Service Sunday February 9, 2025
Worship Leader: Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
New Members Sunday & Black History Month
All are Welcome!
Watch a video recording of the whole service using YouTube below!
The Gathering
Welcome and Announcements.
Focusing Moment.
FOCUSING ON THE CHRIST CANDLE:
Acknowledgement of Land
We live, work, and worship in Treaty 20, Anishinaabe peoples Territory. As settler people, we live with respect on this, the homeland of the Anishinaabe peoples. Let us travel together in relationships that are just, right, and honorable. For we are all Treaty people!
Written by Diane McKenty, Grey Street U.C., Winnipeg, Man.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.45. Used with permission.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: We are a community called by grace.
ALL: We are a community summoned to pray and praise.
One: We are a community commissioned to compassion and mercy.
ALL: We are the Body of Christ.
Written by Frances Flook, Emo/Devlin P.C., Emo, Ont.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.53. Used with permission.
HYMN: “Let Us Build a House” MV #1
1. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
2. Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
3. Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat;
a banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
4. Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
5. Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
OPENING PRAYER: Spoken In Unison
God, who breaks through the borders that divide, moving out and into the world, mending and uniting the things that keep us apart while keeping us distinct in the glory of creation, help us celebrate the infinite ways we are created in your image. May we love you with all our soul with all our being with all our life, in all-consuming love. May we love our neighbour with all our heart, with all our feeling, with all our thought, and through all generations to come. May we love you with all our might with all our strength with all that we possess, with the utmost of being. May all our blessings serve to bless others in your holy name. May we love and be loved as you love us. Amen
Written by Gabrielle Heidinger Baerg, Courtright-Sixth Line P.C., Courtright, Ont.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.52. Used with permission.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC:
WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The church is a community of people with varied gifts, united by the Holy Spirit. We gather to celebrate God’s presence, to discern God’s truth, and to follow the way of Jesus. By our baptism, we are made members of Christ’s church. We exercise this membership in the denomination to which we belong, which for us is the United Church of Canada, and within the context of a local community of faith. We now welcome into this community of faith several people who are already members of the church of Jesus Christ.
PRESENTATION
On behalf of the Highland Hills United Church’s congregation, I present the following persons whom we welcome into the membership of this community of faith:
Ken Beardsall, by Profession of Faith
Thomas Austin-Ward, by Profession of Faith
Tanya Warne, by Profession of Faith
COMMITMENT OF NEW MEMBERS
One: Friends, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, you do not come to us as strangers, but as sisters and brothers in the Lord. We welcome you to the worship and work of this part of the people of God. We are richer for your presence among us. In order that the community of faith might understand your intentions, I ask you:
One: Will you enter into the life and work of this community of faith, supporting it with your gifts, and sharing in its mission?
I will, with God’s help.
THE WELCOME OF THE CONGREGATION
As a sign that we stand together as the Body of Christ in this community of faith, let us, the members and adherents of Highland Hills United Church, express our welcome and affirm our mutual ministry in Jesus Christ.
ALL: As your brothers and sisters in Christ, we rejoice in the gifts that you bring to us. We promise you our continuing friendship and support, as we live out the mission and ministry of this church together.
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Thank you, Lord, for calling us and setting our feet on the way. Walk with us on this shared journey, as we move into an unknown future. We trust that even though we cannot see our destination, we know that we are not alone in the hills and valleys of life. May we continue to grow together, as we serve with joy and gladness. Amen.
WELCOME
In the name of Jesus Christ, we welcome you all to the privileges and responsibilities of membership in our community of faith. We give thanks for your witness among us.
HYMN: “We Are One” VU# 402
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.
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.
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE: Luke 5:1-11
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“Catching People?!”
Listen to an audio recording of the Message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: (spoken VU #921)
HYMN: “We Are Marching” VU #646 (Sing Verse 1,2, then 1)
1 We are marching in the light of God,
we are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God,
we are marching in the light of God.
(the light of God.)
We are marching, (marching, we are marching,)
oo-oo, (marching,)
we are marching in the light of God.
(the light of God.)
We are marching, (marching, we are marching,)
oo-oo, (marching,)
we are marching in the light of God.
2 Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos',
siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos'.
Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos',
siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos',
(khanyen' kwenkhos'.)
Siyahamba, (hamba siyahamba,)
oo-oo, (hamba,)
siyahamb', ekukhanyen' kwenkhos'.
(khanyen' kwenkhos'.)
Siyahamba, (hamba siyahamba,)
oo-oo, (hamba,)
siyahamb', ekukhanyen' kwenkhos'.
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER:
Loving God, just as you have blessed your people in days gone by and blessed those who have worshipped in this congregation for generations before us, we, too, have been blessed with a variety of time, talents, and treasures. From you comes all that we are and all that we can be. We ask that you receive our response as our gift back to you. Take and mould us as servants and disciples. Amen. Written by Beth W. Johnston, Bridging Waters P.C., Nipawin, Sask.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.54. Used with permission.
SUNG BLESSING: VU #454 (First time, CHOIR, Second time, ALL)
May God who creates you give you light,
may God who sustains you make you wise,
may God who protects you give you joy,
may God who surrounds you give you peace. ©
Sending Forth:
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2024 - 25/10/2025; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches.
Sermon 2025 02 09
“Catching People?!”
Luke 5:1-11
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
Once upon a time, a man opened the mail and there was a pink envelope with the handwritten words, to my darling.
On the back of the envelope was the imprint of a big red lipstick kiss.
He thought, “Well, things are looking up!”
And then he realized it couldn’t possibly be for him so he didn’t open it.
When his wife came home she looked at it and said, “Who’s the lucky guy?”
He said it must be for her.
No way!
He said it must be for their daughter.
When she came home she said in horror “It’s not for me!”
So the man opened it, carefully.
Inside was a card, “To my valentine.”
He opened the card and it read, “Save 50% off your home insurance.”
What a disappointment.
Advertisers will do anything to get their man.
Simon Peter had suffered disappointment.
He and his partners had been out fishing all night long and caught nothing.
Jesus said, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
They had the biggest catch of their lives.
Simon Peter went from disappointment to amazement to fear to confession.
Jesus said the words that ran through his life like a mantra.
“Do not be afraid.”
And then he gave them the promise that still applies to us,
“From now on you will be catching people.”
Is this a story about fishing or Jesus’ ministry or is it about us?
It’s probably about all three.
I have a theory about catching fish.
I learned of it from a wise Bishop who wrote in the 5th Century a book called one hundred letters about Spiritual Perfection.
My theory is that maybe the night before when Simon Peter and his partners went fishing the sea was rough.
The visibility was poor and they couldn’t see the fish.
The following day the weather was obviously calm because Jesus sat in the boat on the Sea of Galilee to address the crowd.
He then took them fishing not in shallow areas but in the deep.
In the calmness of the sea and in the deep they caught net loads of fish.
Now this is not just a rationalistic explanation or an explaining away.
Listen to what the bishop says in the 5th century.
“When the sea is calm, the eyes of the fishermen can penetrate to the point where he can distinguish different movements in the depth of the water, so that hardly any of the creatures who move through the pathways of the sea escape him.
But when the sea is agitated by the wind, she hides in her dark restlessness what she shows in the smile of a clear day.”
Is this about fishing or us?
The bishop goes on to say that we have to keep the surface calm so that we can see deep into the soul.
If we have a real problem, and we are upset and frantic, we’ll never be able to see deeply into the solutions.
Only the calm mind can help us to see into the deep.
It’s the same with meetings.
If meetings become tense and fraught and argumentative, if the climate is stormy we’ll never arrive at a good decision unless there’s calmness and clarity of mind.
And it’s the same with our relationship with God.
All of us need to find that quiet time of stillness and calm to seek God and see deep into ourselves.
We need that time and space early in the morning or late at night, or a period in the daytime to keep the surface calm that we might see deep into our inner being.
Your time of stillness and calm might be in the armchair, it might be before the family rise or it might be on a walk outside.
It can be for you deep calling unto deep.
Is the story about fishing or Jesus’ ministry?
That valentine card was a disappointment.
It was never going to catch the man phoning for cheaper insurance.
If our only goal is about catching people then there is disappointment there too.
We are disappointed that more people around here aren’t caught by what catches us.
We find worship meaningful or helpful or that time of calm when we see more deeply, deep calling unto deep.
For us it may be an essential time.
And the disappointment is why don’t others get caught up in it too?
There’s a whole lot of disappointment out there.
People get disappointed with life that there is not more to it, a feeling of what am I achieving, where am I going and that life is just one long struggle at times, money, work, health, bills and so on.
There surely is shallowness to modern life.
Why don’t those disappointed reach out into the deeper waters?
This story of the big catch gives us a clue.
The disappointed fishermen had Jesus lead them out to deep waters.
Simon Peter’s reaction to the big catch was, “If this man, this Lord can do that for my business, what can he do with God’s business in the world?”
Today modern fishermen have every piece of technology under the sun to help them find where the fish are.
They don’t need divine help.
And this applies to the whole of our technological age.
People feel they don’t need Christianity in an age where science and technology provide most of the answers.
Just ask your smart phone and it will give you the answer, I do it all the time!
But not, of course, ALL the answers.
I learned a saying the other week, that in a gale at sea there are no atheists on fishing boats.
When the sea is rough and the waves are high and you can’t see fish or even see ahead, life takes on a different meaning.
When life has severe difficulties and you can’t find peace or the way ahead, when you are in the depths, that’s also when deep calls unto deep.
Put simply, it’s sometimes in crisis that life takes on a deeper meaning and a sense of urgency.
It is from the depths that God meets our depths, as deep calls unto deep.
Jesus drew the fishermen to the deep.
Questions about life and meaning and direction and help require much more than superficial answers.
Deep questions are never answered by shallowness or platitudes.
Deep calls unto deep.
When we go about our ministry, our fishing for others, the best we can do is to offer the deep, the depth of Jesus’ invitation.
And that invitation is bound up with moving into deeper waters.
If people haven’t found the depth of love or acceptance or what they need in life then perhaps they need to move to deeper waters.
Try somewhere else.
Change from the shallow to the deep.
Try the friendship of a worshipping community where deep really does call unto deep.
The call to follow is to leave the shallow and enter the deep.
It is to find that daily calm surface that we may see more clearly into our lives and decisions.
And the call to follow is the call to go fishing.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Written by: Gordon Oliver, a wise Priest in the United Kingdom ---passed to me from Rev. Riscylla Shaw.
Edited by: Rev. Max Ward.
