Hybrid Church November 12, 2023 Twenty-Fourth After Pentecost

Christ Church Gabriola

A Collaborative Anglican – United Church

Open to All

 

                    

                                                                                                                                                                                (Gadiel Lazcano, Unsplashed)

Hybrid Church

November 12, 2023
Twenty-Fourth After Pentecost

 

Rev. Sally Bullas

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!

Welcome & Announcements

Whether 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. 

 

Centering & Stillness                                                                                     (Richard Wagamese) “Keep what’s true in front of you, Old Man said.  You won’t get lost that way.  I was asking about making my way through the bush.  He was talking about making my way through life.  Turns out, all these years later, it was the same thing.”

 

(invitation to sit in silence)

 

Introit: Gather Us In  x2                                                                                                     MV #7 

          Gather us in, ground us in you.

          Gather us in, ground us in you.
          Gather us in, gather us in, ground us, ground us in you.

 

Lighting of the Christ Candle  

One:  Christ is our light.
All:    Thanks be to God!

 

(the Christ Candle is lit)

 

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

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

All:    And also with you

 

Opening Words                                                                                                               (John O’Donohue)

One:  A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect,                      heal and strengthen.  

All:    Life is a constant flow of emergence. 

One:  The beauty of blessing is its belief that it can affect what unfolds.

All:    To be in the world is to be distant from the homeland of                          wholeness.

One:  We are confined by limitations and difficulty.

All:    When we bless, we are enabled somehow to go beyond our 

          present frontiers and reach the source.

One:  A blessing awakens future wholeness.

All:    When a blessing is invoked, a window opens in eternal time.

One:  Blessing is from soul to soul.

 

 

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Hymn: Bless Now, O God, The Journey                                                 VU #633

 

Opening Prayer                                                                                                 (Corrymeela Community)

One:  Courage comes from the heart, and we are always welcomed by 

          God.

All:    We bear witness to our faith, knowing that we are called to                     live lives of courage, love and reconciliation in the ordinary 

          and extraordinary moments of each day.

One:  We bear witness, too, to our failures and our complicity in the                        fractures of the world.

All:    May we be courageous today.

          May we learn today.

          May we love today.

One:  May we receive God’s blessing and be the blessing of this day.                     Amen.

 

Passing of the Peace

          One:  The Peace of Christ be with you all! 

          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.

 

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: Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16              Reader: Mona Smart

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,

and she is easily discerned by those who love her,

and is found by those who seek her.

She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.

One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,

for she will be found sitting at the gate.

To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,

and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,

because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,

and she graciously appears to them in their paths,

and meets them in every thought.

 

Psalm 70                                                                                                                                              VU #788

Refrain 2:  Hasten to help me, O God.

 

 

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Gospel Reading                                                                          Reader: George Westarp

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 the Christ according to Matthew

All:    Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

 

Matthew 25:1-13

‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the 

wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

 

          Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

          All:                     Praise be to Jesus Christ       

 

Reflection: “Ready or Not?”

 

Hymn: Wellspring of Wisdom                                                                              VU #287

 

Offering

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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Offering Prayer                                                                                       (Glen E. Rainsley, adapted)      

One:  Gracious God, knowing that you never withdraw your love from us, 

          we entrust our lives into your safekeeping, offer our resources for 

          your use, and invest our effort toward the upbuilding of your 

          kin-dom.

All:    Inspire us to generosity and fullness of faith.  

          In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Prayers of the People                                                         Paddy Waymark                                                                                               

One:  In the calm of your grace,

All:    Hear Our Prayers

 

Communion Hymn:  Bread of Life, Feed My Soul                                 MV #194

 

A New Creed                                                                                                                        VU#918

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. 

 

We Celebrate at the Table

One:  God is with us! 

All:    We are not alone!

One:  Lift up your hearts. 

All:    We lift them up to God. 

One:  Let us give thanks to God. 

All:    It is right to give our thanks and praise.

 

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One:  Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love, you are beyond complete                           knowledge, above perfect description.

All:    Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer; Source of Life, Living Word, 

and Bond of Love, you are creative and self-giving, generously moving.

One:  In all the near and distant corners of the universe, nothing exists 

          that does not find its source in you.                                                                                        

 

All:    Even when we turn away from you, you are with us; your 

          presence never fails us, your gifts of hope and new life 

          transform us.

One:  We praise you for Jesus Christ, eternal as your love, our bond to 

          one another. We rejoice with all your people of every time and 

          place to proclaim the glory of your name:

 

Sanctus                                                                                                                                                            MV #203

O holy, holy holy God, O God of time and space.

All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace.

Hosanna in the highest heav’n, creation sings your praise.

And blessed is the One who comes and bears your name always.

 

One:  It is Jesus, God incarnate, the Risen Christ, who joins us                               together as a community of broken but hopeful believers:

All:    loving what he loved, living what he taught, and striving to                     be his faithful servants in our time and place.

One:  In this meal we remember Jesus, his promises, who he was, what 

          he said, and what he did.

 

One:  On the night before Jesus died, he took a loaf of bread, gave                        thanks, broke it, and said,

All:    “Take and eat; whenever you do this, remember me.”

One:  After supper, Jesus took the cup, and poured, saying,

All:    “This is the new covenant, remember me.”

One:  We do remember.  
All:    We remember his life of love, his friendship, his teaching,                       his dying, and his rising to life again. 

One:  In sharing this meal, we live out the mystery of our faith:

 

Memorial Acclamation                                                                                                           MV #204

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

Sing Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

 

 

 

 

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One:  Holy Mystery, we call on you to transform these familiar things,                     as you continually transform the world around us.  Bless this     bread and this cup;

All:    the wheat and the grape, the farmer and the harvest,

          the seed and the sower.

One:  So that in the sharing of these simple elements in community, we 

          may taste and see your goodness, so that we might catch a

          glimpse of what it is to be in communion with you and with one                     another.  Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, in the unity                 of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, God most holy, now and                         forever. 

 

The Prayer of Jesus                                                                                                          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.                                                                                          

 

Breaking the Bread, Pouring the Cup 

One:  The body of Christ, (bread is broken)

All:    the bread of life.

One:  The lifeblood of Christ, (wine is poured)

All:    the cup of blessing.

One:  The gifts of God for the people of God.

All:    Thanks be to God!

                                                                                

(Communion is served)

 

Post Communion Prayer

One:  Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life. 

All:    We are fed by your love; we are strengthened by your life. 

          We are sent forth into this world to live into the visionsGod 

          has laid on our hearts. 

One:  We are now commissioned to: 

All:    feed as we have been fed, forgive as we have been forgiven, 

          love as we have been loved.

One:  Thanks be to God.  Amen.  

 

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Hymn: This Day God Gives Me vs. 1-3                                                             VU #410 

 

Thank You

 

Blessing                                                                                                          (John O’Donohue, adapted)

One:  Make sure, before you go, to take the time to bless your going          forth, to free your heart of ballast so that the compass of your   soul might direct you towards the territories of spirit where you        will discover more of your hidden life and the urgencies that         deserve to claim you.

All:    May we travel in an awakened way, gathered wisely into  your 

          inner ground; that we may not waste the invitations         which 

          wait along the way to transform us.

One:  May you travel safely, arrive refreshed, and live your time to its         fullest.  Return home to your God more enriched, and free to     balance the gift of days which call you.

All:    Allelujah and Amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The liturgy for today’s communion service was compiled by Alydia Smith, United Church of Canada, for the Whole People of God)