Lighting the Christ Candle

ACKNOWLEDGING THE TERRITORY
As we gather in this sacred place, we honour the Metis and First Nations People of Treaty 6, on whose land this nation was forged. It isn't our land alone, we live in God's world where God has created and is creating still. Thanks be to God

Call to Worship:
Through sunshine and shadow; through torrent, lightning and thunder; through fog and flurries, through breeze and bluster; through cloudless and clear, through rain and rainbows, God's love will remain. Through all that life brings, in all that life brings, God's love will remain. Come let us celebrate the God who is love. Come let us worship God.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonFusion Season of Creation Pentecost 2 2021 page 48 adapted)

Opening Prayer and the Lord's Prayer  (# 960 VU)
Creator God, God who is love, we believe it is your desire to be in relationship with us and for us to be awestruck and filled with wonder by your beauty. When we look outward and upward, we see that beauty and wonder in the sky, often at times of sunrise and sunset but also through the day and in the night. We look into the blue of a clear sky and catch a glimpse of infinity. We look into the night sky and see the stars, that we know are larger than our sun but from our perspective are pin points of twinkling light; and we feel very small in a very large universe. We see the moon in its various phases and see the dancing northern lights and we wonder, who we are that You have regard for us. May what we share in worship renew our connection with You, God, with each other, and with the whole of creation. We ask these and all our prayers in Jesus' name joining to pray as he taught and saying, " “Our Father, . . .”.  Amen.

Prayer for Renewal: (based on Jeremiah 4: 23 - 28)
Jeremiah was a prophet who lived a long time ago. A prophet is someone who reminds people to live according to God's ways. Jeremiah lived during a dangerous and hard time. He tried to help people stay faithful in the midst of all their difficulties. Jeremiah, what do you see?
Jeremiah: I see lands made barren and dry. I see the heavens made dark.
Jeremiah, why do you see this?
Jeremiah: God's people have forgotten who they are.
Jeremiah, what do you see?
Jeremiah: I see mountains quaking, I see empty skies with no birds anywhere, I see ruins where once there were cities.
Jeremiah, why do you see this?
Jeremiah: God's people have forgotten who they are, and now it is time for them to remember.
Jeremiah reminded people long ago of what they had forgotten.
Jeremiah's words remind us of what we forget. When lands turn barren, when skies are empty of wings, when cities become ruins: we have forgotten that we are God's people. (silent time for reflection) It is time for us to remember. It is time for us to remember. Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonFusion Season of Creation Pentecost 2 2021 page 49 adapted)

Words of Affirmation: : (based on Philippians 2: 15 - 16)
Many years after Jeremiah, but still a long time ago, Paul - a follower of Jesus tried to help people remember. Paul what are you writing?
Paul: A letter to God's people.
Paul, what are you saying to them?
Paul: I tell them to hold fast to the word of life, that they might shine like bright stars in the sky.
We will hold fast to God's word of life.
We will remember that we are God's people.
And may you each shine like a bright star in the sky.  Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonFusion Season of Creation Pentecost 2 2021 page 48 adapted)

• A Reading from the book of Jeremiah : 4: 23 - 28


• A Reading from the Psalms: 19  #740 VU
  Refrain 2:
  “Glory and praise to God whose word brings life!”


• A Reading from the Gospel of Mark: 15: 33 - 39.
  The Death of Jesus

Lectionary for Next Sunday - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost,
September 26, 2021:
         Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22;  Psalm 124;
         James 5:13-20;  Mark 9:38-50.