Sunday, August 31, 2025
Order of Service
We welcome all gathering for worship this morning or later in the week. Whether you attend in-person, worship on ZOOM or YouTube, or are a viewer on Rogers TV20 - please know that we consider everyone to be a part of our worship experience and an integral member of our St. Andrew's Guelph community.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this morning's service, both in-person and virtually.
Join us on our St. Andrew's Guelph YouTube Channel, select the live service, and remember to invite your friends and families. You can also join us via ZOOM by following the link in your Sunday morning email. If you'd like to begin receiving our weekly emails, you can sign up here.
Prelude
Call to Worship
290 Immortal, invisible, God only wise
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Declaration of Forgiveness
394 Holy Spirit, truth divine
Story: VAL-DERI, VAL-DERA!
Blessing of the Backpacks
God of love, of wisdom and of grace, we come together today to celebrate the privilege and responsibility to grow in grace and knowledge as preparations are underway for another season of learning.
God bless your children and their backpacks. Bless all the teachers, staff and community members who serve those who wear these backpacks. Empower the adults in the lives of your children to make decisions that are truly in their best interest. May each child flourish and participate in the flourishing of all creation.
God bless your children and their backpacks. In a world so often plagued by violence, hatred and fear, may those who carry these backpacks know peace, mercy and friendship. May your children feel safe enough to learn, to take healthy risks that lead to growth, and to extend compassion to others.
God bless your children and their backpacks. Be with those who use these knapsacks to carry home food to hungry families. Be with those who fear the weekend, as it means less security.
God bless your children and their backpacks. We pray for the families who surround, sustain and send your children into the world. Bless the sacrifices these families have made to stock these backpacks. Bless the communities that support these families in times of joy and hardship. May the gifts of these families and communities carry hope and fellowship into schools, offices, and your wide, wonderful world.
God bless your children and their backpacks. Supply each child with the tools to stimulate creativity and wonder rooted in gratitude. Give your children ears to hear, O God. Let them hear the gentle song of their own heart as well as the songs in the hearts of others. Prepare your children to respond to this music with a spirit of collaboration and cooperation so that their collective harmonies might heal your world.
God bless your children and their backpacks. Grant to each rest at the end of the day and the end of the week. Free your children of anxiety and unhealthy stress; lead them to trust that they are beloved no matter their accomplishments or failings. May they know that they are enough, just as they are.
With gratitude at the wonder of being human, of growing, of learning, and of making friends, we give thanks to you for all your children, and pray that all they carry will be full of the joy of life. Through Christ we pray. Amen.
With thanks to The Reverend Jess Rigel
Prayer for Illumination
29 Oh send thy light forth
Psalm 112:1-10 (NRSV)
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Luke 14:1,7-14 (NRSV)
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Sermon: Making Space (Remembering The New Kid In Class)
“[Jesus] noticed how the guests chose the places of honour...” Luke 14:7
730 O for a world where everyone respects each other's ways
Call for the Offering
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Cheques:
St. Andrew’s Guelph, 161 Norfolk Street, Guelph, ON N1H 4J8
Presbyterians Sharing is how we support our denomination as a whole. Your gifts the variety of missions and ministries that The Presbyterian Church in Canada supports throughout Canada. It also ensures that we are well resources by our National Office staff.
If you are able, the MOCC would encourage you to consider donating to Presbyterians Sharing. You can do so by clicking here. (Make sure that you indicate that you are from St. Andrew’s Guelph on the online form in order for it to count towards our commitment)
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We are making a difference TOGETHER.
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Offertory
Doxology
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
(Thomas Ken 1637-1711)
Prayer of Dedication
Announcements
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
587 Called as partners in Christ's service
Benediction
Postlude
We gather on the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg and the Haudenosaunee Peoples. We are also on lands that are part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum. We live and work, worship, learn and meet on lands that are the traditional territory of many different Indigenous Peoples who were here before the establishment of European colonies.
