Hybrid Worship May 5, 2024 6th Sunday of Easter

Rev. Suzanna Bates

Music Director: 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!

Words for Worship

Words in bold italics, please say together

Prelude: CCG Bell Ringers

  Pomp and Circumstance                          Edward Elgar arr. Frances L. Callahan

  Trumpet Voluntary                             Jeremiah Clarke arr. Martha Lynn Thompson

Gathering

Call to Worship

Grace and peace to you from the One who is,

who always was, and who is still to come -

the Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end.

This is our God - the One who loves us and who gives us life;

who gathers us together in this place and welcomes us.

Come, let us worship God together!

Opening Prayer

O Mystery of Love, we turn to you.

O beauty of Love, we worship you.
O Christ of Love, we thank you.

O Spirit of Love, we welcome you.
Dwell in our hearts.

Share with us your delight.
Make us channels of your love.

Make us radiant with your joy.
God of love, make us people of love. Amen.

CCG Bell Ringers

  Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee            Ludwig van Beethoven arr. R. Edgar Horton

  A Joyful Ring                                                                     Barbara B. Kinyon

Hymn: This Day God Gives Me                                                 VU #410

Acknowledgement of the Land

Lighting the Candles

We are here. God is here

This place is sacred ground.

Prayer For Reconciliation

How deeply you have loved us, O God, 

how willingly you stepped into our experience, 

how completely you empathised with all that we endure.

Teach us to love as you have loved us.

How sacrificially you have loved us, Jesus;

how completely you gave yourself for us,

how courageously you suffered for love.

Teach us to love as you have loved us.

How restoratively you have loved us, Spirit of Life,

how generously you share your life, 

how extravagantly you make yourself available to us.

Teach us to love as you have loved us.

We praise you for your love which is given so freely and so unconditionally. We thank you for believing

that we could learn to offer such love to each other. Amen.

Hymn: Let Us Build a House (vs. 1,3,4)                                       MV #1

Prayer Before the Reading of the Scripture

God of love, your Word is love. In the reading of your scripture and the proclaiming of your Word, may we hear your love in our hearts, and may it fill us, so that we are people of love, in your Spirit. Amen.

Scripture: 1 John 5:1-4 (NRSV)                                                       Reader: Tim Leadem

Obey Gods commandment to love 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

Gospel Reading                                                          Reader: Angela Nutter                                 

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

God be with you. 

And also with you 

The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to John. 

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

John 15:9–17 (The Message)

Love one another as I have loved you.

“I have loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. “But remember the root command: Love one another.

This is the Gospel of Christ.

We give thanks for Good News today!

Word: Live in Love

Hymn: Deep In Our Hearts                                                        MV #154

Life & Work of the Church

Blessing of Prayer Shawls

Prayer of Blessing

Bless you, loved one out there, whom we do not know.

Bless you, the one whose need for prayer will be embraced, 

your weary shoulders wrapped,

or chilly limbs lightly robed with this prayer shawl.

May your strength be restored; your humble prayers and ours whispered to holiness as you wait on healing,

the shawl’s fringes grazing the floor of your quiet room, 

yarn’s woven colour tempered to your liking; may it soothe.

God, hear the prayers prayed around these shawls:

First the swift knitters’ hands, as the stitches flew

and the shawl grew in hope, blessed assurance,

then carried to our gathering to be touched,

fondly held by our hands, pausing, praying. 

Bless you, loved one out there, 

whom God does tenderly knows.

Be blessed with kindness as you rest.

May this shawl and our prayers and love be your companions.

Amen.

Prayers of the People                                                         Paddy Waymark

Bountiful Spirit,

Hear our Prayers.

Offering

Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, we give you thanks for the gifts of life. 

We offer these gifts in return as a sign of our faithfulness, 

as a symbol of our hope in your transforming power and 

as a promise to serve only you. Amen.

Hymn: In Christ there is no East or West                                VU #606

Blessing

We have sung, we have prayed, 

we have worshiped together.

Now we go back home.

We came together to build relationships,

relationships with each other, 

and our relationship with Jesus.

We go out as people who are strengthened by our connections

Ready to love and to serve. 

Ready to carry God's love to the world.

As you journey through the ups and the downs of the coming week,

let us remember that God, who has invited us into relationship, 

is always with us.

Go with God, as the people of God.

So be it! Amen

Postlude: