July 9, 2023                      

Entry of Bible
Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements 

Call to Worship:
Look to the mountains; look to the hills!
Love comes to us with joy!
The world is filled with beauty.
Flowers appear on the earth,
birdsong brightens the day.
Crops yield their produce in abundance,
the air is filled with sweetness.
The summer of God’s love is with us.
Let the oil of gladness anoint your souls.
Arise and sing for joy! 

HYMN:  412  Come let us sing to the Lord our song

 

Prayer of Approach and Adoration 

Merciful God, we gather together to offer You our praise and thanksgiving for the unfailing love You have shown toward us, generation after generation, and for the compassion You shower upon us, day after day. 

You alone are our God.  We are Your people. You guard us and guide us and show us the endless scope of your mercy and grace.  We praise with the same love with which you shower us.   

We pray that Your Holy Spirit would move among us as we worship.  Open our hearts and our minds to see You at work among us, encouraging, challenging, uplifting, and inspiring,as each one has need. 

May our worship bring honour, praise and glory to You. 

That our praise may be full, we seek your mercy as we confess our sinfulness…. 

 

Prayer of Confession 

Faithful God, you call us to be saints, but we are more comfortable with the role of sinner;  you call us to be your servants, but we worry that we lack the skills to do your work;  you put a new song of praise in our mouths, but we stumble on unfamiliar words;  you show us the work to be tackled, but we turn away defiant, insisting we have more important things to do. 

Put your song on our lips and in our hearts, and remind us of the joy that awaits us when we put our trust in you. Guide us into the light of your  unwavering, never-ending, and grace-filled love. Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon: 

Our God says to us:   the winter is past,
    the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
    the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
    is heard in our land.  NRSV 

People of God, arise and sing, and remember that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  Amen  

The Peace of Christ
Passing the Peace 

HYMN:  410 Joyful, joyful we adore you

Scripture Lessons:

  

Psalm 145:  8-14  p 979
Song of Solomon 2: 8-13 p 1051 

Sermon:  The time of singing has come 

I have a friend who says that all young lovers and new Christians should be locked away for 6 months. 

There are times when we can understand that sentiment.  Those young lovers with all the extravagant public displays of affection can be embarrassing to be around.  Time will teach them to be more circumspect.  

And then those new Christians so full of the excitement of a new found life in Christ, telling everyone, all the time about Jesus, and almost demanding that others take him as Lord and Saviour as well can be off-putting.  Again, time and a lot of learning about Kingdom life, will make them less exuberant and more effective in telling their story and communicating the awesomeness found in the love of God. 

With all that in mind, let us look again at the passage from the Song of Solomon.   

Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.  NIV 

And then again:  My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.  NIV 

It seems like, exuberance and love are meant to go hand in hand, with our partners here on earth, and our Father and Brother in heaven.   

More to the point perhaps, love is to be expressed and spoken and lived if it is real. 

The commentators were pretty split on whether this was a passage  about human love, or about the love between humans and God.  There were also those who said that it is both, and that the beauty of love expressed and lived, teaches us that God has given us love for one another, romantically, as well as a Christ-like love that causes us to see others as Jesus sees them.  More than that, they say that we can see by it’s inclusion in Scripture that this expression of love is meant to teach us to love God with as much passion. 

As confusing as this passage, and indeed the whole book may be, it is Scripture.  It was a part of the Canon of the Old Testament and remained in the Canon for the New Testament, a cause for debate in establishing the content of the Canon for both. 

It is Scripture and all Scripture is useful and helpful in teaching us about God. 

The argument that clinched this book coming into the Old Testament Canon was an impassioned plea by Rabbi Akiba who said, “The whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all Scriptures are holy.  But the story of the songs is the holy of holies.” 

The holy of holies is the place in Scripture where only the priest was allowed to go, a place where they met God face to face.  We remember that when Moses met God face to face, his face glowed with such a light that it frightened the people and he had to wear a mask.  Just being in the presence of God, gave him so much joy and passion that the people; tired from trudging through life in the wilderness could not bear to look at it.   

What does that tell us about the kind of passion that comes into our hearts when we have those holy encounters with God?   

And we do have those encounters, indeed they are for all of us to have, because in our New Testament tradition, the veil that hid the Holy of Holies was torn in two at the moment of the death of Jesus.  From that moment on, it was granted to all who believe to have that direct access to the presence of God.  To speak with him, to learn from him, to be encouraged by him, and to know his joy.   

Admittedly not all of our worship, and not all of our times of prayer fill us with  the exuberant joy of young lovers or new Christians; but then again, we all do know those times when the presence of God fill us with great joy, or deep peace, or new insights that propel us with urgency in new tasks.  This exuberant, passionate worship of God is simply ours for the taking. 

But what is also ours for the taking in worship and prayer is a mature wisdom and confidence that comes from a long, faithful relationship. 

In the Song of Solomon we read: 

See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.  NIV 

Commentators point out this this speaks of a relationship that has gone through difficult times, and in the mutual constancy and faithfulness of the love that relationship has not only matured, it has grown.   

All of us can look back on the difficult moments of our lives and see where God has faithfully stood with us, walked with us and shepherded us.  Following those difficult times, we can remember feeling that we have experienced a very deep grace. 

We know that a burden has been lifted. 

We feel relief 

We shout for joy 

We have deep gratitude and an abiding peace. 

People can see the change and the difference in us, not only in those post-difficulty days. 

We know those same passionate moments when we go away on retreats or workshops.  Sometimes we are fortunate to be able to go and stand on holy ground.  The joy and the emotions can be overwhelming…and it changes us, and people see those changes in us.   

All of those moments are a reminder that being in the presence of God is a part of the way in which the rupture of sin has returned us to lush gardens, full of abundant fruit. 

Scripture reminds us that those moments are like: 

The return of the singing birds, 

Or living in our own abundant vineyard 

Pulling fruit from an abundant fig tree 

What is clear is that these moments are multi-sensory as we see, hear, and feel the presence of God.   

We sing, we cry, we laugh and we shout for joy.  This is the way in which we express the deep joy we experience in the presence of God. 

Worship, prayer, meditation, all these are the ways in which encounter the multiple graces we have from God.   

When I took membership classes as a teenager, we were taught that we encounter the fullness of God’s grace in the everyday things that bring us into his presence.  

Worship, prayer, meditation were all called “the means of grace”.  So were singing together, praying together, learning together. Grace is an important part of the relationship we have with other believers. 

But, then we were reminded of the greatest means of grace:  the death and resurrection of Jesus which we celebrate and remember at the Lord’s table.   

We remember how we felt at our first communion—the awe, the power, the joy.  Those who are ordained as elders, knew it again as they served communion for the first time, and I found it overwhelming the first time I stood behind the table and spoke the words, this is my body, this is my blood, given for you.   

There are many other moments in our lives when we feel that huge surge of grace and love.  The relationships we have are not always about ordinary time, they are nurtured in celebration, they are nurtured in trust, they are nurtured in the expression of love. 

With God those celebrations, trust, and love are signs that can remind us of the joy of our first days of commitment to him.  The commentators said that Scripture describes God’s love as, as strong as death and as fierce as the grave.  They say that those moments may be described as a flame from the Lord.  For God the passion with which he loves us is expressed in zeal or jealousy, as much as it is in tenderness and grace. 

We are reminded that love is powerful.  It evokes in us many emotions.  And that is rightly so.   

Teilhard de Chardin writes that, “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” 

But he also writes about the power of love saying:

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” 

That passionate fire is meant to be ours as we love God and serve God in the care of his people and his world.   

May those passionate moments help us to build and develop the maturity of our trust and faith; and may they ever be with us.  

Amen.
 

 

 

 

HYMN:   433  All creatures of our God and King

Offering
offertory  

Doxology  830

 

Prayer
Gracious God, we give these gifts because you ask us to share.  

We dedicate this offering and our lives to your service, 

that the hungry may be fed, the oppressed may receive justice, 

and the stranger may be welcomed in our midst.  

We offer this prayer in the name of the bearer of your good news, 

Jesus the Christ. Amen. 

 

 

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Gathering Prayer Requests 

Almighty God, who taught us to pray not only for ourselves but for people everywhere, hear us as we pray for others, in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Inspire the whole church with your power, unity, and peace. Grant that all who trust you may obey your Word, and live together in love. 

Lead all nations in the way of justice and goodwill. Make wars to cease.  Direct those who govern, that they may rule fairly, maintain order, uphold those in need, and defend oppressed people; that this world may claim your rule and know true peace. 

Hear this day the expression of our joy and thankfulness: 

 

Comfort and relieve, O Lord, all who are in trouble make your presence known in sorrow, …poverty . . . sickness . . . grief . . especially those known to us, 

 

Hear our prayers for your earth and all the nations on earth 

Fires…rain to quench 

Wars and conflict:  Ukraine, Sudan, Israel,  

 

through Jesus Christ our Savior 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 your debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  Amen 

 

The Communion Service 

Invitation
COMMUNION HYMN:  530 I Come with joy

 

The Apostle’s Creed:  539 BP

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.

 

Warrant
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving  564 BP

Words of Institution 

Sharing Bread and Wine
Prayer After Communion 

HYMN:  422  Sing a new song unto the Lord

Charge and Benediction 

Go forth into the world in faithfulness.  

Join all those who have danced with the Lord 

throughout the generations. 

Take the song and rhythm of God’s Word into the world 

and invite others to celebrate the joy with you. 

[And may….] 

Sung Blessing  

575 Lead me Lord

Lead me Lord, lead me in your righteousness
Make your way plain before my face
for it is you, and you, God only
who makes me to dwell in safety
Public Domain
Three Fold Amen