Service Sunday June 29, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
SUNDAY, June 22, 2025
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. David Moore
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
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The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TERRITORY: In Unison
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: Our freedom comes as life in the Spirit.
All: We reject the works based only on our fleshly desires.
One: We live a new life of spirit and truth.
All: Let us worship the Lord in full spirit. 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.
A NEW CREED: Spoken in Unison
We are not alone; we live in God’s world.
We believe in God: who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
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: Galatians 5:1:13-25
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“Lists”
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: (spoken VU #921)
HYMN “O Jesus, I Have Promised” VU #120
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.
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Liberating God, who calls us to true freedom, we offer these gifts as signs of our commitment to live by the Spirit’s leading. May our generosity reflect your love that is joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind. Through your grace, may we sow seeds of compassion and justice, nurturing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and the world. Guide us to use our freedom not for ourselves but for service, so that we may build communities of faith and hope. With thankful hearts, we dedicate ourselves to your transforming work. In Christ’s 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: you are loved into freedom, set loose on the world to share
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so go and love your neighbor,
all of your neighbors, as you love yourself,
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 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
