CANDLE LITURGY
We light the Christ candle each week, reminding ourselves of the wondrous splendour of holy light. We are assured that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Light of Life. The path we seek to follow is one of blazing glory.
May Christ always illumine the way.
     Used with permission from Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; Laura J. Turnbull

SUNG RESPONSE: VU 213 “Rejoice the Lord is King”  verse one
1. Rejoice the Lord is King!
Your risen Lord adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing and triumph ever-more.
Lift up your heart,
lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Come to this time of worship as a child, trusting in God's goodness.
We come, wanting to bring the enthusiasm, trust, and innocence of a child.
Come to remember who you are, and more importantly, whose you are.
We are children of God, coming once again to remember and celebrate who God is and what God has done for us.
Let us worship God together.
     Used with permission Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; Catherine Tovell

2. OPENING PRAYER:
God of surprises, lift our hearts in wonder this morning.
Fill us with your Spirit's joyful abandon as we worship.
Take the mountains and the valleys of life, the mountains and the valleys of our relationships, and help us to celebrate their rich folds, the variety of experience that shapes our faith. Smooth out the rough and painful paths. Come to us as our companion, we pray. Amen.
     Used with permission Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; Gord Dunbar

3. LEARNING TIME:

4. HYMN  VU 232 “Joyful, Joyful We Adore You”
1.  Joyful, joyful we adore you,
God of glory, life and love;
hearts unfold like flowers before you,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
drive the gloom of doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.

2.  All your works with joy surround you,
earth and heaven reflect your rays,
stars and angels sing around you,
centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain,
sound their praise eternally.

3. . You are giving and forgiving,
ever blessing, ever blest,
wellspring of the joy of living,
ocean depth of happy rest!
ource of grace and fount of blessing,
let your light upon us shine;
teach us how to love each other,
lift us to the joy divine.

4.  Mortals join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
God's own love is reigning o'er us,
joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.

5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Revealing God, may the delight of the shared word stir us to new understandings. When it seems confusing, grant clarity. When it is complex, simplify the concepts. Help us to experience the awe and wonder of your holy message. WE ask in the name of the Beloved Christ, the Word.  Amen.
     Used with permission Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; Laura J. Turnbull

6. PRAYER OF YEARNING:
Fulfiller of our lives, we yearn to embody your commandment of love and pursue what we know is right. We long to ease the plight of others, even as we seek our own comfort. Nurture our hope this day, as we fulfill your commandment of love, that we may live as your children and abide in your Spirit.  Amen.
     From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
      Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

7.  WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Even when we are tested by the refiner's fire, God brings us to a place of laughter and light on the other side of our trials. The Advocate meets us in our suffering and heals us in holy love.
      From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
      Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

8.  HYMN: VU #382 “Breathe on me Breath of God”
1.  Breathe on me, breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.

2.  Breathe on me, breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with thine,
to do and to endure.

3.  Breathe on me, breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
until this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.

4.  Breathe on me, breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life
of thine eternity.

9.  PASSING OF THE PEACE:
On the other side of trials, rest in the sanctuary of God's healing love. Come, let us share the peace of Christ with one another - the peace promised through the Holy Spirit.
     From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
     Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

10.  INVITATION TO OFFERING:
Remembering that God's family is our family, let us reach out in love and gratitude as we present our offering for our community and for the world.
     Used with permission Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; George Allan

11.  OFFERTORY: VU 540 “Grant Us, God the Grace”
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
with a spirit large and free,
that ourselves and all our living
we may offer faithfully.

12.  OFFERING PRAYER OF DEDICATION:
Loving God, may what we offer here this morning be a prayer: that we may be blessed as living testimony to your good news, that our offerings may be blessed as good news to use in the world, and that your world may live within us in spirit and in truth.  Amen.
     Used with permission Gathering Lent/Easter 2026; Gord Dunbar

Please give by contributing online using “E-transfers” or PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittance) or by placing your offering in the plate.

13. PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD'S PRAYER:

14.  HYMN: VU 581 “When We Are Living”  Verse 4
4. Across this wide world, we shall always find
those who are crying with no peace of mind,
but when we help them, or when we feed them,
we belong to God, we belong to God.

15.  BLESSING:
Once we searched and groped for God in darkness.
Now we reside with Christ in glorious light.
Once we lived as if God was far from us.
Now we rejoice each day in God's presence.
Once we strove for God's acceptance.
Now we rest secure in God's love
     From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
     Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission

• SCRIPTURE LESSON:
  Acts 17: 22 - 31


• Responsive Reading Psalm 66:  8 - 20 VU page 784 - 5 Part 2 & 3
  REFRAIN: “God of all, to you we raise this our song of joyful praise”


• SCRIPTURE LESSON:
  1 Peter 3: 13 - 22


• The Gospel:
  John 14: 15 - 21
  The Holy Spirit Is Promised

Next Sunday:  Seventh Sunday of Easter
        May 17, 2026:
         Acts 1: 6 - 14   Psalm 68: 1 - 10, 33 - 36;
         1 Peter 4: 12 - 14; 5: 6 - 11;  John 17: 1 - 11.

Note: Don't have a Bible? By Clicking on the button below, you can open a new window in an Online Bible. By entering the BOOK and CHAPTER, you will be able to look up the references in the sermon. Copy and paste will work as long as there is no other words between the book name and chapter number. Try it and Enjoy!

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