St. Columba's Anglican United Church St. Columba's Anglican United Church
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St. Columba's Sunday Service
Rev. Elaine Julian
Rev. Elaine Julian
Sunday, January 10, 2021
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Order of Service and Hymns
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In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)

Welcome and Announcements

Land Acknowledgment

God’s People Gather…

Call to Worship
Come and listen to the beat of water in your veins,
The very stuff of life within us all.
Come and drink: the beauty of rain-washed stained glass,
The awesome wonder of God’s holy glory drawn in light.
Come and feel: the tears of sorrow and of joy waiting within,
The story of God’s salvation written on our hearts.
Come and see: the baptismal waters of promise and of covenant,
The proclamation of God’s power in humble relation.

Prayer of Approach
Come and pray:
We come, O God, to listen for your voice: the voice of comfort and of challenge, the voice of strength in weakness, the voice of blessing and of call, the voice that is the ground of our being.
Amen.

Hymn: More Voices #115, “Behold, Behold” (sing two or three times)

Behold, (behold,) behold, (behold,) I make all things new,
beginning with you and starting from today.
Behold, (behold,) behold, (behold,) I make all things new,
my promise is true, for I am Christ the way.

Words and music: John L Bell, 1995.

Story Time

To Hear God’s Word

Psalm 29 (VU p. 756)
Acts 19:1-7

The Gospel: Mark 1:4-11

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

To Respond in Prayer and Action…

A New Creed
We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.

We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.

We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in
Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus,

crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God

Prayer of Confession
We stand on the banks of the river with you, companion Jesus.
We look at the stream of people moving forward to accept the gift of baptism – and we wonder.
Do they truly understand how their lives will be disrupted? Are they truly aware of the challenge of living a life of faith that changes them from the inside out? Do they truly welcome the call to never be the same again?
For that matter, O Christ, do we?
Yet, as we watch those who have received their baptism, this washing away of what was in order to invite in what will be, we notice the look of transformation that gushes forth in their smiles, we become aware of the change in their posture and the light that warms their faces.
That’s the kind of wholeness for which we yearn.
That’s the kind of new life we seek as we silently share the confessions of our hearts with you. 
(Silence follows)
Amen.

Words of Assurance

The Peace
The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Hymn: VU#644 “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” v 1,2,5,6,7

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell.

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.

When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

Words, Music: John Ylvisaker, 1985.

VU 541 The Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Words: Thomas Ken, ca 1674; Music: Genevan Psalter 1551.

Offertory Prayer

Prayers of the People
In our Shared Ministry Church Cycles of prayer, we pray for…
Anna, our bishop-elect and Sts. Anne & Edmund, Parksville & Church of the Good Shepherd, Lasqueti Island and the Reverends Andrew Twiddy & Christine Muise...

Jesus’ Baptism 
(a poem by Malcolm Guite from “Sounding the Seasons”, Canterbury Press)

Lord’s Prayer

Collect (Adapted from a poem by Donald Schmidt)

Hymn: More Voices #98, “Like a River of Tears”

Like a river of tears your love pours upon us;
like a sunshine of blessing your grace will sustain us;
like a star-studded sky your spirit shines o’er us,
renewing our spirits with courage and faith.

Like a bird in free flight by windows around us;
like a wind in the forest that breathes life among us;
like a phoenix that’s rising from ashes around us,
renewing our spirits with vision and grace.

Like a pillar of cloud you promise to guide us;
like a bright fiery bush you come to speak to us;
like a calm cooling breeze your spirit breathes in us,
renewing our spirits with loving embrace.

Like a lover’s caress your spirit revives us;
like a song of the soul you come to be with us;
like a prayer of the heart you heal and restore us,
renewing our spirits, the future to face.

Words: John Oldham Music: Ron Klusmeier.

Benediction

Threefold Amen

Call to Worship and Prayer of Approach by Gord Dunbar, used with permission from “Gathering Epiphany 2017”. Prayer of Confession by Gord Dunbar, used with permission from “Gathering: Epiphany 2021”. Additional prayers from “Fusion” www.seasonsonline.ca

Music reprinted and podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359. All rights reserved.

“Behold, Behold”
Words and music: John L Bell. Words and music copyright © 1995 by WGRG, Iona Community, Scotland, admin by GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 (#00914).

“I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry”
Words, Music: John Ylvisaker. Words and music copyright © 1985 John Carl Ylvisaker. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 (#88253).

VU 541 The Doxology
Words: Thomas Ken, ca 1674; Music: Genevan Psalter 1551. Copyright Public domain.

Hymn: More Voices #98, “Like a River of Tears”
Words: John Oldham Music: Ron Klusmeier. Words copyright © 1996 by John Wesley Oldham. Music copyright © 1997 Ron Klusmeier. Musiklus (admin. Hope Publishing Company). All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 Music (#80455).

Announcements:
• You can contact Elaine Julian by email at incumbent@stcolumbaporthardy.ca or phone her at the church office. If you leave a message, she will reply as soon as possible.
• Office hours are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings
• Bible Study resumes this week, Tuesday 5pm on Zoom, contact Elaine for an invitation
• Loaves and Fishes Food Banks is here January 13 from about 1 to 2 PM.
• Celtic Prayer Thursday at 2:00 PM on Zoom. You can participate on Zoom, or just read the weekly prayers and readings at home. If you do not receive the weekly email invitation and wish to join us, please contact Rev. Elaine.
• A bag lunch will be available on Sunday morning around 11:30 AM for those who need a meal. Gloria will be available at the church to give you the lunch.
• Annual Reports due by Jan 17
• Jan 21 Church Council at 6:30 PM on Zoom
• Annual General Meeting will be delayed until circumstances allow us to meet but annual reports will be produced and distributed by the end of January
• Please remember to bring in canned / dry goods for our community cupboard
• Mission Focus is J C Memorial Church on the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation