ST ANDREW’S CHURCH
September 29 th 2024                                                                                                    Truth and Reconciliation

LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP
We are called together
To worship God as the people of God.
God calls us by name and knows what rests
in our minds and our hearts, and calls us:
To worship God as the people of God.
We come yearning to be transformed and
redirected to paths of justice and in
ways of love so that in truth we can turn to God:
To worship God as the people of God.
God invites us to worship as beloved and
loving people and together:
To worship God as the people of God.

HYMN 452 Jesus stand among us

1. Jesus, stand among us in your risen power;
let this time of worship be a hallowed hour.
2. Breathe the Holy Spirit into every heart;
bid the fears and sorrows from each soul depart.

3. Thus with quickened footsteps we pursue our way,
watching for the dawning of eternal day.
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Prayer of Adoration
Holy and loving God, blessed are you in all the universe: your
goodness is seen in creation, your holiness is incomprehensible,
your truth and wisdom are radiant, your justice rolls down like
waters, your love is wider than all the universe and your mercy
greater than the heights of heaven. and so, with our lips we sing
your praises and we join with your good creation in joyful praise
of you as Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit.
In recalling all that you are and all that you have done, we recall
then who we are and what we have done. And so, to begin again
with you and one another, we confess our sins:
UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We confess that we have failed to comfort
those in pain, ignored the needs of others,
and not sought peace or worked for justice.
We confess the sins of your church in running
residential schools that separated children from
their families. We confess that in our cultural
arrogance where there was laughter, we stifled
it; where families lived warmly together, we
broke them up ,and where there was dignity,
we stole it. We repent of our past sins and pray
for the strength to walk a new good way with
you and one another. In Jesus name AMEN

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

While it is true that we have sinned , unknowingly – or
knowingly, it is a greater truth that by God’s grace we have
been forgiven through God’s love in Christ . This is not our own
doing; it is a gift of God.
THE PEACE

HYMN 445 – Open our eyes, Lord.

Open our eyes Lord We want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him
Open our ears Lord And help us to listen
Open our eyes Lord We want to see Jesus
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
Psalm 124
Matthew 5:1-11, 17-18
SERMON

Open our hearts and minds, O God, by the inspiration of your
Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is
proclaimed, we may hear what you are saying to the church
today. Amen
Tomorrow, September 30 th is the Canadian National Day for
Truth and Reconciliation. We also mark Orange Shirt Day, a
Survivor-led movement that also calls simultaneously for a
national day for truth and reconciliation.

I grew up in a city with a large indigenous population. One day,
when I was about six years old, I asked my dad why there was a
building down town with three adjacent doors with names on
them. He explained; one said Men, one said Women and the
third said Indians. You see it was a place that served beer and
men, women and Indians were not allowed to sit together. Well,
that was really strange in a child’s mind.
Rupert has several native villages within traveling distance.
Archeology revealed they had been populated for 5000 years or
more in the northern Pacific mainland and islands. Inter
communal and cultural activities were always a way of life, once
upon a time by canoe, now more often by airplane. Today many
folks live, sometimes in their village, sometimes in the city –
particularly if they have a job there.
As I grew older I discovered a lot of strange, weird and not so
wonderful ideas and practices about the folks who had a
different culture than the “white man “ We knew there was a
special school called LaJak up near Smithers which was only
for Indian boys . Over my adult years I have also been in
conversations with some fellows who had bad experiences and
some who had good experiences while residents of such
schools.
However, I had lots of Indian classmates all through school.
Debbie and Rod were from Port Simpson – now called “
LakLwalwaams “ and I had the privilege of being invited there
a couple of times.

By the time my sons were in school, they learned that many of
the now called “Native” children, still did not have the same
public privileges they did. My boys had a lot of native
playmates from the time they were toddlers all through school.
As time went by though, things began to slowly change. By the
time they all reached adulthood and were in the working force,
the same folks were now called the Indigenous population.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada ran 12 residential schools.
In 1925 all but two became the responsibility of the United
Church. One in Manitoba and one in Ontario remained with the
PCC. As a result, the PCC still bears a collective responsibility
to truth and healing. In the 1980s and 1990s, the truth about
abuses children suffered at residential schools began to be heard.
Over the next decades, more truth about the pain and harm
inflicted at the schools have become part of our common
memory, in large part because of the courage of survivors and
inter generational survivors who are standing against a legacy of
colonial violence and racism, seeking healing from their harmful
and deadly impacts.
In 1994, The PCC offered a Confession for its participation in
the residential school system, which set the church on a path of
reconciliation. In learning to walk that path, the church has
learned much about, and understands more deeply now, the
harm it caused. In June 2024, General Assembly adopted an
Apology for the church’s role in residential schools and
colonization, which comes out of the church’s learning and is a
response to that learning. Being at General Assembly this past
June, seeing and hearing the presentations by the Indigenous

committees and the Apology presented by the Church was
very moving for me.
There are still people in our communities that don’t
acknowledge the huge impact residential schools have had
generation after generation, So we need to first of all not accept
that, and not remain silent. We need to be supportive of what
courts have already ruled that the Indigenous have rights and
titles. We need to acknowledge that we have a awful history
with residential schools and the impact that has had on our First
Nations people is devastating.
The old testament prophet Zechariah has some very sage advise
in chapter 8; 16-17 : These are the things you are to do; speak
the truth to each other and render the true and sound judgement
in your courts. Do not plot evil against your neighbour and do
not love to swear falsely: I hate all this declares the Lord
In the opening verses of Matthew 5, Jesus teaches about
“blessedness,” a word tough to get at in the English language
and in North American culture. The “blessed” are not the
“happy” in the sense used in consumer culture to describe
pleasure.
Jesus begins today’s teaching, not with promises of happiness,
but with promises of blessedness even, and perhaps most, in
hard human experiences of mourning, meekness, peacemaking,
persecution, and poverty of spirit. Jesus’ form of “blessedness”
only makes sense in light of the kingdom of God. Jesus’
teaching here begins and ends with the kingdom of God (verses 3
and 10). Jesus had already preached that “the kingdom of heaven

has come near” (4:17). The kingdom sets a new frame of
reference for “blessedness.”
Within God’s life (kingdom) “blessedness” does not depend on
wealth or health or status. It is not a reward for righteousness or
duty. Rather, blessedness is God’s sheer gift. In the realm of
God, life is not governed by honor nor shame, but by the
promise of abundant life. Mourning, poverty of spirit, and
meekness reveal this in-breaking of God’s abundant life. When
we have “eyes to see” our lives within the kingdom of God, it’s
like pushing the reset button.
Let’s review the first 4 Beatitudes. The first step is to recognize
that we are poor in spirit, that is, spiritually weak and needy,
incapable of being righteous on our own. The second step is to
mourn over the reality of sin in the world and in ourselves. The
third step is to become meek, submitting to God’s discipline and
authority. The fourth step is to hunger and thirst after
righteousness, to long to be with Christ and to be like Christ.
These steps change us on the inside.
Once you’re at that point, once you’ve been changed on the
inside, how can you not show that change in your behavior?
Having seen yourself for who you are, and seen God for who he
is, and fallen in love with Jesus, you cannot turn your attention
from God to people in the world without mercy.
There’s a pretty strong correlation between forgiveness and
mercy. Scripture talks about them in the same way: “Blessed are
the merciful, for they will receive mercy,” is phrased in exactly
the same way as, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do

not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you
will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you … for the
measure you give will be the measure you get back." [Luke 6:37-38]
It’s commanded for exactly the same reason: we are to be
merciful and not to judge, to give and to forgive – because God
will treat us as we treat others.
This revelation of God’s life is an invitation that calls for a
response. If we choose to follow Jesus into God’s abundant life,
we will conform to the way this kingdom works, its values and
priorities. We are born and reborn into new relationship with
God, each other and creation. Jesus invites us: Repent and
follow. Repent and follow. Repeat. Kingdom life is a responsive
life, always seeking, always moving.
“Kingdom of God” is a rich image that Jesus uses as short hand
to convey a full-blown re-ordering of reality. It’s packed with
layers and textures
Micah 6:8 says “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with
your God.” Public acts of mercy must not compromise God’s
call for justice. Private acts of mercy are not constrained in the
same way because God’s mercy toward us is not constrained.
God found a way in Christ to maintain justice and extend mercy
at the same time. His mercy is limitless, lavish, and life-giving.
But we cannot receive God’s mercy unless we give it to others
because it’s all part of the same package.
Those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that
they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power
or money or prestige, race or culture They treat janitors and

governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP.
Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to
relearn it. Blessed, then, are the poor in spirit, these ones not so
full of themselves. They show us open lives, available for the
mercy that re-orders life in the reign of God. Mercy is the
currency of the kingdom of heaven.
We all know the phrase “ No Man Is an Island,” but it is not
necessarily calling us to action. No one person, no one church,
can meet all needs. We all stand equally judged before God.
Mercy moves beyond feeling to action, to action taken to ease
the pain, to share the burden that the other person is enduring. .
Today the PCC is continuing its ongoing work toward truth,
healing, and reconciliation in order to better equip people within
the PCC to engage in reconciliation.
May we thank God that He has a plan and a purpose for all of
us no matter what our circumstances may be. May each of us
remember this truth and always to choose to remain in the true
vine, Jesus Christ, that we may always continue to bear much
fruit for the kingdom AMEN

HYMN 624 Blessed are they

1. Blest are they, the poor in spirit;
theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blest are they, full of sorrow,
they shall be consoled.
Refrain:
Rejoice and be glad!
Blessed are you; holy are you!

Rejoice and be glad!
Yours is the Kingdom of God!
2. Blest are they, the lowly ones;
they shall inherit the earth.
Blest are they, who hunger and thirst;
they shall have their fill.
(Refrain)
Rejoice and be glad!
Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad!
Yours is the Kingdom of God!
3. Blest are they who show mercy;
mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are they, the pure of heart;
they shall see God!
(Refrain)
Rejoice and be glad!
Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad!
Yours is the Kingdom of God!
4. Blest are they who seek peace;
they are the children of God.
Blest are they who suffer in faith,
the glory of God is theirs.
(Refrain)
Rejoice and be glad!
Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad!

Yours is the Kingdom of God!
5. Blest are you who suffer hate
all because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom,
shine for all to see.
(Refrain)
Rejoice and be glad!
Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad!
Yours is the Kingdom of God!
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OFFERING
Let us be faithful stewards of our time, our talents and our
money so that our treasure is in heaven and our giving pleases
God. With thankfulness we give in gratitude and joy for all
God’s blessings. We now present our offerings
DOXOLOGY

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below
Praise him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
OFFERTORY PRAYER
All that we have comes from you, O God. Use our lives and the
gifts we offer to build a more peaceful and just world that
reflects the principles of your reign and the Good News of
peace, healing and reconciliation Christ taught.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Creator God, you created us in your image and set us in the
world to live in peace with you and one another. We bring you
our prayers for the world, for people and communities harmed
by discrimination and hate, for your church and for those we are
in relationships with and love. We pray for those who are
hurting because of false beliefs about the superiority of a
particular race, class, or gender; let your truth and justice bring
healing.
Comforting God, we pray for healing in the communities and
families of all who experienced residential schools. Hold in your
loving care and bless with strength and courage those who
pursue healing, truth and reconciliation: let your grace and
power bring new life.
God of transforming love, the wounds of racism continue to this
day, imbedded in the fabric of our institutions and governments.
Let your compassion and wisdom flow through all public
policies and practices. Where power is horded, bring your equity
and justice. Where racism is resisted, bring your courage and
strength to acknowledge and address it. We pray that our
communities, churches and country will be places where there is
justice and where people advocate for dignity of all creation.
We pray:
…for people whose bodies, minds and souls are in pain and
those struggling with physical or mental illness;
…for people who experience violence in their relationships, in
their home, workplace, community or country, and for those

who have been displaced by war, unjust economic systems, the
climate crisis, and ongoing impacts of colonization around the
world;
…for people living with housing insecurity: where home is
inadequate, is unsafe, unaffordable, or inaccessible for the needs
of the people it must shelter As cold weather is coming upon us
we pray fro community insight and plans to come together to
house and shelter those folks who are in need of a warm place
to shield and house them
…for people who are struggling with economic insecurity,
barriers to education or employment, unfairness in policies or
practices;
Hear us now as we lift our silent prayers of our hearts…
: Lord Jesus, there are many times that You have helped us
throughout our lives. You have listened to our prayers and
enabled us to overcome illnesses and issues that have seriously
troubled us. May we never take Your compassion and grace for
granted. May we also seek to worship and glorify You for the
rest of our days
Father God, thank You that You have a plan and a purpose for
all of Your people, no matter what our circumstances may be.
Help each of us to remember this truth and always to choose to
remain in the true vine, Jesus Christ, that we may always
continue to bear much fruit for the kingdom. And now we join
our voices into one prayer and pray as Jesus taught,
THE LORD’S PRAYER

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.
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.

HYMN 730 – O for a world where everyone

O for a world where everyone respects each other’s ways,
where love is lived and all is done with justice and with praise.
O for a world where goods are shared and misery relieved,
where truth is spoken, children spared, equality achieved.
We welcome one world family and struggle with each choice
that opens us to unity and gives our vision voice.
The poor are rich, the weak are strong, the foolish ones are wise.
Tell all who mourn, outcasts belong, who perishes will rise.
O for a world preparing for God’s glorious reign of peace,
where time and tears will be no more, and all but love will
cease.
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BENEDICTION
Go into God’s good creation praying that the Spirit will open
our minds to receive truth, open our hearts to seek peace, and
strengthen our bodies to work for justice. Let the Spirit guide

you in ways of love and justice, to walk lightly and humbly and
seek truth, reconciliation, healing, and wholeness. And may the
Blessing of Creator, Christ and Spirit rest upon you this day and
everyday.
CLOSING 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 that 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 AMEN
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