Home Church 1st Sunday after Epiphany, January 9, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church 1st Sunday after Epiphany, January 9, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

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

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here!

Preparing the Space Around Us

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.

Opening Sentences      Isaiah 60:1,3,6
Arise, shine, for your light is come!

The glory of the Lord is risen upon you!

Nations shall come to your light,

and rulers to the brightness of your dawn.

They shall come from Sheba, bearing gold and incense,

singing the praise of God.

Opening Litany         enfleshed, adapted

Searching for a glimpse of change,

seeking liberation from colonizing forces,

the magi journeyed,

crossing foreign lands and borders

with only a star as their guide.

The same glimmer of hope

that guided their way

calls to us today.

Through night skies and morning snow.

Through community and in silent meditation.

Through songs, ancient and new.

Through art and bodies and creation.

Through collectives of people who dare to break rules

in the direction of a better world.

It calls us

to come and share our resources equitably,

to come and delight in love enfleshed,

to come and join in the spirit of deliverance

birthed far from the centers of power.

At the birth-site of God,

the way is revealed.

Opening Prayer        Bruce Prewer, adapted

Holy One, guide us we pray, beyond all that is trendy or cheap, and even beyond those things that are virtues, to your unique incarnation in our time and place. Humbled there in awe and delight, may we recommit ourselves to that holy worship which recognizes no boundary between sacred and secular, west and east, or gender expressions. Through Christ our Messiah. Amen.

Hymn: Lord, the Light of Your Love is Shining v.1, 3              CP #460

1 Lord, the light of your love is shining

In the midst of the darkness, shining

Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us

Set us free by the truth you now bring us

Shine on me, shine on me

[Refrain]

Shine, Jesus, shine

Fill this land with the Father's glory

Blaze, Spirit, blaze

Set our hearts on fire

Flow, river, flow

Flood the nations with grace and mercy

Send forth your word

Lord, and let there be light

3 As we gaze on your kingly brightness

So our faces display your likeness

Ever changing from glory to glory

Mirrored here may our lives tell your story

Shine on me, shine on me [Refrain]

Prayer of Confession           

The light of Epiphany has come, the light that proclaims a new hope and a new path. While the light brings energy and clarity of vision, some aspects of us do not trust it . . . places in us that are broken and hurting, places that feel more comfortable being in control, places that are just trying to keep it together, places that are angry and protective, places that actively suppress past hurts, places that continue to believe old stories. Sometimes we push away the light because the process of healing is painful. Sometimes the promise of God’s presence isn’t enough to give us the courage we need to open to healing. Meet us in one of these places today, O God; help us to name our resistance, that we might receive healing.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace 

Today we celebrate the ritual of baptism, where we are named and claimed as God’s own. Whatever your hurts, whatever your struggles, you are a beloved child of God, today and always. God is with you in your healing.

Peace of Christ 

Christ has been born to us in a new way. Let us celebrate the peace Christ brings to us and all the world.

N-Z: The Peace of Christ be with you!

A-M: And also with you!

First Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7 (NIV)        Reader: Corinne Carlson

But now, this is what the Lord says—

    he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

    you will not be burned;

    the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,

    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,

    and because I love you,

I will give people in exchange for you,

    nations in exchange for your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

    I will bring your children from the east

    and gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring my sons from afar

    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

    everyone who is called by my name,

    whom I created for my glory,

    whom I formed and made.”

Second Reading: Psalm 29 (Voices United)       Reader: David Soy

Ascribe to God, you powers of the heaven,

ascribe to God all glory and strength!

       Ascribe due honour to God’s holy name,

       and worship in the beauty of holiness.

God’s voice is over the waters – 

God’s glory thundering across the great waters.

       God’s voice is power,

       God’s voice is full of majesty.

God’s voice shatters the cedars,

splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

       God’s voice makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

       Mount Hermon stampede like a wild young bull.

God’s voice forks into tongues of fire,

God’s voice shakes the wilderness,

sets trembling the wilderness of Kadesh.

       God’s voice causes the oaks to whirl,

       stripping the forest bare;

       and in the temple all cry: Glory!

God sits enthroned above the waters,

       God is enthroned as sovereign forever.

You give strength to your people, O God.

       Now give to your people

       the blessing of peace.

Gospel Reading     David Soy

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 3:15-17, 21-22 (NRSV) 

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection

Silent Reflection

Apostle’s Creed

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of the People       Betty Schultze

One:  Living God,        

All:    Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s Prayer      Ecumenical Version 

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen.

Offering

I give thanks today for all of you and the ways contribute to the wellbeing of our community, by looking in on one another during the snow, tending to the needs of the building, knitting, baking, organizing, meeting, strategizing, encouraging, comforting, praying, giving, worshiping, and so much more. Thank you for all you contribute to this community.

Offering Prayer       enfleshed, adapted

Loving One, we pray you would bless all of our gifts and direct them to places of need. Guide our intentions and our actions in the direction of your kindom - where all creatures, creations, neighbors, and even our enemies are transformed by your love. May your blessings abound on all the earth, amen. 

 

Hymn: Come, O Fount of Every Blessing   VU #559

1 Come, thou Fount of every blessing,

tune my heart to sing your grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of endless praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it

mount of God's unfailing love.

2 Here I pause in my sojourning,

giving thanks for having come;

come to trust, at every turning

God will guide me safely home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

wandering from the fold of God;

came to rescue me from danger,

precious presence, precious blood.

3 O, to grace how great a debtor

daily I am drawn anew!

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to you.

Prone to wander, I can feel it,

wander from the love I’ve known:

here's my heart, O take and seal it,

seal it for your very own.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing     Iona Community

If you are with another person, you’re invited to bless each other, taking every other line.

One:  The Creator’s blessing be yours on your road, on your journey, guiding you, cherishing you.

A-M:  The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories, feeding you, challenging you.

N-Z:   The Spirit’s blessing be yours, wind and fire, joy and wisdom, comforting you, disturbing you.

All:    The Angel’s blessing be yours, on your house, on your living, guarding you, encouraging you. Let us walk together, a community on a journey, sustained in God’s blessing. Amen!

One:  Let us go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All:    Thanks be to God! Alleluia!