Service Sunday August 31, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. David Moore
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
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Watch a video recording of the whole service using Youtube below
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
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.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Children of God, when we witness the needs of strangers and listen to the struggles of our friends, remember:
ALL: Let mutual love continue.
One: When we hear the struggles of those in prison and recognize the suffering of people near and far, remember:
ALL: Let mutual love continue.
One: When temptations to hoard more money, more power, and more influence surround us on every side, remember:
ALL: Let mutual love continue.
One: As we gather for worship, remember: God is here among us, surrounding us with love and forming us to live in love everywhere we go.
ALL: We choose to cooperate with God’s love today and every day so that mutual love will continue wherever we go and whatever we do. Amen.
HYMN: “Come In, Come In and Sit Down” VU #395
Come in, come in and sit down,
you are a part of the family.
We are lost and we are found,
and we are a part of the family.
1 You know the reason why you came,
yet no reason can explain;
so share in the laughter and cry in the pain,
for we are a part of the family. R
2 God is with us in this place,
like a mother's warm embrace.
We're all forgiven by God's grace,
for we are a part of the family. R
3 There's life to be shared in the bread and the wine;
we are the branches, Christ is the vine.
This is God's temple, it's not yours or mine,
but we are a part of the family. R
4 There's rest for the weary and health for us all;
there's a yoke that is easy, and a burden that's small.
So come in and worship and answer the call,
for we are a part of the family. R
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
In the face of all our realities:
We are the people who heal each other,
who grow strong together,
who name the truth,
who know what it means to live in community,
moving toward a common dream
for a new heaven and a new earth.
In the power of the love of God our Creator,
The company of Jesus Christ,
And the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC:
LEARNING TOGETHER:
HYMN: “Would You Bless Our Homes and Families” VU #556
1 Would you bless our homes and families,
Source of life who calls us here;
in our world of stress and tension
teach us love that conquers fear.
Help us learn to love each other
with a love that constant stays;
teach us when we face our troubles,
love's expressed in many ways.
2 When our way is undemanding,
let us use the time that's ours
to delight in simple pleasures,
sharing joys in gentle hours.
When our way is anxious walking
and a heavy path we plod,
teach us trust in one another
and in you, our gracious God.
3 From the homes in which we're nurtured,
with the love that shapes us there,
teach us, God, to claim as family
every one whose life we share.
And through all that life may offer,
may we in your love remain;
may the love we share in families
be alive to praise your name.
4 Let us reach beyond the boundaries
of our daily thought and care
till the family you have chosen
spills its love out everywhere.
Help us learn to love each other
with a love that constant stays;
teach us when we face our troubles
love's expressed in many ways.
THE WORD
Scripture: : Hebrews 13:1-16
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“Continue to Love”
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and
THE LORD’S PRAYER spoken
HYMN “Blest Be The Tie That Binds” VU #602
1 Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the unity of heart and mind
is like to that above.
2 Before our Maker's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
3 We share each other's woes,
each other's burdens bear;
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
4 This glorious hope revives
our courage on the way;
that we shall live in perfect love
in God's eternal day.
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
Faithful and Unchanging God, in a world that shifts and sways, you remain our firm foundation. You have called us into a life of mutual love, teaching us to serve, to welcome, and to give with generous hearts. Bless these gifts we offer today, that they may extend your love to those who hunger, who seek justice, and who long for hope. Shape us into a people whose generosity reflects your own, that through our giving, we may proclaim your unshakable kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, our constant and faithful guide. Amen.
SUNG BLESSING VU #232 vs 3
3 You are giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest.
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Source of grace and fount of blessing, let your light upon us shine:
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.
SENDING FORTH:
Children of God, go from this place in the blessing of the Triune God, our
Helper and our Friend, offering your sacrifice of praise and sharing what you
have as you spread the love of God in mutuality and care to the ends of the
earth and back again. 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
