LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP:
Praise the God of life.
Let us praise God together.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love;
as far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our sins.
So let us rejoice in God’s gracious presence.
Let us praise the God of mercy together.

HYMN: #39 “God of mercy, God of grace”

PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION:
Creator God,
in you we live and move and have our being:
You have been with us through good times and difficult ones.
You give us strength to face the challenges around us.
You offer us rest for our bodies and souls when life seems too demanding.
We turn to you for wisdom this day, trusting we will find the peace and comfort we
long for in your presence.
We praise you for all you offer us in your great faithfulness.
Fill us with your Spirit in this time of worship.
Open our minds and hearts, so that we may see as you see, love as you love,
and follow your ways for the sake of Christ our Lord.
In recalling all that you are and all that you have done, we remember who we are
and what we have done and we confess to you our sins:
Ever present God,
you know our inmost thoughts and see our thoughtlessness.
We confess our impulsive actions and reactions
when we spoke before we thought, acted rashly and hurt others.
We confess our stubborn attitudes and ask forgiveness for refusing to
show mercy to others or to forgive.
Merciful God, our lives do not always reflect your transforming power.
You are gracious, but we cling to judgment.

You are kind, but we can be cruel.
You are forgiving, but we nurse grudges and old wounds.
Forgive us, O God.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit,
and make us new through Christ, your Son and our Saviour.
In your kindness, O God, forgive who we have been, amend who we are,
and direct who we shall be through the grace of Christ, our Lord.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON:
Remember that God is slow to be angry and quick to forgive; kind and gracious
to all. Know that your sins are forgiven through the grace of Jesus Christ, and
forgive those who have sinned against you, as Christ teaches us.
PASSING OF THE PEACE:
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

Hymn #689 “Simply trusting every day”

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING

God of wisdom, your thoughts are not our thoughts, your ways are not our ways.
As we listen to the Scriptures, send your Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of
what you desire and fresh resolve to do your will in Jesus’ name. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READINGS:

Exodus 3:1-5
Psalm 103:1-13
Romans 8: 12-25

THE SERMON - In God we trust – Janet Hanna
The currency of the United States is printed with the words “In God we trust.”
This phrase beautifully sums up Paul’s point in the passage we read from
Romans. He says that even though we may suffer adversity in this life we can

have faith in the promise of future glory. “I CONSIDER THAT OUR PRESENT
SUFFERINGS ARE NOT WORTH COMPARING WITH THE GLORY THAT
WILL BE REVEALED IN US, …NOT ONLY SO, BUT WE OURSELVES…
GROAN INWARDLY AS WE WAIT EAGERLY FOR OUR ADOPTION AS
SONS, THE REDEMPTIUON OF OUR BODIES. FOR IN THIS HOPE WE
WERE SAVED.”

One of our commentaries at home expands on Paul’s thought this way, “The
sufferings of the saints last no longer than the present time, light affliction, and
but for a moment. Paul looks at the issue as weighed on a scale and finds our
sufferings to be light. Like tekel, meaning weighed in the balances and found
small. On the other side of the scale Paul puts the glory and finds that to be an
exceeding and eternal weight. In our present state we come short, not only in
the enjoyment, but in the knowledge of that glory: yet it shall be revealed. It
surpasses all that we have seen and known. There is something to come,
something behind the curtain, that will outshine all - not only revealed to us but
revealed in us - to be enjoyed. Paul concludes that the sufferings are not worthy
to be compared to the glory. They cannot merit that glory; and if suffering for
Christ will not merit, much less will doing. The sufferings are small and short and
concern the body only; but the glory is rich and great and concerns the soul and
is eternal.” Unquote.

I find that perspective very encouraging. How about you? Perhaps if we could
more often consciously look at our troubles in the light of our eternal home with
God, the difficult times we face may not appear so overwhelming. In the light of
eternal glory, what, really is 80 or 90 years of living on earth with all its periods of
sorrow, pain and heartache? In the whole eternal scheme of things – in God’s

scheme of things – our entire lives pass in the blink of an eye. Maybe we should
work a little harder to view ourselves in that light. Maybe we wouldn’t get so
bogged down with our own misery or desires if we realized how fleeting the
troubles we encounter really are. Perhaps just such a long-range view will help
us to cope with the year-long days that some of us face from time to time, or
perhaps we can garner a little more patience to deal with the pain some of us
suffer day, after day, after day.

Paul said that even the earth itself and the animals of creation are longing
anxiously for the day of God’s final redemption. So, then, how much more should
we long for those days, not just as an end to the trials of living, not as a cessation
of world strife or personal adversity, but as a desire for God’s eternal glory to be
revealed. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “FOR OUR LIGHT AND MOMENTARY
TROUBLES ARE ACHIEVING FOR US OUR ETERNAL GLORY THAT FAR
OUTWEIGHS THEM ALL. SO, WE FIX OUR EYES NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN,
BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN. FOR WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY, BUT
WHAT IS UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.”

The 17 th century commentator Matthew Henry said, “Our happiness is not in
present possession. We are saved by hope. Our reward is out of sight. Those
that will deal with God must deal upon trust. Faith respects the promise, hope
the things promised. Faith is the evidence, hope the expectation of things not
seen. Faith is the mother of hope.”

In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians 5 it says, “NOW WE KNOW THAT IF THE
EARTHLY TENT WE LIVE IN IS DESTROYED, WE HAVE A BUILDING FROM
GOD, AN ETERNAL HOUSE IN HEAVEN, NOT BUILT BY HUMAN HANDS.

MEANWHILE WE GROAN, LONGING TO BE CLOTHED WITH OUR
HEAVENLY DWELLING…NOW IT IS GOD WHO HAS MADE US FOR THIS
VERY PURPOSE AND HAS GIVEN US THE SPIRIT AS A DEPOSIT,
GUARANTEEING WHAT IS TO COME… WE LIVE BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT.”

H.G. Wells once said, “Man, who began in a cave behind a windbreak, will end in
the disease-soaked ruins of a slum.” Quite a bleak, depressing outlook on life,
isn’t it? And yet, many people in our world have no more to hope for than that.
They live their lives however they wish, or as best they can, with no thought for
tomorrow or the end days. Or if indeed they think of their own end, they just feel
that it will end. Period. Nothing more. Life is often a drudgery. For millions it is a
constant quest merely for survival. They see no future relief from the misery of
their days, nothing very good has befallen them yet and they don’t expect
anything good will ever come their way. Even many people that lead what we
consider to be an ordinary life give no thought to the idea that there is anything
after death.

But Paul had Jesus! Paul knew there was more to life than living and dying. To
him life was not a weary, defeated waiting. It was a throbbing, vivid expectation.
Every Christian, like Paul, is involved in the human situation – we must battle our
own sinful nature within and must live in a world groaning in bondage to decay
and death. Nonetheless, we do not live only in the world; we also live in Christ.
We do not see only the world; we look beyond it to God. We do not see only the
consequences of our sin; we see the power of God’s mercy and love. Therefore,
the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair. The Christian
waits, not for death, but for life!

In Exodus 3 we read of God’s call to Moses from the burning bush. By calling
Himself the God of Abraham, who by then was long dead, God lets Moses know
that Abraham’s soul lives. God testifies to this. “I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM,
AND ISAAC AND JACOB. Not I was their God, but I AM. God lets Moses know
that He has not forgotten His covenant with Abraham. He has come down to free
His people. To bring them out of slavery in Egypt and into the promised land as
He said He would all those generations ago. And so, too, in the same way,
Jesus came down from heaven to earth to deliver us. To free us from slavery –
the bondage of sin – and lead us into a promised land – the place reserved for us
in the eternal glorious kingdom of God.

And in Psalm 103 we heard about how long and lasting God’s mercy is to His
people. It will continue forever. Longer than their lives, in the here and now, and
it will sustain them in whatever their situation happens to be. To know God’s
blessing in our lives we need to know God’s Word. The mercy God promises his
people will last longer than we live on this earth, therefore we need not be
troubled though our lives be short, since even death itself will in no way infringe
upon or interfere with His mercy. His grace is better than life for it will outlive it.

There is a party game that is often used as a counselling exercise that
characterizes very simply the Christian’s waiting role. It is called the Blind Walk.
One person is blindfolded and then is lead by another person through a series of
obstacles. As they walk along, it is necessary for the blindfolded person to put
complete trust in his or her leader. If they say turn left, you must believe it is safe
to go that way. If they say go up three steps, you need to believe there are not
four steps in front of you. If someone cries “Look out! Jump!” the ‘blind’ person
must trust them enough to jump out of the way of a danger they cannot see. For

the visually impaired this exercise is their everyday reality. They must trust those
around them to honestly help them get places safely. How difficult that depth of
faith must be to learn.

And, sadly, there are many couples who have been together for years who would
be unable to play that game successfully. They have never learned to trust that
their partner has only their best interest at heart. Some of us would want to see
for ourselves that what we are being told to do is indeed going to lead us down
the right path. We want tangible assurance. We want to SEE for ourselves in
order to trust.

As you all know, for many years John owned and rode a motorcycle. He loved
his bike and would take off on long rides with my niece’s husband a couple of
times a year, going 800 or 1000 km in a weekend. When he got his first bike back
in 1989 I would quite often ride with him. I learned quite quickly though, that I am
not a good motorcycle passenger. The driver has control of everything. The
speed, direction, braking, how a corner is navigated. Everything. They have
handlebars to hang onto and an accelerator and brakes to make the bike go,
stop, or turn. The passenger has absolutely no control of anything. All you have
is the guy in front of you to hang onto and maybe a small strap on the seat
between you. And if you are in any kind of accident, where will you go? You will
be airborne very quickly. Now, I don’t dislike motorcycles, and I actually enjoyed
the experience of riding one, but I didn’t enjoy being a passenger. I knew John
had taken professional driving lessons. I knew he knew what he was doing as
we went down the road. I trusted him to know how to handle the bike safely. But
I never trusted the other vehicles. And my heart often leapt into my throat when
he would drop the bike over to round a curve. My stomach clenched when I saw

fast approaching traffic or when we were on a busy street with lots of different
vehicles on all sides. I had no control over my own destiny in those moments.
And I freely admit I don’t like the feeling of being out of control. I said many times
that if we were going to go riding regularly, I needed to get my own bike. I
preferred to have my motorcycle rides in my own hands. Maybe I would fail the
Blind Walk too.
With our innate desire to control our lives and our longing for assurances, how
much more difficult then for some of us to believe that what God says about our
future blessing is true? That promise seems so far away and so obscure
somehow. How can we trust to such a distant hope? Can we really live today in
anticipation of tomorrow’s glory?

Christians throughout the ages have done it. Especially during times of
persecution and severe situations, like wars, droughts, famines and other
disasters. Paul and the other apostles and early Christians certainly lived daily
with the hope of spending eternity with Jeus.

Maybe we should look at the idea with a shorter time frame using the oft
compared analogy of the farmer. In various years how many hundreds of
farmers in the American Midwest have looked over thousands of acres of flooded
land? Or how many prairie farmers watched their wheat and grain crops dry to
tinder during a hot summer? In 1994 the local orchard crop was totally
decimated in a 5-minute hailstorm. My dad and his brothers had many years
with 50-75% splits in their cherries due to a heavy rain just as they were ready to
be picked. How many of these folks do you suppose salvaged what they could
from the crops and then sold off the farm and got into another line of work? And
how many do you think suffered their loses, got what they could from whatever

insurance they may have had and replanted or prepared the trees for next
season? Surely there would be a few that wouldn’t be able to recover from such
extensive damage – that happened in Salmon Arm over the winter of 1949-1950
when a January deep freeze destroyed the majority of the orchard trees in the
area. But by far the majority of farmers will be back at it again next year. Why?
Because a farmer lives in hope. And farmers are born. I truly believe you can’t
‘become’ a farmer like you can become an accountant or a doctor or a mechanic.
You are either a farmer or you are not. It is in the blood and the bone. A longing
for the land that runs deep into the soul. And the soul of a farmer always believes
in the hope of a better crop or a better herd, or a better price next year.

Now if an earthly farmer can cling to the hope of a better tomorrow with no
certainty and no power to control so many factors and situations that may
happen over the course of a year, why then can we not anticipate our future glory
with God when He has promised in His Word that he has prepared a place for
us? Sure, eternity is a long time – a seemingly distant time. But in reality
eternity is tomorrow. Eternity is this afternoon. Eternity is the next minute after
this one. There is no way we can control our future past the moment in which we
are living. Our lives could be snuffed out in a heartbeat. Today. Tomorrow. Next
year. In twenty years. We don’t know when. We can’t stop it or change it. But
what we can do – what we can change – is our approach to the next days and
years of our lives. When we opened our hearts to the forgiving grace of Jesus
Christ we began eternity. Because we have the Lord in our lives we live in a pale
reflection of our future glory right now. And perhaps if we lived as if each day
were our last physically living day, as if each day brings us closer to our Heavenly
Father’s presence, would we not live as better people? As better servants of
God? As better Christians?

The desire of the Christian is to be like Christ. Christ lived each day fully for God,
anticipating His return home to be with his Father again. Our lives should follow
the same path. God has revealed a taste of eternity in the peace and joy we
receive from the love of Jesus and the presence of His Spirit in our lives. History
has proven that God has always fulfilled his promises. He cannot lie. In God we
CAN trust.

If we could make everything neat and undemanding and perfect in our lives, why
would we need a saviour? Why would Jesus have had to die for our redemption?
And if God swept us all up to be with Him in heaven as soon as we became
Christians, what opportunity would we have to grow to know Him and love Him
more? Who would share the gospel with the doubting? Who would provide sight
for those blind to sin and rest to those weary and despairing? God wants his
people to be His servants on earth. And He wants them to walk in faith. Paul
said, “HOPE THAT IS SEEN IS NO HOPE AT ALL. WHO HOPES FOR WHAT
HE ALREADY HAS? BUT IF WE HOPE FOR WHAT WE DO NOT YET HAVE,
WE WAIT FOR IT PATIENTLY.” We need to live each day in hope. Hope for the
day of our spiritual completion. Hope in the promises of God. Hope for a better
tomorrow. Hope for the coming of Jesus. We can hope because God is
trustworthy. The darkest of nights on this earth are nothing, the blink of an eye,
to the one whose hope is in the Lord. In God we trust. We will be brought into
glorious freedom as the children of God. Let us live in this hope and praise Him
for His faithfulness.
Amen.

HYMN: #677 “My faith looks up to Thee”

Invitation to the Offering & Doxology

We give gifts to express our love to one other and to say thanks for a kindness
someone has shown. So, we give our gifts to God to show our love and gratitude
for God’s gifts to us, in Christ and in creation. From generation to generation,
God calls us to share God’s redeeming love in the world. Let us offer God our
gifts this day as tokens of that love, needed so much in our generation.
Prayer of Dedication
We give thanks to you, O God, because you have blessed us with so much. Yet
we know that others have too little. Bless our gifts so they touch lives in need and
become roots of justice in the world, for the sake of Jesus Christ, who sends us
out in love. Gift-giving God, we are so grateful for all that we enjoy in the world
around us, and in the assurance that you love us all. Bless the gifts we offer
today, that they may express your love for the world itself and to all who need to
know you care, through Christ Jesus, your greatest gift.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Gracious God, sometimes we can simply breathe in the wonders of your creation
on a summer evening or in a quiet forest and know your presence.
Other times you surprise us in a word, an unexpected kindness, a sense of your
tenderness in prayer.
Whenever and however, we meet you, we are so grateful for your presence
at the heart of our lives.
Assured of your great love for us, we bring before you the people we love
and the situations that cause us deep concern.
Today we pray with those who rejoice at a baby’s birth or a summer wedding,
and with those who mourn the loss of a friend or loved one.
We pray with those whose work has been rewarding and joy-giving,
and with those who are anxious because there is little or no work to be found.

We pray with those who feel bored, without enough to do, and with those who
are exhausted, facing still more to do.
We pray with those grateful for renewed good health,
and with those who find illness, anxiety or uncertain health lingering.
We pray for those among us and around us who are struggling to live wisely and
well, who seek a way of integrity for the future.
We pray for those who are confronting addictions – for those in the NA group that
meets here every Monday evening and those in the AA group who meet on
Fridays.
We pray for all those trying to change old habits that are harmful to health:
give them persistence and support
We pray for those who want to end violence and anger in their lives:
give them courage and wisdom to walk a new way.
We pray with those who have found peace or safety after turmoil, and with those
who fear what tomorrow might bring. Those who staff the Women’s Shelter and
those who make use of it.
We pray with those who enjoy the love of family and friends nearby,
and with those who feel lonely or isolated.
Ever present God, we thank you that you hear us in every situation of life,
for we all find ourselves in these situations sooner or later.
Help us to support each other, standing together in gladness and challenge.
Strengthen our life together as your people.
Give us the generosity we meet in Jesus to respond wisely to those whose lives
touch ours – inside and outside your church.
May our hands serve as your hands in all that we do for Jesus’ sake,
for it is in his name we offer the prayer he taught us:
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, the power and the glory.
For ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn: #671 “ I heard the voice of Jesus say”

Charge and benediction:
Remember that Jacob met God in an unexpected place. Moses met God in a
burning bush. People all through history have encountered a loving, forgiving
God, often in difficult situations, in unforeseen circumstances and in moments of
silent reflection. So, as you leave this place, keep your eyes open for God is at
work in the world.
Expect that God will meet you, too, perhaps when you least expect it.
May God be with you, Christ walk beside you, and the Spirit prepare you to
serve, whenever God presents the occasion.
And so, may the love of God the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and
redeemer, and the peace of the Holy Spirit, rest with each one of us now and
forevermore.

Blessing Song

Go now in peace. Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love. 

Threefold Amen.