Opening Hymn: Joyful, Joyful
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
May Christ the daystar dawn in our hearts
and triumph over the shades of night.
Let us now sing our national anthem: O Canada
The Invitatory
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us contemplate with one heart and mind,
as we rejoice in the gift of this new day.
Preparation
1 Bless the Lord all you works of the Lord:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
2 Bless the Lord you heavens:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
3 Bless the Lord you angels of the Lord:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
4 Bless the Lord all people on earth:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
5 O people of God bless the Lord:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
6 Bless the Lord you priests of the Lord:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
7 Bless the Lord you servants of the Lord:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
8 Bless the Lord all you of upright spirit:
bless the Lord you that are holy and humble in heart.
Bless the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit:
sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
Let us pray:
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
First Reading: Genesis 22:1-14
In this rather terrible story, we hear how God tests the faith of Abraham, asking him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. When Abraham shows his willingness to obey God's command, God provides instead an animal to be sacrificed.
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
The Word of the Lord
Psalm 141
I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not turn my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
do not let me eat of their delicacies.
Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
My eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23
Paul writes that, in the past, his readers were slaves to sin, and destined for death. Old sinful ways must now be put away. As slaves to God, they are made holy, fit for life eternal.
So then, don’t let sin rule your body, so that you do what it wants. Don’t offer parts of your body to sin, to be used as weapons to do wrong. Instead, present yourselves to God as people who have been brought back to life from the dead, and offer all the parts of your body to God to be used as weapons to do right. Sin will have no power over you, because you aren’t under Law but under grace.
Freedom from sin
So what? Should we sin because we aren’t under Law but under grace? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, that you are slaves of the one whom you obey? That’s true whether you serve as slaves of sin, which leads to death, or as slaves of the kind of obedience that leads to righteousness. But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you gave wholehearted obedience to the teaching that was handed down to you, which provides a pattern. Now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. (I’m speaking with ordinary metaphors because of your limitations.) Once, you offered the parts of your body to be used as slaves to impurity and to lawless behavior that leads to still more lawless behavior. Now, you should present the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness, which makes your lives holy. When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What consequences did you get from doing things that you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves to God, you have the consequence of a holy life, and the outcome is eternal life. The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Word of the Lord
Hymn:
Morning Prayer - Sunday, June 28
Happy Canada Day
The Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus has been telling the Twelve the cost of discipleship, the hostility they will face. Now he speaks of the reward for those who dare to welcome them, relationship to himself, relationship with God.
Jesus said to them: “Those who receive you are also receiving me, and those who receive me are receiving the one who sent me. Those who receive a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Those who receive a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. I assure you that everybody who gives even a cup of cold water to these little ones because they are my disciples will certainly be rewarded.”
The Gospel of Christ.
The Sermon
O Lord, enlighten our lives with your Spirit, that we may find our way, hope, and salvation in your holy and liberating Word. Amen.
Several years ago, a very well known reporter, a friend of mine, went to a spiritual institute to take part in a retreat led by some retreat specialists. I want to share with you a part of his report that I found very interesting.
According to his report his retreat included the following elements: Morning Prayer, silent meditation on icons and holy words, three-hour silent sessions walking around the temple, and evening prayer. As their main meal, they took honey and milk twice a day. On the evening of their third day, the retreat leader gave permission to the participants to speak to one another. There were Christians participating in the retreat as well as members of other religious groups.
During lunch hour, one of the Christians began to speak: “this is an amazing experience! This is what we call a real Christian retreat, isn’t it?”
A member of the Christian clergy answered: “this is an amazing experience, but I would call it a ‘John the Baptist’ retreat.
The other Christian asked: ‘why do you say that?’
The clergyman answered and said:
“I have had honey and milk for three days. I do not know your name, but I know that we all have titles. I do not see ordinary people among us. I haven’t had a conversation with anybody for three days. I do not see anything that shows that we are the followers of the person who was called a glutton and a drunkard, who loved to take part in festivities and celebrations, who turned water to wine and spent most of his time with people - especially with those who were regarded as outcasts and those who were called sinners”.
After this conversation, the retreat leader commanded all of the participants to close their eyes, stop talking, and meditate on God’s creation.
In his report, the reporter continues and says:
“As Christians, we have to realize that John the Baptist’s purpose was to bring us to Jesus”.
The reporter goes on to criticize his Christian friends, because, on many occasions, they told him that they loved going to places where there were no people, because they wanted to be alone with God, to meditate in seclusion and isolation. Then, the reporter asks these questions:
“How many times do we see Jesus doing something all alone in the Gospels? Why we have forgotten that we have a church in our neighborhood? Why we do not try to live in a vibrant community? Why do we prefer to be alone and call this aloneness ‘being with God’?
According to this reporter, Christianity means community. A lively community gives birth to wonderful individuals. This is obvious that we every now and then need to be alone in order to meditate, renew our spirits, and to listen to God. We do all this in order to return to the community with refreshed body, soul, and mind.
Members of a community might experience grief and sadness, but there is hopefulness, optimism, and compassion when a community is determined to serve others and bring joy to individuals and other communities. We need to live within our Christian communities in order to complete one another and to devise a fruitful and meaningful life for all.
When we read the Gospel of Christ, we notice that almost all the healings, miracles, and growth happen within a community. This is the reason why we need a Christ-inspired community in order to transform sadness and hopelessness into solidarity, growth, and joyfulness.
We should meditate on the reporter’s concerns and thank God and His Son for the church and community that we are so blessed to have.
Therefore, let us pray to God, and ask him to give us the wisdom, passion, and knowledge we need to look after all aspects of our parish life, through the work of Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Hymn:
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Confession & Absolution:
The Prayers of the People
We pray to you, Lord God: We pray for the people mentioned in today’s Anglican Cycle of Prayer:
St. David, Welland, The Reverend Terry Holub, Rector, The Reverend Nirmal Mendis, Pastoral Associate, The Reverend Deacon Richard Middleton, Deacon and the people of that parish.
We pray for the sick of our parish and for our friends, family, and loved ones who are unwell: (Please add the names of those you know who are in need of prayer)
Prince of Peace, we pray for an end to violence and warfare, that your authority may continue to grow until there is endless peace in every land.
Hear us compassionate Abba.
Lord of hosts, establish your holy realm with justice and righteousness, from this time on and forevermore.
Hear us loving Christ Jesus.
Wonderful Counselor, we pray for wisdom for the world’s leaders, that they may use their power to lift burdens and break the bonds of oppression.
Hear us Holy Spirit, our Advocate.
We pray for Linda our primate, Susan our bishop, and Bahman and Don our priests.
We pray for Queen Elizabeth, the Governor General, and the Prime Minister.
Almighty God, lover of humankind, giver of every spiritual gift, hear the prayers of your people and give us the will and the courage to serve you throughout the world. We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life. We will exalt you, O God our king. Amen.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Let us now sing: God Save The Queen
Closing Hymn:
The Doxology
Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Blessing:
Postlude: Haydn
