Hybrid Church, First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Hybrid Church, First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Musician: Dorothy Dittrich

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!

Prelude

Welcome 

If you are gathering in person, on zoom or worshipping at home with the bulletin, welcome! We are one community, one in the body of Christ. 

Land Acknowledgment & Announcements

Centering & Stillness

Lighting the Christ Candle

Introit: Comfort Ye by Handel                                                                  Don Butt

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

Lighting the Advent Wreath            Hilary & Rob Plowright

Karen: Let us pray, we come to know you, Holy One, as Wisdom 

Incarnate, as Flickering Flame, as Spirit of Life, as Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, Enfleshed. You come to us as the Stranger, and the Strange. Often we do not recognize you. Often we turn away from your gifts and your demands. 

All:  Yet you come to us in Wilderness, in the Impossible Made 

Possible, in Silence and Singing and Sighs Too Deep for Words. We come to you this Advent in need, with longing, in pain, captive to fear, desiring a more just world, a more livable life for all of us, for the earth, for every living thing caught and held in this inescapable network of mutual interdependence we call this one wild and precious Life. We long for you. We long for healing. We long for liberation. We long for different systems and patterns of relating.

Reader: And so, this Advent, we pause. We breathe. We pray. We dig deep. We reach out. We rise up. We remember. We vision. We sit with the pain. We stay with the trouble. We wait, expectant. We light candles. We labor. We open to You, and to one another, and to the Sacred Mystery that is Emmanuel, God-With-Us, Love Incarnate, Divinity Enfleshed. The Hope of God-With-Us does not come as guaranteed outcome, or predetermined plan, or promise of a happy ending. Hope cannot be imposed from on high. Hope cannot be commanded. The Hope of God-With-Us is courageous, risky, unfolding, indeterminate. The Hope of God-With-Us is collective, liberating us from deadly complacency. Hope is gestating in darkness; it comes unexpectedly. Hope invites our expectation and demands our participation. Prepare the way, for hope with courage. May Hope be birthed among, within, and through us, this Advent.     

Hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel v. 1, 2                                VU #1 

      1O come, O come, Emmanuel,

    and ransom captive Israel

    that mourns in lonely exile here

    until the Son of God appear.

    [Refrain]

    Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

    shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

      2O come, O Wisdom from on high,

    who ordered all things mightily;

    to us the path of knowledge show,

    and teach us in her ways to go. [Refrain]

Prayer of Confession                                                                        Fr. Thomas Keating

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

I welcome everything that comes to me today, 

because I know it's for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, 

persons, situations, and conditions.

I let go of my desire for power and control.

I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.

I let go of my desire for survival and security.

I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within. Amen.

 

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace

Just by setting the intention to let go, we can find ourselves more curious, more open, more aware of the presence of God who has made a home in each of us. We can find ourselves already making room within for God to born anew. Thanks be to God!

Passing of the Peace 

Christ’s peace is an invitation to hope with our actions . . . to seek reconciliation and wholeness in our community life. Let us stand in body or spirit and share Christ’s peace with one another. 

One:       The peace of Christ be with you! 

All:         And also with you!

You are invited to turn to those directly around you and share Christ’s peace. Those on zoom, please unmute and share with one another.       3

Reader: By the gift of your Spirit, calm and quiet our souls that we may hear your Word today and be lifted up to walk with you. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5 (NRSV)                                      Reader: Tim Leadem

And it shall happen in future days

      that the mount of the Lord’s house shall be firm-founded

      at the top of the mountains and lifted over the hills.

And all the nations shall flow to it

      and many peoples shall go, and say:

Come, let us go up to the mount of the Lord,

      to the house of Jacob’s God,

that He may teach us of His ways

      and that we may walk in His paths.

For from Zion shall teaching come forth

      and the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.

And He shall judge among the nations

      and be arbiter for many peoples.

And they shall grind their swords into plowshares

      and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not rise sword against nation

      nor shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob,

      come, let us walk in the Lord’s light.

Psalm 122 (VU p. 845)                                                            Reader: Tim Leadem

[Refrain] With joy we go to God’s own house and enter with a song.

I was glad when they said to me;

      Let us go to the house of God.

And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem,

      Jerusalem is built as a city bound firmly together.

There the tribes go up, the tribes of God,

to give thanks to the name of God, as was decreed for Israel.         

      There the thrones of justice stand,       

      the throne of David’s house     R

      Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

May those who love you prosper!

      May there be peace within your walls,

      prosperity within your palaces!

For the sake of my kin and friends I say: Peace be with you!

      For the sake of the house of our God, I will seek your good.     R

Gospel Reading                                                                                   Reader: Tim Leadem

As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel. 

Reader: God be with you.       

All: And also with you.

Reader: The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

All:  Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:36-44 (NRSV) "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

       Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

       All:        Praise be to Jesus Christ       

Reflection: Hope                                                        

Open Space

Light Candles

Anointing for Healing

Reflecting on Hope

Blessing the Way – Jan Richardson

Blessing the Way                                                                 Jan Richardson

With every step

you take,

this blessing rises up

to meet you.

It has been waiting

long ages for you.

Look close

and you can see

the layers of it,

how it has been fashioned                                                                        

by those who walked

this road before you,

how it has been created

of nothing but

their determination

and their dreaming,

how it has taken

its form

from an ancient hope

that drew them forward

and made a way for them

when no way could be

seen.

Look closer

and you will see

this blessing

is not finished,

that you are part

of the path

it is preparing,

that you are how

this blessing means

to be a voice

within the wilderness

and a welcome

for the way.

Hymn: Wait for the Lord                                                                                                 VU #22

          Wait for the Lord, 

          God’s day is near

          Wait for the Lord,

          be strong, take heart.

Affirmation of Faith                                                                    New Zealand Prayer Book

You, O God, are supreme and holy.

You create our world and give us life.

Your purpose overarches everything we do.

You have always been with us.

You are God.

You, O God, are infinitely generous, 

good beyond all measure.

You came to us before we came to you.

You have revealed and proved

your love for us in Jesus Christ,

who lived and died and rose again.

You are with us now.

You are God.

You, O God, are Holy Spirit.

You empower us to be your gospel in the world.

You reconcile and heal; you overcome death.

You are our God. We worship you.

Prayers of the People                                                                                 Betty Schultze              

One:  Loving God,

All:    Hear Our Prayers

Lord’s Prayer                                                                                                                        VU #959          

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

Christ Church Gabriola Covenant

Gracious and Loving God,

We, Christ Church Gabriola, followers of Jesus Christ in a shared Anglican and United Church ministry, covenant as a community with You:

to WORSHIP You

·       with openness to the movement of Your Spirit, by using inclusive language, musical diversity, creativity, and the grounding we have in our traditions

to CONNECT with each other and our neighbours

·       by welcoming and integrating into our community all persons as Your children  

·       by lovingly supporting each other as we grow in Christ, creating opportunities to connect with each other in fellowship 

·       by finding ways to become more multi-generational

·       by sharing the good news of Your love with everyone

to LEARN AND GROW together

·       by developing our faith through scripture studies, prayer and other spiritual practices

·       by exploring the Christian tradition and a range of theological studies

·       by informing ourselves about issues of social and ecological justice

·       by using respectful communication

·       by examining issues from multiple perspectives

o   by offering to the wider community opportunities to safely engage in conversations about matters important to life, faith and the world

and to SERVE our community and the world

·       by living in love and justice, and by working for the well-being of the earth and its inhabitants

·       by serving the island community through offering our own resources, collaborating with other agencies, and drawing on our connections with the wider community

·       by listening and responding to a changing world, recognizing its needs so we know how to serve

We covenant as a community in Christ’s name. Amen.

Doxology                                                                                                                                         CP #669

Praise God the Source of life and birth,

Praise God the Word, who came to earth.

Praise God the Spirit, holy flame.

All Glory, honour to God’s name.

Offering Prayer                                                         

At the beginning of this new year, we name your Call for us, O God. We articulate our commitment as a community of faith, and offer ourselves to participate in the ways we are able . . . and we walk forward together in the hope of your promised presence. 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: All Earth is Waiting                                                                                   VU #5

1All earth is waiting to see the Promised One, 

and open furrows await the seed of God. 

All the world, bound and struggling, seeks true liberty; 

it cries out for justice and searches for the truth. 

2Thus says the prophet to those of Israel, 

'A virgin mother will bear Emmanuel.' 

One whose name is 'God with us', our Saviour shall be, 

through whom hope will blossom once more within our hearts. 

3Mountains and valleys will have to be made plain, 

open new highways, new highways for our God, 

who is now coming closer, so come all and see, 

and open the doorways as wide as wide can be. 

4In lowly stable the Promised One appeared. 

Yet, feel that presence throughout the earth today,

 for Christ lives in all Christians and is with us now; 

again, on arriving, Christ brings us liberty.

 

Thank You     

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.

Left:  The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories, 

          feeding you, challenging you.

Right/Zoom: 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!

Postlude