Service Sunday July 20, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
SUNDAY, July 20th, 2025
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
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The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TERRITORY:
We acknowledge that above all, this territory belongs to God ... Wakan ... Creator. It has been cared for by many generations of people before us; both Indigenous Peoples and settlers. May we, in true humility, be thankful to be on this territory today.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Welcome to this service in the midst of summer warmth and colour.
ALL: We have come, excited to receive God’s word in scripture.
One: We are here to praise our Creator and give our thanks.
ALL: We have come to raise our spirits to the heavens in song.
One: We are here to offer prayers for a better world.
ALL: We gather here as one community to worship together and to be reminded to love one another.
One: We have come as one family of God, eager to be attentive to the ways of holy goodness and loving-kindness.
ALL: Come, let us worship God.
Written by Rosemary Godin, First U.C., Trenton, N.S..
Gathering, Pentecost 1 2025, p.36. Used with permission.
HYMN: “O Beautiful Gaia” MV #41
Refrain:
O beautiful Gaia, O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia, calling us on.
1. Soil yielding its harvest,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Soil yielding its harvest,
calling us on.
2. Waves crashing on granite,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Waves crashing on granite,
calling us on.
3. Pine bending in windstorm,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Pine bending in windstorm,
calling us on.
4. Loon nesting in marshland,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Loon nesting in marshland,
calling us on.
OPENING PRAYER: Read In Unison
O wondrous, listening God, you are the mysterious and holy one whom we call by many names and by no name. Gathered as we are in this sacred dwelling place, help us in the few moments that lie before us to receive what you want us to receive, to be what you want us to be, to share what you want us to share, and to sing what you want us to sing. Amen
Written by Wayne Hilliker, Chalmers U.C., Kingston, Ont.
Gathering, Pentecost 1 2025, p.40. Used with permission
MINISTRY OF MUSIC: LEARNING TOGETHER:
HYMN: “Jesus, Teacher, Brave and Bold” VU #605
1 Jesus, teacher, brave and bold,
let us serve you, young and old.
Let us faith-filled workers be,
all around, your wisdom see.
Let us play and dance and sing,
your goodness find in everything.
2 Jesus, friend, so strong and true,
show us good, brave work to do.
Show us those who need a friend,
all things broken help us mend.
Free our minds and stretch our care,
teach us to serve you everywhere.
THE WORD
Scripture: : Luke 10: 25-28
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“Don’t Allow a Clobber Passage to Silence You and Your Love”
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: (sung VU #960)
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.
YOUR GENEROUSITY MATTERS:
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER:
Loving God, in our bid to serve you, we worship with our words and deeds. And now, we offer our gifts of time, prayers, and material goods. May they be used to ease the lives of others, wherever they go. Let your love shine in all we do, so it catches on and trickles beyond the spaces where we live and worship. In the light of your gracious love, we offer our gifts. Bless the givers and those receiving . Amen
Written by Diane Trollope, Sudbury, Ont.
Gathering, Pentecost 1 2025, p.47. Used with permission.
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:
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
“The Other Side?”
Luke 10:25-37
July 13, 2025 – 5th Sunday after Pentecost
The Good Samaritan may be one of the most well-known biblical characters. Whether or not you grew up attending Sunday School; whether or not you have attended church most of your life, you’ve probably heard of the Good Samaritan. After all, in a 2013 Time magazine article naming the “13 Most Memorable People Who Never Lived”, the Good Samaritan rated right up there with Superman, Barbie, and Homer Simpson.
Yes, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is very familiar to us all. When I discovered that this passage was the designated Gospel reading for this Sunday, and I began to ponder the meaning of the parable and the surrounding verses for us today, it occurred to me that in my years of full-time ministry I never once preached on this passage. The churches I served closed in July, when this passage appears in the lectionary. So, although the story is extremely familiar – and perhaps BECAUSE it is extremely familiar – delving deeply into it is a new and valuable experience for me, and perhaps for you too.
As with many of Jesus’ parables, this one is told as a story within a story. Jesus told parables to challenge his listeners’ assumptions through vivid and unexpected storytelling. The main ‘listener’ to this parable is the lawyer who encounters Jesus and intends to ‘test’ him with a question about the laws of the Jewish faith. Clearly, there were bystanders listening to this story as well. No doubt each of Jesus’ listeners that day found themselves challenged. And it would be good if we allowed ourselves to be challenged too.
This ‘lawyer’, or in the words of The Inclusive Bible translation, the ‘expert in the law’ opens the conversation with a rather intense question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” As Jesus often did, he responds with a question of his own, asking the expert in the law his thoughts on the matter. This person answers with the words of the Shema, the basis of the Jewish faith, from Deuteronomy: “You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” The legal expert also includes one more law, from the book of Leviticus: “and you should love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus tells the expert in the law he has answered correctly and that if he does these things he will live. Realizing he hasn’t yet caught Jesus with his ‘test’, the legal expert asks one more question: “Just who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds with the parable, so familiar to US, but so shocking to his Jewish listeners of the day.
The gist of the story is this … A traveler is making his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. Along the road he is attacked by robbers and left for dead at the side of the road. Three different people come along. The first two, highly respected leaders of the Jewish faith, keep their distance from the injured traveler, going to the other side of the road. The third – a Samaritan, goes immediately to the aid of the wounded man. Now, we need to remember that Samaritans and Jews were basically enemies. People of the Jewish faith tradition considered Samaritans to be people of questionable ancestry and questionable faith practices. This was the shocking part of the parable for Jesus’ listeners that day, particularly the ‘expert in the law’. To have Jesus suggest that a SAMARITAN – their ENEMY – would show kindness above and beyond what was expected of anyone, would have definitely challenged their assumptions about their faith.
Now, I would like you to help me tell this parable again. I need your help naming some of the characters. In this version of the parable – one that connects to our reality today, here in Canada – I’d like us all to imagine that you or I are the wounded traveler lying in the ditch. Who do you think the two socially respected passersby might be? (The names suggested were Mayor Bob Carder and minister Rev. Max Ward). Now, let’s think about someone we consider an enemy – someone who is very difficult to accept as being one of God’s beloved. If Jesus were to say to you today, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”, who comes to mind as someone you find it very difficult to pray for, to bless, to love as God loves? Who should we have as the Good Samaritan in our version of the parable. (We decided to have a nameless man who had acted in an uncaring manner towards his children, ignoring them as they floated in the fast current of the Gull River) Ok, let’s tell the parable again. And if the characters we have chosen to stand in for the priest, and the Levite, and the Samaritan of Jesus’ parable don’t speak to you – if there is a particular person you cannot imagine yourself loving as Jesus calls us to love – simply say the name in your mind as we tell the parable once more. And remember, you are the person attacked and left lying in the ditch.
A person was travelling from Haliburton to Minden along County Road 21. It was a very hot summer day – hot enough that few people were out on the road. However, there was someone who figured the traveler would have some cash and a credit card or two. The traveler was attacked, their wallet and phone were taken, and the traveler was given a good hard shove into the ditch. Even though it was such a hot day, Mayor Bob Carter and Rev. Max Ward were out and about. They noticed the traveler in the ditch, clearly injured. They wondered if the traveler had overdosed. They didn’t have a naloxone kit with them to temporarily reverse the effects of the overdose. They were concerned but didn’t know how to help so simply carried on their way on the other side. Then the uncaring father – let’s call him the Good Mindenite – appeared on the scene. He immediately hurried to assist the injured traveler, getting down into the ditch too. He offered kind words of reassurance after calling 911 on their phone. He accompanied the traveler in the ambulance to the hospital, continuing to gently assure the traveler. He didn’t leave until he knew the traveler was going to be cared for well.
With his Good Samaritan parable, Jesus pushed his listeners (especially the expert in the law) to understand that someone who is “other” – someone on the opposing ‘team’, even an enemy – is a neighbor. Similarly, our ‘here and now’ parable of the Good Mindonite expands our understanding of who is neighbor. In the words of a New Testament Instructor whose commentary I read this week, “instead of describing who is a neighbor, Jesus’ parable declares how to embody being a neighbor.” Clearly, to BE a neighbor, one must act with compassion and kindness, even to those we’d rather avoid.
Parables are told in a way that challenges our thinking – particularly our thinking about our faith. We have delved deeply into Jesus’ parable today. Perhaps the shocking notion of someone we have considered an enemy actually being compassionate to someone in need invites us to look at our faith understanding from ‘the other side’. I invite you to carry the Good Samaritan parable with you this week – whichever version speaks to you most clearly. May we be challenged to hear a new truth about the kin-dom of God. May our willingness to live as good neighbours grow deeper. And may our understanding of the depth of God’s love be broadened – especially God’s abundant love for those who may be difficult for us to imagine as one of God’s beloved, even if that person is our own self. Amen and amen.
