GATHERING
(order of service on screen)
Welcome and Announcements
· Etc., and elements of communion
· Teach Kyrie with sign language
Continuing…
Let us begin with a territorial acknowledgment.
Carmen and Joe walk forward and stand together at the lecturn…
Territorial Acknowledgement [Carmen]
As we come together in this place,
we take a moment to acknowledge this sacred land
on which Emmanuel College and the University of Toronto stands.
This has been a site of human activity for many thousands of years.
This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations,
the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River.
Today, the meeting place of Toronto
is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island.
We are grateful for the opportunity to live and work on this territory. Let us be mindful of broken covenants,
and strive to make right with all our relations.
A candle is lit by Joe.
Silence is kept.
Sung Call to Worship
More Voices 104 Mungu Ni Mwe Ma/Know that God is Good
(in all four languages)[Becca on piano]
Opening Prayer (unison, lead by Joe)
Loving God, open our hearts
that we may feel the breath and play of your Spirit.
Unclench our hands
that we may reach out to one another,
and touch and be healed.
Open our lips
that we may drink in the delight and wonder of life.
Open our eyes
that we may see Christ in friend and stranger.
Breathe your Spirit into us,
and touch our lives with the life of Christ.
Aotearoa, New Zealand
Hymn: VU 200 O Holy Spirit, by Whose Breath [Chrys on organ]
WORD
Reading: Jonah 3:10-4:11 [Florence MacGregor]
A reading from the book of Jonah…
When God saw what they did,
how they turned from their evil ways,
God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and did not do it.
But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.
He prayed to theLordand said, “OLord!
Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning;
for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and ready to relent from punishing.
And now, OLord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
And theLordsaid, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city,
and made a booth for himself there.
He sat under it in the shade,
waiting to see what would become of the city.
TheLordGod appointed a bush,
and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head,
to save him from his discomfort;
so Jonah was very happy about the bush.
But when dawn came up the next day,
God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered.
When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind,
and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die.
He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.”
Then theLordsaid, “You are concerned about the bush,
for which you did not labor and which you did not grow;
it came into being in a night and perished in a night.
And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city,
in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 145 – Version from Psalms for All Seasons
Verses to be sung by Andrew Atchison, Becca on piano
Chorus sung by all.
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 [Jim Glass]
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew…
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
When he went out about nine o’clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;
and he said to them,
‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’
So they went.
When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock,
he did the same.
And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’
They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and then going to the first.’
When those hired about five o’clock came,
each of them received the usual daily wage.
Now when the first came,
they thought they would receive more;
but each of them also received the usual daily wage
And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us
who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’
But he replied to one of them,
‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong;
did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what belongs to you and go;
I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious because I am generous?’
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON [Paul Scott Wilson]
SILENT REFLECTION
…silence…
Prayers of the People [two leaders: Carmen and Joe, alternating]
Sung Response: MV 70 Kyrie Eleison [led by Becca a cappella]
We pray for all those who will be born today,
and who, even in the womb may fear the world . . . .
And we pray for all those who will die today,
who wonder who will hold them when human hands are left behind . . . .
Kyrie Eleison
We pray for those who much make a decision today,
which may affect their lives or the lives of others . . . .
And we pray for those who must leave today
– leave home, leave work, leave a relationship, an addiction, or a hard place . . . .
Christe Eleison
We pray for the victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and
And for the victims of the earthquake in Mexico
And we pray also, aloud or in silence, for other people and places,
known and unknown to us, who need our prayers, and your presence . . . .
[allow the congregation to contribute]
Kyrie Eleison
TABLE
Invitation & Peace [Pam Couture]
In the name of the One who said,
“I am the bread of life,”
I invite you to come and eat.
In the name of the One who said, “I am the true vine,”
I invite you to come and drink.
In the name of the One who said,
“Love one another, as I have loved, you,”
I invite you to the table of Jesus Christ.
Peace be with you.
And also with you.
we exchange signs of peace
PRESENTATION HYMN: VU 477 I Come With Joy [Chrys on organ]
Jason and Oliver to bring the elements forward and help Pam to prepare the table.
The Great Thanksgiving
God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, gracious God,
Creator of light, Giver of all life, Source of love.
You guide the sun, cradle the moon, and toss the stars.
At your word the earth was made
and spun on its course among the planets.
You breathe life into us
and set us among all your creatures,
in a covenant of love and service.
Even when we turn away from you, you do not forsake us.
You send your prophets to proclaim your justice,
to remind us of your promise of peace,
and to call us back to you.
Creator, Christ, and Spirit,
we praise you for your love revealed to us in Jesus,
who walks with us, our Wisdom and our Way,
sharing our joy and sorrow,
healing the sick,
feeding the hungry,
and setting the captive free.
So it is that we join the song of all creation to
proclaim your goodness:
Santo, Santo, Santo! Mi corazón te adora! Becca on piano
Mi corazón te sabe decir: Santo eres Dios!
Holy, holy, holy! Hosanna in the highest!
Let all creation praise and pray:
Save us, Holy God!
Mighty and tender God, in Jesus of Nazareth
we recognize the fullness of your grace:
light, life, and love, revealed
in words that confront and comfort us,
in teachings that challenge and change us,
in compassion that heals and frees us.
And now we gather at this table to remember
and to be filled with such longing for your realm,
that we may rise together
to turn our worship into witness
and to follow in your way.
We remember that when Jesus ate with his friends,
he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it,
he broke it and gave it to them, saying:
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Each time you do this, remember me.”
Then, he took a cup, and after giving thanks,
passed it to his friends, saying:
“Drink. This cup that is poured out for you
is the promise of God, made in my blood.
Whenever you drink it, remember me.”
Loving God, we rejoice in the gift of your grace,
remembering Christ’s life and death,
proclaiming his resurrection,
waiting in hope for his coming again.
Grant that, in praise and thanksgiving,
we may so offer ourselves to you
that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died, is risen, Becca on piano
will come again to meet us,
and walks with us the Way of love.
Holy kindom, come!
Send, O God, your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts,
that all who share in this loaf and cup
may be the body of Christ:
light, life, and love in the world.
In this hope and as your people, we praise you.
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, God most holy,
now and forever.
Holy, holy, holy! Becca on piano
“Amen!” we pray, with longing.
Let all creation cry “Amen!”
Holy kindom, come!
…and let us join in a paraphrase of the Prayer of Jesus...
Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.Amen. Aotearoa, New Zealand
COMMUNION HYMNS:
MV 104 “Know that God is Good”
Bread of the World (Thai melody) Becca on piano
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION [led by Pam] spoken in unison
Eternal God, we thank you that
you have called your people from east and west,
and north and south,
to feast at the table of Jesus Christ.
Keep us faithful to your will.
Go with us to the streets,
to our homes,
and to our places of labour and leisure—
that whether we are gathered or scattered,
we may be the servant church of the servant Christ,
in whose name we pray.
Amen
GOING FORTH
HYMN: VU 651 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah [Chrys on organ]
BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
POSTLUDE [Chrys]