Opening Prayer

We are God’s church. We come together in worship.

We are followers of Christ. We come together to learn from his words.

We are joined together by the Spirit. We come together to celebrate.

God has freed us from our past. We come together to move forward.

We are God’s church. We come together to worship.

Children’s Time

New Christians become a big family

Confession & Words of Assurance

Gracious God,

help us to live in love and charity with others, and, as we ask for Your forgiveness, enable us to be forgiving. Take from our lives the hidden grudges and concealed hate. Forgive us that we have so often denied You; that like lost children we have turned away from you; that we have sung with our lips what we have not had the courage to practice in our lives.

Forgive our sins, comfort our sorrows, calm our fears, and take from us every proud thought. So fill us with love and concern for others, and make us ready to help and quick to forgive.

God sees us as family, caring for each other, doing our best, living by Jesus’ example. Forgiveness is our promise from the cross. Don’t carry your burdens anymore. Lay them down. We have other things to do. Amen.

Scripture

Life among the Lord’s Followers

Acts 2:⁴² They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together.⁴³ Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. ⁴⁴ All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever needed it. ⁴⁶ Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, ⁴⁷ while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.

Sermon

Prayers of the People

(Please add your prayers aloud and in the comment Our faith in humanity mirrors our faith in You.section below)

Hear our prayers, oh Lord…

We come before you a new people, full of the love of Christ, desperate to be friends and family to each other as You taught. But right now it’s hard to reach out in the ways we always have, and learning new ways and new technology can be confusing.

Help us spread Your love and message of inclusion throughout our communities and the world. Show us how to be a voice for the vulnerable, the disabled, the dismissed. Help us look on the faces of those we often have ignored in the past and remember that they have Your face too.

We pray for those who are working hard in this time of pandemic and uncertainty. We pray for our leaders nationally, provincially and locally. We pray for our innovators and our dreamers. We pray for labourers, clerks, drivers and all those who work to keep our world working.

We pray for those in Fort McMurray and other places across our lands who are struggling with floods, fires, tornados, hurricanes and drought. Lead us in ways to help when we can not be physically present.

This week we are particularly mindful of farmers who are starting to plant crops. We hear of the shortages of workers and hope that Canadians will step up to fill the gaps of those unseen foreign workers who have always made sure our plates could be filled.

Gathering all these prayers into one, we offer the prayer tradition has taught us:

Our Father, who art in heave, hallowed be Thy name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Benediction & Commission

As you stay in your space

May the God who is community be with us as we seek to be community.

May God help us find growth through challenge rather than pretend we don’t need to grow forward.

May we look at each other through soft eyes and truly respect each other as human beings.

And may we share the extraordinary love of God that knows no divisions or restrictions.

In the name of God the Creator, God the Redeemer and God the Sustainer. Amen.