Sunday, June 11, 2023 - Worship Service
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 on your Thursday or Sunday morning email. If you'd like to begin receiving our weekly emails, you can sign up here.
Announcements
Words of Welcome
Prelude – Intermezzo on "Lyons" D. Hustad
Call to Worship
Hymn #304 We praise You, Creator
Opening Prayer & Assurance of Forgiveness
Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism is a gift from God. With visible signs and words of promise, God moves toward us to claim us as children of the new covenant and members of the household of God. In baptism, God acts to unite us to Christ, to deliver us from the power of sin and death, and call us into a new life of growth and service.
In the sacrament of baptism the church recognizes God’s covenant of grace. We receive God’s gift with reverent joy and respond in faith and obedience.
Remember the words of Peter on the day of Pentecost:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls.”
The Presentation
Minister: Who comes to receive the gift of baptism?
Elder: On behalf of Session I present Lucy Brianne Agnes Miehm and Maxwell John David Miehm, children of Julia Toth and Travis Miehm.
Minister: Julia and Travis do you desire that Lucy and Maxwell be baptized?
If so, please each answer, I do.
Confession and Affirmation
It is our common lot that we turn away from God’s gracious and loving action in our lives. We decide that we know best for ourselves and those whom God places in our care. We act in ways that serve to destroy God’s way of justice and love for all creation. We sin and separate ourselves from God’s love. Consequently, we need to turn to God and to seek forgiveness for the ways in which we have fallen short of what God calls us to be as spouses, parents, children, and neighbours.
Travis and Julia, do you recognize and share in this need for confession to God and the seeking of God’s renewal in your lives? If so, please each answer, I do.
Do you turn to Jesus Christ, accepting him as Lord and Saviour, trusting in his grace and love? If so, please each answer, I do.
Do you desire, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, to mature as a Christian in the church, to seek the guidance of Christ as you listen to his Word, to celebrate his death and life at the table he provides, and to engage in his mission to the world? If so, please each answer, I do.
Do you promise to raise Lucy and Maxwell in the love and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ within the home and the fellowship of the church? If so, please each answer, I do.
The Prayer continues as the minister raises a handful of water and pours it into the font.
Almighty God; by the power of your Holy Spirit, by the sign of this water, you cleanse from sin through the death of Jesus Christ, those who receive this sacrament; you raise them to new life through his resurrection, and graft them into his body, the church.
Pour out your Spirit upon Lucy and Maxwell that they may have power to do your will and continue forever as a servant of Christ to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory now and forever. AMEN.
The Act of Baptizing
Lucy/Maxwell, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
May the Holy Spirit be upon you, Lucy/Maxwell, child of God, disciple of Christ, member of the church. AMEN.
Declaration and Welcome
See what love God has given us that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. (1 John 3:1)
Lucy/Maxwell, you are now received by Christ’s appointment into the holy, catholic church. Through baptism, God has made you a member of the household of God to share with Christ in the priesthood of all believers. Remember your baptism and give thanks. Be one with us in the church.
The congregation will stand, if able.
Do you, as members of the church of Jesus Christ, and sponsors, promise to guide and nurture Lucy and Maxwell by word and deed, with love and in prayer, encouraging them to follow the way of Christ and to be faithful members of His church?
If so, please answer, we do.
Let us profess our faith:
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty?
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
AMEN.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Water is poured visibly and audibly into the font.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
We give you thanks, O gracious God, for the gift of your Spirit and sign of water. In the beginning, when your Spirit moved over the waters, you gave order and life to your planet earth.
By the waters of the flood you cleansed the world, and established with Noah and his family a new beginning for all people.
In the time of Moses, you led your people out of slavery through the waters of the sea, making covenant with them in a new land.
In the fullness of time you sent Jesus Christ, who was formed in the water of a woman’s womb.
In the water of Jordan, Jesus was baptized and anointed by your Holy Spirit.
In his ministry to the world, Jesus offered living water to the woman of Samaria, washed the feet of his disciples, and sent them forth to baptize all nations by water and the Spirit.
And now, with your people of all times and places, we wait with eager longing as we look for the city of God, from which will flow the river of life for the healing of the nations.
Gracious God, by the gift of water and your Holy Spirit you sustain all life.
The Aaronic Blessing (Sung)
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you his peace.
AMEN.
The Peace
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Hymn #466 Praise the Lord with the sound of trumpet
(The Children are invited to go to their class with Julia)
Psalm (responsive) - Psalm 33:1-12
Scripture Reading - Matthew 9: 9 – 13, 18 – 26 (CEB)
Sermon: Who Needs Jesus?
Hymn #492 Lord Jesus Christ, lover of all
Invitation to Offering
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Offertory - "Cornet Voluntary" J. Travers
Offertory Prayer
Anthem - Jubilate (Let us praise You) Mozart/Bullard
Prayers of the People
Hymn #776 Jesus, life of all the world
Blessing
Postlude – "Voluntary" C. Harris
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.
