Home Church 1st Sunday after Christmas December 27, 2020 Rev Dr Linda St Clair

Home Church 1st Sunday after Christmas December 27, 2020

Guest Presider Rev. Dr. Linda St. Clair

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Preparing the Space Around Us

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! Welcome if you are gathering on zoom or if you are worshipping at home with the bulletin. We are one community and all part of the body of Christ. I invite you to prepare the space around you

so that for the next hour you can be fully in this worship experience, not to keep out the realities of the world, rather to focus us in the midst of it all on God. If you need to go and get something or shift something around you, feel free.

Preparing the Space within Us

Let us prepare now the space within us for a time of worship. I invite

you to sit quietly, perhaps with feet on the floor, taking a couple of deep breaths and bring yourself into this moment. Open yourself to the presence of God who is with us and within us . . . as you intentionally open yourself to God, open yourself also to what you need from this time of worship.

Greeting
One: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,

          and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All:    And also with you      

Opening Prayer                                                 

One:  A child is born to us, alleluia!

All:    A son is given us, alleluia!

One:  All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God!

All:    Alleluia! Alleluia!

Introduction of Christmas Carols

Hymn: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing     VU #48

1 Hark! the herald angels sing ,

"Glory to the newborn King,

peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,

join the triumph of the skies;

with the angelic hosts proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

 

[Refrain:]

Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

2 Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come,

offspring of a virgin's womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail the incarnate deity.

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel! [Refrain]

 

3 Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by,

born that we no more may die,

born to raise us from the earth,

born to give us second birth. [Refrain]

Hymn: Joy to the World v. 1, 2, 4    VU #59

1 Joy to the world! the Lord is come:

let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare him room,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

 

2 Joy to the world! the Savior reigns:

let all their songs employ,

while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

 

4 He rules the earth with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove

the glories of his righteousness

and wonders of his love,

and wonders of his love,

and wonders, wonders of his love.

Prayer of Confession          

One:  Incarnate One, in humbleness of heart we confess that we have not always loved you completely.

All:    We have often wandered from your ways.

          We have been careless of your world

          and have put its life in danger.

          We have not put our words into deeds

          for those we say we care for …

Silence for Reflection

Assurance of Grace

One:  Divine One, you seek out the lost and offer us unconditional love.

All:    You came to be among us to show your love and compassion

          for all. We give grateful thanks to you our Emmanuel. Amen.

Peace of Christ

One:  Christ is with us now and always.

          So, let us greet one another with his peace.

 

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3      Susan Brockley

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

   my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

   he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

   to spring up before all the nations.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

   and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out like the dawn,

   and her salvation like a burning torch.

The nations shall see your vindication,

   and all the kings your glory;

and you shall be called by a new name

   that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

   and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

           

            One:     For the word of God in scripture

                        For the word of God among us

            For the word of God within us

All:      Thanks be to God

Gospel Reading        

One: God be with you.            

All:    And also with you

One: The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Luke

All:    Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:22-40  David Soy  

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection:      Patience, Perseverance and Proclamation

Silence

Solo: Nunc Dimittis – The Song of Simeon   Hiromi Bradshaw

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace.

Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum.

Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation:

which thou hast prepared before the face of all people.
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen

Prayers of the People     Susan Brockley                                                                                    

One: Creator God

All:    Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s Prayer   New Zealand Prayer Book – Jim Cotter

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven.

The hallowing of your name

echo through the universe!

The way of your justice

be followed by the peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done

by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom

sustain our hope and come one earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,

now and for ever. Amen

Offering Rob Brockley

Offering Prayer                                                                    

We give thanks for today’s service about the Presentation of Jesus at

the Temple, which reminds us of God’s love for us and all creation. 

We give thanks that we have heard about Rob’s spiritual journey which adds to the fabric we are weaving and learning about at CCG. And in gratitude we give thanks that we formed this Christian Community that has so supported us during these past months and lessen our fears and isolation. Our sense of belonging together as followers of Jesus continues to strengthen us.  For this and all the gifts we have received we are blessed.

Amen

Blessing

Female: May you rejoice in the mystery of the Incarnation, in the

              humanity of God and in the wonder of the Word made

              flesh.

Male:     May you rejoice that the best name of God is Love, a

              love that draws us like a magnet, that nothing can defeat,

              neither evil nor pain nor death.

One:      May we have courage to change our lives so that the hungry

              may be fed, the poor achieve dignity and the oppressed go

              free. In the name of our Redeemer, Sustainer and Comforter.

All:         Thanks be to God!

 

Postlude: Go Tell it on a Mountain v. 1, 3    VU #43

Refrain:      Don Butt & Hiromi Bradshaw
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.

1 While shepherds kept their watching
o'er silent flocks by night,
behold, throughout the heavens
there shone a holy light. [Refrain]

3 Down in a lonely manger
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent our salvation
that blessed Christmas morn. [Refrain]