Third Avenue United Church

CANDLE LITURGY:
What is the Body of Christ?
We are the Body of Christ.
What does the body consist of?
People worldwide who keep faith in the Good News of Christ Jesus.
Why are we here today?
We gather to worship and give thanks to the One who calls us here and lights our way.
Come, let us gather in the light of Christ to worship as the Body of Christ!
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Sandy Ferguson

SUNG RESPONSE: VU 457 “As We Gather at Your Table”
1. As we gather at your table,
as we listen to your word,
help us know, O God, your presence;
let our hearts and minds be stirred.
Nourish us with sacred story
till we claim it as our own;
teach us through this holy banquet
how to make Love's victory known.

2. Turn our worship into witness
in the sacrament of life;
send us forth to love and serve you,
bringing peace where there is strife.
Give us, Christ, your great compassion
to forgive as you forgave;
may we still behold your image
in the world you died to save.

3. Gracious Spirit, help us summon
other guests to share that feast
where triumphant Love will welcome
those who had been last and least.
There no more will envy blind us
nor will pride our peace destroy,
as we join with saints and angels
to repeat the sounding joy.

1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Amazing is our God,
Creator, Source of Life, Pure Love, Pure Peace.
So amazing is the call to be in communion
and in community, to be church, to share bread and cup in communion around the table.
Welcome home, welcome back.
The Creator is everywhere we are.
And we are here to worship God!
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost 2 2026; Diane Trollop

2. OPENING PRAYER:
Our presence here this morning is an act of commitment to the communion of faith. Thank you, God, for your eternal love that draws us to you and to each other. Our openness to your word, O Lord, is an act of faith. Help us grow together in understanding and compassion, in mercy and love, as part of the worldwide community of Christ. Our involvement in this time together is an act of worship. Accept our praise today, the songs from our hearts and the psalms of our lives. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gill Le Fevre

4. HYMN: 402 VU “We Are One” Verses 1 - 3
1. We are one as we come, as we come, joyful to be here,
in the praise on our lips there's a sense that God is near.
We are one as we sing, as we seek, we are found;
and we come needful of God's grace as we meet, together in this place.

2. We are one as we share, as we share brokenness and fear,
in the touch of a hand there's a sense that God is here.
We are one as we care, as we heal, we are healed;
and we share warmth in God's embrace as we pray together in this place.

3. We are one as we feast, as we feast, peace becomes the sign;
in the bread and the wine there's a sense of love divine.
We are one as we come, as we feed, we are fed;
and we feel God's refreshing grace as we meet at table in this place.

5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Gracious God, you are so good, and you have given us so much. The beauty that surrounds us takes our breath away. Yet, we confess that there are times when we forget to give thanks, times when we forget to share, and there are times when we forget to care for others. By your grace you have come in Jesus to make all things new, and through Jesus, you have given us life in all its fullness. Yet, we confess we often take your love and kindness for granted. Forgive us we pray & help us live in your way. Amen
From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

7. PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
We know that crying out our need to God is not enough. We know that sin is not limited to what we recognize as sinful acts, small or large. We know that we can focus our living on ways that close the door on God's generous presence. We know that we are sinners in need of God's race, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We offer words of confession knowing that reality. Remembering the words of the Ten Commandments and Paul's words to the Philippians that sometimes what we consider our greatest gains are actually our greatest losses, let us pray:
Gracious God, we acknowledge we need to confess our moral failures. We confess now our moral failures when faced with decisions requiring us to choose between right and wrong. Often, we know the difference, but…
(a moment of silence)
We confess our relationship failures, selfish acts, and thoughtless words. (a moment of silence)
We confess our impatience when God is slow to respond to us.
(a moment of silence)
We confess our omission of daily time to nurture our gift of faith, so that it is of sufficient measure to sustain us.
(a moment of silence)
We remind ourselves that we live in the in-between spaces of “Christ crucified…Christ risen.” In the in-between spaces, the spaces where decisions and relationships are not easy, God is with us. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Bill Perry

8. WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
We believe God's love and grace is infinite, meaning God forgives us.
We are a forgiven people! Thanks be to God.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2023; Bill Perry

10. PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST:
Friends, there is no place on earth where God's glory is not proclaimed. Knowing this, let us joyfully turn to one another and proclaim the peace of Christ.
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you!

11. OFFERING INVITATION
May the gifts that we offer this morning be our response to everything that God has given us. Our morning offering will now be received.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2023; Phyllis

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:
Generous God of boundless mercy and care, may our offering today make a difference in the unnoticed and unknown places where your love is most deeply needed. Inspire us to sustain your ministries of hope and encouragement, of peace and acceptance. Extend our service to reach the corners of our communities and our world where your presence is most needed. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gill Le Fevre

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

14. SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION:
COMMUNION SERVICE
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
The table is ready. It is the table of bread and wine, the table of Christ, the table of the world. We will share one loaf and cup and the life of Jesus will be in us. So come, with whatever sadness and loss you are experiencing, with whatever longing and hope you know, with the life you are living, for Christ welcomes us, and blesses us, and touches us with hope. And we prepare ourselves for this mystery with communion music.
By Bob Root, Peterborough, ON Gathering, Pentecost 2 2016 pg 45. Used with permission

COMMUNION HYMN: VU 477 “I Come with Joy”
1. I come with joy, a child of God,
forgiven, loved and free,
the life of Jesus to recall
in love laid down for me,
in love laid down for me.

2. I come with Christians far and near
to find, as all are fed,
the new community of love
in Christ's communion bread,
in Christ's communion bread.

3. As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share,
each proud division ends.
The love that made us, makes us one,
and strangers now are friends,
and strangers now are friends.

4. The Spirit of the risen Christ,
unseen, but ever near,
is in such friendship better known,
alive among us here,
alive among us here.

5. Together met, together bound
by all that God has done,
we'll go with joy, to give the world
the love that makes us one,
the love that makes us one.

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift your hearts to God.
We lift them up in thanksgiving and gratitude.
Let us give God our thanks and our praise.
It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
Can you remember all that God has done over the years?
Can you remember why we give God thanks and praise?
God breathed all Creation into being, filling it with love, making room for cuddles and kisses. God spoke to people in ancient times, teaching and leading: Eve and Adam in the garden; Sarah and Abraham on a very long walk of faith; Miriam and Moses wandering in the desert to become the people they were to become; Ruth and Naomi growing into family as one; women and men prophets, now and then, who point out God's road signs of faithfulness.
With all that help, we must have learned a lot.
Not really, for we always found excuses to turn away. We ignored how God calls us to love as we are loved.
I guess that means we were punished, given a time out.
You might think that, but God chose another way.
You're kidding!
Nope, God gave us Jesus, God's own son.
I bet we were in trouble then!
That's what's incredible. Jesus loved us all the way. Jesus chose to die instead of hurting us.
How did he love us?
On the night on which he was betrayed, Jesus took the bead, gave thanks, and broke it, giving it to the disciples, those he loved, and said,
“Take, eat. This is my body broken for you. As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me”.
In the same manner, he took the wine. After giving thanks, he poured it out and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink this, all of you. This is the cup of the new covenant poured out in my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me”.
And so, in that room, with friends and companions, Jesus taught us true love, the path we are called to follow.

The Lord's Prayer
God, come and be with us in the grape juice and the bread. Send your Holy Spirit to breathe on us and into us, giving us deeper understanding and insight, that we might live as your people, loving others as you love us. Amen.
DISTRIBUTION
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Let us join together in a prayer of thanksgiving joy:
You touched me, God. You took away from me, in the grape juice and in the bread, in old and young, coming together around your table, the hunger for your love I once had, the thirst for others to love me just as I am. I know I am loved: fully, completely, thoroughly. Thanks, God. I'll remember. Amen.
By Gord Dunbar, Port Nelson U.C. Burlington, ON
Gathering, Pentecost 2 2016 pg 66-67. Used with permission.

15. HYMN: VU 402 “We Are One” V 4
4. We are one as we hear, as we hear, heart and hand unite;
in the word we receive there's a sense that God is light.
We are one as we leave, as we love, we are loved;
and we seek justice in God's ways as we move together from this place.

16. BLESSING:
We go out this day, trusting that our path is guided by God.
With open and thankful hearts, nourished at God's table, we affirm that our lives are blessed by God.
And in praise and worship, we offer ourselves in service to God.
Abundant God, lead us forward to do your will in our world. Amen.
Used with permission Gathering Pentecost - 2- 2026; Gill Le Fevre.

Next Sunday: Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
        October 11, 2026:
         Exodus 32: 1 - 14   Psalm 106: 1 - 6, 19-23;
         Philippians 3: 4b - 14;  Matthew 22: 1 - 14.

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!