Sunday Gathering - January 23

Trinity United Church
Sunday, Jan 23, 2022
Third Sunday After Epiphany
Worship

“Connection not Perfection”

 

WE GATHER

Gathering

Welcome 

Rev David: May the peace of Christ be with you.

Welcome to Trinity United Church in Port Coquitlam, BC.
We are so grateful that you have chosen to spend some time with us, we are glad you are here. 

If you are joining us on YouTube, please check out our website at ucpoco.ca. We would also appreciate if you would subscribe to our channel, and like and share our service. Those buttons are right below the video, and it does make a difference when you interact with our account.

Acknowledgement of Territory 
Much of what we know as the Northwest Coast of North America was occupied by the Coast Salish Peoples. The territory where Trinity United Church of Port Coquitlam resides is the unceded territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nations. Our acknowledgement of unceded traditional territory is a first step in reconciliation between settler cultures and indigenous peoples and the decolonization of western systems that continue to oppress and exploit indigenous peoples and land. The work of reconciliation is daunting. The work of reconciliation will not be ours to complete, but neither is it ours to abandon. 

Let us prepare our hearts and minds for worship.

Prelude: David Rogers

Lighting Christ Candle

Call to Worship:

The heavens tell the glory of God;
    Let us join our voices to the heavens!
Day pours forth speech;
    Let us join our voices to the day!
Night declares knowledge;
    Let us join our voices to the night!
God’s word is all creation and all God’s creation is good!
Let our voices go out through all the earth to the end of the world!
Let us worship God!

Opening Prayer:

In this time of worship, 
may the spirit of God mix among us, 
may we be anointed 
to bring good news to the poor.  
May we proclaim 
release to the captives, 
recovery of sight to the blind 
and freedom to the oppressed.  
May we bear witness 
to the year of God’s favour.  Amen.

Hymn: “God of the Bible” MV 28    CLICK HERE

Reconciliation Meditation

I invite you to make yourself as comfortable as you can, letting your eyes rest, either closed or half lidded and bring your attention to your breathing for a minute. You don’t need to control your breath, just be aware of it. Let your body relax and feel heavy on the pew, trusting the pew to hold your weight. Imagine God’s steadfast love, perhaps as a warm light all around you. Breathe in that light and let it fill you. Let the warm light of God’s steadfast love fill you from your toes and feet, up your calves into your knees and thighs. Let it fill your core, up your chest and out your shoulders and arms, hands, and fingers. Feel the warmth of the light come up your neck and fill your face, your nose, cheeks, lips, forehead, ears, and the top of your head. Imagine yourself completely immersed in God’s steadfast love.

I will read a few words from scripture then we will sit in God’s steadfast love for several minutes. If you feel your thoughts getting distracted, repeat the words of scripture silently to yourself and return your attention to God’s steadfast love.

Psalm 19:7 “reviving the soul”

[90 sec silence]

May we experience God’s word reviving our souls. Thanks be to God.

WE HEAR THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. 2Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 

 8So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’
Hear what the spirit is saying to the church. Thanks be to God!

Psalm 19: VU 740-1 refrain2

The Story: 

God’s word is good, releasing the captive; (arms out wide)
God’s word is true, reviving the soul; (arms up above)
God’s word is pure, sweeter than honey; (hands to the mouth)
God’s word is sure, rejoicing the heart! (hands crossed over chest)

From the time he was a small boy, Jesus had spent time in the synagogue listening to the teachers teach about Moses, the Prophets and the Law.
 
And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
When he was a young man, Jesus met a prophet named John who proclaimed a good news about changing our ways to live how God wants us to live.
 
And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
So Jesus was baptized by John and when he came up from the waters, the heavens themselves opened up and down came the Holy Spirit like a dove and a voice came from heaven saying, "This is my son, whom I love.  With whom I am very happy."
 
And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
Jesus went into the wilderness among the rocks, the streams, the bees and the locusts.  He slept beneath the starlit sky, felt the wind on his face and the hot sun on his back.  He fasted and was tested by temptation.  But God was with him through it all, and angels fed him and protected him.
 
And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
Jesus returned to the city where he attended the synagogue.  He stood before the crowd and read to them the Holy Scriptures and proclaimed that the scriptures were being fulfilled in their presence.
 
Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry; he cast out demons and comforted those who were grieving; he proclaimed justice for the poor and rest for the burdened; He prayed and wept; forgave and redeemed. 
 
Because Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.
 
Jesus calls us to do as he did, to live the way he lived, and to know what he knew:
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.

Hymn: “Jesus Shall Reign” VU 330

Message: Rev David

In this season of call,
In this season when we hear your son bidding us to follow,
in this season when we learn what it means to be disciples of Christ,
open our hearts,
open our eyes,
open our ears
to hear and know that your word is Good.
In the name of the Awaited One, we pray.
Amen.

It is the season after Epiphany. We have changed our hangings to green which signifies what we call "ordinary time" in the church calendar. Ordinary time is between Epiphany and Transfiguration Sunday and then the long season from Pentecost to Reign of Christ.

During this season we learn what it means to be followers of Jesus. In this shorter of the two ordinary seasons, we hear the disciples being called. We will also hear some of the other call stories for the prophets.

We didn't listen to the New Testament passage this week. But the Gospel reading for today from Luke is Jesus giving his inaugural speech. Jesus has been baptized, has gone into the wilderness and returns to deliver his first sermon, with which we are familiar: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." It is like this is Jesus' thesis statement, the rest of the Gospel we will watch Jesus do all these things, and he will do them in ways that will often shock and horrify his followers.

In the weeks to come, we will start to learn what he means in this opening sermon.

I'm focusing today on the earlier texts, on the Hebrew Scripture, Nehemiah and Psalm 19.

Nehemiah tells us about the day the Israelites, after 50 years of exile, years of returning home and rebuilding their home, hear the word of God for the first time. "All the people wept when they heard the words of the law." It doesn't tell us exactly why people were weeping as they heard the word of God, only that they shouldn't grieve because God is their strength.

Psalm 19 has a lot to say about the word of God. In the story we recited together:

God's word is good, releasing the captive;
God's word is true, reviving the soul;
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart!

We are assured again and again that God's word is pretty good. If we agree to listen, to hear and to obey God's word, God will be our strength.

So in these two texts from the Hebrew Scriptures we hear that God's Word is Good; God's word is worth following.

For us as Christians, who is the word of God?

Before we hear Jesus calling us to follow, before we start following and discover that Jesus is taking us places we didn't want to go, before we realized that following Jesus means sacrifice, before we know that following Jesus is death, before all that we hear that God's word is Good.

We need to hear that.
We need to remember that.
We need to gently help each other witness that in our words and actions as we continue deeper into the story through the year. Because following Jesus gets hard. Following Jesus often means doing things we don't want to do, and going places we don't want to go. So we need to remember that God's word, Jesus, is Good.

That was the easy part of today's message, now for the hard part.

We are so tired of covid and covid restrictions. I understand that most of us know half a dozen people by now who either currently have covid or are just recovering. And we desperately want to get back to the way things were before covid came.

But I need to remind you that we were in crisis before covid.

Before covid we were budgeting a 10-$15,000 deficit annually. We just budgeted a $68,000 deficit for 2022.

Before covid we were constantly told, year after year, that St Catherine's, who paid us some $25,000 annually in rent, might close. They have now closed, we've lost that income.
Before covid, we knew that we were ageing rapidly and diminishing in numbers. Nothing has changed there except that it is two years later and we will not have the same numbers when we gather again that we had before.

Before covid we couldn't raise up leadership for all our committees, we couldn't find people to head up our elders. We've changed our governance model, but raising up leadership continues to be a challenge for us from year to year. That hasn't changed. And now, our leadership is particularly exhausted.

I could go on, I won't.

I can't blame anyone for being reluctant to lead in the church at this time. It's hard work. We have to do things we don't want to do and go places we never intended going, learn things we never intended on learning.

It is hard work. It's going to get rough for Jesus... and his followers... and us.

So why do we do this? Why be a leader in the church? Why do I continue to lead a gathering of unrepentant sinners to a promised land that seems to get further away the longer we travel?

Why do I serve?
Because I hear Jesus calling.
Because Jesus is the Word of God.
Because the Word of God is good, rejoicing the heart.

Some days it is hard to remember that.

So how about you?
Jesus is calling. Jesus is calling you to serve in ways you don't particularly want to serve, to do things you don't want to do, to learn things you don't want to learn, to go places you never intended to go... And it is up to you, whether you say "yes," or "no."

Most of the prophets actually say, "no" first, and then have a change of heart. Except Jonah, he keeps saying, "no." You can look up how things work out for him.

Jesus is calling us.
Jesus is calling us to serve.
Jesus is calling us into places we don't want to go, to learn things we don't want to learn, to do things we don't want to do.
But it is Jesus calling.
How will we answer?

May we learn to trust that God's word is indeed sure, and rejoices the heart. Amen.

Special Music:  David Rogers

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

Offering:

We are grateful for the many ways people choose to serve and give at Trinity United Church. Our ministry is only possible thanks to your gifts of money, time and service. If you would like to make a financial contribution, please send a check to the church office, or click on the “Donate Now” button on our website.

Let us pray.

Through our gifts, 
may the goodness and truth of God’s word 
resonate from everlasting to everlasting. 
Through our gifts, 
may scripture be fulfilled. 
Through our gifts, 
may we be transformed 
to reveal rejoicing hearts. Amen.

Prayers of the People:

Holy, Holy, Holy God,
we live in a world where 
there is no good news for the poor, 
entire nations are held captive for generations, 
the ignorant and proud refuse to understand 
and the oppressed are crushed under the foot 
of the wealthy and the privileged.
For so many, there is no justice, no release, no peace and no freedom.

We pray for the weak;
We pray for the powerful’
We pray for the violent;
We pray for the exhausted;
We pray for the land;
We pray for the sick;
We pray for the grieving;
We pray for the church;
We pray for leaders;
We pray for those who choose to follow;
We pray for those who rejoice in your word;
We pray for the Year of Your Favour…

Disciples’ Prayer: “Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother”     CLICK HERE

WE GO FORTH

Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore You” VU 232    CLICK HERE

Sending Forth: 
Let’s go from this place today…
trusting [fold your hands over your heart]
in the voice of God, [hand over your mouth]
whispered in the soft brush of wings [sweep hands high and down like wings]
in the hand of Christ, [hold out one hand]
offering to help [hold out the other hand]
when we feel small [hug yourself, bow your head]
trusting [hands over your heart]
in the power of the Holy Spirit [flex your arm muscles]
that reminds us of a bigger story [sweep arms overhead]
Let us go in peace [fold hands over heart]
Amen.

Postlude