The United Church of Canada Bathurst Pastoral Charge First United Church, Bathurst www.firstunited-bathurst.ca June 26, 2016 Anniversary Service Clergy Rev. Blair Lewis Organist Martha Vickers Office Adm. Isabel Clouston Greeters Anne Brooks Custodian Alan Wilcox Gary Branch All musical selections reprinted under licence #C8326, LicenSing for Churches Lectionary for today II Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Psalm 16 Galatians 5:1,-13-25 Luke 9:51-62 Lectionary for next Sunday II Kings 5:1-14 Psalm 66 Galatians 6: (1-6), 7-16 Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 THE COMMUNITY GATHERS The asterisk * identifies those times in the service where the congregation is invited to stand as able. Organ Prelude: Choral Opening: We welcome Dave Hewitt, secretary of Maritime Conference, as our guest speaker today. Oh, How Good It Is! Welcoming: In the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who calls us to be the church and to celebrate God s presence, let us worship. Welcoming One Another: Welcoming Friends Worshipping by CD: Announcements: -1- Lighting of the Christ Candle: One: Greetings to our brothers and sisters in the faith. All: We come to celebrate God s presence, One: and God s love expressed through Jesus Christ. All: We come remembering Christ s life and ministry, One: and the life we are called to live. All: We come as a pilgrim people at the beginning of Summer and on our Anniversary Sunday searching for ways to live out our faith. One: We come seeking the strength to carry on our journey. All: Let us rejoice and open our lives to God! Call to Worship: One: We have gathered to worship God. All: We have come seeking comfort, inspiration, community, and insight. One: We have come to open ourselves to the power of God s presence in our midst. All: We have come to offer up the seasons and the turnings in our lives, and to ask God s help in our learning and in our growing. *Opening Hymn: Come In, Come In and Sit Down #395 VU Prayer of Approach: (in unison) Holy and gracious God, you call us to ventures that cannot be foretold, to paths we do not know. Be our guide, through your word, and feed us with your assurance that your way is truly the path of love, joy, and peace. Amen -2-
THE COMMUNITY RESPONDS THE SERVICE OF THE WORD Prayer for Understanding: (in unison) O God, by your spirit plant your word within us that we may follow your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, never leave him. May we find our home in the realm of your love and with your help may we live our lives guided by your Spirit. Scripture Lessons: Sherry Mitton Old Testament Lesson: II Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Responsive Psalm: Psalm 77 #791 VU Gospel Lesson: Luke 9:51-62 *Hymn: O Beautiful Gaia #41 MV O beautiful Gaia, O Gaia, calling us home. O beautiful Gaia, calling us on. Soil yielding its harvest, O Gaia, calling us home. Soil yielding its harvest, calling us on. Waves crashing on granite, O Gaia, calling us home. Waves crashing on granite, calling us on. Pine bending in windstorm, O Gaia, calling us home. Pine bending in windstorm, calling us on. Loon nesting in marshland, O Gaia, calling us home. Loon nesting in marshland, calling us on. -3- Presentation of Gifts and Self to God: Solo: I See the Love of God Amanda Godin *Choral Response: Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow #541 VU Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures high and low, Give thanks to God in love made known: Creator, Word and Spirit, One. Prayer of Dedication: (in unison) We bring our gifts to you, God. Here is the work of our hands, and here is the love of our hearts. Accept them and use them, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession: One: Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, All: have mercy on us. One: Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, All: have mercy on us. One: Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, All: grant us peace. O God, we have sinned in many ways. We have not loved you with all our hearts. We have not loved one another as we should. Sometimes we have let pride rule us, sometimes anger; sometimes our sin has been carelessness, sometimes resentment, or impatience, or greed. Forgive us. We need your love. SB 1969-4-
Choral Response: How Deep the Peace #95 MV How deep the peace, the confidence. Of those whose wrongs are forgiven. How deep the peace, the confidence. Of those whose hearts are healed. Words of Assurance: God is the love that over and around us lies; the grace that is totally unearned; and the healing that makes the earth whole. Give thanks to God; we are forgiven! Amen. Introduction of Guest Speaker: Message: Expression of thanks to our guest speaker: Anthem: Sing a New Song to the Lord Brenda Parrott David Hewitt THE SERVICE OF THE TABLE An Invitation to the Table: [when you are coming forward for communion please use the outside church aisles and once you have received communion please leave your communion cups in the baskets at the head of the center aisle and return to your seats using the center aisle.] *Communion Hymn: When We Gather at the Table #198 MV When we gather at the table, Wine is poured and bread is broken. Then love claims us, offering healing, We hear welcome, gently spoken. Jesus offers our thanksgiving Blessing God for life we re given. From the earth comes grain to feed us Watered by the rains of heaven. -5- Word of promise claims attention Earth renewed by God s designing. All the creatures join in praises God s intended wholeness finding. Come, invited, now draw nearer, Join this holy celebration. Here be strengthened, called to justice, Living now God s new creation. Christ, your coming and your hosting Gives us place at widening table Now embracing world and neighbour Spirit strong, by love enabled. The Great Thanksgiving Prayer One: The peace of Christ be with you all. All: And also with you. One: Lift up your hearts. All: We lift them to the Lord. One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. All: It is right to give God thanks and praise. One: Blessed are you, gracious God, Creator of light, Giver of all life, Source of love. We bless you for all your gifts. We praise you for this holy night of hope and for the wonder of this time of joy on this Anniversary Sunday. All: We praise you, O God. One: We thank you for those who, like Mary, woman of promise, have the strength and the courage to give birth to your love in the world ~and for those who, like the shepherds, dare to seek out the Child of Bethlehem. All: We thank you, O God. One: For Jesus Christ, in whom you gather the hopes and fears of all the years, we bless your Holy Name. Joining now with all your people of every time and place, and with the angels and archangels, who proclaim the holy birth: -6-
One: All: One: All: Choral Response (Sanctus and Benedictus # 203 MV) 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! We remember on the night before Jesus died, he had supper with his disciples: he took bread; thanked you, as we have thanked you; broke the bread; and gave the bread to his friends, saying, Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, given for you. Each time you do this, remember me. After supper he took the wine; thanked you for it, and passed a cup of wine to his friends saying, This cup is the new promise God has made with you in my blood. Each time you do this and drink from this cup, remember me. Remembering his death and celebrating his resurrection, we await with hope his coming again to bring peace and justice to the earth. And so, we affirm the mystery of our faith: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Send, O God, your Holy Spirit upon us and what we do here; that we, and these gifts, touched by your Spirit, may be signs of life and love to each other, and to all the world. Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, God most holy, now and forever. We gather these and all our prayers, thankful that we may now turn to you in one voice, Our Father, Who art in heaven Amen -7- Breaking of the Bread and Pouring of the Cup: Sharing of the Bread and Cup: Our Church Anniversary Prayer: All: For the bread we have eaten, for the wine we have tasted, for the life we have received, we thank you God. Grant that what we have done and have been given here, may so put its mark on us that it may remain always in our hearts. One: May your joy be with us, the joy of our church anniversary Sunday and the love we experience in our lives. All: Challenge awaits us, the challenge of sharing the just and holy light of Jesus Christ with those we meet. Peace awaits us, the peace of your love that comes into our lives at different times and in different places. May what we have shared here on this anniversary Sunday lead us forward into the future with the spirit of love optimism and hope. Amen THE COMMUNITY GOES FORTH *Closing Hymn: O God, Our Help in Ages Past Commissioning: (in unison) Living God, we put our trust in you risking disappointment, risking failure, working and waiting expectantly. -8- #809 VU
Blessing: May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, may the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand. Gaelic *Choral Closing: When You Walk From Here #298 VU When you walk from here, When you walk from here, Walk with justice, walk with mercy, And with God s humble care. Organ Postlude: God give us a church, up on a hill, Where Thy Word is heard and hearts are made still, Where the sound of praise fills the countryside, Where the gospel of Christ is proclaimed far and wide, Where souls hungering for Jesus find rest in Him, Where the grace of God is transforming men. May it be a sanctuary, a house of prayer, May mercy and favor be freely found there. May it be Thy house, Thy dwelling, O Lord, Where Thy Name is worshipped, honored, and adored. ~Pastor Doug DeMar~ -9- Church News This Week at First United June 26 July 2 Friday Office closed Canada Day Peanut Butter for Volunteer Centre Commitment December 31, 2016 900 Total to Date 525 To meet our obligation, we will need to collect 14-15 jars of peanut butter per week. The Volunteer Center supplies, on average, 500 households monthly. The Upper Room for July and Aug. are in the Narthex. Please feel free to take one. A container for donations is located with the publication. Summer Hours: Until the end of August the church office hours will be Tuesday Friday, 8-4. Closed 12-1. To enter the church or office during business hours, please use the St. Patrick Street entrance. A CD titled "Reflections on the Bay" is now available. It features a variety of piano and organ music by Linda Knowles MacPherson, as well as several selections including clarinet (Donald Eddy), and guitar (Archie Fowlie). A copy may be obtained with a donation to First United Church. Linda's previous CD's "Notes From the Bay" and "Christmas on the Bay" continue to be available and have, to date, raised $2,429.95 towards the Ministry of Music at First United. Community Events The Annual Cemetery Service of the Stonehaven- New Bandon Union Cemetery Inc. will be held at the cemetery chapel at 1:30 pm, June 26, 2016. Everyone is welcome. The Annual Meeting regarding business of the cemeteries is planned for Tuesday, July 5 th, 2016, 7:00pm in the cemetery chapel. -10-
2 Kings 2:1-2 New International Version (NIV) Elijah Taken Up to Heaven 2 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. S 2 Kings 2:6-14 New International Version (NIV) 6 Then Elijah said to him, Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan. And he replied, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied. 10 You have asked a difficult thing, Elijah said, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours otherwise, it will not. 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel! And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah? he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. Luke 9:51-62 New International Version (NIV) Samaritan Opposition 51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them [a]? 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. The Cost of Following Jesus 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. 58 Jesus replied, Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. 59 He said to another man, Follow me.
But he replied, Lord, first let me go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. 61 Still another said, I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family. 62 Jesus replied, No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.