Livestream broadcast will be available at 10:45 AM: (Please note that the “Order of Worship” below is an edited shorter version of the Sunday Bulletin)
“REFLECTIONS”
THIRD AVENUE UNITED CHURCH
WELCOMES YOU WORSHIP!
Order of Worship
NOVEMBER 23, 2025
REIGN OF CHRIST SUNDAY
ORDAINED MINISTER: Rev. Jo-Ann Hills
ORGANIST / PIANIST: Ilene Wettergreen
HANDBELL DIRECTOR: Kathleen Link
OFFICE COORDINATOR: Jodi Hargreaves
SCRIPTURES READER: Theresa Bacchetto
PIANO/ORGAN PRELUDE
ACKNOWLEDGING TERRITORY:
Many thousands of years ago, Indigenous people lived, worked, played, and worshipped on this land. Over time, settlers from other lands came, sometimes sharing, often destroying, the relationship Indigenous peoples had with the water, land, and skies, with their Elders, families, culture, and faith. Today, as Settlers, we are repenting and relearning how to care tenderly and respectfully for all that God has given both Indigenous people and Settlers. We give thanks to the treaty 6 peoples and the Metis for their faithful stewardship of the land and the lessons they continue to teach. Used with permission from Gathering Pentecost 2 2025; Laura J. Turnbull
CANDLE LITURGY
We light this candle as a reminder that the sacred is always present in our world. If we pay attention for holy love, we will discover traces of God's goodness in all things. (Light the Christ candle.) Adapted/Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Christine LeBlanc
Sung Response: VU 686 “God of Grace and God of Glory” Verse 1 seated
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.
1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Another year passes. Things end and things begin.
Birth. Life. Death. Life beyond death. Nothing is constant!
Everything changes.
Everything except this: God's love is with me. God's love is with you. God's love is with all creation.
Today? Yesterday. Today. Forever.
And all creation is held safe in that love. And all creation is transformed in that love.
Let us worship the God who loves us, yesterday, today, and forever. Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Richard Bott
2. OPENING PRAYER: God of Creation, we cannot see you, but we see what you have created in all its beauty and bounty! Jesus, Child of God, the entire universe lives in you, and for you, and through you! Spirit of the Holy one, you sweep across creation, enlivening and sustaining. Everything on earth and in heaven has its being and its hope because of you, Triune God. Blessed is your holy, living name! Amen. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
3. LEARNING TIME: “ A time of honoring past and present”
4. HYMN: VU 494 “Those Hearts That We Have Treasured”
1. Those hearts that we have treasured,
those lives that we have shared,
those loves that walked beside us,
those friends for whom we've cared,
their blessing rests upon us,
their life is memory,
their suffering is over, their spirits are set free.
2. They still give hope and comfort,
they did not lose the fight,
they showed us truth and goodness,
they shine into our night.
Remember days of gladness;
remember times of joy;
remember all the moments that grief can not destroy.
3. From hearts that we have treasured,
from lives that we have shared,
from loves that walked beside us,
from friends for whom we've cared,
we've learned to treasure kindness,
we've learned that grace provides,
we've learned to be together, we've learned that love abides..
5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: As we receive the readings from your holy word, Gracious God, open us to greater understanding. We ask this in Christ Jesus. Amen. Used with permission from Gathering: Pentecost 2; 2025: Mary Anderson
6. REFLECTION:
7. PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Holy God, God of life in all its facets, we are grateful to you for helping us make it to this place safely. We find in this church home a refuge, a reliable rock upon which we build your community, a community in which we can live the reign of Christ, a family of people who care about us, care for us, and care with us. This community of ours is also a place where we share our hurts, mistakes, pains, and errors so that they can be forgiven and relieved and we can be refreshed. May we find courage to engage the world that has not always understood your message. May we find strength to muddle through the challenges we encounter. May we be reminded of your presence this morning and always. Amen. Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Eric Hebert-Daly
8. WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Jesus spoke to the disciples of the challenges that they were going to encounter. He knew just how much the world was going to change and how difficult it would be for them to hold on to their faith and to give up some things they cherished. Despite the challenges we encounter today in living our faith, rest assured that God forgives you when you've been led astray. God loves us all deeply and unflinchingly. God calls us to support and encourage one another as we live the reign of Christ as a community. Praise be to God! Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Eric Hebert-Daly
9. PASSING OF THE PEACE:
In Christ, we find peace, a gift beyond price, as we are reconciled to God. Let us share this precious gift with one another in joy and thanksgiving, as we pass the peace of Christ with one another. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
10. INVITATION TO OFFERING:
As we contemplate the journey through the Christian year, from Advent to Reign of Christ, we think of our own journey of faith, our call and our response. As part of our response in faith, we will now present our offerings. Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025;Beth W Johnston
11. OFFERTORY VU 544 “In Gratitude and Humble Trust”
In gratitude and humble trust we bring our best today
to serve your cause and share your love with all along life's way.
O God, who gave yourself to us in Jesus Christ, your Son,
teach us to give ourselves each day until life's work is done.
12. OFFERING PRAYER: Loving God, these offerings are part of our response to your call. We also respond with other ways of supporting our church and community through visits and phone calls made, notes written, food delivered, and prayers on behalf of others. We ask that you bless these offerings and multiply them by your grace so that the work of this congregation may be accomplished to your glory. Amen. Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025;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”
13. 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.
14. HYMN 213 VU “Rejoice, the Lord is King”
1. Rejoice the Lord is King!
Your risen Lord adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing
and triumph evermore. Lift up your heart, lift up your voice:
rejoice; again I say, rejoice!
2. Jesus the Saviour reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our sins,
he took his seat above. Refrain
3. God's kingdom cannot fail;
Christ rules o'er earth and heaven;
the keys of death and hell
are to our Jesus given. Refrain
4. Rejoice in glorious hope,
for Christ, the judge, shall come
to glorify the saints
for their eternal home. We soon shall hear the archangel's voice;
the trump of God shall sound, rejoice!
15. BLESSING:
As you return to the world, carry with you Christ's truth, cherish him as the highest power of your life, and share his generous love with neighbours, near and far. Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; George Allan
16. THREE FOLD AMEN
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
Jeremiah 23: 1 - 6
A Message of Hope
Responsive Reading Luke 1: 68 - 79 REFRAIN: “God shall fulfil the promise and bring the people peace.”
Colossians 1: 11 - 20
The Gospel of Luke 23: 33 - 43
Next Sunday: First Day of Advent November 30, 2025: Isaiah 2: 1 - 5;
Psalm 122; Romans 13: 11 - 14; Matthew 24: 36 - 44.
“Archived Videos”
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