August 31, 2025
TWELTH SUNDAY IN PENTECOST
WORSHIP ON THE LAWN!
A Service of Prayer, of Song, of Celebration, and, of Worshiping Out in Nature.
Lead Minister: The Rev. Jope Langejans
Music Director: Cody Obst
Minister Emeritus: Rev. Gerry Scharff
Honorary Associate Ministers: Rev. Clint Mooney & Rev. Kelley Warner
Chair of Council: Vacant
Reader: Gerry Scharff
Special Musical Guest: Keith and Lana Floen
“Never, ever mistake knowledge for wisdom…one helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life!”
Gathering
INTROIT: MV # 3 “River”
WELCOMING & ANNOUNCEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGING THE TERRITORY (Unison)
May each of us know that where we sit is Holy Ground and that our Indigenous brothers and sisters want each of us to hold this land in trust for we share what the Creator God has given each of us and we share it in friendship and in the knowing that we are all connected.
A SPECIAL GIFT OF MUSIC ----- LANA & KEITH FLOEN
OPENING CALL TO WORSHIP:
Leader: Out of the scramble and busyness, the pains and competing choices of our lives, we come and share in this worship service together.
ALL: May we be thankful for this time to ground ourselves once more in our faith, once more in our yearnings to follow as we have been called, and once more to be a light unto the world.
Leader: This place gives us freedom from the many conflicting messages swirling around us to consider the question:
“What must we do to perform our works?”
ALL: So we offer thanks once again for this time to ground ourselves in our faith, in our yearnings to follow, and to shine brightly for those who may live in darkness.
Leader: And now we call upon you, O Holy One, to quiet us and to centre us. May we be with you, that in this time of worship we may draw closer to what is truly important in the life you give to us.
ALL: And now, as we prepare for our worship time, may we always be thankful that you walk with us and guide us on our journeys.
OPENING PRAYER (Unison)
ALL: Before the beginning, O God, when you were searching for something to do, all was void and darkness. So, you created time and space where you were needed – a world seeking you…as you sought it:
galaxy seeking star as star sought galaxy;
earth seeking the sun as the sun sought the earth;
electron seeking proton as proton sought electron.
You created a world of the seeker and the sought; of lover and beloved, part and counterpart – each seeking the other. In searching for things to do, O God, let us seek only the work that’s seeking us. Remind us, who and where we are – made in your image and living in your time and space, where the sought also seeks the seeker:
the landscape – the artist;
the spawning ground – the salmon;
the earth – the wheat;
the rose – the bee;
where the song seeks the singer as the singer seeks the song. O Holy One, let us sing only the song that sings us. Let our work sing out as yours does – ‘We are who we are.’ Amen.
ASSURANCE of PARDON: (Leader)
As followers of Christ, we are a people who celebrate our ability to be forgiven when we’ve done wrong. We may find it hard to release our guilt but when we do, we learn from our mistakes and move forward. It is at this moment where God smiles upon us and where we are set free. Thanks be to God!
PASSING OF THE PEACE
*HYMN: MV # 145 “Draw the Circle Wide”
Engaging the Sacred Text
(Reader: Gerry Scharff)
OLDER TESTAMENT PASSAGE
Hebrews 13:1-3, 5-8, 15-16 A list of instructions on living mutual love…
PSALM PASSAGE
PSALM 81:1, 10-16 God will feed you wheat and honey…
*HYMN: MV # 106 “I Am the Dream”
GOSPEL PASSAGE
LUKE 14:1, 7-14 (Rev. Jope) Those who exalt themselves will be humbled.…
Message: “What is it to be Pure of Heart”
ANOTHER GIFT OF MUSIC - LANA & KEITH FLOEN
Responding
WORDS FOR OUR OFFERING:
Leader: In gratitude for the love that we have received, we offer our lives and our living to carry God’s message of love into the world and into the communities in which we live, including this faith community. Our offerings have now been given in different ways and may we take a moment to have them blessed…
Leader: Prayer of Dedication
*HYMN: MV # 30 “It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker”
Blessing
SUNDAY’S REFLECTIONS of the HEART:
(High River United Church’s behavioral and mission statement)
O Loving God, who calls us together into community, we gather in gratitude and praise for the gift of this community, which we share. As followers of the Way of Jesus, in community, in love, in God, we are one. Loving God, in your presence and with your support we pledge to one another in Christian love that we will:
invite the Spirit into our worship and our work;
listen to others with our whole selves: our physical
senses, intuition, imagination, and intellect;
speak for ourselves in the spirit of truth and gentleness,
avoiding unhelpful generalizations and
assumptions;
affirm the deep wisdom of silence;
hold our beliefs and opinions lightly;
hold one another in prayer.
As followers of the Way of Jesus, in community, in love, in God, we are one. Loving God, bless this time of new beginning for our congregation as we enter into a new season of learning and worshipping together. May we learn from the visions offered by the children and our youth. May we listen to the dreams of the elders who are in our midst. May we together, be open to the guiding of your Spirit. As followers of the Way of Jesus, in community, in love, in God, we are one…
Leader: And now, let us pray together the words of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever…Amen.
*HYMN: MV # 42 “Praise God for This Holy Ground”
COMMISSIONING & BLESSING: (Unison)
As we’ve sung the songs and prayed the prayers, as we’ve felt the calm and been embraced by movement, may each of us go out into the world and make of it a place of peace for all who live and breathe upon its hills and valleys and shores and rock… Amen!
BENEDICTION MUSIC - KEITH & LANA FLOEN
FINAL BLESSING
POSSIBLE ENCORE - KEITH & LANA FLOEN
POSTLUDE MUSIC
HAVE A SPIRITED SUMMER SEASON!
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES for SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th
JEREMIAH 18:1-11
PSALM 139:1-6, 13-18
LUKE 14:25-33