrate the International Day of Peace.)
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FINDING GOD TOGETHER
SCRIPTURE Philippians 3:4b-14 (Paul’s testimony-his gains were loss.) NRSV Laurie Marie
4even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
GIFT OF MUSIC I’m So Glad (Royal Wood) Steve Falk
GOSPEL Matthew 21:33-46 (The Parable of the landowner and the tenants.) NRSV
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the -5- vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Come to the quiet...a time for reflection
SERMON !orld "iew
HYMN When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides (K.Wehlander) MV 169
When hands reach out beyond divides and hope is truly found, each chain of hate will fall away and bells of peace shall sound, and bells of peace , of peace shall sound, and bells of peace shall sound, each chain of hate will fall away and bells of peace shall sound.
When fear no longer guides our steps and days of war are done, God’s dream for all shall live anew; our hearts will heal as one, our hearts will heal, will heal as one, our hearts will heal as one, God’s dream for all shall live anew; our hearts will heal as one.
When race and creed blind us no more, a neighbour’s face we’ll see, and we shall dance the whole world round, for love will set us free, for love, yes love will set us free, for love will set us free, and we shall dance the whole world round, for love will set us free.
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SHARING GOD’S LOVE
THE NEW CREED VU p. 918/YouTube
We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
(The United Church of Canada, General Council 1968,alt.)
THE PEACE The peace of Christ be with you! And also with you!
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A Statement about the gifts we bring in worship for the life of the church….
OFFERTORY PRAYER
SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION The Great Thanksgiving
Jesus said: ‘I am the bread of life. all who come to me shall not hunger, and all who believe in me shall not thirst.’ With Christians around the world and throughout the centuries, we, in spirit, gather around these symbols of bread and wine—simple elements that speak of nourishment and transformation.
Loving God, we thank you that you are as close to us as breath, that your love is constant and unfailing. We thank you for all that sustains life, and especially for Jesus Christ, who teaches us how to live out an ethic of justice and peace, and for the promise of transformation made manifest in his life, death and resurrection. We ask you to bless this bread and cup. Through this meal, make us the body of Christ, that we may join with you in promoting the wellbeing of all creation. And so we sing:
O holy, holy holy God, O God of time and space. All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace. Hosanna in the highest heav’n, creation sings your praise. And blessed is the One who comes and bears your name always.(Kingsfold. MV 203)
We remember that on the night Jesus and the disciples had their last meal together, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and gave it to the disciples, saying: ‘This is my body, which is broken for you. Take and eat it, and as often as you do, remember me.’
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In the symbol of the broken bread, we participate in the life of Christ and dedicate ourselves to being his disciples.
In the same way, he took the cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Drink this, all of you. This cup is the new covenant, poured out for you and for many. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
In the symbol of the cup, we participate in the new life Christ brings.
Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again! Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again! (MV 204)
Prayers of the People & Lord’s Prayer
Amen, amen, O Holy One! Hosanna and Amen! Amen, amen, O Holy One, Hosanna and Amen! (MV 205)
SHARING THE FEAST Communion in this time of pandemic will reflect our households as we bring to our living room tables the things which speak to our lives…bread/wine, bread/juice; pita, rice cracker or otherwise…In response to the invitations: ‘Jesus Christ, bread of heaven’ and ‘Jesus Christ, cup of salvation’…take your elements each in their turn, knowing you reside in the embrace of a broad faith community, tied to one another in the Spirit of God made known in Jesus. We are not alone.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION May we become what we have shared this day: bread and wine for a hungry world; a blessing to those whose hearts are empty; a light in the darkness. Amen.
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HYMN O World of God (R.B.Y.Scott/C.H.Parry) VU 258
O world of God, so vast and strange, profound and wonderful and fair, beyond the utmost reach of thought but not beyond our Maker`s care! We are not strangers on this earth whirling amid the suns of space; we are God`s children, this our home, with those of every clime and race.
O world where human life is lived, so strangely mingling joy and pain, so full of evil and of good, so needful that the good shall reign! It is this world that God has loved, and goodness was its Maker`s plan, the promise of God`s triumph is a humble birth in Bethlehem.
O world of time’s far-stretching years! There was a day when time stood still, a central moment when there rose a cross upon a cruel hill; in pain and death love’s power was seen, the mystery of time revealed, the wisdom of the ways of God, the grace through which our hurt is healed.
COMMISSIONING & BLESSING As many threads are made one in the cloth, as the many grains are made one in the bread, as many grapes are made one in the wine, so we who are many are made one in Christ.
And now, may the blessing of God, giver of every good and perfect gift; the blessing of Christ, the Redeemer of the lost and broken; the blessing of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in our lives, be with each one of us and all whom we love and serve. Amen.
POSTLUDE Look at the World (John Rutter) Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Feb 17/08, The Mark Thallander Foundation Choir Festival
The United Church of Canada acknowledges that its buildings and ministries, from coast to coast to coast are on traditional Territories of Indigenous Peoples.
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All hymns and music used today are reprinted and podcast with permission under One License #A-718074 and CCLI Licenses #20425240 and #20425257
Participating in Worship today… Rev. Lorraine Newton-Comar & Rev. Andrew Comar Sarah & Emily Crawley, Laurie Marie, Steve Falk
With thanks to… Noah Comar, videographer, and to Bob Kyriakides, video editor…and to all who are filming at home in order to participate in worship in some way! J
The hymn recordings today are from… More Voices: Audio CD (The United Church of Canada, 2007), Voices United Accompaniment Collection Volume 3 (performed by Lydia Pedersen, The United Church of Canada, 2009) and YouTube