For the month of August:
Hymn. When Morning Gilds the Skies #339
Prayer: God of the ordinary, we praise you.
You take the drabness of our thoughts, and brighten them into vivid imagination.
You take our everyday lives, and transform them into holy, precious moments.
You take our meagre offerings and multiply them into an abundance of delight.
Extraordinary God, you light up our thoughts, our lives, our selves with the wonder of your call.
We praise you. Amen. ( a prayer by Jan Berry printed in the Iona Community’s Bare Feet and Buttercups, edited by Ruth Burgess.)
Scripture Lessons: Psalm 113
Romans 12:9-21
Hymn I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say #626
Reflection
Prayers: Lord, take my life, my small life, and illumine it: that everything I say and do may reflect the light of your glory.
Lord, take my life, my small life, and imprint it: that everything I say or do may reveal the image of your love.
Lord, take my life, my small life, and inspire it: that everything I say or do may resonate with the power of your Spirit.
Lord, take my life, my small life, and dwell in it: that everything I say or do may radiate your life, your glorious life. Amen (a prayer by Pat Bennett printed in the Iona Community’s Bare Feet and Butterflies, edited by Ruth Burgess.)
Ever-changing God, sometimes we plod on, head down, watching our feet, missing glimpses of glory.
Ever-changing God, breaking through into the mundane greyness of our lives to make all things new, lift up our eyes to see your glory:
In the taken-for granted intimacy of human loving,
In the persistent courage of day to day struggle,
In the renewal of green growth through the seasons,
In the new insight that stretches our imagination.
Lift up our eyes to see the wonder and mystery of your presence, beckoning through the everyday glimpses of grace. Amen. (a prayer written by Jan Berry, printed in Bare Feet and Butterflies, edited by Ruth Burgess.)
Hymn Saviour, Again to Thy Dear Name we Raise #426
This will be the final blog until September. Barbara will be on holiday during the month of August. Sunday services will resume September 11th.
Hope you had a chance to mark Emancipation Day, August 1st, when slavery was abolished across the British Empire.
Howick United Church is (tentatively) planning a congregational meeting to discuss a potential project for making the church more ecological and sustainable supported in part by funds made available through the church. The meeting would take place Thursday September 7th, if the necessary information can be gathered this month. More information will be coming soon.
There will be a combined service for our cluster (South Shore and Valley) to be held Sunday, August 13th at 10:30am in the Kahnewake United Church. This will be followed by an introduction to the Teepee Project and a lunch. Please let Barbara know if you are planning to attend. She would like to let the planners know and she has information to share as well.
Have a blessed summer, all of you. 💞
