Worship Service for June 22, 2025

June 22, 2025 – Second Sunday after Pentecost

Introit

Prelude

Lighting of the Christ Candle

This is the Christ Candle. We light the candle to help us remember that Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is with us in every place and every time.

Call to Worship

One:  We come to worship God,
All: For God is just and compassionate. God is love.

One: Where will we find God?
All: God is among the hungry and thirsty, in the face of a stranger, reaching out to us.

One: Let us seek God so that we can serve God.
All: Let us worship God and seek God’s healing, reconciling grace.

Opening Hymn

“Joyful, joyful we adore you” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 410). Words (1907) by Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933). Music (composed between 1822 and 1824; tune: “Hymn to joy”) is the Ode to Joy tune from the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Arrangement by English organist and composer Edward Hodges (1796–1867). Words, music and arrangement public domain.

Prayers of Approach and Confession, & Lord’s Prayer (sins)

Creator God,
You have made a world of such amazing diversity — with unique living things we cannot number, in an interdependent pattern on which all life depends. We praise you for such wonder. You have created such amazing diversity in humankind — through culture and language, custom and community, expressed in creativity and compassion over and over again. We praise you for such wonder. In Jesus Christ, you show us how much you love your creation and how we can live by your love. By the power of your Spirit, give us new eyes to behold the wonders you have made and teach us how to share in the praise your creation offers you day by day.

Creator God,
The diversity in your creation amazes us but we confess we prefer what seems familiar. We’d like everyone to speak our language. We wish others held our values and shared our customs. We don’t understand discrimination that hurts others. We don’t recognize how our own preferences affect other people and the earth itself in harmful ways. Forgive our familiar assumptions, and open our minds and hearts to the stories of others and the cries of suffering throughout the earth.

We pray in Jesus’ name, and continue to pray as he taught:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.

Declaration of Pardon

The apostle Paul writes that in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith. Since we have been baptized into Christ, we have clothed ourselves with Christ, and we are all one in Christ Jesus. Therefore, be at peace with one another, be at peace with yourselves, and be at peace with God. Amen.
All: Thanks be to God.

The Peace

One: May the peace of Christ be with us all.
All: And also with you.

The Life and Work of the Church (Announcements)

Mission Moments

Compassion Canada (Mission and Outreach)

Musical Reflection

“Hymn to Freedom” by Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson (1925–2007). From the 1963 album “Night Train”.

Note from GCPC Music Director Brooks Gorst

Greetings. Today marks my first time playing at our wonderful church since the last Sunday in February of 2025. On March 2, 2025, I was scheduled to play “Hymn to Freedom,” which was my way of putting a nice little “bow” on what would have been the culmination of Black History Month. My reappearance today happens to be contemporaneous with the coming 100^th birthday of the late Oscar Peterson. Some of you may know that Peterson suffered a significant stroke which affected his playing. I am thankful that I have not had that experience, yet I can relate because I’ve had similar challenges in relearning how to play the piano with my own version of “new normal.” He overcame his struggles and resumed performing. What an inspiration for me. I am happy to be back. Also, we can relish in the fact that Oscar Peterson was all ours: the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived, a Canadian. Though Black History month is well behind us, with all the violence going on in the Middle East, and our ever-coarsening world that we live in, “Hymn to Freedom” fits beautifully in today’s musical reflection.

Fun with the Young at Heart (children’s story)

We sing verse 1 of “Jesus loves me this I know”.

“Jesus loves me, this I know“ (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 373). Words (1859 or 1860) by American writer Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). Revisions to v2 and v3 by Canadian Anglican priest David Rutherford McGuire (1929–1971). Music (1862; tune: “Jesus loves me”) by American musician William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868). Words, revisions, and music in the public domain.

Scripture Reading

1 Kings 19:1–15a  <– this links to on-line text of the NRSV bible

Click here for additional scripture readings from today’s lectionary. Links courtesy of the Revised Common Lectionary, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

1 Kings 19:1–15a

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid;[a] he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”

5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”

8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.”

Sermon

Please, join our Sunday worship service at 11 am, in person or on-line, to hear the full version of the sermon.

Hymn

“How firm a foundation” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 685). Words attributed to “K” and first published in 1787 by English Baptist minister John Rippon (1851–1836). Music (tune: “St. Denio”) Welsh traditional, first published in 1839. Words and music public domain.

Offering

May we bring forward our gifts, tithes and offerings.

Offering – Musical Reflection

We remind everyone that we must continue to pay our bills; in the absence of being present at Sunday worship, you may sign up for pre-authorized remittance (PAR), donate online, or drop off your offering envelope in the mailbox at the church. Do not leave a cash donation unattended in the mailbox; instead, please call the office (416.261.4037) to ensure someone will be there to receive it. The building will be checked daily for mail and phone messages. If you are not comfortable leaving an envelope, you are welcome to contact the office (once again, 416.261.4037) and someone will pick up your offering.

Dedication of our Gifts

Our offering will now be received.

Doxology 306

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 306). Based on the tune “Old 100^th“ with words (1989) by English hymnwriter Brian A. Wren (1936–). Words copyright © 1989 Hope Publishing Co.; used by permission of One License, license number 722141-A. Music public domain.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise God all creatures high and low;
praise God in Jesus fully known,
Creator Word and Spirit One.

Prayer of dedication

Loving God, accept the gifts we offer you, today and every day. Put our time, our talents and our treasure to good use wherever they are needed, for the sake of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Hope

God of the earth and all its peoples,
in Jesus Christ you proclaimed the good news that true life and peace are found in you. Guide your church to proclaim this good news, not in ways that merely please people or don’t ruffle feathers, but in ways that bring Christ’s reconciling love to divided communities and lives out of joint with each other. Shine your light into the world’s hidden corners, exposing violence, exploitation, bigotry. Reveal what dehumanizes the vulnerable and degrades your creation.

God of healing and hope,
We pray for all those who are ill or in pain, for the anxious and discouraged, for those facing death or the loss of someone dearly beloved, and for those struggling to make ends meet. May the mission we share in Jesus’ name shine the light of your love into desperate lives.

God of the faithful future,
bless this community of faith and guide us as we look ahead. Bless students and teachers as another school year ends and lift the stress from their lives this summer. Give us a time of rest and enjoyment in the summer months and restore our hope and our energy to serve in your world. God of the earth and all its peoples, Let your light shine!

We offer all our prayers, spoken and unspoken, …. Amen.

Closing Hymn

“As pants the hart” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 26). Words Psalm 42; paraphrase, Tate and Brady’s “New Version of the Psalms of David” (1696). Music (1824; tune: “Martyrdom”) by Scottish labourer and amateur hymnwriter Hugh Wilson (1766–1824). Words and music public domain.

Changing the Light

Now, it is time to change the light. The light that was in one place can now be in every place and every time going with you wherever you go.

Benediction

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you always. AMEN.

Blessing

“Celtic Blessing”. Words Irish traditional. Music by former GCPC Music Director Carmen Lappano. Words public domain. Music copyright © Carmen Lappano; used by permission.

OR

“Danish Amen” (Book of Praise 1997, Hymn 780). Words and music (tune: “Amen (Danish)”) traditional. Words and music public domain.

Postlude

Copyright © 2025 Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church

Last updated 2025-06-20 20:55 – First version.