The Congregations of St. Mark’s and St. David’s
United Church of Canada
Port Hawkesbury/Port Hastings, NS
Office: 625-2229, Fax 625-3597, e-mail: stmarksuc@gmail.com
Blog: http://ourcontactonline.blogspot.com/
Presbytery Website: inverguyunited.ca
Ministers: Whole People of God
Minister: Nan Corrigan D. M. Minister of Music: Al Fougere
The Season after Pentecost-Creation Time 3
September 24th 2017-Wilderness Sunday
‘Let the wilderness lift up its voice.’ Isaiah 42:11
Thoughts around which to gather as we worship: We’ve all experienced wilderness in our lives. Either a literal image, an experience in a physical place, or a spiritual experience where we feel separated from God. In Romans, Paul points to the Holy Spirit as our connection with God when we are in these wilderness places. The challenge for us today is to find union with God in both physical and spiritual experiences of wilderness – by caring for creation and caring for our spiritual lives. How might we let the wilderness renew us and deepen our connection with God?
Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2014 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2013, p. 12
Announcements The Work of Church and Community
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Greeting
One: The peace of Christ be with you. All: And with your spirit.*Introit Know That God Is Good MV 104
Call to Worship
One: In wilderness and wild places, in groans and breath, in lonely spaces, in birth and rebirth, in fire and flame, in pain and joy, beyond familiar traces, encounter the Holy.All: We gather in this place, separated from our usual spaces, to wonder, laugh, and maybe even cry, to discover and to hope, to meet God here among us.
Opening Prayer
Do we dare?Dare we venture into the wild places?
Wilderness spaces – frozen tundra, windswept outback, tangled bush, jagged mountain ranges, fathomless seas – so much beauty, so much danger, so much uncertainty.
Dare we find God present?
In painful distress, disappointed hopes, and almost abandoned dreams, listen for the deep and anguished sighs and groans.
Yes, God, you are here! Amen.
*Hymn Come, Let Us Sing VU 222
Prayer for Wholeness
Response: One: Hear our prayers…All : God as mourner and midwife,
breathe with us in mercy and care.
Words of Affirmation
One: When we call to God in our distress,when we cry in our anguish and hurt,
the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
All : We have the first fruits of the Spirit within us,
renewing the whole creation. Thanks be!
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
Joel 1:8–10, 17–20 Even the wild beasts cry to thee.
One: This is the witness of the Hebrew people. All: Thanks be to God.Psalm 65:5-13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow
*Hymn Spirit of Gentleness VU 375
Opening the Word & The Lord’s Prayer
Romans 8:18-27 The whole creation waits with eager longing
One: This is the witness of the early church. All: Thanks be to God.Opening the Word 2
WE RESPOND IN FAITH
* Hymn It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker MV 30
Minute for Mission & Offering Our Gifts to God
*Offering Prayer
God, our Creator, through your love you have given us these gifts to share. Accept our offerings as an expression of our deep thanks and as signs of concern for those in need, including our fellow creatures on planet Earth. Amen.Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Times of silence for personal prayer will be offered throughout.WE GO TO SERVE GOD
* Hymn You Shall Go Out with Joy VU 884
*Commissioning and Blessing
In every gift of God there is a test of self-discovery,a promise of life.
Go from this place into the wild places where God already is.
And may the blessing of God who searches the heart
lead you into the freedom of God’s whole creation,
today and every day.
