Sunday, February 23, 2023 - Worship Service
Sunday, February 23, 2023 - 10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Order of Service
We continue our live broadcast this morning and welcome in-person worshipers into the Sanctuary (with socially distanced seating). Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this morning’s service, both online and in person.
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 Friday or Sunday morning email. If you’d like to begin receiving our weekly emails, you can sign up here.
Announcements
Words of Welcome
Prelude – As the deer arr. P. Sanders Cota
Call to Worship - PWS&D Liturgy
L: Just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness,
P: the Spirit sends us into places of uncertainty where we confront our weakness and insecurities.
L: In the wilderness, we, too, are confronted by our hunger and thirst.
P: We are tempted to grab at empty promises that offer an easy way out.
L: Like Jesus, we are tempted by power and prestige.
P: Unlike him, we often submit to their glamour.
L: We wonder whether God is with us.
P: We wonder whether we can trust God to take care of us.
L: We can only move forward in faith.
P: Let us stand on the cliff edge and, like Jesus, dare to trust.
Responding to Conflict-Induced Hunger
Food insecurity around the world has many causes—including conflict. In fact, 77 million acutely food-insecure people live in countries where civil wars and religious persecution are the primary drivers of hunger.
Conflict disrupts markets, causing inflation and threatening the livelihoods of many people. Moreover, wars destroy food stockpiles and often force farmers to evacuate. As a result, people are pushed toward poverty, starvation and malnutrition.
PWS&D is responding to those in need due to conflict and hunger.
In Yemen, Ukraine, Syria and Ethiopia, to name a few conflict-afflicted places, families and individuals are receiving much needed food assistance through a combination of cash transfers, food baskets and food vouchers.
This assistance, made possible in large part through PWS&D’s membership at Canadian Foodgrains Bank, ensures families have access to essential food items and helps them navigate the uncertainties they face.
This Lenten season, help those displaced by conflict have enough food to strengthen them on the journey to find peace and security.
Hymn #27 As the deer
Opening Prayer & Assurance of Forgiveness
(The Children are invited to go to their class with Julia)
Psalm (Responsive) - Psalm 32
Scripture Reading - Matthew 4:1-11 (CEB)
Sermon: Who Will You Listen To?
A Time for Reflection
Hymn - Who will you listen to?
Invitation to Offering
You can still mail cheques to St. Andrew’s Guelph, 161 Norfolk Street, Guelph, ON N1H 4J8, Or you can donate to St. Andrew’s through CanadaHelps.
Click Here to Donate to St. Andrew’s via Canada Helps here.
You are also invited to sign up for Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR). Instead of using offering envelopes or giving online, you can set up a regular donation through your financial institution. To learn more, click here.
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)
Or you can make a donation directly to Presbyterians Sharing through St. Andrew’s Guelph. Please mark your donation: Presbyterians Sharing.
We are making a difference TOGETHER.
If you’d like to make a donation to Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D) you can do so by clicking here.
Offertory - Prelude on “Sweet the moment, rich in blessing” arr. R. Haan
Offertory Prayer
Anthem - Wondrous Love arr. S. Sametz
Prayers of the People
Hymn #205 O love, how deep, how broad, how high
Blessing
Postlude – Puer Nobis Nascitur (Var. V from Partita) arr. R. Haan
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.
