Epiphany 2, Jan 11, 2026 Hybrid Service

HYBRID WORSHIP

Minister: Rev. Suzanna Bates

Music: Frances Armstrong & Pat Armstrong

We acknowledge that 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 of response are in bold & italics

Gathering

Acknowledgement of the Land

Lighting of Candle

We are here. God is here.

This space is holy ground.

Call to Worship

There are some days when I need the reminder that I belong to God.

Do you ever feel that way?

Yes. We do.

The world can be a harsh place;

we often need that reminder.

Well then, let us care for one another.

Let us speak the truth we each need to hear.

Church, you belong to God. You are God’s beloved.

Friend, you belong to God. You are God’s beloved.

Let us worship the God who knows our names.

Let us worship the God who calls us beloved. Amen.

Psalm 29: Ascribe to God, You Powers of Heaven              (VU #756)

Prayers for Renewal

Loving God, from the very beginning, you breathed life into us

and called us good.

However, somewhere along the way we replaced “good” with “not enough.” Somewhere along the way we turned the volume up on that phrase and began to doubt our own self-worth.

Forgive us, for this is not what you have taught us.

For when the world tells us we are not enough, you call us beloved. Show us how to return to that truth.

Show us how to let go of our weariness and rest in that good news. Amen.

Words of Promise

People of faith, God’s grace and understanding is deeper and wider than we could possibly imagine. So, say these words of grace with me:

Our story begins with belovedness.

Even when we lose our way, even if we stumble and fall,

God never stops breaking through the clouds to claim us.

We are known. We are forgiven. We are beloved.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

We Affirm Our Faith

I believe that the God I see in scripture is a God of love.

I believe that God created me and delights in that creation.

I believe the Psalmist who says, “I am fearfully

and wonderfully made.”

I believe that, just as God called Jesus “beloved,”

God extends this same term of endearment to us.

I believe that no matter our earthly challenges,

nothing could strip me of that sacred title.

I could fail every test, miss every goal, drop every ball,

and I would still be God’s beloved.

Therefore, I cling to this promise like a rock in the storm.

I anchor myself with this good news,

allowing the anxiety of the day to roll over me as best I can, because I know where I belong.

I am a child of God. I am beloved.

I strive to live this way.

Amen. Thanks be to God.

Hymn: I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry                        VU #644

Prayer Before the Reading of Scripture

Beloved God, through the pages of scripture, you have sprinkled your love for us like an echoed refrain. Despite its repeated truth, we too often allow that good news to roll off of us like water, barely allowing it to touch us. Make today different.

As we read your Word aloud, let the truth of your love for creation

seep into our bones.

May we hear your echoes of “beloved” deep within us and respond

with overflowing joy. We are here. We are listening. Amen.

Scripture: Isaiah 42:1–9 (NRSV Updated Edition)           Reader: Paddy Waymark

God’s servant brings justice.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.

This is the Word of God

We give thanks for this word today.

Gospel Reading                                                      Reader: Paddy Waymark

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 Matthew.

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

Matthew 3:13–17 (NRSV Updated Edition)

Jesus is baptized.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

This is the Gospel of Christ.

We give thanks for Good News today!

Word: Trust your Belovedness

The Bravest Thing We Can Do              by Rev. Sarah Speed, A Sanctified Art

Trust your belovedness.

Let it be a protest, an act of resistance,

a song of celebration.

Trust your belovedness in a world that is rarely satisfied.

Wear it like a badge of honor.

Speak it as confidently as your last name.

Tattoo it to your heart.

When outside forces chip away at your sense of self,

when life asks you to hand over the keys,

remember the water.

Remember creation.

Remember how it was good, so very good.

Let that truth hum through your veins.

Sing it so loud

that it drowns out the weariness of the world,

for the bravest thing we can ever do

is trust that we belong here.

Hymn of Response: I Am a Child of God                                MV #157

Life & Work of the Church

Prayers of the People                                                              Tim Leadem

We pray to the Spirit,

            Hear our Prayers.

The Lord’s Prayer

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.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

Offering

Prayer of Dedication

Surprising and sustaining God,

send your Spirit upon the work of our hands and the hopes

of all our hearts that these gifts and even our very lives might tangibly proclaim your peace and persistently share your love. Amen. 

Hymn: Crashing Waters at Creation (Tune: Stuttgart)                  VU #449

Holy Communion

Invitation

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

Arise and Shine! God’s love is here!

May God be with you

And also with you.

Lift your hearts.

We lift them up to God.

Let us give thanks to the God we love.

We joyfully give God thanks and praise.

In time beyond our dreaming, you brought forth life out of darkness.

Your Spirit moved over the water in the beginning.

Through the Sea you led the children of Israel to freedom and promise.

When Jesus was baptised in Jordan the Spirit came upon your Beloved, in whom you delight.

And so, we join with faithful people of every time and place and with the whole creation in the eternal hymn:

Holy, holy, holy are you.

Holy, holy, blessed are you.

Your praise rises in us like the great river. 

You told us that when we pass through the waters, you will be with us. You told us that you love us so much, because we are precious in your sight, you will redeem us. You saved our biblical ancestors and us through water, but the story never ends there. You continue to nourish us through the fullness of time, sending Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb.

When he grew up, your Spirit descended on him like a dove, proclaiming his belovedness as he emerged from the water.

He began his ministry preaching new life because the time of redemption had come. He healed the sick, fed the hungry,

and ate with sinners.

On his last night with us, Jesus sat at a table and fed his disciples as he feeds us now. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it with us, saying “This is my body, which is given for you.”

When supper was over he took the cup, blessed it, and shared it with us, saying, “Take, and drink. As often as you do this, remember me.”

The cup reminds us of the new covenant, a covenant by water and the Spirit in which God reminds us again of our belovedness and calls us to new life.

And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen;

Christ will come again.

God of transformation and renewal, you touch all that is before you with light and we are never the same.

Creator and bringer of light, -

Light to the nations
Light into our hearts
Light on our Way.

May these ordinary gifts of bread and cup contain signs and stories of the extraordinary presence of Christ with us.

In so doing, embrace us as your own and renew us as your people.
For the sake of the world you love. Amen.

Breaking of the Bread

The bread we break is for the life of the world.

The cup we share is poured out for all.

Sharing of the Bread and Cup

Prayer after Communion

With deep gratitude for this meal, this place, these people,

we are renewed in our service for you O God,

in the sharing of your gracious light to all the world. Amen.

Closing Words

Hymn: Called by Earth and Sky                                               MV #135

Blessing & Sending

People of faith, as you leave this place, you go into a weary world,

so, speak tenderly.

Do the good that is yours to do. Choose connection. Hold onto hope. And remember that God took on flesh for you.

You are God’s beloved. So go rejoicing. The world needs it.

Amen.

Peace and light be with you.

And also with you.

 

Postlude

 

______________________