Service Sunday November 16, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Paul Reed
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
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The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND:
As we gather, we are reminded that we are situated on treaty land that is steeped in rich Indigenous history. As a faith community we have a responsibility for the stewardship of the land on which we live and work. Today we acknowledge the Mississaugas of Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Scugog Island First Nation and the Chippewas of Beausoleil First Nation, Georgina Island First Nation and the Rama First Nation that are all signatories of the Williams Treaties and Treaty 20 and on whose traditional territory we are meeting.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: The God of new beginnings,
All: begins with us here in this place.
One: The God of re-creation,
All: re-creates dead-ends into new living.
One: The God of dreams,
All: dreams in us a new world.
One: The God of wholeness,
All: brings a new kind of harmony into this world.
One: The God of vision,
All: envisions new possibilities in us.
One: The God of love,
All: loves our lives and yet makes them new.
One: Come, let us worship our wondrous God.
HYMN: “Let Us Build a House” MV #1
1. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
2. Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
3. Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat;
a banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
4. Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known. Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face; let us bring an end to fear and danger
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
5. Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
OPENING PRAYER: Spoken in Unison
God, you are creating a new heaven and a new earth, and you call us to be part of that re-creation. So here we gather to hear again your good news for this world and for ourselves. Open our eyes to see what you are doing, open our ears to hear your words that create this new thing, and open our hearts to the re-creation that begins for us, here in this community. Bless us in hearing your promises today as we offer ourselves in worship today and trust in your good news here among us. Amen.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC
LEARNING TOGETHER:
HYMN: “I See a New Heaven” VU #713
I see a new heaven.
I see a new earth
as the old one will pass away,
where the fountain of life flows
and without price goes
to all people who abide in the land.
1 There, there on the banks of a river bright and free,
yielding her fruit, firm in her root, the Tree of Life will be. R
2 There, there where death dies and our lives are born again,
body and soul, struggling but whole like flowers after the rain. R
3 There, there where the darkness brings visions from above.
There where the night, bearing new light, reveals the promise of love. R
4 There, there where we work with the love of healing hands.
Labour we must, true to our trust to build a promised new land.
THE WORD
Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25
Scripture: Luke 21:5-19
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“After Remembrance”
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be.
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN: “To Show by Touch and Word” VU #427
1 To show by touch and word devotion to the earth,
to hold in full regard all life that comes to birth,
we need, O God, the will to find
the good you had of old in mind.
2 Renew our minds to choose the things that matter most,
our hearts to long for truth till pride of self is lost.
For every challenge that we face
we need your guidance and your grace.
3 Let love from day to day be yardstick, rule, and norm,
and let our lives portray your word in human form.
Now come with us that we may have
your wits about us where we live.
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
YOUR GENEROSITY MATTERS:
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
God of eternal love, we begin again this weekly journey ever mindful of all that you have done for us, and we rededicate ourselves to travel with Jesus, to remember your promises, and to spread the good news of your never-ending, undying, unconditional love for all people. Accept the gifts that we offer, and accept our promise, to love, serve, and follow, in Christ’s name. Amen.
SUNG BLESSING (VU #574 vs 4)
4 Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love!
Come and abide, come and abide,
lifting my life till it rises above
envy and falsehood and pride:
seeking to be, seeking to be
lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
SENDING FORTH AND BLESSING:
Leader: We have no reason to fear the storms within nor the storms without
for we are bound together in a strong community of love. And wherever there is love, there is God. May we be a people of enduring vision and hope
Go to love others as Christ loves you and to celebrate God’s goodness with all of creation.
ALL: We go surrounded by God’s Spirit.
Leader: The former things have gone away; God is making all things new.
God dwells among us even now.
All: We go to help make God’s dream come true.
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2025 - 25/10/2026; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches
