Service Sunday September 28, 2025
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
Watch a video recording of the whole service using YouTube below.
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING ON THE LIGHT OF CHRIST:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND:
Let us, in this place, remember, acknowledge, and give thanks for Indigenous and Metis Peoples, who have been the stewards of this territory since time immemorial. Especially in this place, we honour and acknowledge the Williams and Robinson Treaties that were made with the Original Peoples. May the work of reconciliation and right relations continue among us.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Our hearts ponder the beauty of God’s majesty!
ALL: It’s a poem of love for Creation.
One: Our pens are ready to write, our brushes are ready to paint
ALL: the wonders of God’s work!
One: The firmament displays the sea and sky --
ALL: proclaiming the majesty of God’s presence.
One: A God of awe and wonder is worthy of all praise!
ALL: May the Creator God come bless our hearts,
One: that we may show compassion, love, and care --
ALL: for all good gifts made for God’s pleasure and our delight!
One: May we be humble, respectful, and grateful
ALL: for Creation and for a God who keeps creating.
Written by Keith Mayers, Grace U.C., Brampton Ont.
Gathering, Pentecost 2 2025, p.25. Used with permission
HYMN: “Come To My Heart” VU #661
1 Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
come to my heart today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.
2 Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
fill me with love today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.
3 Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
teach me to walk in your way.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
Answer my prayer today.
Give me the peace and joy
that only you can bring.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus;
give me a song to sing.
A SONG OF FAITH: Spoken in Unison
God is Holy Mystery, beyond complete knowledge, above perfect description.
Yet, in love, the one eternal God seeks relationship.
So God creates the universe and with it the possibility of being and relating.
God tends the universe, mending the broken and reconciling the estranged.
God enlivens the universe, guiding all things toward harmony with their Source. Grateful for God’s loving action, We cannot keep from singing.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC:
LEARNING TOGETHER:
HYMN: “Jesus Loves Me” VU #365
1 Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so;
little ones to him belong,
in his love we shall be strong.
Refrain Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
2 Jesus loves me, this I know,
as he loved so long ago,
taking children on his knee,
saying, 'Let them come to me.' Refrain
3 Jesus loves me still today,
walking with me on my way,
wanting as a friend to give
light and love to all who live. Refrain
THE WORD
Scripture: : Luke 16:19-31
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“The Lazarus Principle”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and A CONTEMPORARY INTERPRETATION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Loving parent of all life, present throughout the cosmos,
The mere mention of your name calls us to love, respect, and care for each other. May justice for all, be imbedded in the hearts of all people.
Today may we accept only what we need, respecting creation, doing our part in sustaining the delicate balance of the natural world. Renew us with your grace, as we stumble through this world and help us to share the spirit of forgiveness, with those who have hurt us. Guide us with your spirit of love when we are tempted to be of this world. May evil be removed and replaced with your love. For by living with your love written on our hearts, we may rise above injustice and share the glory of equality, and peace with all of creation. All the days of our lives and into eternity. Amen
By Rev. Stephanie Richmond Seagrave/ Greenbank UC
Used with permission
HYMN “Joyful, Joyful We Adore You” VU #232
1 Joyful, joyful we adore you,
God of glory, life and love;
hearts unfold like flowers before you,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
drive the gloom of doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.
2 All your works with joy surround you,
earth and heaven reflect your rays,
stars and angels sing around you,
centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain,
sound their praise eternally.
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.
4 Mortals join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
God's own love is reigning o'er us,
joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward
in the triumph song of life.
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
Ever-merciful God, your love never ceases to astound us. All around us are small and large signs of your greatness. From such small things as a tiny seed grow amazing plants! From our meagre offerings grows a flourishing church community. How astounding! Bless all things great and small, so that we might live faithfully and serve you graciously. In the name of the Redeeming Christ, we pray. Amen.
Written by Laura J. Turnbull, Penticton, B.C,
Gathering, Pentecost 2 2025, p.38. Used with permission
SUNG BLESSING “God Be with You till We Meet Again” VU #422 v3
God be with you till we meet again;
when life's perils thick confound you,
put unfailing arms around you;
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
till we meet at Jesus' feet;
till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
SENDING FORTH:
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.
Sermon 28 September 2025
“The Lazarus Principle”
Luke 16:19-31
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.
You know, I have never preached on this scripture passage before.
It is tough to find the grace in this text but I’m going to give it a try today.
My first thoughts were those of Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol.
I thought of Scrooge’s partner, Jacob Marley trying to warn Scrooge to change his ways.
Then, Scrooge being visited by the spirits and then his transcendental awakening that changed his outlook on life and the way he lived in the world.
I like to imagine how the Bible would sound if Jesus had been born in our day.
I imagine that today’s Gospel lesson would go something like this:
The preacher of Big Church heard about the things that Jesus was teaching and so he preached a sermon against Jesus.
Now Big Church was the biggest church in town.
It had the highest steeple, the biggest Family Life Center, the largest paid staff, and the largest annual budget.
They were the biggest and the wealthiest church in town and they were proud of it.
When Jesus heard that the preacher at Big Church had preached against him, he told a parable.
It might have gone something like this:
Once upon a time there was a billionaire who wore only the finest clothes.
He had fine silk suits and tailored shirts.
His shoes were made in Italy and his handkerchiefs were embroidered with real gold.
This man ate only the finest food: filet mignon, lobster, caviar ($80 and oz.) and Champaign.
He lived like this every day, even Sundays.
At the gate of the man’s estate there was a homeless man named Lazarus.
Lazarus was in the advanced stages of Tuberculosis and was starving.
He was happy when he found something to eat in the rich man’s garbage.
On cold nights the street dogs would curl up with him and he didn’t even have the strength to shoo them away.
Well, finally the tuberculosis and malnutrition took it’s toll and Lazarus died and was carried away by the angels to heaven.
The rich man also died, of a heart attack I think, and he found himself in hell.
From the torments of hell he could look up and see Lazarus and Abraham feasting on steak and lobster and caviar.
Everywhere there were tall glasses of cold clear water.
In anguish, in the fires of hell he called out,
“Father Abraham, please send Lazarus to give me just a drop of water.”
But Abraham replied,
“You received good things during your life. Now it is Lazarus’ turn to experience the good life.
Anyway, he can’t.
There is a great divide between us and you and no one can cross it.”
Then the rich man begged,
“Father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers.
Perhaps, if he appeared to them, he could warn them to change their ways lest they end up in torment like me.”
But Abraham replied,
“They have the Bible to tell them how to live and preachers to teach them how to be compassionate.
Let them listen to them.”
The rich man continued,
“But if someone should rise from the dead that might convince them!”
And Abraham replied,
“If they won’t listen to the Bible and the preachers what makes you think that a resurrection will change their minds.”
Now, let me tell you some more stories.
Once upon a time there was church.
It was a large rich church.
The people would drive into the church from the neighbourhood and have big services and family night suppers.
Yet across the street from that church was a slum.
The ones who were doing well enough to have a room often didn’t have enough to eat or oil to heat with.
The others would sleep with the dogs in the doorways and streets.
The people in the slum would look out their windows and watch the rich church people come and go and wish that they had just a little of what that church threw away.
Year after year, the members of the church just ignored the slum as they drove to their Sunday morning services and family night suppers.
How will God judge that on the judgment day?
Or what about this story. Once upon a time there was a nation that was rich.
They had a big military, the best universities and highest standard of living.
Yet at their borders, there were poor nations.
Nations that didn’t have enough to even vaccinate or educate their children.
Nations where malnutrition was a leading cause of death.
The rich nation had more than it needed yet it did nothing for the poor nations.
How will God judge that nation?
As they often do, Jesus’ parables bring the story home to us.
We are all the rich man.
We all have people starving to death at our doorsteps.
Sometimes it’s actual physical hunger or need for medical attention.
Other times, it is spiritual or emotional hunger.
Sometimes, it a need to know that they are loved, they belong and are included.
What do we do about these hungry dying people?
Often, we do nothing.
We don’t hurt them, but we don’t help them either.
That is what the rich man did for Lazarus.
The rich man never hurt Lazarus.
He did ask the police to remove him from his gate.
But he didn’t invite him in or give him a blanket or give him food either.
So, if we do nothing for the starving masses at our doorstep, we are under the same judgment as that rich man.
You may argue that we aren’t rich like he was.
Yet we all are rich in something.
If you have accepted Christ and call yourself a Christian, you are rich in love, grace, mercy and strength.
There are people starving to death for those things just as much as for food, clothing and medicine.
Once upon a time? No!
Now, at this time.
Sometimes, we are the rich man.
At our doorstep are the Lazaruses of the world.
How we treat them is important in God’s eyes.
If we do not give of what we have, God’s judgment is upon us.
Perhaps if someone would rise from the dead, he could convince the rich of our world to bless the poor.
Someone did rise from the dead: Jesus Christ.
Maybe some of us are convinced.
If we are, we would visit the sick: comfort the distraught, feed the poor. show love to the lonely.
There once was a person who went to church on Sunday and feasted on the Word of God.
Every day that person prayed to God and felt the peace of Christ living in their life.
In their very neighborhood was a person who was dying of loneliness, or heartbreak, or isolation, or hunger, or nakedness....
So what happened?
Did they help the needy person?
You tell me.
Let us go home and finish this story.
Thanks be to God.
