Sunday, September 6th, 2026
Guest Minister of Word and Sacrament ~ The Rev. Kathy Fraser
Prelude Hymn of Faith
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. C.W. Gluck)
Welcome and Announcements
Responsive Call to Worship
We gather for worship bringing with us our memories of the past, our gratitude for the present and our wondering for the future.
We recall the times when God’s presence was obvious as well as times when God seemed nowhere to be found.
As we are bold to say “I believe”, we are also bold to say “And yet, I wonder.”
And we trust that in both our certainty and our wondering, God hears us and welcomes us.
*Hymn # 448 O God, Beyond All Praising
1. O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay,
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end.
We lift up our hearts before you
and wait upon your word;
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.
2. Then hear, O gracious Saviour;
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favour
may serve you as our king,
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we’ll triumph though our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
The Lord’s Prayer
God within us, God beyond us, God among us,
may the Mystery always be named and known
among all peoples and in all times.
May Creation give way to the rule of love and the power of life.
Satisfy our hunger, granting us a hunger to see the whole world fed.
Restore us to right relationship
with you, with Creation, with others, with ourselves.
Strengthen us to reject all that would lead us away from you.
Come to us when we choose death over life.
Give us courage to follow your call in this moment.
For in your love we find the only power,
the only home, the only honour we will ever need,
in this life and the life to come.
Amen.
Words of Assurance and Grace
Condemnation, judgment and dismissal, are the ways of the world;
forgiveness, acceptance and welcome are the ways of God.
Blame, shame and fear are the ways of the world.
Mercy, freedom and peace are the ways of God.
The Spirit invites and encourages us to lean into the ways of God and be at peace, with ourselves and with one another.
Thanks be to God for this reminder.
*Hymn # 704 Teach Me, God, To Wonder
1. Teach me, God, to wonder; teach me, God, to see;
let your world of beauty capture me.
Refrain
Praise to you be given; love for you be lived,
life be celebrated; joy you give.
2. Let me, God, be open; let me loving be;
let your world of people speak to me.
Refrain
Praise to you be given; love for you be lived,
life be celebrated; joy you give.
3. Let me, God, be ready; let me be awake,
in your world of loving, my place take.
Refrain
Praise to you be given; love for you be lived,
life be celebrated; joy you give.
4. Teach me, God, to know you, hear you when you speak,
see you in my neighbour when we meet.
Refrain
Praise to you be given; love for you be lived,
life be celebrated; joy you give.
Children’s Time
Scripture Readings
Responsive Psalm 8
1 O LORD, our God,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Your splendour is chanted above the heavens
2 by the mouths of babes and infants
you have set up a defense against your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our God,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Old Testament
Isaiah 43:15-19 NIV
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator, your King.”
16 This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Gospel Reading
Luke 19:1-10 RSV
19 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchae′us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchae′us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchae′us stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Response to the Word of God
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God for this word to us today.
Sermon Teach me, God, to Wonder
*Hymn # 674 In The Bulb, There Is A Flower
1. In the bulb there is a flower,
in the seed, an apple tree,
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
in the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
2. There’s a song in every silence,
seeking word and melody;
there’s a dawn in every darkness
bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
what it holds, a mystery,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
3. In our end is our beginning,
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing,
in our life, eternity,
in our death, a resurrection,
at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
Offering
Offertory It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Words and Music by Marty Haugen)
*Doxology All Things are Yours
All things are yours,
We make that true
When we return our gifts to you.
And so we give, and so we share.
In Christ’s strong name expressing care.
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Worship & Rejoice # 687)
Offertory Prayer
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
*Hymn # 317 Colourful Creator, God Of Mystery
1. Colourful Creator,
God of mystery,
thank you for the artist
teaching us to see
glimpses of the meaning
of the commonplace,
visions of the holy
in each human face.
2. Harmony of ages,
God of listening ear,
thank you for composers
tuning us to hear
echoes of the Gospel
in the songs we sing,
sounds of love and longing
from the deepest spring.
3. Author of our journey,
God of near and far,
praise for tale and drama
telling who we are,
stripping to the essence
struggles of our day,
times of change and conflict
when we choose our way.
4. God of truth and beauty,
Poet of the Word,
may we be creators
by the Spirit stirred,
open to your presence
in our joy and strife,
vessels of the holy
coursing through our life.
*Benediction
*Response Walking a Path of Peace
I am walking a path of peace.
I am walking a path of peace,
I am walking a path of peace,
lead me home, lead me home.
I am home.
(All rights reserved. Used with permission)
Postlude Rock of Ages
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Words by Augustus M. Toplady. Music by Thomas Hastings)