THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH OF
ST. MARK’S UNITED CHURCH
Port Hawkesbury, NS
Reign of Christ Sunday – November 22, 2020
Minister: Pastor Keith Wiseman, DLM
Pianist: Adam Cooke
WE GATHER IN COMMUNITY AND APPROACH GOD
Musical Prelude:
Introit: ‘This Is the Day” VU #412
Lighting of The Christ Candle:
Call To Worship:
God’s reign is coming! God’s reign is here!
We live God’s reign. Guided by Jesus,
the king of our hearts. The king of our souls,
the king of our lives.
We live God’s reign:
serving in love, celebrating life, worshipping God!
Hymn: ‘We Are Pilgrims On a Journey’ VU #595
Prayer of Approach, Confession and Words of Assurance:
WE LISTEN FOR GOD'S WORD
Prayer of Illumination:
When we open the scriptures, it is as if we have struck the rock with a staff.
The water of insight and understanding gushes out.
When we open the scriptures, it is as if our lives are explained to us.
The water of refreshment gives us what we need for the journey.
Let us be nourished by the waters of the Spirit this day. Amen.
A Reading from the Hebrew Scriptures: Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24
A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 100
A Reading from the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Matthew 25: 31-46
Vocal Solo: “Great is Thy Faithfulness” Everett Vass
WE RESPOND TO GOD'S WORD
Sermon: “A Spirit of Wisdom, Revelation, and Hope”
Hymn: ‘Be Thou My Vision’ VU #642
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer:
THE WORK OF CHURCH AND COMMUNITY
Announcements & Minute For Mission:
Dedication of Offering:
Loving and Trusting God, through the elements of your creation, we are reminded every day of your abundant love: the abundance of the seas, the air we breathe and the fire that keeps us warm. All are gifts from you. We ask that you accept our gifts of money, time, and talents so that they too may be used to bring your love, light and abundance to the world. Bless us and bless this earth, as we seek to walk in your way. Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Closing Hymn: “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me” VU #575
Commissioning:
People of God, let us go from this place with daring insight.
We go to reach out to others heart to heart.
Go from this place with courageous trust.
We go to build relationships one by one.
Go from this place with growing faith.
We go to live that faith in love.
Benediction:
Selected from our Song of Faith, 2006
We sing of a church
seeking to continue the story of Jesus
by embodying Christ’s presence in the world.
We are called together by Christ
as a community of broken but helpful believers,
loving what he loved,
living what he taught,
striving to be faithful servants of God
in our time and place.
Our ancestors in faith
bequeath to us experiences of their faithful living;
upon their lives our lives are built.
Our living of the gospel makes us part of this communion of saints,
experiencing the fulfillment of God’s reign
even as we actively participate a new heaven and a new earth.
The church has not always lived up to its vision.
It requires the Spirit to reorient it,
helping it to live an emerging faith while honouring tradition,
changing it to live by grace rather than entitlement,
for we are called to be a blessing to the earth.
We sing of God’s good news lived out,
A church with purpose:
faith nurtured and hearts comforted,
gifts shared for the good of all,
resistance to the forces that exploit and marginalize,
fierce love in the face of violence,
human dignity defended,
members of a community held and inspired by God,
corrected and comforted,
instrument of the loving Spirit of Christ, creations mending.
We sing of God’s mission.
