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

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 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)

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)

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)

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

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)

• A Reading from the book of Acts: 16: 16 - 34
  Paul and Silas in Prison


• A Responsive Reading from Psalm 97 Pg. 817 VU
  Refrain: Rejoice, rejoice, let all the earth rejoice.


• A Reading from the Gospel of John: 17: 20 - 26