Communion Sunday, October 29th, 2023
Union Presbyterian Church
745 Marsh Rd, Thorburn, NS B0K 1W0
Rev. Greg Dickson, Interim-Moderator
John Reeves, Clerk of Session
Margaret Weir, Organist
Kathy Campbell, bulletin preparation
Sunday, October, 29, 2023
Today’s service will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Glen Matheson, Scotsburn, N.S.
Organ Prelude
Narration introduction to today’s service
welcome and announcements
Call to Worship
Downsizing . . . combining two houses into one is never easy.
Bless us this day, Lord,
as we gather around Your table, together.
There are many ways of observing communion
But there is one God.
There are many ways of conducting a worship service,
So we ask Your blessing, Lord,
And we invite You into our midst this day.
Bless us today as we study the Old and the New Testament.
May we sense Your presence among us, Lord.
This we ask, in the name of Jesus the Christ.
Amen
Opening Hymn #290 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Prayers of Confession in unison
At times, Lord, we hold grudges.
There are times we offend each other.
There are times others hurt us
And times we ignore You as our God.
In this place, this place of worship,
we seek Your love;
we seek Your forgiveness.
Help us now to humbly come into Your presence,
and to humbly ask Your forgiveness
from all our sins:
(moment of silent prayer)
Together let us say:
For the gift of Your love
and the gift of forgiveness,
make us truly thankful. Amen
Narration Defeated now slaves in Egypt
Cries for help the silence
The plagues suffering increased
Pass over us! slaves set free
Leave quickly! a hurried “exodus”
Scripture – Exodus 12, select verses (New International Version)
On the tenth day of this month
each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
If any household is too small for a whole lamb,
they must share one with their nearest neighbour,
having taken into account the number of people there are.
You are to determine the amount of lamb needed
in accordance with what each person will eat.
The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect,
and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when
all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Then they are to take some of the blood
and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses
where they eat the lambs.
That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire,
along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire –
with the head, legs and internal organs.
Do not leave any of it till morning;
if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
This is how you are to eat it:
with your cloak tucked into your belt,
your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.
Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt
and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals,
and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are,
and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne,
to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon,
and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. There was loud wailing in Egypt,
for there was not a house without someone dead.
The Egyptians urged the [Hebrew] people
to hurry and leave the country.
Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt [as slaves]
was 430 years.
At the end of the 430 years, to the very day,
all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.
Prayer
Anthem: God Forgave my Sin (Freely, Freely)
Narration Old Testament forgiveness 10 becomes 613
your sin your forgiveness
loophole found sin repeat
sin repeat
offering a lamb depleting the herd
And Jesus said . . .
Scripture – John 5, select verses
A Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda.
And a certain man was there,
which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
Jesus saith unto him,
Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
And immediately the man was made whole
and took up his bed, and walked:
[BUT . . . it was] the sabbath.
The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured
It is the sabbath day:
it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
He answered them,
He that made me whole, the same said unto me,
Take up thy bed, and walk.
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him,
Behold, thou art made whole:
sin no more.
Prayer
The offering
Doxology Praise God from Whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures, here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
within The Presbyterian Church in Canada
there are only TWO sacraments – Baptism and Communion
The sacrament of Holy Communion
Opening hymn #563 Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ
(during which the Elders come to the front seats)
Narration early CHRISTIAN tradition Passover becomes Communion
Covenant a “new covenant”
Lamb of God “taketh away the sins of the world”
Prayer
Narration early Canadian Scottish/Presbyterian communion
Minister and Elders judge and jury
Tokens separating sheep from goats
“Fencing of the table” seating
Common cup 1918/1919
sacred OR Symbol “the elements”
Scripture 1 Corinthians 11, select verses (New King James version) 17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you,
since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
For first of all,
when you come together as a church,
I hear that there are divisions among you.
[then later, Paul says:]
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you:
that the Lord Jesus
on the same night in which He was betrayed
took bread;
and when He had given thanks,
He broke it and said, “Take, eat;
this is My body which is broken for you;
do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood.
This do, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Prayer asking God’s blessing
Distribution of The bread
The cup
Prayer ending with The Lord’s Prayer
Closing Hymn #687 Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine
Blessing and Benediction
Choral Response