Parish of Mississippi Lake Christ Church Ashton, St John's Innisville,St James Franktown, and St James Carleton Place, with St Bede's Nolan's Corners

Sunday, May 17, 2020 Sixth Sunday of Easter

Remain in My Love, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57421 [retrieved May 12, 2020]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/14056717468/.

Lay Officiant: Jennifer Bulman, Christ Church AshtonLay Preacher: Sylvia Giles, St James Carleton PlaceReader: Jim Middleton, St James Carleton PlacePrayers: Linda Bernicky, St Bede's Nolan's CornerMusician: Ian Guenette, St James Carleton PlaceOnline Host: Rev. Rosemary Parker

Prelude

We gather this day on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people. May we dwell on this land with respect and peace.

The Gathering of the Community Alleluia! Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! May his grace and peace be with you.

May he fill our hearts with joy.

We thank you, O God, that you have again brought us together to praise you for your goodness and to ask your blessing. Give us grace to see your hand in the week that is past, and your purpose in the week to come; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Act of Praise: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (CP 354)

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,tune my heart to sing thy grace;streams of mercy, never ceasing,call for songs of loudest praise.Teach me some melodious measure,sung by flaming tongues above;O the vast, the boundless treasureof my God's unchanging love.

Here I make faith's affirmation:thus far by thy help I've come,and I hope, by thy good pleasure,safely to arrive at home.Jesus sought me when a stranger,wandering from the fold of God;he, to rescue me from danger,interposed his precious blood.

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O to grace how great a debtordaily I'm constrained to be!Let thy goodness, like a fetter,bind my wandering heart to thee.Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,prone to leave the God I love;take my heart, O take and seal it,seal it for thy courts above.

Collect of the Day

Merciful God, you have prepared for those who love youriches beyond imagination.Pour into our hearts such love toward you,that we, loving you above all things,may obtain your promises,which exceed all that we can desire;through Jesus Christ our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word First Reading: Acts 17:22-31

A Reading from the Book of Acts:

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown God.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor,

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he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Psalm 66:7-18

Bless our God, you peoples; make the voice of his praise to be heard;

Who holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip.

For you, O God, have proved us; you have tried us just as silver is tried.

You brought us into the snare; you laid heavy burdens upon our backs. You let enemies ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

I will enter your house with burnt offerings, and will pay you my vows,

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which I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts with the smoke of rams; I will give you oxen and goats.

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me.

I called out to him with my mouth, and his praise was on my tongue.

If I had found evil in my heart, the Lord would not have heard me;

But in truth God has heard me; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22

A Reading from the First Letter of Peter:

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil.

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For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Gradual Hymn: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (CP 508)

I heard the voice of Jesus say,"Come unto me and rest;lay down, O weary one, lay downyour head upon my breast."I came to Jesus as I was,weary and worn and sad;I found in him a resting place,and he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,"Behold, I freely givethe living water; thirsty one,stoop down and drink, and live."I came to Jesus, and I drankof that life-giving stream;my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,and now I live in him.

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I heard the voice of Jesus say,"I am this dark world's Light;look unto me, your morn shall rise,and all your days be bright."I looked to Jesus and I foundin him my Star, my Sun;and in that light of life I'll walk,'til trav'ling days are done.

Gospel: John 14:15-21

A Reading from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to John.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

The Gospel of Christ.

Sermon

Musical Meditation

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The Apostles’ Creed

Let us confess our faith as we say,I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of the People Leader Made alive to God in Christ Jesus, let us pray for the church, those in need, and all of God’s creation with the words,  ‘For your mercy is great’.  You abide with your church, O God. Empower us with your Spirit, so that your people speak and live the love revealed in Jesus. In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the Anglican Church in Korea; 

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In the Canadian cycle of Prayer, we pray for Bishop Michael Oulton, the clergy and people of the Diocese of Ontario.  Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.

In our Diocese, we pray for Bishop John, Bishop-elect Shane, and Executive Archdeacon David; for St. Bede’s Nolan’s Corners – The Rev. Mary Ellen Berry; for all custodial staff serving within the parishes and ministries of Diocese, and for vocations to the diaconate, priesthood and religious life. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great. You abide with your creation, O God. Breathe on fields and forests, lakes and oceans, and all living things so that they thrive as you intend. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.  You abide with the nations, O God. Reveal your truth, so that nations and  peoples govern in peace and advocate for justice. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.  You abide with all in need, O God. Cheer the sorrowful, protect the orphan, support the grieving, and bring to wholeness the sick. Remember all those who, in any way, continue to be affected by the COVID-19. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great. You abide with the fearful, O God. Transform fear into freedom for the life Christ has promised. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.  

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We remember, O God, those who have died in the faith. Assure us of your life-giving Spirit until that day when we abide with you forever. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.  Receive our prayers, merciful God, and dwell in us richly, through Jesus Christ, our life and our redeemer. Amen. 

The Peace

God of peace, let us your people know that, at the heart of turbulence, there is an inner calm that comes from faith in you. Forgive us all that is past, keep us from being content with things as they are, and guide us to know that from your peace there comes a creative compassion, a thirst for justice, and a willingness to give of ourselves in the spirit of Christ. Amen. Adapted from A New Zealand Prayer Book, 1989.

We are the body of Christ; in the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body.Let us the pursue all that makes for peace, and builds up our common life.The peace of the Lord be always with you!

The Lord's Prayer

As our Saviour Christ taught us, let us pray,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, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Dismissal Prayer

Christ, you are risen from the dead.We are risen with you.May our life never deny this eternal life,this peace and hope and joy.Praise and glory to the God of life,who is stronger than all kinds of death. Alleluia! A New Zealand Prayer Book

Closing Hymn: Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (CP 425)

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away; giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.

All thy works with joy surround thee, earth and heaven reflect thy rays, stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountaincall us to rejoice in thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest, well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest! Thou our Father and our Mother, all who live in love are thine; teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

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Postlude

Coffee Hour continues after the service-- on Zoom! See the Facebook comments or Newsletter

for a link to the Zoom conference. Join us as we gather together as a community!

When we're done, perhaps call a parishioneror friend to see how they are doing, too.

For those who prefer, our Sunday Services are now available by phone.

Simply call 613-508-1189, and listen-- it's as easy as that!

Copyright © 2004 by the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. All rights reserved. Reproduced under license from ABC Publishing, Anglican Book Centre, a ministry of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, from Anglican Liturgical Library. Further copying is prohibited.

Hymns from Common Praise, Anglican Church of Canada (1998).

Lectionary citations are reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts, admin. by Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission.

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