Home Church Trinity Sunday June 7, 2020

Christ Church Gabriola Home Church Trinity Sunday, June 7, 2020

Rev. Karen Hollis

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. The world is in the midst of something big. The uncertainty and suffering brought by COVID has been compounded in the past few weeks by peaceful and violent protests and there has emerged for many a new level of awareness of those who experience racism on a regular basis. We come to worship on this Trinity Sunday – the day we celebrate God in community with God’s self, and being made in God’s image, community as our own essential nature – with these current events as a backdrop. 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. You’re invited 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:      I greet you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

              One God, Mother of us all.

All:        Amen.                                  

One:      In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

All:        In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God    and the Word was God.

One:      In the beginning the Spirit of God swept over the face of the         waters.

All:        In the beginning God said, “Let us make humankind in our    image.”

One:      And so we came into being, created by God who exists in             community.

All:        We are here as God’s community to worship the Source of    our being.

Opening Prayer  Read the prayer slowly.                      Bruce Prewer, edited

Most wonderful God, forever beyond our grasp yet by love always within our reach we approach you with confidence. Most wonderful Christ, forever ahead of us in wisdom and love yet by love always beside us, we approach you with eagerness. Most wonderful Spirit, forever larger than the whole universe yet by love living in our hearts, we approach you with delight and joy. Please enable our worship to rise far higher than our intellect and let our love to go much deeper than our feelings. We praise you, O God, Amen!

Hymn: Holy Holy Holy

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 were, and art, and evermore shalt be.

3 Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,

though the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see,

only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,

perfect in power, in love, and purity.

                          

Prayer of Confession (need pen and paper)                                       

The wider church has been in dialogue this week about the realities of racism in our country.  Wise professionals on this topic say we all carry biases and racism, and I have spent time particularly in the last week considering my own biases and the racism I carry.  I see this as an opportune moment for us all to consider our relationships to the racism that has been named in this country.  I gently invite you into a kind of Examen this morning for our prayer of confession – the Examen is a Jesuit practice and this is a modified version.  This is an invitation to prayerfully reflect in the presence of God.

Examen Prayer

1. Become aware of God’s presence. Once again, I invite you to close your eyes and breathe deeply; let us bring ourselves fully into God’s presence.

2. Offer Gratitude to God. Let us express authentic gratitude for God’s presence, and God’s faithfulness to us in all seasons of life. Let us give thanks that God is our Alpha and Omega . . . is our God from the beginning to the end.

3. Reflect on diversity. Let us reflect now on God’s creation, the diversity of God’s people in Canada, and the wide range of human experience. How is your story different from stories of others you have encountered along the way? How does your story differ from those

with a different ethnicity?

4. Acknowledging our tendencies. What thoughts do you have toward those who look different from you? Does hearing their story make a difference in your perception of them? Where did you learn these tendencies?

5. Prayer and learning When you hear stories of those who experience racism, what are the pieces you don’t understand? What do you want to understand? What do you want to learn? illumine in us, O God our blind spots, placed for continued prayer, and place in our path resources that will help us along this journey.

Loving God, you made us in your image; you made us for relationship. When one suffers, we all suffer, so lead us in our part of bringing the human family into wholeness.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

Friends, hear the good news! God’s love is with us and for us. God’s love is for the healing and wholeness of all. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, Christ is with you in the challenging work of being human. Thanks be to God.

Peace of Christ Christ is with us and in the space between us.  Let us

share the peace he brings!

              The Peace of Christ be with you!

              And also with you!

First Reading   Listen to the word of God to you this morning . . .

Genesis 1:1-2:4a In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let

it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the

dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate

the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and

for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,

to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures,

and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves,

of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning,

the fifth day.

And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind,

and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the

ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and

fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Gospel Reading 

One:      God be with you.       

All:        And also with you

One:      The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Matthew

All:        Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

One: This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection:  Trinity (see attached sermon)

Silent Reflection

 

A New Creed   Let us affirm our faith . . .

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 us and 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.

Prayers of the People       (see attached Prayers of the People)                                                                   

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

While we continue to be out of our church building, we also continue to be a community of faith. Thank you for your continued financial support, your time and energy, your ideas and your caring. Thank you for your stamina for this season of social distancing, as we complete our 14th Sunday of Home Church. It is not the same as worshipping in person, but I think we have experienced it as worship.

Let us pray: Gracious and Loving God, receive the gifts we offer to the community; bless and multiply them, as you bless our very lives through acts of service. Give us rest when we need it and the resources to serve in the ways we are called. We pray in the name of the Triune God, who made us in the shape of community. Amen.

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.

Hymn: How Firm A Foundation

1 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
to you who to Jesus for refuge have fled?

2 "Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed!
for I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

3 "The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not– I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never– no never– no never forsake!"

Blessing

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.

First name N-Z:

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

First name 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!

 

 

š›Christ Church Gabriola Announcements for June 7, 2020

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