Summer Worship at Commons, 11th Sunday after Pentecost, August 21, 2022

Summer Worship at Commons, 11th Sunday after Pentecost, August 21, 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!

Singing Introit: Peace Like a River                                                     VU #577

1 I've got peace like a river,

I've got peace like a river,

I've got peace like a river in-a my soul,

I've got peace like a river,

I've got peace like a river,

I've got peace like a river in-a my soul.

 

2 I've got joy like a fountain,

I've got joy like a fountain,

I've got joy like a fountain in-a my soul,

I've got joy like a fountain,

I've got joy like a fountain,

I've got joy like a fountain in-a my soul.

 

3 I've got love like an ocean,

I've got love like an ocean,

I've got love like an ocean in-a my soul,

I've got love like an ocean,

I've got love like an ocean,

I've got love like an ocean in-a my soul.

 

Welcome! 

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

 

Announcements

 

Centering & Stillness

 

Hymn: Morning Has Broken                                                                              VU #409

1 Morning has broken like the first morning,

blackbird has spoken like the first bird.

Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

 

2 Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,

like the first dewfall on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,

sprung in completeness where God’s feet pass.

 

3 Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning

born of the one light Eden saw play!

Praise with elation, praise every morning,

God’s recreation of the new day!

 

Call to Worship & Opening Prayer                           enfleshed, adapted

One:  We gather in the presence of the Beloved

All:    who does not forget or forsake us,

One:  who does not take a day off from offering life,

All:    but who breathes vibrance into the Cosmos and Love into our lives yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

One:  On this Sabbath day, O God, we bring to you our breath, our pleasure, our aches and pains, our delight, our fears, our innermost longings. Meet us in these living places within us, we pray, as we gather to worship you, the Living God, the Wellspring of Life, and Lavisher of Love. In Christ Jesus we pray, Amen.

Hymn: This is the Day                                                                                   VU #412

1 & 4 This is the day, this is the day 

that our God has made, that our God has made;

we will rejoice, we will rejoice, 

and be glad in it, and be glad in it.

This is the day that our God has made, 

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day, this is the day that our God has made.

 

2 Open to us, open to us your gates, O God, your gates O God;

we will go in, we will go in, to your holy place, to your holy place.

Open to us your gates, O God, we will go in to your holy place.

Open to us, open to us your gates, O God.

 

3 You are our God, you are our God, 

we will praise your name, we will praise your name;

we will give thanks, we will give thanks, 

for your faithfulness, for your faithfulness.

You are our God, we will praise your name, 

we will give thanks for your faithfulness.

You are our God, you are our God, we will praise your name.

 

Prayer of Confession                                                                                   Iona Community

One:  Dear friends in Christ, God is steadfast in love, infinite in mercy, and is inclusive of all. Let us bring our whole selves before God, confident in God’s grace.

All:    Before God, 

          with the people of God,          

          we confess to our brokenness: 

          to the ways we wound our lives, 

          the lives of others, 

          and the life of the world.

 

Silent prayer of confession

One:  May God forgive you, 

          Christ renew you and 

          the Spirit enable you to grow in love.   

All:    Amen

Passing of the Peace 

Let us rise in body or spirit in celebration of the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding!

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. 

Gospel Reading                                                                              Reader: Corinne Carlson

Reader: Our scripture reading this morning comes from the gospel of Luke. Listen for the word of God, ever ancient, ever new.

Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV) Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

All:          Praise be to Jesus Christ      

 

Reflection & Conversation    

Silent Reflection

 

Hymn: He's Got the Whole World    V. 1,2,4,5        African American Spiritual

1 He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the whole wide world in his hands.

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

 

2 He’s got the wind and the rain in his hands.

He’s got the wind and the rain in his hands.

He’s got the wind and the rain in his hands.

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

 

4 He’s got you and me sister in his hands.

He’s got you and me sister in his hands.

He’s got you and me sister in his hands.

He’s got the whole world in his hands

 

5 He’s got ev’rybody in his hands.

He’s got ev’rybody in his hands.

He’s got ev’rybody in his hands.

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

 

Prayers of the People                                                                                    Mona Smart

One:  God of Love and Wisdom,         

All:    Hear Our Prayers

 

Lord’s Prayer (sung)                                                                                                  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.

 

Offering 

Offering Prayer

Giver and Sustainer of Life, receive these gifts in the joy in which we bring them. Bless them that they may bring nourishment and comfort where they are needed. Amen.

 

The Great Thanksgiving                                                                          enfleshed, adapted

God is with us. I invite you to take a moment and close your eyes, draw your awareness to the presence of the divine in this space…and in each person Gathered here.

Draw your attention to your heart and imagine breathing in and out of your heart- opening it up to the divine with gratitude as we pray…

Loving one, close to us as breathing yet reaching into eternity, we give you thanks. Your outpouring of radical love has brought forth life among us. You have shown yourself to us as parent, creator, lover, and friend. In whatever image will bring us healing, you come to us.

Blessed are you, O God, and blessed is your child, Jesus Christ. He showed us the ways of justice and mercy, turning the norms of society upside down. He welcomed and empowered the outsider and stood in resistance to the powers of oppression. Like so many among us today, Christ’s choice to live his truth and challenge oppression put him at risk.

And yet, on the night in which death, hatred, and betrayal would seek to have the last and lasting word, Jesus remained centered in radical peace and showed us love embodied by washing the feet of his beloveds and serving them at your table.

At the table he took the bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread saying “take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 

Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks to you and said 

“drink from this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for all. As often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these, your acts of love in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves to your service. Pour out your holy spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and cup. Make them be for us the Body of Christ, that we might become interdependent with each other as Christ’s body, reflecting your diverse image in the world.

By your spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other and in each other’s struggles. 

Through your beloved Jesus Christ, 

with the love the Holy Spirit, in your church- 

all love and devotion are yours, O God. 

Amen

One:  These are the gifts of God for the people of God.

All:    Thanks be to God.

Please remain seated as Susan and Karen serve the congregation. Please indicate if you need gluten free. If you prefer not to receive you are welcome to cross your arms on your chest for a blessing.

Communion Hymn: I’ll Fly Away                                                     Albert Brumley

Some glad morning when this life is over, I'll fly away

To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away

I'll fly away, oh, Glory, I'll fly away

When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away

Just a few more weary days and then, I'll fly away

To a land where joy shall never end, I'll fly away

I'll fly away, oh, Glory, I'll fly away

When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away

Yeah, when I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away

Prayer After Communion                                                               enfleshed

God, by the bread of heaven and the cup of life, you make us one body. Bind us together by your spirit that we might live into your hopes for us, a community centered in Christ and rich in compassion, commitment, courage, and care. May it be so.

Hymn: Amazing Grace                                                                                       VU #266

1 Amazing grace, How sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

was blind, but now I see.

 

2 'Twas grace first taught my heart to fear

and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed!

 

3 Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

'tis grace that brought me safe thus far,

and grace will lead me home.

 

4 The Lord has promised good to me,

this word my hope secures;

God will my shield and portion be

as long as life endures.

 

5 When we've been there ten thousand years

bright shining as the sun,

we've no less days to sing God's praise

than when we'd first begun.

 

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: 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Photo: Behzad Ghaffarian on Unsplash