Celebration of
Creation
St. Thomas and st.
Mary’s
Anglican Churches
Wainwright and
Edgerton
Hymn
Gathering and Greeting
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of
God,
and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you
all.
And also
with you.
God in
Christ has revealed his glory.
Come let us
worship.
From the
rising of the sun to its setting
the Lord’s
name is greatly to be praised.
Give him
praise, you servants of the Lord.
O praise
the name of the Lord!
All Creatures of Our God and King
All creatures of our God and King,
lift up your voice and with us sing
alleluia, alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise him, alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
make music for thy Lord to hear,
alleluia, alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
that givest man both warmth and light,
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
and worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, alleluia!
praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, three in one,
O praise him, O praise him,
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Opening Prayer
Place bread roll/ears of wheat on table
We praise you, living God:
you give strength to the earth that sustains
us,
you open your hand to feed all living things.
Place a Bible on the table
We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ:
you teach us with stories of seeds and weeds
and harvest time,
you call us to accept your word and bear much
fruit.
Place a jug of water, pour
this into a bowl
We praise you, Holy Spirit, fire of love.
You are the breath of life in
every creature,
you refresh our thirsty souls
with grace.
Blessed be God,
Source of Wisdom, living Word,
abiding Spirit,
Blessed be God for ever.
Confession
We confess
our sin,
and the
sins of our society,
in the
misuse of God’s creation.
God our
Father, we are sorry
for the
times when we have used your gifts carelessly,
and acted
ungratefully.
Hear our
prayer, and in your mercy:
forgive us
and help us.
Pause
We enjoy the fruits of the harvest,
but sometimes forget that you have given them to us.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and help us.
Pause
We belong
to a people who are full and satisfied,
but ignore
the cry of the hungry.
Father, in
your mercy:
forgive us
and help us.
Pause
We are thoughtless,
and do not care enough for the world
you have made.
Father in your mercy:
forgive us and heal us.
Pause
We store up goods for ourselves alone,
as if there were no God and no heaven.
Father, in your mercy:
forgive us and heal us.
Pause
Holy God,
earth and air and water are our creation,
and every living thing belongs to you:
have mercy on us as climate change confronts us.
Give us the will and the courage to simplify the
way we live,
to reduce the energy we use,
to share the resources you provide,
and to bear the cost of change.
Forgive our past mistakes
and send us your Spirit,
with wisdom in present controversies
and vision for the future to which you call us
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Absolution
The Lord
enrich you with his grace,
and nourish
you with his blessing;
the Lord
defend you in trouble
and keep
you from all evil;
the Lord
accept your prayers,
and absolve
you from your offences,
for the
sake of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Amen.
Dakota Hymn Steve Bell
Collect of the Day
Welcoming God,
make us apostles of your generous love,
so that we might offer hospitality
that challenges the world
with your gift of eternal life,
made known in Jesus Christ,
who offered himself for us. Amen.
Prayers for an Inclusive Church (2009) alt.
Genesis 22.1-14
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.’
Hear what the Spirit
is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 13 Usquequo, Domine?
How long, O Lord?
Will you forget me
for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I have
perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my
heart, day after day?
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Look upon me and
answer me, O Lord my God;
give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
lest my enemy say, “I
have prevailed over this one,” *
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.
But I put my trust in
your mercy;
my heart is joyful because of your saving help.
I will sing to the
Lord who has dealt with me richly;
I will praise the name of the Lord Most High.
Romans 6.12-23
Therefore, do not let
sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.
No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present
yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and
present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have
no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Should we
sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know
that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of
the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience,
which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been
slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to
which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have
become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your
natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to
impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as
slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
When you were slaves
of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you
then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things
is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the
advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of
sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Hear what the Spirit
is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
Fairest Lord Jesus
Fairest
Lord Jesus,
ruler of
all nature,
O thou of
God and man the Son,
Thee will I
cherish,
Thee will I
honor,
thou, my
soul's glory, joy, and crown.
Fair are
the meadows,
fairer
still the woodlands,
robed in
the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is
fairer,
Jesus is
purer
who makes
the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the
sunshine,
fairer
still the moonlight,
and all the
twinkling starry host:
Jesus
shines brighter,
Jesus
shines purer
than all
the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest
beauty heavenly and earthly,
wondrously,
Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be
nearer, fairer or dearer
than thou,
my Saviour, art to me.
The Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Glory to
you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 10.40-42
The Gospel
of Christ.
Praise to
you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Once to Every Man and Nation
Once to ev'ry man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Off'ring each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
'Twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv'ries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Ancient values test our youth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
Tho' the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong;
Tho' her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong:
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above His own.
Prayers of the
People
Pray for the united Church of
North India
The Most Reverend Dr Prem
Chand Singh
Moderator of CNI &
Bishop of Jabalpur
Anglican Church of Canada
Diocese of New Westminster
the Most Reverend Melissa
Skelton, Archbishop
Council of the North
Diocese of the Yukon
The Right Reverend Lesley Wheeler-Dame,
Bishop
Diocese of Edmonton
St. John the Evangelist, Cold Lake
Donna Gauthier, Priest-in-Charge
William Patterson and Doug Giles,
Honorary Assistants.
Clergy of Buyé diocese in further education
in the USA
Jean Berchmans Mweningoma, Rev. Dominique Ciza
and Rev. Simion Kinono
All First Nations people of Treaty 6
We
continue to pray for Burundi and our twinned parishes
Kabanga and St. Luke’s Bigombo
We
also pray for the Canadian Armed Forces
serving at home and abroad.
God in Creation
We pray in thanksgiving for Mother Earth
in whom all life is rooted,
Brother Sun whose energy radiates life,
Sister water who nurtures and revives us,
and co-creatures with whom we live,
and for whom we are called to till and keep
in this garden.
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your
world.
All-powerful God, you are present in the
whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace,
that we may live as brothers and sisters,
harming no one.
Creative Spirit,
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your
world.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten
of this Earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world
and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those
who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the Earth.
Creative Spirit
Teach us to discover
the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe
and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature
as we journey toward your infinite light.
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your
world.
In the wake of the
COVID-19 global pandemic,
hear our cries of
compassion,
and heal our world
and all creatures.
Inspire our hearts with a holy imagination,
to rise, freed from the demands to produce and consume
to imagine a just, sustainable way of living,
where all have enough,
and all may be restored.
Creative Spirit,
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your world.
Grant us courage to
observe a Sabbath for our planet.
Strengthen us with the faith
to trust in your providence.
Inspire us with creativity
to share what we have been given.
Teach us to be
satisfied with enough.
And as we proclaim a Jubilee for the Earth,
send your Holy Spirit
to renew the face of the ground.
Creative Spirit,
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your world.
We thank you for
being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray,
in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
Creative Spirit,
Enlighten our hearts and remain with your world.
Adapted
from A prayer for the Earth, Pope Francis, Laudato Si
All Things Bright and Beautiful
Refrain:
All things
bright and beautiful,
all
creatures great and small,
all things
wise and wonderful,
the Lord
God made them all.
Each little
flow'r that opens,
each little
bird that sings,
he made
their glowing colors,
he made
their tiny wings.
The
purple-headed mountain,
the river
running by,
the sunset,
and the morning
that
brightens up the sky.
The cold
wind in the winter,
the
pleasant summer sun,
the ripe
fruits in the garden,
he made
them, ev'ry one.
The tall
trees in the greenwood,
the meadows
where we play,
the flowers
by the water
we gather
ev'ry day.
He gave us
eyes to see them,
and lips
that we might tell
how great
is God Almighty,
who has
made all things well.
Psalm 104
Bless the Lord, O my Soul!
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
you make the darkness,
and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest
come creeping out.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God;
The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
Then people go out to their work,
to their labour in until evening.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
From your lofty abode
you water the mountains;
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal;
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the Earth,
wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever!
The Wellspring Steve Bell
Prayer
Creator God,
you give seed for us to sow,
and bread for us to eat;
make us thankful for what we have received
and generous in supplying the needs of others
so all the world may give you thanks and glory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Great is
thy faithfulness, O 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.
Refrain:
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 springtime and harvest,
sun, moon,
and stars in their courses above
join with
all nature in manifold witness
to thy
great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
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!
Sending Forth
Go in strong and growing faith.
Trust in the tenderness of Christ
to heal a bruised and broken world.
Thanks be to God.
Go in eager and refreshing hope.
Work with Christ risen from the dead,
to fulfil the promise of a new creation.
Thanks be to God.
Let us go in peace
to treasure and to tend the world God made and
loves.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
This service was put together drawing on the resources of
the Church of England, Patterns for Worship 1995, 1998, New Patterns for
Worship 2002: Church House Publishing
