Service Sunday August 17, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leaders: Rev. David Moore
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
THE APPROACH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND:
We begin this time of worship by acknowledging that we are meeting on land that has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples from the beginning. We thank all the generations of Indigenous people who have taken care of this land and been its stewards for thousands of years. We give thanks for the countless ways they have assisted the settler peoples who came to inhabit the land. We also recognize the contributions Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous peoples have made in shaping and strengthening this region, the provinces, and Canada as a whole. Meegwetch. All my relations.
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Children of God, for the sake of the joy, we gather…
ALL: We gather to worship, to encounter grace, to grow in faith.
One: For the sake of the joy, we proclaim…
ALL: We proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, the love of God that surrounds us and forms us into a community marked by love for God, self, neighbor, and all creation.
One: For the sake of the joy, we respond…
ALL: We respond with our lives, ready to embody our faith as agents of God’s already-and-not-yet kingdom.
One: For the sake of the joy, God sends us…
ALL: God sends us into the world to meet our neighbors with the defiant joy and persevering love of the gospel today and every day.
One: Come, let us worship the Triune God who dwells with us as we gather, proclaim, respond, and go forth from this place.
Come, let us worship! Thanks be to God. Amen.
HYMN: “We Are Pilgrims” VU #595
1 We are pilgrims on a journey,
fellow travellers on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
2 Sister, let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.
3 I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
4 I will weep when you are weeping,
when you laugh I'll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow,
till we've seen this journey through.
5 When we sing to God in heaven,
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we've known together
of Christ's love and agony.
6 Brother, let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Glorious God, we thank you for the cloud of witnesses, the multitude of the faithful of all ages, who surround us. Considering their example, and looking to Jesus, may we run the race of life faithfully. Encourage us, that we may not grow weary or fainthearted. Help us accept your gentle discipline, through the grace of Jesus Christ. Amen.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC:
LEARNING TOGETHER:
HYMN: “Be Thou My Vision” VU #642
1 Be thou my vision, O joy of my heart;
naught be all else to me save that thou art,
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom, my calm in all strife;
I ever with thee, and thou in my life;
thou loving parent, thy child may I be,
thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.
3 Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight
be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O power of my power.
4 Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only, the first in my heart,
great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.
5 Great God of heaven, after victory won,
may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O ruler of all.
THE WORD
Scripture: : Luke 12:29-56
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“GC 45 First Reflections”
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken VU #921)
HYMN “God of Grace and God of Glory” VU #686
1 God of grace and God of glory,
on your people pour your power;
now fulfil your church's story;
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour.
2 Lo, the hosts of evil round us
scorn your Christ, assail your ways;
fears and doubts too long have bound us;
free our hearts to work and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days.
3 Cure your children's warring madness,
bend our pride to your control;
shame our wanton selfish gladness,
rich in goods and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss your kingdom's goal.
4 Set our feet on lofty places,
gird our lives that they may be
armoured with all Christlike graces,
pledged to set all captives free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
that we fail not them nor thee.
YOUR GENEROUSITY MATTERS:
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
Enduring and Gracious God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses, those who have gone before us and those who walk beside us in faith. As we bring our gifts before you, we offer them in gratitude, knowing that our generosity is part of your ongoing work in the world. Strengthen us to run with perseverance the race set before us, so that through our giving and through our living, we may reflect the joy of Christ and the love that unites all your saints. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
SUNG BLESSING MV #150 vs 4
4 Spirit God: be our breath, be our song.
Blow through us, bringing strength to move on.
Through change, through challenge, we’ll greet the new dawn…
Spirit God, be our song.
SENDING FORTH:
Children of God, go now in the presence of the great cloud of witnesses and in
the blessing of God who forms us for community. May you find in God and
one another the joy to persevere as we follow after Jesus, the author and
perfector of our faith, as we seek God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2024 - 25/10/2025; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches
