CANDLE LITURGY
We light the Christ candle,
reminding us of the Christ light, present with us, within us, within each other.  (Light the Christ candle.)
     Adapted/Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Karen Cooganko9

Sung Response: “Come We that Love the Lord”  715 VU  V.5  ( Verse 1, please remain seated)
1. Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known,
join in a song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne.

1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
Compassionate friends, let us worship with joy.
We rejoice! God is in this place.
God's radical love guides and encourages.
We will love with heart, soul, strength, and mind. Praise be to God!
     Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Laura Turnbull

2. OPENING PRAYER:
Dear God, our faithful companion, we are blessed to have you with us on our journey. Deepen our desire to know you better and to learn from you. We long for your presence in every moment of our lives. Bless us each day and remind us to be grateful to those around us and thankful to you, O God. We long to be just like you. We long to take hold of the opportunities to share your love with everyone we meet. We know you care for us, we know you love us, and we long to return the love back to you. May it be so.  Amen.
     Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Lisa Folkins

3. LEARNING TIME:

4.  HYMN: VU 240 “Praise, My Soul, the God of Heaven”
1.  Praise, my soul, the God of heaven,
glad of heart your carols raise;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who, like me, should sing God's praise.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Praise the Maker all your days!

2.  Praise God for the grace and favour
shown our forebears in distress;
God is still the same forever,
slow to chide and swift to bless.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Sing our Maker's faithfulness!

3.  Like a loving parent caring,
God knows well our feeble frame;
gladly all our burdens bearing,
still to countless years the same.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
All within me, praise God's name!

4.  Frail as summer's flower we flourish;
blows the wind and it is gone;
but, while mortals rise and perish,
God endures unchanging on.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Praise the high eternal one.

5.  Angels, teach us adoration,
you behold God face to face;
sun and moon and all creation,
dwellers all in time and space.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Praise with us the God of grace!

5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Welcoming God, draw us close to your heart of love. Fill us with compassion and recognition of your grace. Reveal your truth in the words that are shared and in the silent moments. Help us to notice your voice of acceptance. May the familiar be heard in a new way as we receive the words of scripture today. We ask, in Jesus' name.  Amen.
     Used with permission from Gathering: Pentecost 2; 2025: Laura J. Turnbull

6. SCRIPTURE LESSON
Jeremiah 4: 11 - 12, 22 - 28
At that time this message will be given to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hills. It comes from the desert to my people. It is not like the gentle wind that is used to separate the grain from the chaff. 12 It is a stronger wind than that, and it comes from me. Now I will announce my judgment against the people of Judah.” 22 The Lord said, “My people are foolish. They don't know me. They are stupid children. They don't understand. They are skillful at doing evil, but they don't know how to do good.” 23 I looked at the earth. It was empty; there was nothing on it. I looked at the sky, and its light was gone. 24 I looked at the mountains, and they were shaking. All the hills were trembling. 25 I looked, but there were no people. All the birds of the sky had flown away. 26 I looked, and the good land had become a desert. All the cities in that land were destroyed by the LORD and his great anger. 27 This is what the LORD says: “The whole country will be ruined, but I will not completely destroy the land. 28 So the people in the land will cry for the dead. The sky will grow dark. I have spoken and will not change. I have made a decision, and I will not change my mind.”

Responsive Reading Psalm 14  page 735 VU
Refrain: “Dear God, who loves all humankind, forgive our foolish ways”

The foolish have spoken in their heart, and said 'There is no God.'
They are corrupt; they do abominable things; there is no one who does what is good.
God looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if any are wise and seek after God.
But all have gone astray; all alike are corrupted; there is no one who does good; no, not one.  Refrain

Have they no knowledge, all those who do evil?
They devour my people like so much bread, and do not pray to God.
But see, they will tremble with fear, for God is on the side of the righteous.
Do not mock the hope of the poor, for God is their refuge.
O that deliverance for God's people would come forth from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of the people, then shall Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.  Refrain

7. REFLECTION:

8. HYMN: VU 708 “My Lord, What a Morning”
Refrain;
My Lord, what a morning.
My Lord, what a morning.
My Lord, what a morning
when the stars begin to fall.

1.  You'll hear the trumpet sound
to wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand when the stars begin to fall.  Refrain

2.  You'll hear the sinner cry
to wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand when the stars begin to fall.  Refrain

3. You'll hear the Christian shout
to wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand when the stars begin to fall.  Refrain

9. SCRIPTURE LESSONS
1 Timothy 1: 12 - 17
Thanks for God's Mercy
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. He gives me strength. 13 In the past I insulted Christ. As a proud and violent man, I persecuted his people. But God gave me mercy because I did not know what I was doing. I did that before I became a believer. 14 But our Lord gave me a full measure of his grace. And with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them. 16 But I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. Christ showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. He wanted me to be an example for those who would believe in him and have eternal life. 17 Honor and glory to the King who rules forever. He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen.

Luke 15: 1 - 10
Joy in Heaven
15 Many tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus. 2 Then the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain, “Look, this man[a] welcomes sinners and even eats with them!” 3 Then Jesus told them this story: 4 “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but one of them gets lost. What will you do? You will leave the other 99 sheep there in the field and go out and look for the lost sheep. You will continue to search for it until you find it. 5 And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it 6 home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, 'Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!” 7 In the same way, I tell you, heaven is a happy place when one sinner decides to change. There is more joy for that one sinner than for 99 good people who don't need to change.
8 "Suppose a woman has ten silver coins,[b] but she loses one of them. She will take a light and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. 9 And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say to them, 'Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!' 10 In the same way, “it's a happy time for the angels of God when one sinner decides to change.”

11. HYMN VU #271  “There's a Wideness in God's Mercy”
1.  There's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in God's justice which is more than liberty.

2.  There is no place where earth's sorrows are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth's failings have such gracious judgement given.

3.  There is plentiful redemption in the blood that Christ has shed;
there is joy for all the members in the sorrows of the Head.

4.  Troubled souls, why will you scatter like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will you wander from a love so true and deep?

5.  For the love of God is broader than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

12.  PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Creator God, when you made us in your image, you gave us the power to choose, and you made the consequences of our choices real, for only in this way could we be co-creators in your great dance of life. You also gave us the gift of love and compassion, as a beacon to guide us in your way, the way that leads to life. And you ask only that we make our choices in selfless love and that we be attentive to the presence of the Spirit with which you surround us, always. Yet often we may choose selfishly, closing ourselves to the ways our choices favour ourselves over others. We may fall into temptation, trapped by senseless and harmful desires that lead to suffering and injustice. Dear God, our actions come with all their consequences for good or evil, and yet in some mysterious way, you have the power to bring wholeness and new life out of suffering and destruction. In your mercy, save us. Trusting in your love and ever-forgiving nature, we ask that you open our spirits, hearts, and minds and guide us in paths of righteousness. Amen.
     Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Robert Cosbey

13.  WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Friends, be assured. God always keeps a candle burning in the window for us. God is always ready to welcome us back, restore us to the fullness of life, and teach us the ways of peace once we decide that's truly what we want! Thanks be to God.
     Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Robert Cosbey

14.  SUNG RESPONSE: 215 VU “Hope of the World” verse 3 seated
3. Hope of the world, afoot on dusty highways,
showing to wandering souls the path of light;
walk now beside us lest the tempting byways
lure us away from you to endless night.

15.  PASSING OF THE PEACE:
Friends, God rejoices in you. For you were lost but now are found. Let us share the peace of Christ and rejoice that each and every one of us is highly treasured.
     From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
     Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.

16.  INVITATION TO OFFERING:
Beloved people of God, let us give to the work of God's kingdom today. May we take this opportunity to work for the common good, and especially for the family of faith. Let us present our offering.
     From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
     Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.

17. OFFERTORY VU 538 “For the Gift of Creation”
For the gift of creation, the gift of your love, and the gift of the Spirit by which we live, we thank you and give you the fruit of our hands. May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give.

18.  OFFERING PRAYER:
Loving God, we recognize that your blessings come in so many ways; we seek to be a blessing to others. Use and multiply these gifts so that the work of our church here and around the world can be a sign of your caring presence.  Amen.
     Used with permission Pentecost 2 Gathering 2025; Beth W. Johnston.

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

20. HYMN 688 VU “O Day of God, Draw Nigh”
1.  O day of God, draw nigh in beauty and in power,
come with your timeless judgement now to match our present hour.

2. Bring to our troubled minds, uncertain and afraid,
the quiet of a steadfast faith, calm of a call obeyed.

3.  Bring justice to our land, that all may dwell secure,
and finely build for days to come foundations that endure.

4.  Bring to our world of strife your sovereign word of peace,
that war may haunt the earth no more and desolation cease.

5.  O day of God, draw nigh as at creation's birth;
let there be light again, and set your judgements in the earth.

21.  BLESSING:
Let us go from here to seek;
may what is lost be found.
Let us go to proclaim the Good News;
let us rejoice and be glad,
for in the power of God's love,
what is lost will be found.
When we are lost, we will be found.
     Used with permission Pentecost 1 Gathering 2025; Beth W Johnston.

Next Sunday:  Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
        September 21, 2025:
         Jeremiah 8:18-9:1;   Psalm 79:1-9;
         1 Timothy 2:1-7;  Luke 16:1-13.

1. SUNDAY, September 14, 2025  “Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost”   10:45 AM   Rev. Jo-Ann Hills  “RECOLLECTIONS”   ALL ARE WELCOME!


2. TUESDAY, September 16, 2025  Jubilation Handbell Ringers   If you are interested in ringing some bells, come out and give it a try;   6:30pm in the Choir Room.


3. SUNDAY, September 21, 2025  “Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost”   10:45 AM   Rev. Jo-Ann Hills  “RECOLLECTIONS”   ALL ARE WELCOME!


4. SUNDAY, September 21, 2025  “SUNDAY BRUNCH”  11:30 AM - 1:00 PM  ALL ARE WELCOME!


5. SUNDAY, October 26, 2025  “ROAST BEEF FALL SUPPER”   5:00 - 7:00 PM   Take Out Meals Available by Pre-Order Only  “Phone: 306-445-8171”   ALL ARE WELCOME!
   [ SEE POSTER ON "HAPPENINGS" TAB FOR FULL DETAILS ]