Home Church, 5th Sunday after Epiphany, February 6, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church, 5th Sunday after Epiphany, February 6, 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.

Introit: Dearest Jesus, We Are Here (by JS Bach)  -  Hiromi Bradshaw

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       

Call to Worship   -  Enfleshed, adapted

One:  All you brokenhearted and bereaved,

All:    You joyful and well-rested,

One:  You overwhelmed and overworked, come.

All:    All you disappointed and desperate,

One:  You playful and delighted,

All:    You angry and reconciled, come.

One:  No matter the weather of our hearts, this day is sacred.

All:    Let us worship God, Love that Never Ceases.

Opening Prayer  -  UCC Worship Ways

Holy One, you are ready to meet us wherever we are in our lives, offering vision, interruption, hope where we may least expect it. Surprise us here in worship today with some unexpected grace —large or small— and call us into the world inspired and impassioned to do your work. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty v. 1,2,4  - VU #315

1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;

holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

2 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee;

casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,

which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;

holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Prayer of Confession -  BAS

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace  -  from Psalm 138

One:  When I call, O God, you answer me,

All:    you increase my strength of soul.

One:  You stretch out your hand and are gracious to me.

All:    Your steadfast love, O God, endures forever.

Peace of Christ 

One:  Christ comes to us on the lakeshore and shares his message of peace.

All:    Let us celebrate this peace and share it with one another!

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

A-M:   And also with you!

First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8   -  Reader: Betty Schultze

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"

Second Reading: Psalm 138 (Lynn C. Bauman)  -  Reader: Betty Schultze

With my whole being I give you thanks,

with grateful heart I bow before you,

       With all of heaven’s mighty hosts

       I sing this song to praise you.

Your presence is my temple ground

and there I lift my voice and speak your name,

       In testimony to a love and truth

       exceeded only by your promises.

For when I spoke your sacred name,

your word of answer swiftly came

as source of all the strength I know within.

       O peoples of this earth, know this,

       you too can hear this voice and speak the name.

You too can know the music of this song 

revealing all God’s beauty in fullest splendor

       For though our God is high beyond this earth,

       as swift as wind God stoops to hold the lowly close, 

       the proud afar

And even though the path of life leads into deepest gloom,

       O God, your presence never leaves but holds and

       saves when foes appear on the earth.

At the end of life your presence stands

as witness to a plan that’s never thwarted.

       Your love endures and greets us even at the gates of death.

Gospel Reading  -  Reader: Nancy Hetherington Peirce

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 5:1-11 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who are partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

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  -  Susan Brockley

One: God of Enduring Love

All:    Hear Our Prayer

Lord’s Prayer                                                 

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: Minute for Mission Video: Mambud’s Story (Click on link below)        

https://youtu.be/PL6CI5zPkLA                                  

Offering Prayer 

Loving God, we come to you as disciples, called to do the work of Christ in the world. We pray that you would bless today all the ways that we give, all the ways we serve, that even without our knowing, your love may reach places of need. Amen.

Hymn: Jesus Calls Us  - VU #562

1 Jesus calls us, o'er the tumult

of our life's wild restless sea,

day by day his clear voice sounding,

saying, "Christian, follow me."

2 Long ago apostles heard it

by the Galilean lake,

turned from home and toil and kindred,

leaving all for Jesus' sake.

3 Jesus calls us from the worship

of the vain world's golden store,

from each idol that would keep us,

saying, "Christian, love me more."

4 In our joys and in our sorrows,

days of toil and hours of ease,

still he calls, in cares and pleasures,

"Christian, love me more than these."

5 Jesus calls us: by your mercies,

Saviour, may we hear your call,

give our hearts to your obedience,

serve and love you best of all.

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.

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

A-M:  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!