We are journeying together in God’s love . . .
to discover, nurture and share our gifts.”
Epiphany
January 7, 2007
Communion/Food Bank Sunday
Frankincense or olibanum is an aromatic resin obtained from the tree Boswellia thurifera or B. sacra, B. carterii (Burseraceae). It is used in incense as well as in perfumes. Myrrh is a red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha, native to Somalia and the eastern parts of Ethiopia. Myrrh is a constituent of perfumes and incenses, was highly prized in ancient times, and was often worth more than it weight in gold. Gold is a highly prized precious metal that for millennia has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry.
If you would like to stay seated for any or all of the “standing” parts of the service, please feel free to do so.
Prelude
Call to Worship (Responsive)
One: Arise, shine, a new day has come.
All: The glory of God is all around us.
One: Look all around: people come from all the earth
All: Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, so let us all rejoice in the goodness of God!
Hymn #87 “I am the Light of the World”
Conversation Time
The Sunday School and Youth leave for their classes.
Prayer for Transformation & Assurance of Pardon
One: We bring our gifts. We have no gold, but we offer you our money.
All: May we share wisely.
One: We bring our gifts. We have no frankincense, but we offer our worship.
All: May we praise joyfully, pray wholeheartedly, and learn with openness.
One: We bring you our gifts. We have no myrrh, but we offer our experience of loss.
All: May we express our feelings openly, share our struggles trustingly, and comfort sensitively.
Words of Assurance (One)
Biblical Notes
Other lessons for your personal consideration from today’s lections are: From the Psalms – Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; From the Epistles: Ephesians 3:1-12
One: This is the Witness of God’s People
We Respond In Giving And Gratitude
Offertory “Camel’s Stomp” by Christopher Norton
Hymn #471 “Eat This Bread and Never Hunger”
Our shared past and our hoped for future welcome you to the table of all our eternities. What we have been and what we will be meet here with the people who have their eye on something beyond this world and have tasted a mystery, a promise of what will be. Welcome. Your place is here.A place of birthing and rebirthing, of unlearning and relearning, of losing and finding ourselves again.
God’s place.
A place of creation and imagination, where bread and wine become past and future, and a meal becomes the portal of the new realm.
God’s place.
A deep down place where we come to our senses and touch the mystery again.
God’s place.
Most holy God, thank you for the gift of this new year and for the call to be your faithful people. You know our thoughts, you love us into being. You walk beside us and in your grace we are strengthened.
With all your faithful people we dare to proclaim:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of love and gentleness.
Thank you for Jesus the Christ, the supreme example of love at all costs, who proclaimed your word by the way he lived, through the words he spoke, in the way he cared for others, even at personal risk.
For his life and teachings, we give thanks. We remember how, on the very night in which one of his own betrayed him, he took bread, gave thanks, and broke the bread saying, “This is my body, which is broken for you. When you eat of this, remember me.” He also took the cup, passed it among his disciples, even to the one who betrayed him, and said, “This is a cup of new beginnings. Whenever you drink it, remember me.”
With all your faithful people, we dare to proclaim:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of love and gentleness.
God has blessed us upon our journey. God calls us into being and faithfully walks beside us. God cares for us and asks us to care for one another.
Let us Pray…
One: Creator and Preserver of all humankind, we give you thanks for the gift of your son Jesus, in whose life we see love for all people. We give thanks for the power of these ordinary elements, the bread and the cup, that refresh us and renew us in our faith. In being set apart for this special use, we pray this bread and wine remind us that you transform our world through ordinary things and through the most ordinary of people even as we pray as Jesus imaged you as Father and taught us to pray by saying “Our Father…”
Empowered through your Spirit, we give you thanks. Amen.
Sharing at God’s Table
Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion (Unison)
Almighty God, we give thanks that at this table we have been reminded once again of your love for us. Refreshed by the power of your Spirit, let us go now to strive for peace and live out your love in our homes, communities, work places, and world. Amen.
Commissioning (One)
Follow the star. Follow the star and be ready to acknowledge your gifts and be eager to use them.
Choral Amen
#298 “When You Walk From Here”
When you walk from here, when you walk from here.
Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.
Postlude
The Life And Work Of The Congregation
This Week at Westminster (January 7 - 13)
Sun. Music & Worship 9:00 a.m. Lounge
Epiphany: Communion / Food Bank Sunday
Worship 10:25 a.m. Sanctuary
UCW Executive Meeting after worship Lounge
Tues. Prayer Shawl Ministry 1:30 p.m. Lounge
Board of Elders 7:00 p.m. Lounge
Meditation Group resumes 7:00 p.m. Adoption 2000
Wed. Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Nursery
Square Circle 6:00 p.m. Tops Restaurant
Thurs. Removal of Decorations 10:00 a.m.
No Senior Choir Practice
Next Week at Westminster (January 14 - 20)
Sun. Trustees 9:00 a.m. Shalom
Worship 10:25 a.m. Sanctuary
Tues. Prayer Shawl Ministry 7:00 p.m. Lounge
Meditation Group 7:00 p.m. Adoption 2000
Wed. Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Nursery
Thurs. Senior Choir Practice 7:00 p.m. Sanctuary
Ladies Night Out 7:00 p.m. Lounge
Fri. Friday Night at the Movies 7:00 p.m. Lounge
Friendship Rosters: Please sign the Friendship Roster this morning. It is a helpful record of your worship presence and a way to share special concerns (ie. prayer requests, name tag requests, etc.).
Year 2007 Offering Envelopes are available in the Narthex. When you pick them up please check the number on your label with the envelope number to be sure they are the same. People on PAR may pick up an Observer envelope in the Narthex. The cost of the Observer is $14.00 for all subscribers.
Meditation Group resumes this Tuesday, Jan. 9th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Adoption 2000 space.
Square Circle UCW Unit will meet for supper on Wed. Jan. 10th at 6:00 p.m. at Tops Restaurant (1731 Dunmore Rd SE).
Christmas Decoration Removal will take place this Thursday Jan. 11th at 10:00 a.m. Anyone who would like to help is very welcome
Ladies Night Out: a new outing for ladies. Come and join us for desserts and coffee/tea and let’s discuss all of our ideas for further gatherings. (Childcare will be provided for $2 per child), Thursday, January 18. (For more information Call Thia Toogood at 526-0195).
Friday Night at the Movies: Everything is Illuminated. A young Jewish American man endeavours to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II in a Ukrainian village, that was ultimately razed by the Nazis with the help of a local who speaks weirdly funny broken English, Friday, January 19, at 7:00. Bring your own beverage, popcorn provided..
Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 28.
Celebrations This Week
Birthdays: Toni Carlson, Marilynn Piotrowski, Darcy Fox, Bea Hirsch, Reese Adams, Anne Maier, Stan Bohnet, Brent Carlson, Ernie Mylymok
Anniversaries: Bill and Boo Thompson
Our thoughts & prayers are with the Luyten family on the passing of Eileen Luyten. Our thoughts & prayers are also with Lil Iwanicki and family following the passing of Hank Iwanicki this past week.
Sunday School Co-ordinator....................................... Tara Johnson
Greeters/Ushers............ Adair Prouty, Betty Sidlick, Dawn Tomkins,
............................................................................ Janice Croissant
Nursery Coordinator.............................................. Tanya Hoffarth
Coffee Hosts................ Jean Whiting, Karen Knibbs, Sandra Plank,
........................................................................ & Florence Leech
Scripture Reader..................................................... Melanie Rattai
Elder-in-Charge................................................. Alvin Cruickshank
Next Week’s Readings from: Isaiah 43: 1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8: 14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Stewardship Thought
“Both Isaiah and Matthew celebrate gifts and abundance. Each of us is one of God’s gifts to the world!”
Stewardship Seconds, 2007