NEWCASTLE UNITED CHURCHJune 7, 2020 10:30 a.m.

Trinity Sunday“As followers of Christ, we are called to be a worshipping and learning, receiving and giving community of

faith, hope and love.” – Newcastle United Church Mission Statement

Surely God is in this place. Help me notice.We Approach God

Lighting The Christ Candle

A Time of Centring – “Spirit, Open My Heart” (chorus) MV # 79(Words Copyright 1996 The Pilgrim Press)

Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living. As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving, Spirit, open my heart. (sung through twice)

Call to Worship (Responsive)

We gather to experience God’s presence.We gather to be inspired for the week ahead.We gather to be transformed by the Spirit.We gather to explore the mystery of Three-in-One.Come to experience, explore, be inspired and transformed.

Hymn of Praise “Sing Your Praise To God Eternal” # 244(Words copyright 1988 Emmanuel College, Toronto, Canada)

Sing your praise to God eternal, sing your praise to God the Son, sing your praise to God the Spirit, living and forever One. God has made us, God has blessed us, God has called us to be true. God rules over all creation, daily making all things new.

Praise God on our days of gladness for the summons to rejoice; praise God in our times of sadness for the calm, consoling voice. God our Maker, strong and loving, Christ our Saviour, Leader, Lord, living God, Creator Spirit, by your holy name adored!

Below is the service I have created for this Sunday. I hope this is something you can use for personal/family worship. We are all worshiping together, no matter where we are. If you are joining us online this week then please have this resource with you so you have the words

to the responses and hymns at your fingertips in case you can’t see the screen.Rev. Mary-Jane

The words provided for the hymns are done with permission under One License # A-727596.

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Prayer of Approach (Unison)

God, Creator, you gave us life and the world. You gave us Christ as Saviour to teach us how to live and to love. You sent the Holy Spirit to inspire, to comfort, to stay. Creator, Christ and Spirit, each part of you is part of us. May you help us to grow, learn, live and love. Amen.

We Hear God’s WordHymn “This Is God’s Wondrous World” # 296

This is God’s wondrous world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is God’s wondrous world, I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees of skies and seas, God’s hand the wonders wrought.

This is God’s wondrous world: O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is God’s wondrous world: why should my heart be sad? Let voices sing, let the heavens ring: God reigns, let earth be glad!

A Time To Be Children

Do you know what the first words in the Bible are?... Genesis 1:1 starts, “In the beginning God when created the heavens and the earth…”(NRSV) The chapter of the Bible then goes on to describe the creation of everything in the heavens and on the earth. Can you think of some of the things God created?... God created everything.What did God create last of all?... Yes, people. God created people last. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind  in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ ”God wanted people to have dominion over all the earth. Do you know what the word dominion means? It means to have authority over something, to be in charge; it’s something like being a king or a queen of a country. Trying to be a good ruler or a leader of a country must be a tough job. It’s an even bigger challenge to be in charge of the whole earth.I want you to imagine that you are the ruler of a small forest. It has quite a few trees, lots of shrubs and flowers, and right in the middle, there is a beautiful pond where the animals go to

drink. You are in charge of all the animals and plants and insects in this forest. It’s up to you to make sure that all your subjects are healthy and happy and well cared for. Do you think that you would let somebody throw trash in your forest? Would you let anyone pour something like motor oil into the little pond? Would you pick all the flowers in your forest, until there weren’t any left?... You would protect your creatures, wouldn’t you? You would want to take good care of your forest and keep it healthy.

We humans sometimes forget, however, that we’re in charge of the earth. We need to protect the animals, plants, and insects that God created. God gave us dominion; God put us in charge. That

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doesn’t mean we can do as we please, it means we have to care for it all. It’s a big job, and I hope we all remember to take good care of God’s creation.I have put a picture of a garbage can today. To remind us that we have dominion and that means we have to do the work to care for creation just as much as to use what creation has to offer us.

Genesis 1:1-24a God creates.

Psalm 8 God’s glorious name. VU #732Sung Response: O God, our God, how glorious is your name in all the earth!

O God, our God, how glorious is your name in all the earth! From the lips of infants and children your praises reach up to the heavens.

You have set up a stronghold against your foes, to quell the enemy and the avenger. R

When I look to the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their places,

what are we mortals that you should be mindful of us, mere human beings that you should care for us? R

You have made us little less than divine; and crowned us with glory and honour.

You had made us rulers over all your creation, and put all things under our feet,

all sheep and cattle, all creatures of the wild, the birds of the air and the fish in the sea, and all that make their way through the waters. R

Matthew 28:16-20 Go, make disciples.This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Hymn “Lord, You Give The Great Commission” # 512

Lord, you give the great commission: “Heal the sick and preach the world.” Lest the church neglect its mission, and the gospel go unheard, help us witness to your purpose with renewed integrity; with the Spirit’s gifts empow’r us for the work of ministry.

Lord, you bless with words assuring: “I am with you to the end.” Faith and hope and love restoring, may we serve as you intend, and, amid the cares that claim us, hold in mind eternity;

with the Spirit’s gifts empow’r us for the work of ministry.

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Message

First things first! That's how it should be; because if you don't have first things first then you have it second or somewhere else. If you don't even have first things first then everything is out of order. What you have is chaos.

In Genesis 1 God is putting first things first. The Bible says, "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void." In

modern times Genesis 1 makes us think of the argument over evolution and the big bang: evolutionism versus creationism, science versus Scripture. But that is not at all what was going on in the minds of God's people when Genesis 1 was inspired. Back then it was an argument between God's people and the religions of the people around them.

You see all ancient societies have stories about how the world was created. One of the most popular was the Babylonians. They imagined a

war between gods that resulted in one of the gods being killed. That slain god's body became the earth and living things sprang from it. As a result of this understanding the ancient Babylonians worshipped anything and everything. Every force in nature had a name and a deity attached to it. Every thing that existed could be claimed to be part of the god and therefore an appropriate object of worship.

Because of this chaos of gods and goddesses, God (the one true God, the God of the Israelites) decided to put things in order. It is no accident that the first thing God tells us is that before creation that the earth was a formless void. That's significant because the religious life of humanity was a formless void before God set the record straight. According to Genesis 1, God created order out of chaos. And this order gives order to our lives. We humans, created in God's image, were to work for six days and rest by keeping the seventh as holy just as God had done.

At the same time this revelation brought order to the chaos of objects of worship. This story showed the people that God, the Creator, was the only God to be worshipped and praised. Everything else was just a creation of God. All the birds and fish and animals and plants and forces of nature were things made by the one true God. The best example of this point is verse 16. It says God created two great lights: a greater light and a lesser light. Those are obviously the Sun and the Moon, but it doesn't say "Sun" and "Moon." That is because many ancient peoples worshipped the Sun and Moon as gods. The inspired author didn't want people to misunderstand and think that God created these lesser gods and that they could be worshiped. So the writer makes it clear. These are just lights in the sky given to us by God for light.

Through all of this, the greatness and superiority of God is established. Only God is worthy of worship. Only God has the power to create. Only God Almighty has the authority to command or destroy. Only God is creator and master of the universe. The things that God created are good, but they are not to be worshipped. There are no other gods!

We today have a much fuller understanding of God than people did back then. The ancient Hebrews only knew of God as the Creator. But we know that God came to live among us as Jesus the Christ, and that God dwells with us now as the Holy Spirit. It is still just one God, but that God is so great that we need three names to speak of the Almighty. So we call God "Father”, "Son" and "Holy Spirit”. It is hard for us to understand how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit can all be one. Jesus called God his Heavenly Father, yet

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Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," and how can Jesus be in Heaven at the right hand of the Father and here where we worship? But we know that God is so great that God can accomplish things that we can't even comprehend.

Despite our advanced knowledge of God, the message people need to hear is still the same as it was for the ancient Hebrews. Just as back then, the religious life of humanity is a chaos of gods. There is nothing that is not worshipped today. People worship money and fame. They worship themselves and their own understandings of the world. If a person goes to the beach on Sunday without worshipping God, isn't that making the sun or the sea or themselves a god? Some people today even worship little white balls! That is why they go to the "Golf Course Temple" every Sunday morning. This worship takes different forms than it did back then. But people persist still in worshipping the created things instead of the Creator.

These people need to hear about God and God's greatness and mercy. Oftentimes their lives are formless voids because they are not worshipping the God who creates order out of chaos. They need to know that God can create order out of the chaos of their lives. They need to hear that God can give substance to the emptiness of their hearts.

We need to tell them. We need to let them know that only God is worthy of praise. We need to tell them that Jesus saves. We need to inform them that God's Spirit strengthens us. Before Jesus ascended to glory, he gave all authority to his disciples to tell others this good news. That means that God, the God of the universe, the Creator of all things, has given us the power and authority to tell others and teach them the truth. God has given us the task, and the means to do it, by God’s power not our own. It doesn’t mean we have to demand they join us for worship on Sundays, but it does mean we need to tell them to create a place for God in the midst of everything else. I can’t help but wonder if that is what we should have been using the last few months to do. We stopped, but did we notice God?

Don't think that someone else will do it for you. It's your job. God has given you authority to make disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations so that they may know the peace of worshipping the God of order, the God of creation. Amen.

We Respond To God’s WordOffering InvitationAs the Spirit blows through our lives and our world, we are moved to share the good news. Part of that good news is that we have life, the abundant life Christ offered us. It is from that abundance that we offer our time, talent and treasure, each and every day…

The Offertory (As we are not together, take a moment to think of all you can offer to God this week, even cooped up in your own home. Dedicate those things to God now.)

Your work, O God, needs many hands to help you everywhere, and some there are who cannot serve unless our gifts we share.

(VU #537 v.1)

Dedication Prayer (Unison)During the season of Pentecost, we are reminded, O God, that the church is not a physical place, but a people, your people. You fill your people with your Spirit and send us into the world. Send all we have to offer into the world that

our church, our community and our world may know the power of your Spirit. Amen.

Prayers of the People

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We thank and praise you, loving God, for  the Spirit who opens our ears to hear you saying to us through Christ: “I love you,” and who enables us respond “And we now love you.” Your Spirit fills all things, you are the joy of the universe.

 

We thank and praise you for  the inspiration of your Spirit in prophets, poets, composers and artists, psalmists, scientists and scholars;for  the Spirit’s gift of profound inner silence when we can hear the heartbeat of creation and know that all things work together for good;for  the Spirit’s work in bringing us together in  the fellowship of the Church universal, to be the Body of Christ serving the world;for  the Spirit’s seeds of holy discontent driving us to seek justice and peace for others and greater love and courage for ourselves as Jesus showed us to do;for  the Spirit’s generous gifts which turn inadequate people into saints and give a foretaste of a glory yet to come.Your Spirit fills all things, you are the joy of the universe. Holy Friend, for that small community we call our family, with its strengths that nurture or its faults that hurt and inhibit its unity, we ask for a special blessing;for that community we call the church universal, with its many loves and its numerous failures and even its scandals, we ask for a special blessing;for that community we call our circle of friends, with its times of harmony and mutual joy and its incidents of misunderstanding or neglect, we ask a special blessing;for those communities we call health centres, and hospitals and hospices for the dying, with their skill and compassion yet also their pride and folly, we ask a special blessing;for that multi-ethnic community called our nation, with virtues that make us proud to be Canadian, yet also with its prejudices and hurtful ways, we ask a special blessing;for that teeming community we call the world, rich with achievements for the good of all yet riven by greed, hatred, intolerance, injustice, arrogance, and war, and which continues to simmer with racism and rhetoric which helps no one, we ask a special blessing.Three-person’d God, join together your separated children.

 

Creator, thank you for sending your Christ to reconcile all things. By your Spirit incite all people of faith and goodwill to strive untiringly for that communal harmony where the value of no one is denigrated, and where the gifts and successes of each person are celebrated with unstinted gratitude and joy. For your name’s sake. Amen.(inspired by and adapted from Bruce Prewer and used with permission.)

Closing Hymn “Come Now, Almighty King” # 314

Come now, almighty King, help us your name to sing, help us to praise; one God all glorious, ever victorious, come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.

To the great One in Three, eternal praises be forevermore; your sovereign majesty may we in glory see,

and to eternity love and adore!

Commissioning and Benediction

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We go to live in the joy of wondrous love of our God,A Creator who continues to create in and through us;A Christ who reminds us of kindness and compassion;And a Spirit that brings with it an energy to live, love and serve.And may the grace of Christ attend you, the love of God surround you, and the Holy Spirit keep each one of you, now and always. Amen.

Sung Blessing “Dance With The Spirit” MV # 156(Words & Music copyright 1995 Desert Flower Music)

Dance with the Spirit early in the mornin’, walk with the Spirit throughout the long day. Work and hope for the new life abornin’, listen to the Spirit to show you the way.

And online we end together (wait for me to get your mics unmuted) And the people say:

Hallelujah and Amen!

Cheese Fundraiser – the Stewards are offering this popular fundraiser with profits to the operating expenses of our church. Forms due to Janet O’Neill (janetloneill@hotmail.com, 905 987 9862) on June 14, with delivery June 24. If you would like to see the list of cheeses, etc. and sizes, please e-mail Janet. Thank you for your much-needed support!

Father’s Day pictures – Since we are still meeting virtually, we will do a Father’s day tribute similar to what we did for Mother’s day. If you would like to contribute a picture to the video of your father, or someone who was a father figure to you, please send to the church office, or drop off a hard copy at the church. If you drop a picture at the church please send an email to let us know it is there. At least one mother picture went astray and we don’t want that to happen again. (Not to worry, we found her and we will include her in our new video.) Please submit pictures by Friday, June 19th.

The Session is looking for people who would be willing to help lead online during the summer. Rev. Mary-Jane will be away on July 5 & 12, and August 2 & 9.  If you are interested in this possibility and willing to explore it further please contact Rev. Mary-Jane by phone, text (905-244-8453) or email (newcastleunitedchurch@bellnet.ca) by June 15th. Thank you for considering this opportunity.

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Car Wash Time! – Ken Crichton is at it again!

• $25 car & van detailing service for the church building fund• This is a car wash, trunk vacuum, cabin clean & carpet vacuum,

inside & outside glass, plastic and rubber engine clean & wheels/rims.  Wax an extra $5.

• Call Ken at 905-987-4162 for appointment

While we are apart, we are still gathering together at various times, for different activities on Zoom. If you haven’t thought about joining any of the gatherings, please know you are welcome to join at any time. The link for each activity is sent out during the week so you can join with relative ease.

Tuesday Tea & Talk on Tuesdays at 2 pm is a relaxed gathering where we start with a topic, but generally just wander wherever the conversation takes us. It is a great way to just gather with others from the church community and get to know one another and chat.

Bible Study has ceased for the summer. We will gather again in September.

Music to Wash Dishes By is recorded by Joanne (with a little help from Rev. Mary-Jane with the technical stuff, certainly not with the piano playing!) each Thursday afternoon and then posted to the website by supper time so you can enjoy at your leisure, with or without dishes.

Please note: During this time, and if you are able, please continue giving your church donations regularly. You can contact Lorna McSwan, our treasurer, at le.mcswan@bell.net or 905-987-3940. You can arrange for drop off or pick up of offering envelopes or to register for Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR) which can be cancelled at any time. You can mail your donations to the church at: 84 Mill St. South, Newcastle, ON L1B 1K2. You can donate via CanadaHelps: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/newcastle-unted-church/

through this link or the link on our website: www.newcastleunitedchurch.org “Donate” page.Thank you for considering these options. While we may not be gathering together, work is still being done and bills still have to be paid.

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Newcastle United Church