Service Sunday June 28, 2026
HOPE UNITED CHURCH
Norland, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
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MESSAGE: “Faith, Change, Hope - Decommissioning of Hope United Church”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
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Sermon 2026 06 28
“Faith, Change, Hope -Decommissioning of Hope United Church”
John 17: 20-26
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
I am honoured to be sharing this day together.
It is a day to celebrate our history, the ways we have brought the Good News to the world.
How Hope United Church has been a beacon of Christ’s light for all to see.
Our history has shown that Hope United Church was not just about what went on within the walls of the church building, but that our ministry went beyond the white siding.
This ministry has had an impact not only within Norland, but far reaching to places around our country and the world.
It is also a time to recognize the swirl of emotions that we all may be feeling today.
Today’s reading of the Gospel of John we find ourselves on the eve of Jesus’ final days.
We really can’t sit with just the short reading of Chapter 17, we need to engage with so much more that gets us to today’s reading.
Chapter 13, we have Jesus washing the Disciples feet setting an example for them as to how they relate with one another.
He gives a new commandment “…that you shall love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Chapter 14, instructing the disciples “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and the teaching that Jesus is the way to the Father.
Reminding the followers of Jesus “I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do…”
We have the promise of the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, whose presence is to “remind” us of all that Jesus has said.
Chapter 15 is so rich and it is important for us today to keep in mind.
Jesus teaches “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit”.
Here Jesus again reminds us of the new commandment, “love one another as I have loved you.”
Hear these words, “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last”.
Chapter 16 reminds us of the Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, who is charged with guiding us in that truth.
Jesus says, “the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.”
“I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace.”
Throughout these chapters, Jesus is addressing the disciples, he speaks to the unthinkable and unimaginable, saying “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
The disciples can’t comprehend what is happening; perhaps they can’t even hear him through their confusion and fear.
They have a lapse in memory of the things that he has just said from Chapter 13 to now.
Rather than admonish them, teach them again…he does something, in my mind that is utterly remarkable – he prays for them!
Did you know that Chapter 17: 1 – 26 is generally known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer?
We might lose sight of the fact this is indeed a prayer, for Jesus looks to the heavens and prays to the “Father”.
Jesus claims us by saying “They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they kept your word.”
This is such a powerful experience, the idea that Christ’s longest prayer documented in the bible is given not only for his disciples, but for us.
Think about that, it is a prayer given to the world, to the church (then and now) but it is also given with each and every one of us, for Hope United Church, past and present.
David Lose offers this comment on Jesus’ prayer in John’s Gospel:
“That’s what Jesus does here.
He prays for his disciples.
He senses their anxiety, confusion, and fear, and so he prays for them.
He knows they can bear no more, and so he prays for them.
He knows he will soon leave them, and so he prays for them.
And as he does, and whether or not they understand everything he says, he tells them that they do not have to do everything or even understand everything.
He tells them that he is there to support them, that they are not alone, and that they are valued and loved.”
I’m not sure if you have had anyone pray for you?
I mean turn to you, grasping your hands and PRAY for you.
I have had that happen in a way that I have never forgotten.
It was shortly after my child Emily, now all grown up and known as E, had their first seizures and was diagnosed with Epilepsy.
I remember Rev. Marybeth Wilson took my hands and prayed for me in such a personal and intimate way that caused an emotional flood of feelings I could barely comprehend.
She prayed for E but also for me as their father.
She prayed that I would continue to find my way in my ministry, a reminder for me that I was not alone.
It is powerful to have someone take hold of you and pray for you.
It’s a powerful moment.
One of the amazing things about this passage is that Jesus doesn’t do this only for the disciples, but also for us.
Jesus prays, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word…”
Our ministry of 164 years has shown that we have and do believe in Jesus through not only our words but our actions.
We are the latest in a long line of persons who have been inspired and encouraged to believe because of the words and lives of those who have gone before us.
In the midst of the swirl of emotions that we are feeling, my hope is we will find comfort in knowing that we are being held gently in prayer, the Farewell Prayer of Christ, that has moved through the centuries to us in this moment and I offer it to us all as a personalized prayer, taking us by the hands and praying for us,
“Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May we, the good and faithful followers of Hope United Church, be in us.”
Christ’s ministry continues on in new ways through Highland Hills United Church, other local churches and other personal ways and means.
Go from this time of remembrance blessed and ready to serve in new ways.
Go in peace.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
