Livestream broadcasts begin at 10:45 AM (Please note that the “Order of Worship” below is an edited shorter version of the Sunday Bulletin)
THIRD AVENUE UNITED CHURCH
WELCOMES YOU TO WORSHIP
Order of Worship
September 20, 2023
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
CREATION 2
ORDAINED MINISTER: Rev. Jo-Ann Hills
GUEST PIANIST: Ilene Wettergreen
HANDBELL DIRECTOR: Kathleen Link
OFFICE COORDINATOR: Jodi Hargreaves
SCRIPTURES READER:
ORGAN PRELUDE
ACKNOWLEDGING TERRITORY: Regardless of where we come from, we are all interconnected through the land that we live on, water that we use, and air that we breathe. Generous Creator God, let us celebrate the abundance of this land bursting with new life. Let us feel the cold waters gushing with promises. Let us experience the expanse of sky enfolding us in your love. Abundant Creator God, we remember the Metis and the people of treaty 6 who love and care for this land. All these people have lived lightly and with respect upon this land, a territory upon which we now live. Generous God, help us on the journey to reconciliation with the land, the water, and the air, and among the people. Amen. Used with permission from Gathering Pentecost 1 2023; Mary Anderson
TIME OF CELEBRATION OF BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
CHRIST CANDLE LITURGY:
We were made in Creator God's love. Jesus came to us to teach us God's love. The Spirit of God abides with us, fueling our love. In love, we light this candle recalling how all we begin in love, live in love, and continue in love-for God is love. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Whitney
SUNG RESPONSE: VU 606 “In Christ There Is No East or West” Verse 1
1. In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one great family of love
throughout the whole wide earth.
1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Like the peoples long ago, we are journeying in stages. Our lives unfold, not all at once but piece by piece.
Sometimes the forward movement is small.
Sometimes we may feel we are being called to take enormous leaps in faith. On all days of the journey, we can know that God is with us.
Thanks be to God. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2, 2026; Beth W Johnston
2. OPENING PRAYER: Guiding God, light of direction and discernment, shine in our hearts today. As we journey through life, with events and upsets we do not understand, steady us with the patience of faith. When all feels lost and we are tired by our days, strengthen us with the persistence of faith. Daunted by obstacles in our lives and in the world, embolden us with the courage of faith. When hurts and slights sting or indifference isolates us, soothe us with the essence of faith. Embrace us in your eternal love and remind us of your reassuring promise, to be with us always, to the end of our days. Amen. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gill Le Fevre
3. LEARNING TIME:
4. HYMN: 409 VU “Morning Has Broken”
1. Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!
2. Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where God's feet pass.
3. Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God's recreation of the new day!
5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION Welcoming God, we have received your invitation to come and feast on your word. We hunger for the Good News! May our spirits be open to the subtle nuances for justice and righteousness. Let our senses experience the beauty in each person around us. Open our hearts to experience the wonder of the banquet of love, expressed in words offered. We ask all this in the name of the Great Storyteller, Jesus Christ. Amen. Used with permission from Gathering Pentecost 1 2026; Laura J. Turnbull
6. HYMN VU 677 “O God of Every Nation”
1. O God of every nation, of every race and land,
redeem the whole creation with your almighty hand;
where hate and fear divide us and bitter threats are hurled,
in love and mercy guide us and heal our strife-torn world.
2. From search for wealth and power and scorn of truth and right,
from trust in bombs that shower destruction through the night,
from pride of race and station and blindness to your way,
deliver every nation, eternal God, we pray.
3. Give strength to those who labour that all may find release
from fear of rattling sabre, from dread of war's increase;
when hope and courage falter, your still small voice be heard:
with faith that none can alter, your servants undergird.
4. Keep bright in us the vision of days when war shall cease,
when hatred and division, give way to love and peace,
till dawns the morning glorious when peace on earth shall reign
and Christ shall rule victorious o'er all the world's domain.
7. PRAYER OF CONFESSION: God in heaven, it was you alone who blessed our world with life, with sea and sky and land, with light and darkness, with fish and animals, and with humankind. It was you, God, who fed the children of Israel as they journeyed across the desert. It was you who fed the multitudes, gathered around your son, with only a few loaves and fishes. But despite all of the evidence before us, we forget that all good gifts come from you. And so, we spend our time and our energy grasping for more. We forget that we ought only to put our faith and trust in you to provide what we need. Forgive us, O God, when we hold on so tightly to our possessions that they begin to take hold of us. Forgive us when we forget to put our trust in you. Forgive our greed. Forgive us, Gracious God, when we are too frightened to trust in your abundance. (a time of silent prayer)
Amen. Amen. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026: Diane McKenty
8. WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
This is the good news: Nothing is impossible with God. Even when we forget to put our trust in the Lord, God does not forget us. Even when we forget that it is God the Creator who provides all good things, God continues to share God's abundance with us. God will continue to provide. We trust. Be comforted in the knowledge that you are a child of God. You are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026: Diane McKenty
9. SUNG RESPONSE: VU 271 “There's a Wideness in God's Mercy”
Verses 5 seated
5. For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
10. PASSING OF THE PEACE:
In gratitude for the presence of the Divine and for the teachings of Jesus, may The Spirit guide us to live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let us share this peace of Christ with one another this morning. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission
11. OFFERING INVITATION:
We have received much from God and God's creation. Let us give thanks and share so that this abundance may equip all disciples for their work. Let us present our morning offering.
Used with permission from Gathering Pentecost 2 - 2026; Beth W Johnston
Please give by contributing online using “E-transfers” or PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittance) or by placing your offering in the plate.
E-transfers can be sent to: thirdaveunited@sasktel.net answer to security question is: “payment”
12. OFFERTORY: VU 538 “For the Gift of Creation”
For the gift of creation,
the gift of your love,
and the gift of the Spirit by which we live,
we thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed
by the gifts that we give.
13. PRAYER OF DEDICATION: Loving God, through the life you give us and the bounty therein, we encounter the amazing web of interconnection and of interdependence in your good Creation. Bless us and our giving as we give back some of that bounty. May we find purpose in all our relationships. Amen. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gord Dunbar
14. PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD'S PRAYER
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. AMEN.
15. HYMN: VU 227 “For the Fruit of All Creation”
1. For the fruit of all creation,
thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation,
thanks be to God.
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
silent growth while we are sleeping,
future needs in earth's safekeeping,
thanks be to God.
2. In the just reward of labour,
God's will is done.
In the help we give our neighbour,
God's will is done.
In our worldwide task of caring
or the hungry and despairing,
in the harvests we are sharing,
God's will is done.
3. For the harvests of the Spirit,
thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
for the truths that still confound us,
most of all that love has found us,
thanks be to God.
16. BLESSING:
Go out into this new week, nourished by the grace of God. May God's love sustain you through the challenges you face and inspire you through the blessings you encounter. In every moment, may you bear the fruit of God's eternal love, offering up praise and thanksgiving. Amen. Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gill Le Fevret
17. THREE FOLD AMEN:
SCRIPTURE READINGS:
SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Exodus 16: 2 - 15
Responsive Reading: Psalm 105: parts 1 & 4 VU page 828/29 Refrain:“Bless God, my soul. Hallelujah!”
SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Philippians 1: 21 - 30
GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 20: 1 - 16 Workers in a Vineyard
Next Sunday: Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 27, 2026: Exodus 17: 1 - 7
Psalm 78: 1 - 4, 12 - 16; Philippians 2:1 - 13; Matthew 21: 23 - 32.
“Archived Videos”
Note: Don't have a Bible? By Clicking on the button below, you can open a new window in an Online Bible. By entering the BOOK and CHAPTER, you will be able to look up the references in the sermon. Copy and paste will work as long as there is no other words between the book name and chapter number. Try it and Enjoy!
