Prayers - Feb 16, 2014 (Announcements)

Welcome

Welcome, everyone, to the Sunday service of Chemainus United Church.

We are a welcoming, intergenerational Christian community that seeks spiritual growth as we connect with the Holy and with people in friendship and faith in Christ.

Our core values that are based on our mission statement are being welcoming, growing spiritually, and planting a seed for change in the world and in our lives. 

If it is your first Sunday service at Chemainus United Church, would you introduce yourself to the rest of us so that we can welcome you with great joy.

We would like to invite everyone to coffee time after the service. It is a wonderful way to enjoy friendship in the love of Christ.

Announcement

We’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up in the life of the church, so this morning, the announcements are going to be LONG.

MEMBERSHIP CLASS

I am very happy to announce an emerging circle being initiated and growing among us.

MEMBERSHIP CLASS – There are no tests or exams, and our classroom will be as comfortable as we can make it.

A team of people will create a ‘circle of sharing’ for those who consider becoming a member of Chemainus United Church.

The Membership Class will be offered on March 9. This two-hour long session will complete all the requirements for those who want to become a member of our church. Those who are not yet ready for membership, but want to know more about our church, are also welcome into this circle of sharing.

We know that we have different perspectives on church membership; my understanding is that becoming a member can be our faithful choice to make our ‘belonging’ ‘official.’ We intend to make more occasions for welcoming members in a meaningful way.

In the welcoming ceremony, you will be assured that you are already members of the church of Jesus Christ – the catholic church with small ‘c’ – you belong to the church and the church belongs to you.

When you become members, you will be empowered to exercise your membership in the larger United Church and within the context of the Chemainus UC congregation. We know that membership doesn’t simply mean special privileges - it puts in your hands the joy and responsibility of being part of the circle of faith.

BAPTISM

We also welcome your interest in baptism.

If you are not baptized yet, please tell me if are interested in knowing more. I can assure you that covenanting in baptism can be the most beautiful experience that one can have in their faith journey. Baptism is a blessed witness about how the Spirit of God changes the individual and the community and fosters in us a new life. Baptism has a sacramental power, as it is covenanting us to the love of Christ. Baptism is an act of welcoming, blessing and belonging.

This initiative to create a culture of encouraging membership and baptism within Chemainus United Church is an important step for our faith community as it moves into the future. 

Stewardship, membership and baptism – these three are those adaptive changes we can make and have a sense of urgency as we desire to grow and even thrive as a welcoming community that honours and ‘owns’ varied gifts that people bring with them into our community. 

The task for us as we move into the future is to honour and celebrate the diversity among us, and to challenge ourselves to be a community of equals.

Opening Prayer

Holy God,

We have gathered together

To celebrate your presence among us,

To sing the beauty of diversity

You create

In all aspects of our lives,

As you call us to be a community

Of gifted individuals.

Let us become one in many,

Many in one,

And worship you with joy!

Prayer of Confession

(Intro)

Confession is reflection.

To confess is to name things that need to be changed in our lives.

Confession is not listing every bad thing we have done in order to avoid God’s judgment;

God is more concerned about patterns in our lives that need to be changed, rather than one-off, single mistakes.

So I encourage us to reflect on the patterns of our life as we pray, reflecting on the patterns of our lives that are not working for us, as well as reflecting positively on those that help our health and wholeness.

(Silence for reflection)

Assurance of God’s Grace

This is the reflection of Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

“God is saying to you, ‘Child of God, I have a dream. Please help me to realize it.’

It is a dream of a world whose ugliness and squalor and poverty, its war and hostility, its greed and harsh competitiveness, its alienation and disharmony are changed into their glorious counterparts where laughter, love and peace reign.”

God has a dream for you and for us. In every moment, you are loved, so you are forgiven, free in the name of God who created you, who dwells within you and who goes with you always. Amen.

(Please respond saying “Thanks Be to God” after the minister says, Amen.”)

Offering Prayer

We offer these gifts because God has a dream. God is saying to us, “Child of God, I have a dream. Please help me to realize it.”

God, help us to be a place of transformation,

An instrument of positive changes in our lives and in the lives of others

As we present our gifts, time and money for the service of others. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Gracious God, your abundance surrounds us as it sustains us. We thank you for gifts of friendship and new beginnings, for new opportunities and growth. God of Grace, we pray for our community of faith. You are with us in the present and for the future. As we move into our future, give us confidence and knowledge, optimism and openness to new lessons of what adaptive changes we can make. We pray for the upcoming AGM. May we open to a new way of meeting with prayer and song, reflection and expressing thanks for the people who gave their time, gifts and energy to your service last year and those who will come after them in this new year. We also pray for our upcoming membership class. Bless our friends who are considering becoming a member in the near future and those who prepare for baptism. Let us truly receive all your gifts with gratitude and share them with the people around us.

Spirit of Hope, in our lives and in our world, there are many troubles and concerns. Some face uncertainty and pain and illness. Some wrestle with anxiety and fear about work, about relationships and about themselves. We pray that your healing love may touch these lives …..(continued healing for N). (God of hope, we know you hear our prayers.)

Spirit of Compassion, be with us as we experience losses in our lives. Where there are disappointments, lead us with joy. Where there is grief, fill us with your peace. Where there is death, help us to say goodbye for now, but not forever. We pray for Gordon and Alma Hughes. (Breath of Compassion, we know you hear our prayers.)

Breath of the Universe, you have created us for joy. Open our minds to your spirit. Increase our trust and guide our hearts in the ways of your truth.

God, you transform us by grace, and renew us in peace.

Benediction

You are not here by chance. You are not here on this planet just by chance. There is a reason.  God has called you here and gifted you for a reason. Who will fulfill that calling unless you do it? Discovering your specific calling will be the biggest challenge in your life, fulfilling and bringing the most joy you have ever received.

As you go from this place, go knowing that God’s blessings go before you, that God’s face will shine upon you and be gracious upon you, and that God will grant you peace.