Lighting the Christ Candle

The light of Christ has come among us!

Entry of Bible

Announcements

• Today's Loonie offering is going to help pay for the cost of flights for the new immigrant family. For more information see the "Recent Posts" column to the right of this page.
• We hope you all had a Happy Canada Day and celebrated this country in which we live, recognizing we have much to be thankful for.
• Thank you to Don and Chuck for all you do keeping the church yard looking cared for and maintained.
• The HOPE garden continues to grow and produce; some 60 plus pounds of potatoes were harvested and given to the Second Harvest Food Bank. Thank you Don and Maye for your labours of love in the garden.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Blessed be the nation whose God is the Lord.

Happy are the people who serve the God of Jacob.

The Lord God has promised to be with and watch over all

those who trust in and obey him.

The Mighty One of Israel is our God. 

We worship and obey him. 

We remember his law.

We gather to thank him for all his mercies,

and to pray for his blessings to be upon us

and those who rule over us.

We worship God, who has dominion over our land.

We praise and we thank the Lord our Maker. 

We call upon his name and ask for his peace.

 

HYMN:  ATBS 5 Shout to the Lord (click the blue text for YouTube music, sorry there may be advertising)

 

PRAYER OF INVOCATION

We come out of the routines of our lives,  seeking your grace
longing for the warmth of your presence, the glow of enthusiastic worship.

 

This day we celebrate our heritage as Canadians, but more importantly we celebrate our heritage as your children.

So today we your children ask:

Come into the routine of our church, O God, into the familiar nature of our relationships.  Bring the joy of good friends, the assurance that there are those on whom we can rely, because you have given them to us, to share our journey.

O God, we rejoice that Jesus the Way goes ahead of us, He who is the pattern of our faith community, the direction of our future.

Today as we worship, may we honour you as the Lord of our land and the Lord of our lives.  And so we ask that you hear our confession, that we may be cleansed by you and honour you with our whole hearts….Together we pray:

 

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION

O God, so often we take you for granted. We take for granted that you will answer our prayers, that you will heal us and make us whole.

We take for granted that you love us. Forgive us for not appreciating your grace and presence in our lives.

Help us to be more thankful. Give us faith to see you in everything and everyone around us, so that we may be truly grateful.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

In this place we find God's word, God's way, God's love, God's forgiveness.

What more do we need to sustain us as we continue as pilgrims along the Way?
In every wilderness, on every road; in every moment, in every life;
in every journey, in every heart, we receive the daily bread we need—

God’s hope, God's mercy, God's joy.

Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.

 

PASSING THE PEACE

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Please share a physically distanced sign of peace

Hymn:   800 O Canada

 

Litany of thanksgiving for Canada

For the gift of the Pacific Ocean, its salmon, orcas, and seals

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of the Yukon Territory,

Land of the Midnight Sun with all its riches:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For gift of the Northwest Territories,

the MacKenzie, the Nahanni, Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Nunavut’s Arctic islands,

polar bears, narwhals, colourful tundra and boreal forests:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of British Columbia’s majestic mountains

and towering firs:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Alberta’s grain and oil,

for the Athabasca, Peace and Saskatchewan rivers:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Saskatchewan’s rivers, lakes,

open prairies and sweeping sky:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Manitoba’s lakes and forests,

from its southern border to Hudson’s Bay:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For gift of Ontario’s Great Lakes, waterways,

lush farmlands and forests:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Quebec’s St. Lawrence lowlands,

the Gaspé and Canadian Shield to Hudson’s Bay:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of New Brunswick,

from Fundy’s tides and its forested heart, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Valley,

Cape Breton Highlands and Lobster fisheries:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Prince Edward Island,

its Cavendish dunes, fertile fields and peaceful breeze.

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of Newfoundland and Labrador,

its rocky forests, whales, icebergs, fisheries, and fjords:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of the Atlantic Ocean

and its riches that supply us with food:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

For the gift of the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay,

Hudson and James Bay and their bounty of marine life:

We praise You and thank You, O God!

Blessed are you, O God, for the wonderful gifts

you bestow on us across this beautiful land!

We praise You and thank You, O God! 

May you have dominion from sea, to sea, to sea, from the rivers to the ends of the and may your blessing fall upon our land.

(adapted from family life resource office)

Prayer for Canada

Our God, we pray on this occasion
remembering, in particular, our country.

We give you thanks for the good dreaming
that envisioned a land of freedom and opportunity—
a land in which to grow respect for all its citizens.
We give you thanks for all who sacrificed in so many ways
to create and to sustain such dreaming.  May we grow more faithful in our dreaming and in our community lives together.

We give you thanks for the many ways
in which that dream has been,
and continues to be
embraced and made manifest—
as a better tomorrow is shaped for all—
all within these borders and all without them too.
Instruct us in making this land a better land, a land filled with your love.

We thank you for the call to let freedom shine, to let celebration of the dignity of all resound.

Guide us to live like Jesus lived, with love and respect for all, a love that shines it’s light on your grace and goodness.

But we also confess to you the many ways in which we fall short

of our best dreaming—fall into immaturity, and selfishness—
into shortsightedness—into too much of a focus on immediate benefits for some and a lesser tomorrow for all.

We confess to binding the dream we apparently sometimes want to claim in word only—not in words made flesh.

Re-instill in us the dreaming, God. Guide us into the disciplines of love and grace that cultivate those ideals of discipline and sacrifice—
of a commitment to all of our nation’s children and our children's children
that theirs should be a better land than ours is now—with more mature leaders and citizens than we are—with greater opportunities than we have known—with even deeper respect for all its citizens—a more far reaching vision—with richer examples of freedom and bravery because that's the way we dream it to be.

In your mercy God, may it be so.
Amen

 

HYMN  33 ATBS  Be glorified

 

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Psalm 72

¹ Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
² May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.

³ May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
⁴ May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.

• 
  ⁵ May he endure^[a]as long as the sun,
  as long as the moon, through all generations.
  ⁶ May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
  like showers watering the earth.
  ⁷ In his days may the righteous flourish
  and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

⁸ May he rule from sea to sea and from the rivers to the end of the earth.

Zechariah 9:  9-12

 

SERMON:  And He shall have dominion (Click the title to view the sermon)

There is a little known tradition that happens on the first Sunday of Epiphany which involves chalking the doors.  The doors of the church or home are marked with the first letters of the names of each of the magi as a symbol of the prayer:  “May Christ bless this house.”

Those who practice this chalking remind us that, marking our doors is a visible sign of our desire to make our homes places of welcome and sanctuary and a sign of our faith that God is present with us, at home and wherever we go.

There is a practice among the people of Israel of taking the words of the prayer known as the shema and of the  Commandments to love God and neighbour and  writing them on their doors and foreheads and hands as a reminder that God is always with them.

We read of this practice in in Deuteronomy:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut 6)

On the lintels of the window of the Peace Tower in Ottawa we find these words:   ^“And he shall have dominion from sea to sea”.   

For some who work in Parliament these have been profound words, and a reminder that what they do as public servants and elected MPs is indeed a way of honouring God and giving unto him the care and governance of our country.

Over the years there have been some who don’t acknowledge God and therefore called for those words to be removed.   There have been others who said that the founders were corrupt and that this spoiled or perverted the message or prayer of the words.  And there have been others like Doug an elected member from  the riding of Red Deer and an elder at St. Andrew’s Innisfail, who remembered those words whenever he walked into the building and remembered his calling to serve God in Parliament and to ensure that God’s blessing would continue to rest upon this land.

I believe that God’s blessing does rest upon this land, in our own Canadian way acknowledging that we are bordered by water on all sides, we say that God has dominion from sea to sea, to sea.

I don’t know about you, but these past few months I have thanked God more often that I live in Canada than in perhaps my whole life.

The depth of gratitude that I have that we have been mostly governed with wisdom and guidance from medical officers to provincial and federal ministers of health has been immense.  When I look at the safeguard measures put in place by our government for the poor, the homeless, the students and the unemployed I see that they have done much to help us bridge the gap financially these past few months.

Has it been perfect?  NO,    Mistakes were made.  People and policies were overlooked.  The divisions and inequalities of our country have certainly been exposed.  We will be many years paying off the deficit of the financial aid given.  But as we look around at other nations, we do indeed breathe a prayer of gratitude that we live in a land where God still has dominion from sea to sea to sea, and that in this time, our officials have worked for the physical health and financial security and justice of our population, even as imperfect as their work has been.

That doesn’t mean that we haven’t known dark days or moments.  At those times I have been appreciative of the work of Hezekiah Walker and especially his song, “The Power belongs to God” which has been a reminder that God is indeed in charge.

Every time we have prayed, God’s power has been released.

Every time we have praised, God’s power has been released.

When we prayed and praised, God’s justice has been done.
When we prayed and praised, God’s peace has come among us.
When we prayed and praised, God’s blessing has fallen on us.

I am also reminded that we are called to be more than grateful.  There is an old Jewish prayer, “I thank you that I was not born a woman”.

But there is more to what we are called to do and to be than grateful for what we are not.

I am indeed grateful that I live in Canada and I recognize that my  citizenship gives me a privilege that is not available to all people, even sadly some people in Canada.

Yet our blessing comes from God’s dominion and that gives each of a responsibility to live our blessing for others.  First, there is so much to do to work for justice for all in our own country;  but that needs to be done hand in hand as we also work for justice for all in the whole world.

The prayer of gratitude, “I am grateful that I live in Canada” is only lived out when it becomes the starting point of us sharing our blessing with those around us.  The truth is that we are blessed in order to be a blessing.  To do less is to deny our blessing.

When we share our blessing, we are a part of showing the nation and our world that God has dominion from sea to sea.  When we share our blessing, we share it with all those who live between the seas, for they are all the ones on whom God’s blessing needs to fall.

We note in particular that the Psalm we read today begins with a prayer for justice, not just any justice; but God’s justice.  That blessing and justice is meant to be given to the king for the empowerment to rule justly.

Just rule is described as bringing prosperity to the people.

Prosperity comes as the king defends the cause of the poor and delivers the needy and those who are oppressed.

Justice comes through the rain which falls from heaven and nourishes the land.  In this way righteousness and peace abound.

In the portion of the Psalm that we did not read today the justice that is a part of God’s rule continues to be described.   Justice delivers the needy, the poor and those who have no help.  The just king takes pity on the weak and removes from them oppression and violence and redeems their life.  Why?  Because they are precious to him.

Precious to him.

When we live in a land where God has dominion from sea to sea then we look up and see that we are precious to God.  More than that we see that everyone who is created in the image of God is precious to God.

This psalm speaks of the grand, wide favour of God’s power and blessing to all of the nations.

This is a promise that began with Abraham, and is extended to all families and all nations through Jesus.  Zechariah reminds us that God’s mercy extends beyond national boundaries; but more importantly that it is given to us by a humble king riding victoriously on a donkey.  This humble victorious king is the mission of God, ensuring the salvation of all, the righteousness of all, justice for all and peace for all.

And he shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the rivers to the end of the earth.

 

There are those who object to God having dominion because they equate it with domineering.

The truth is that God has no desire to dominate us, but rather to lift us up.

God’s desire is to fill us up and to make us strong.

God wants us to be healed, whole and restored.

God’s desire is to fill us with his love so that the only response we have is love for him in return.

God does not want us to be submissive in fear.

God wants us to be responsive in joy.

How does God want to have dominion from sea to sea?

By setting us free from the waterless pit, returning us to our stronghold of hope and by giving us a double portion.

Do you recall the parable of the talents?  The faithful servants kept their initial blessing and the extra blessing.  When the judgement was done, they had received a double portion of blessing.

We start by giving him our love and that means that we give him dominion over our hearts.  Loved by God, loving God in return, giving him our hearts is the way to our blessing, even a double portion.

And then?

Then we remember the words of Jesus, if you have two cloaks give one away.

Blessed to be a blessing--a sign of God’s dominion.

May it be seen in us.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

HYMN:  376 Lord the light of your love is shining

 

OFFERING

Today we remember the gift of Jesus Christ given to us.
For ways in which to bring your offering into the storehouse check the front page of the website.  Thank you.

Let us now pray for the offering received 

OFFERTORY PRAYER

God of great gifts:
This morning we give you praise,
we give you glory,
we give you thanks!
With resurrection humming in our hearts,
our minds are tuned to your song of peace!
We joyfully present these gifts to you,
a tangible chorus of thanksgiving,
a harmony of hope for your kingdom come!

With your love singing in our spirits we
Amen.

 

GATHERING PRAYER REQUESTS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

God Father, Son, Spirit we ask that in our prayers and in the ordinary affairs of each day, we may exhibit your generous spirit to other people.

So today we thank you for your generous Spirit, which provides for us in the midst of our daily lives, when we remember you and when we get distracted from our daily conversations with you.  Your provisions have been seen in the gorgeous land we call our home, and the wise and caring guidance of our leaders as we have navigated our response to the pandemic.  We have truly been blessed by the guidance given, and the willing response of the people of our nation to work together.

Yet we also see the struggles of our leaders to respond, with not enough supplies, not enough workers and not enough resources.  Those struggles are multiplied by the frustration and huge expectations of we who are impatient people.

Today we pray especially for those who have been restoring the highways after the disasters of slides and flooding.  Bless those who worked long hours and even longer days to restore the highways, respond to the flooding and find ways to heal the land.

We recognize our blessing, and we pray that you will show us how to share that blessing with those in our own country and with those in all countries around the world.

We thank you for the blessings in our own congregation of creative and faithful people who have lifted our spirits during isolation and been a shining example of your blessing and providence.

We also pray today for those people and situations among us

Reny
Gwenyth
Bill and Dean as they undergo treatment

We pray for those in our own community and around the world who have need of your blessing today.

We pray for the millions of homeless people

whom we will never meet but whose predicament we see on the TV.

Please bless those humanitarian agencies who attempt to care for them,

and all who give generously to support their work.

We pray for PWS&D and the partners around the world who assist them in bringing much needed aid.

We pray for Rob Shropshire and the team in our Refugee Office.  We ask that you bless them in the work they do to bring people out of the captivity of refugee camps and oppressive governments and invading armies, and into a new home here in Canada.

We also pray for all other refugee support agencies and thank you for the group in Salmon Arm who are working to bring a family here.  We ask that you would open the doors of international cooperation so that our newest family may be able to come soon.

 

We pray for unwanted or destitute people in our own country, from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and the Arctic Sea to the Great Lake waters, from prosperous cities to poverty stricken reserves, these are all the people with whom we share citizenship.  May your blessing of justice and peace fall upon us all..  And we repeat again our plea that you would send to us those whom no one wants or loves, and that you would send us to those whom no one loves or wants.

Please give both wisdom and a generous spirit to National and Provincial governments and strengthen the welfare generous and loving ministry of the churches throughout our nation.  Show us where our ministries have made a difference and where there are still differences that we can make. 

We pray for any among us here today, who with dignity and courage

are secretly enduring misfortunes or ongoing worries.

Please give your peace and healing to them, and keep us sensitive,

that we may recognise a cry for help if it comes our way

and respond generously.

 

We pray for neighbours or workmates, and for those familiar but nameless faces we notice each day in lines at the bank or supermarket.

Please bless each according to their need, and make us ready to help in the hour of need.

We pray for all the bewildered, lost souls;  from those who do not know you, to those who fight for justice among all people.  We pray for the elderly whose long sojourn of loneliness may soon be over.  May the advent of visits from families be realized soon.

We remember especially Hennie and Janet’s stepmother, the residents at Mount Ida Mews whom we have not been able to worship with these past months. 

Again O God, we thank you for this goodly land that you have given us, and we pray for all who govern in it that they may lead us in justice and guide us in all the works of justice and peace that will bring hope to all

We pray for the institutions that we cherish and think this day especially of the RCMP  They struggle now under a microscope that focuses on the unjust actions of some, but we have not forgotten that the RCMP work hand in hand with all other aid givers in our communities to provide safety, justice and guidance.  We know that we can turn to them in our need and we pray that the light will shine again on how we benefit from the faithful dedication that they bring to their daily tasks.

We recognize that in these days of heightened awareness of injustice done by some, we cannot cast stones, O Lord, for we know that as your church we have not always lived up to everything that you have asked us to be.  So today we ask you to bless the members of the RCMP and guide them in their work, that justice may be done, safety restored, and security for all ensured.  May they know that we appreciate what they do, and that we thank them.

We ask these things in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever.

Amen!

 

LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN ATBS 8 Majesty

 

BLESSING AND BENEDICTION

Benediction Song  Go now in peace