Call to Worship

Psalm 34:1-5a

I will praise the Lord at all times.
    I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord;
    let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
    let us exalt his name together.
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
    He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy…

Song of Praise

Kids

We are spending a few weeks reading the messages of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These prophets were God’s messengers to the people of Israel who were coming home after a long time away as exiles (that means they were people who were forced to live far from their home). The message of these prophets was to remember God, to put Him first, and to trust Him. One way God wanted them to do this was to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed. The temple was a symbol of God’s presence with his people.

Grab some blocks, LEGO, cardboard, whatever you have and build a “temple”. When you are done, remember that the temple is a symbol of God’s presence with us. It is a symbol of what is still true: God is with us. He is with you and he loves you.

Offering

Our material possession and how we spend our money indicate our priorities. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Consider with the help of the Holy Spirit how you can prioritize the Kingdom of God through your giving.

Prayer: Loving God, may our sense of belonging within a community of faith nurture the longing to be your faithful servants. Teach us to build a partnership with your Spirit that advances the ways of generosity and grace. Accept our giving and receive our gifts. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Message – Part 1

Erik may have been in the mood for Halloween because his sermon video occasionally channels the “Blair Witch Project” shaky video style. If you get a little motion sick from the movement of the camera, just close your eyes, or doodle as you listen to the sermon. But the scenery sure is lovely!

Confession

God’s presence is greater than our preferences. What preferences or former things are you hanging onto? Name these now before God.

After you have named these before God, pray these words of confession: Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspirations of your Holy Spirit, so that we may truly love you and worthily praise your holy name; through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Song of Confession

Lord I Need You

Lord I come and I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without you I fall apart
You’re the one that guides my heart

Lord I need you oh I need you
Every hour I need you
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God how I need you

Where sin runs deep your grace is more
Where grace is found is where you are
And where you are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Where you are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

Lord I need you oh I need you
Every hour I need you
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God how I need you

Teach my song to rise to you
When temptation comes my way
When I cannot stand I’ll fall on you
Jesus you’re my hope and stay
When I cannot stand I’ll fall on you
Jesus you’re my hope and stay

Lord I need you oh I need you
Every hour I need you
My one defence, my righteousness
Oh God how I need you

Assurance

Through Zechariah, God says to his people: “Return to me and I will return to you.” Hear then these words of assurance: God says in so many ways: “There is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you.” When the truth of those words breaks through, we are transformed. We don’t have to carry around the burdens of the past. We are a new creation through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, who has become our companion and the one who nurtures and binds us together. Thanks be to God.

Message – Part 2

Song of Response

Untitled Hymn

Oh Father be honoured here (x3)
Oh our God, oh our God be honoured

Oh Jesus be the center here (x3)
Oh our God, oh our God be the center

Oh Spirit move in us we pray (x3)
Oh our God, oh our God move in us

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (x3)
Oh our God, oh our God be praised

Doxology/Benediction

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
AMEN

Gathering Song

As it is in Heaven
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Come and let your glory
Come and let your glory fall

Our Father who art in heaven
The rocks cry out your fame
Come and let your glory
Come and let your glory fall

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song to the Lord

Let your Kingdom come
Let your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Every heart proclaim
The mercy of your name
On earth as it is in heaven

God give us new every morning
Mercy as daily bread
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus we pray

And lead us not to temptation
But deliver us with your hand
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus we pray

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song to the Lord

Let your Kingdom come
Let your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Every heart proclaim
The mercy of your name
On earth as it is in heaven

Let your Kingdom come
Let your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Every heart proclaim
The mercy of your name
On earth as it is in heaven

Call to Worship – adapted from Psalm 145

Come, let us praise God together!

For God is great, and worthy of our praise!

Let’s tell stories of God’s power and majesty, His mighty acts throughout history:

for God is great, and worthy of our praise!

Let’s remember the compassion He has shown toward us;His mercy and unfailing love, generation after generation:

for God is great, and worthy of our praise!

Let’s pass these stories along to our children and grandchildren, so that they, too, may come to know and love our God.

For God is great, and worthy of our praise!

Let’s worship God together!

Song

Great Things
Come let us us worship the King
Come let us bow at his feet
He has done great things

See what our Savior has done
See how his love overcomes
He has done great things
He has done great things

Oh hero of Heaven you conquer the grave
You free every captive and break every chain
Oh God, you have done great things
We dance in your freedom awakened to life
Oh Jesus our Savior your name lifted high
Oh God, you have done great things

You’ve been faithful through every storm
You’ll be faithful forevermore
You have done great things

And I know you will do it again
For your promise is “Yes and Amen”
You will do great things
God you do great things

Oh hero of Heaven you conquer the grave
You free every captive and break every chain
Oh God, you have done great things
We dance in your freedom awakened to life
Oh Jesus our Savior your name lifted high
Oh God, you have done great things

Hallelujah God, above it all
Hallelujah God, unshakable
Hallelujah you have done great things
(REPEAT)

Oh hero of Heaven you conquer the grave
You free every captive and break every chain
Oh God, you have done great things
We dance in your freedom awakened to life
Oh Jesus our Savior your name lifted high
Oh God, you have done great things

Oh hero of Heaven you conquer the grave
You free every captive and break every chain
Oh God, you have done great things
We dance in your freedom awakened to life
Oh Jesus our Savior your name lifted high
Oh God, you have done great things

“Hey Kids…”

Sermon – Haggai

Offering and Reflection

The prophet Haggai relays a stiff warning (1:7-9) that we like no more than those who heard it from his lips.

“Consider how you have fared. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build my house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.”

God is upset because his children have returned home but instead of making God and God’s kingdom the centre of their lives the people get busy building their own “kingdoms”.

We do this too. The invitation of Haggai is to:

1. consider how this is really working out for you (“how have you fared”?)
2. consider a priority/value shift with tangible evidences of such

This is what the offering is all about. Consider how life is when we go our own way and consider how life is when we live in trust before our providing God. Then, in faith, offer tokens of our trust which our emblems of our remembering that everything we have is gift. Our tangible trust evidences priority and value shifts in our lives.

Scripture – Luke 19:1-9

Song of Response

I Surrender All
All to Jesus I surrender
All to him I freely give
I will ever love and trust him
In his presence daily live

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at his feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me Jesus
Take me now

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Make me Savior wholly thine
May the Holy Spirit fill me
May I know thy power divine

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Lord I give myself to thee
Fill me with thy love and power
Let thy blessings fall on me

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all
(REPEAT)

Encouragement and Benediction (2 Thess. 2:13-17)

¹³ As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, ¹⁷ comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

Kids Activity

Psalm 150 (the very last one in the Psalms) says:

Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah!

You are going to make some instruments and play along during worship!

Raid your recycling bin and pantry and make the best music makers you can. An old container with a lid and some dried beans or rice make an excellent shaker. Be creative and play along with worship this morning. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!!!

Foyer Convo: Words of Encouragement

Call to Worship

In Genesis 16, Hagar (Sarah’s maidservant) runs away from Abraham and Sarah because she was being treated poorly by Sarah. In the wilderness, where she ran, God met her. She named God “the One who sees me.” She declares “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Before moving any further, pause… Reflect on the words of Psalm 139:1, “You have searched me, and you know me.” Take a minute or two now, silently by yourself or with your family to recognize the gift of this moment to commune with and worship a God who sees and knows you. You are seen… You are known…

Song

Bless the Lord (10,000 Reasons)

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship your holy name

The sun comes up its a new day dawning
It’s time to sing your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship your holy name

You’re rich in love and you’re slow to anger
Your name is great and your heart is kind
For all your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship his holy name

Confession & Assurance (Cody)

Call to Confession: (if in a group, have one person read)
Even before we speak, God knows our wrongs.
Yet our repentance opens our hearts to God,
who is waiting to hear us and forgive us.
Let us confess all that separates us from God and others.

Prayer of Confession (all pray aloud):
God who forms our inward parts and knows our hearts, forgive us…
Instead of acknowledging you as our God, we make our own idols. Instead of proclaiming Jesus Christ as our Lord, we proclaim ourselves. Instead of turning to the Holy Spirit, we attempt to attain your way in our own understanding.

Words of Assurance: (if in a group, have one person read)
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Paul says in Romans, “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Song

Reckless Love

Before I spoke a word, you were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, you breathed your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me

Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh it chases me down, fights ’till I’m found, leaves the ninety nine
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away
Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

When I was your foe, still your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, you paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me

Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh it chases me down, fights ’till I’m found, leaves the ninety nine
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away
Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

There’s no shadow you won’t light up, mountain you won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall you won’t kick down, lie you won’t tear down
Coming after me
(REPEAT)

Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh it chases me down, fights ’till I’m found, leaves the ninety nine
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away
Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Offering

All that we are points back to our Creator;
all that we have is gift and trust.
God will finish what God has begun;
we have the privilege of taking part.

With grateful hearts, let us bring our tithes and offerings to God from whom they came.

Sermon – Psalm 139

Closing Song

Comfort My People

Do you know?
Have you not heard?
Has it been told you from the first?
Have you not understood from the forming of the earth?
He sits enthroned above the world
And spreads the heavens like a tent
A place for us to live in
A place for us to live

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
Who has marked out the heavens with the breath of his word?
Comfort my people
Comfort my people
Says the Lord

He brought out the starry host
And one by one he calls them by name
Why do you still complain that he doesn’t know your ways?
Lift your eyes and look to see who created all of these
And never more complain that he doesn’t know your ways

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
Who has marked out the heavens with the breath of his word?

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
Who has marked out the heavens with the breath of his word?

Comfort my people
Comfort my people
Comfort my people
Says the Lord

Benediction

Beginning in Thanks to God

It is Thanksgiving weekend for us in Canada. It is good to be thanks-filled as a general rule. As people of faith it is even better to aim our thanks to God. It is a good practice to trace the origin of the things we are thankful for. Spend a minute finish this sentence as many times as you can. Make this our starting prayer this today:

God, we give thanks to you for ____________.

Thanksgiving Invocation prayer

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season, and for the labours of those who harvest them. Make us faithful stewards of your great bounty, in the provision for our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Call to Worship – Based on Psalm 90

In every generation, the people of God have been
blessed to find their home and resting place in God!
We gather to worship and praise the God of all people.

All creation since time began, have been blessed
to find that the place of their birth is their Creator’s hands.
We gather to worship the God of all creation.

We gather to worship and praise our God, and to
ask God to fill us with the joy of your unfailing love.
May the favour and blessing of God be upon us this day. Amen. (Joan Stott)

Take a minute to be still and silent before this God of blessing. Then move on in song.

Song

Behold the Banquet of Christ
As we gather at your table
As we listen to your word
Help us know oh God your presence
Let our hearts and minds be stirred
Nourish us with sacred story
Till we claim it as our own
Teach us through this holy banquet
How to make loves victory known

Turn our worship into witness
In the sacrament of life
Send us forth to love and serve you
Bringing peace where there is strife
Give us Christ your great compassion
To forgive as you forgave
May we still behold your image
In this world you died to save

Behold, behold the banquet of Christ!
The banquet of Christ

Grant us vision gracious Spirit
Seeking guests to share that feast
Where triumphant love will welcome
Those who had been last and least
There no more will envy blind us
Nor will pride our peace destroy
As we join with saints and angels
To repeat the sounding joy

Behold, behold the banquet of Christ!
The banquet of Christ

Offering

Take a few minutes, while listening through this song, to consider again how God has been good to you. Think beyond just this week. Think about your whole life… Hasn’t God been gracious and kind? In what ways? All good and perfect gifts come from the Father. This should spur us to give back in gracious thanksgiving. God bless you as you give.

Kids Activity (Good for adults too!)

Hey Kids! We have spent some time in this service saying thank you to God who gives us good gifts. It is also good to say thank you to people. Have you ever received a thank you card? It feels really good to have someone take the time to write you a card saying thank you for something you gave them or did. As part of practicing thanksgiving take some time to make a thank you card. You can fold a piece of blank paper in half, draw some pictures, have your adult help you write out your words if you need, and then send it in the mail! This is a great activity for adults to do too! Who can you say thank you to today?

Sermon – Psalm 92

Word of Witness

Song of Response

Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness oh God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with thee
Thou changest not thy compassions they fail not
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me

Summer, and winter, and springing, and harvest
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me

Pardon for sin, and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me

Benediction

As you go from here, remember the promise of God (from Psalm 91:14-15):

“I will rescue those who love me.

I will protect those who trust my name.

When they call on me, I will answer;

I will be with them in trouble.

I will rescue them and honour them.”

So go from here with joy, confident that the love and mercy of God goes with you.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
AMEN