Prelude:

Welcoming
Time of Celebration: Birthdays, Anniversaries
Announcements: The Life and Work of the Congregation

Invitation to Worship:
Listen. Can you hear it? The sound of those imprisoned.
Listen. Can you hear it? The sound of those who have been silenced because of gender, race, age, ability, or orientation. Listen. Can you hear it? The sound of those who cannot speak up for themselves. Listen. Can you hear it?
We have heard it and we the people of God, will clear our throats, and break the silence.
Come, let us worship God.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 170 adapted)

Opening Hymn: “The Spring Has Come” # 187 VU
1. The spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
The world has changed, and God is at the heart of it!
New light, new day, new colour after winter grey.
New light, new day, the spring has come, let all the church be part of it!

2. The sun is warm, let all God's children play in it!
The world expands, let's spread the Gospel way in it!
New leaf, new thrust, new greening for the love of Christ.
New leaf, new thrust, the sun is warm, let all God's children play in it.

3. The spring has come, new people are the glowers of it.
Through wind and rain, new life is in the showers of it.
New bud, new shoot, new hope will bear the Spirit's fruit.
New bud, new shoot, the spring has come, new people are the flowers of it!

Opening Prayer and the Lord's Prayer: # 921 VU
Holy One, you come to us as a flash of lightening, an uncontrolled source of energy and power. Even while we try to keep you safely within the confines of our liturgy, hymns and theology, your spirit continues breaking forth in new and unexpected ways, reminding us that you are the One in whom the whole Earth rejoices. In this time of worship and prayer may the chains that hold us where we are be loosened, and our hearts, our minds and our ears be opened that we may hear and respond to the Spirit's call. We now join our voices to ask the prayer that Jesus taught his first followers and saying or softly singing we pray, “Our Father, who art, in heaven, ….”   Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 170)

A Reading from the book of Acts: 16: 16 - 34
Paul and Silas in Prison
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, 'These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you[a] a way of salvation.' She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, 'I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, 'These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.' The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, 'Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.' The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They answered, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Time with the Young and Young at Heart:

HYMN: “To Show by Touch and Word” # 427 VU (Vs. 1 & 2)
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.

Prayer of Confession:
Liberating God, we pray for those imprisoned in a silence not of their own making, where the world has decided to take away their voice and to replace it with a deeper silence made of prejudice, fear and power. Listen to us God and hear us as we confess the times we have ignored another's need, leaving them without a voice to cry for justice, to cry for peace, to cry for truth. May we share their silence in our confession. (a moment of silent contemplation) We confess the times we have turned our backs on those who are too much trouble. Listen and hear us, O God. (a moment of silent contemplation) We confess that we have taken for ourselves that which belonged to others. (a moment of silent contemplation) We confess the times we have chosen not to see others. (a moment of silent contemplation) We confess the times we have lost our own voice because of our fear of the consequences of speaking the truth. (a moment of silent contemplation) We confess the times when we have not been your disciples in seeking peace, and inclusion, and freedom. (a moment of silent contemplation) Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 171 adapted)

Assurance of Acceptance:
God's love is never bound by our limitations and failures. It rises renewed in each moment, waiting on the pathway of life to offer us grace. The chains of guilt and shame which bind our lives are blown apart by the power of God's gift of forgiveness. Thanks be to God.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 171 adapted)

Halle, Halle, Halle: Sing Twice  # 958 VU {Sung twice}
HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH, HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH
HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH, HALLELUYAH, HALLELUYAH.

A Responsive Reading from Psalm 97 Pg. 817 VU
Refrain: Rejoice, rejoice, let all the earth rejoice.
You reign, O God! Let the earth be glad! Let the islands and coastlands rejoice!
Clouds and thick darkness are round about you; righteousness and justice the foundation of your throne.
Fire goes before you, consuming your enemies on every side.
Your lightnings light up the world; the earth trembles at the sight.
The mountains melt like wax before you, before the Sovereign of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim your righteousness, and all the peoples see your glory.
Refrain
Be ashamed, all you who worship images, who boast of idols;
bow down before God, all you gods!
Zion hears, and is glad; the cities of Judah rejoice, O God, at your judgements.
For you are the Most High, above all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
You, O God, love those who hate evil.
You preserve the life of your saints. You deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in God, righteous people. Give thanks to God's holy name!
Refrain

A Reading from the Gospel of John: 17: 20 - 26
'I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 'Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.'

MESSAGE: “Liberating Love”

Hymn: “Though Ancient Walls” # 691 VU (Vs. 2, 4 & 5)
Refrain:
Walls that divide are broken down; Christ is our unity!
Chains that enslave are thrown aside; Christ is our liberty!

2. When vested power stands firm entrenched and breaks another's back,
when waste and want live side by side, it's Gospel that we lack.
(Refrain)

4. The church divided seeks that grace, that newness we proclaim;
a unity of serving love that lives praise to God's name!
(Refrain)

5. This broken world seeks lasting health and vital unity.
God's people by God's Word renewed, cast off all slavery!
(Refrain)

A Statement of Faith:
We believe that Jesus Christ stands for the freedom of all people.
We believe that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, as the people of God, we may be part of the bringing of justice and the journeying toward peace. We believe that God, the Creator of all that is, goes on dreaming of a world in which the chains of oppression are broken and where all who live offer love to each other. The light of our God will lead us on. This we believe, and by this we will live.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 171 and 172)

Gifts of the People:

Invitation to the Offering:
May we live love as we make our offering this day.

Doxology: “For the Gift of Creation” # 538 VU
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.

Prayer
As we make our offering this day we dedicate ourselves to another's freedom, O God, to bring fullness of life to those caught in life's shadows: to offer grace where another's hurt has bruised; to offer peace where another's violence has damaged; to offer a heart where another's story entraps; to offer justice where another's power has entrapped. Amen.
     (Seasons/Fusion , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 172 adapted)

Sharing our Joys and Concerns:   (if the joy or concern you wish to bring is not your own please seek the agreement of the person to whom it belongs before bringing it on their behalf)

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE : (# 400 VU “Lord Listen to Your Children Praying”)
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord send your Spirit in this place.
Lord listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace.

God of freedom and life, we pray for those who are bound in fear of others, who live through prejudice, who seek to dominate others they do not understand because of ethnicity and language, gender and sexuality, age and politics. Hear us as we pray for a community that breaks prejudice and lives in diversity. Hear us as we break the chains. (pause) God of freedom and life, we pray for those caught up in pain, who are trapped in the suffering of illness or anxiety, who seek freedom through a peace of mind, and a life supported and encouraged by others. Hear as we pray for a healing that comes in freedom from loneliness and worry. Hear us as we break the chains. (pause) God of freedom and life, we pray for those trapped in conflict of a violence that is not their own doing, for neighbourhoods and nations who seek conflict before they seek peace. Hear us as we pray for all those trapped in violence. Hear us as we break the chains. (pause) God of freedom and life, we pray for those who are snared in abuse, in unhealthy and unloving relationships, those trafficked and abused by others, where worth and value seem to belong to others. Hear us as we pray for those enslaved in difficult relationships. Hear us as we break the chains. (pause) God of freedom and life, we pray for all people whose living is not the fullness you long for, who are held back by another's power. Hear us as we pray for all those bound up in life. Hear us as we break the chains. (pause)
     (Seasons/Fusion , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page172)

Closing Hymn: “I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me ” # 575 VU
1. I'm gonna live so (live so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna live so (live so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

2. I'm gonna work so (work so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna work so (work so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

3. I'm gonna pray so (pray so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna pray so (pray so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

4. I'm gonna sing so sing so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I'm gonna sing so (sing so) God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

Commissioning and Benediction:
May we leave the sanctuary of this sacred space, this sacred time and in the power of the Spirit, be in the world and break the chains of resistance to God's love. Chains that imprison, chains that enslave, chains that bind and rob, chains that injure and hurt, preventing wholeness and fullness of life. May our feet tread steadfastly on the Earth which waits to be released from harm and oppression. May God's creativity place within us the necessary tools for releasing justice in our world. And may Christ give us courage to break free into the realm of truth.
     (Seasons/Fusion , Congregational Life Lent, Easter 2022 page 172 adapted)

Lectionary for Next Sunday - Day of Pentecost:
        June 5, 2022:
         Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9  Romans 8:14-17;
         Psalm 104:25-35, 37;  John 14:8-17, (25-27).