Third Avenue United Church

CANDLE LITURGY:
We seek God's presence in our lives today.
We seek God's Spirit moment by moment in worship.
As we journey in faith, we strive to move forward in faith.
We will never turn back, except to give thanks.
And so we welcome the guiding light of Christ.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Elaine Bidgood Sveet

SUNG RESPONSE: VU 518 “As those of Old Their First-fruits Brought” Verse 3
3. With gratitude and humble trust we bring our best to you,
not just to serve your cause, but share your love with neighbours too.
O God, who gave yourself to us in Jesus Christ, your son,
help us to give ourselves each day until life's work is done,

1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Welcome, family of God! God has visited the earth and watered it.
God has provided the people with grain and crowned the year with overflowing bounty.
The earth has yielded its increase, God; our God has blessed us!
Let us give thanks and praise to God!
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Anne Mathewson Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Diane Trollop

2. OPENING PRAYER:
O God, we come before you to give thanks for the wonders of your Creation; to give thanks for the reassuring touch of loved ones; to give thanks for the tantalizing aroma of home cooking; to give thanks for the joyous sounds of children laughing; to give thanks for your presence in the shadowed times. We who are so blessed come in gratitude to offer our communal prayer for the limitlessness of your love that fills us with the very breath of life. Gracious God, we give our thanks. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Barbara Johns

4. HYMN: 516 VU “Come You Thankful People Come”
1. Come, you thankful people, come,
raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
safe before the storms begin;
God, our maker, does provide
for our needs to be supplied:
come to God's own temple, come,
raise the song of harvest home!

2. All the world is God's own field,
harvests for God's praise to yield;
wheat and weeds together sown,
here for joy or sorrow grown;
first the blade, and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear:
Harvest-giver, grant that we
wholesome grain and pure may be.

3. For our God, one day, shall come,
and shall take this harvest home;
from the field shall in that day
all offences purge away;
giving angels charge at last
in the fire the weeds to cast;
but the fruitful ears to store
in the garner evermore.

4. Even so, God, quickly come
to your final harvest home!
Gather all your people in,
free from sorrow, free from sin;
there for ever purified,
in your presence to abide:
come, with all your angels, come,
raise the glorious harvest home.

5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Loving God, as we gather to listen to the words of your people's faith journeys open our hearts and minds to see and hear how to continue those journey's of faith in our own lives this day and the weeks ahead as we give thanks for all that we have. Amen.

7. PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
God in heaven, you have provided your children with many wonderful gifts. But there are times when we may get so caught up in the busy-ness of our own day-to-day living that we forget to stop and breathe a simple word of thanks.
Forgive me, God, when I forget to whisper, “Thank you.”
God in heaven, as we travel through life, there are times when we are so happy to have received your gifts of grace that we may forget that the gifts came from you.
Forgive me, God, when I forget to whisper, “Thank you.”
(a time of silent prayer)
Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Diane McKenty

8. WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Receive the good news! The assurance of God's love for you-you are forgiven! The greatest gift of all was bestowed upon all of us when God sent Jesus Christ, God's own beloved Son, to live with us and to die for us. So, know that you are loved by God, you are forgiven by the holiness of Christ, and you are assured of that forgiveness always by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And now you can whisper, “Thank you!” Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Diane McKenty

9. SUNG RESPONSE: VU 236 “Now Thank We All Our God”
1. Now thank we all our God,
with heart, and hands, and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mother's arms has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

2. O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
and keep us strong in grace, and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ill in this world and the next.

3. All praise and thanks to God
for all that has been given,
the Son, and Spirit blest
who dwell in highest heaven,
the one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

10. PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST:
As we exchange the peace of Christ this day we also exchange thankfulness for each other.

11. OFFERING INVITATION
God loves a cheerful giver. Since God has blessed us abundantly, may we return abundantly back to God through our thanks, praise and gifts. As we present our morning offering.
From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

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. OFFERING INVITATION
God loves a cheerful giver. Since God has blessed us abundantly, may we return abundantly back to God through our thanks, praise and gifts. As we present our morning offering.
From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

Please give by contributing online using “E-transfers” or PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittance) or by placing your offering in the plate.

14. 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.

15. PRAYER OF DEDICATION:
As you have given to us, may we now return to you. Bless these gifts, that they be used to share your gift with our neighbors, far and near. Amen.
From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

17. HYMN: VU 884 “You Shall Go Out with Joy”
You shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace;
the mountains and the hills will break forth before you;
there'll be shouts of joy,
and all the trees of the field will clap, will clap their hands!

And all the trees of the field
will clap their hands, (clap, clap)
the trees of the field will clap their hands, (clap, clap)
the trees of the field will clap their hands (clap, clap)
while you go out with joy.

18. BLESSING:
May God bless your heart with contentment and peace this Thanksgiving.
Truly there is much to be grateful for because of our God.
The blessings of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you today and always. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Elaine Bidgood Sveet

Next Sunday: Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
        October 18, 2026:
         Exodus 33: 12 - 23   Psalm 99;
         1 Thessalonians 1: 1 - 10;  Matthew 22: 15 - 22.

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