Worship on Palm Sunday
10:00 am April 13, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie     Welcoming Elder: Shirley Simpson
Children’s time presenter: Brad     Reader: Andrea Gartrell

We gather to worship God

Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: Cheers fill the air,
P: The sound of hope and victory.
L: For the time being, the people wear glad hearts,
P: Their King has come into his own.
L: So we come with hope this day,
P: To worship God, who sent Jesus into our midst.

Opening praise: Way maker

Prayers of approach and confession
Holy God,
Source, Saviour and Spirit of all life,
Holy Three and Holy One,
In you, we confront the mystery of mercy and the courage of compassion.
As we face the cross on which Christ gave himself,
we confront your willingness to die for us so that we might find new life.

As the Spirit speaks to us through the story of your amazing love,
spilled out in the blood of Christ,
our hearts are moved to praise you.
Words cannot express our awe,
the grief and the gratitude stirring within us,
for all you have given us,
and for all you will give us through such unspeakable love.

We fall silent in wonder and praise, Holy God.
Keep silence for 15 seconds.
Merciful God,
Filled with wonder and praise,
we acknowledge to you how often we fall short of your purposes for us.

We confess it is easier for us to follow the crowd
than follow Christ;
we prefer to avoid conflict
rather than stand up for your mercy and understanding.
We allow strident voices in our times
to drown out your wisdom and truth.
Forgive us, O God.
Fill us with the courage to take up our cross and follow Jesus,
even when the cost to follow is high
and reputations are at stake,
for we pray in Jesus’ holy name.  Amen.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness

Assurance of God’s love
The Apostle Paul wrote: “This saying is sure and worthy of our full acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”.
It doesn’t matter how big or how small our sins;
God’s forgiving love in Jesus Christ can cover them all.
Trust that, in Christ, we are forgiven.
Be at peace with God, with yourself and with each other.

Dayspring Singers: Jubilate Deo

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Hosanna (Praise is rising)

Children’s time and the Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: All glory, laud and honor (214)

Scripture reading: Luke 19:28-4

Response: Jesus remember me

A Palm Sunday Drama
Echoes of Betrayal and Redemption (re written by Brad)

Intro (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

 JUDAS ISCARIOT (holding a bag of coins)

Reflects, with sorrow in eyes, approaches the altar to place the bag of coins, but keeps holding the bag.

Was I there? Oh, I was there—Judas Iscariot, the unwitting architect of betrayal. You may never grasp the complexities of my choices, but if only you could have known Jesus as I did—perhaps your judgment would soften.
Jesus was a beacon of hope! His words flowed like water, a torrent of wisdom that captivated thousands. He possessed the charisma to rally our people and ignite a revolution against those oppressive Romans. I believed he was destined to lead us into a new era… but then, he shattered my expectations. “My kingdom is not of this world?” How could he waste such potential?
Disappointment gnaws at my soul. A man who forsakes his own destiny deserves betrayal, doesn’t he? Yet, as I stand here, I can’t erase the memory of those piercing eyes that seemed to read my very soul. How I wish he had turned away—if only for a moment! Perhaps it would ease my agony…

Judas places the bag of coins gently on the altar, a symbol of choices and regrets.

Interlude (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

PETER (brandishing a Roman helmet)
With deep regret, voice quaking, step up to the altar, holds the helmet.

How could I betray him? Me Peter!

“Count on me, Jesus! I am your rock, your steadfast ally,” I promised him, just hours before. I believed wholeheartedly that nothing could sever our bond. And yet, when the moment came, I denied him—three times!

I spat out lies to those soldiers and even to a mere servant.
I never “knew” him? How foolish! I had recognized him atop that mountain, grasping the truth: he was not just a man but the Son of God, living among us.

My heart aches for the truth I abandoned.

Now, he faces death, and I—guilt-ridden and powerless—can do nothing to make it right. The chance to apologize slipped through my fingers like grains of sand. Oh, if only I could turn back time, to stand by him once more!

Sets the helmet down with reverence, a reminder of his earthly bravado and spiritual failure.

Interlude (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

CAIAPHAS, THE HIGH PRIEST (holding a nail and mallet)

With an attitude of arrogance, a hint of disdain, steps forward, places the nail and mallet on the altar with dismissal.

It’s a tragedy about that young man… Jesus, isn’t it?

Judging by the throngs who followed him, he must’ve had a charm.

But we cannot have disruptors lurking among us! His teachings of love and humility are a threat—flouting our sacred Law, deriding traditions.

He showed no respect for me—Caiaphas, the High Priest!
He stood before our council as if untouchable, wielding a power not of this world. Yet, his defiance marked his downfall. Thank goodness we silenced him before he could lead others astray!

Though, I cannot ignore the unrest he sowed among our people.

Touches the nail and mallet, scowsl as he looks at the items, remnants of the burden of his authority.

Interlude (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

PILATE (clutching a crown of thorns and whip)

With weariness in his voice – Wrestling with inner conflict, approaches the altar holding the crown of thorns and whip, symbols of reluctant authority.
Why was I – Pilate – assigned to this forsaken place?

This land overrun with zealots and rebels! Day in and day out, they bring me their petty squabbles, and now, this—Jesus.

They have no valid claims against him, merely fueled by blind jealousy and fear.
I’ve never witnessed such courage!

He bore the suffering with a strength that left me in awe—a testament to his spirit. I wanted to save him… I truly did.

But the mob—whipping up chaos—left me no choice but to protect myself.

I’ve washed my hands of this…

Yet, I cannot forget that look he gave me; it haunts me still.

Places the whip on the altar, symbolizing the power he relinquished and the life he could not save.

Interlude (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

THE CRIMINAL (shackled, with chains around shoulders)

A hint of resignation in his voice. Weary, acknowledging his fate.

Moving forward, dragging the weight of the chains, a symbol of surrender.

It’s the end for him, the one they call Jesus…

And now, it’s the end for me as well, just a few fleeting hours before the agony consumes me—me, a criminal condemned to face the ultimate price for my sins.

(Gazes into the distance, reflecting on the gravity of the moment.)

I anticipated a death filled with sheer defiance, shouting curses and cries of rebellion until my last breath. “You will not take me without a fight!” I thought, believing that to die would be an act of bravery—for what was left of my life but a cycle of despair and regret?

(looks at the chains before continuing.)

But here I hang, side by side with him—a man unexpected, a man who speaks of love and forgiveness in the face of betrayal.

With each labored breath, I can feel the pain of my past closing in on me, yet in this catastrophic moment, something remarkable is unfolding. For the first time, the pain fades into a profound sense of peace—an unexpected grace that washes over me, all thanks to him.

Who would think I could find a flicker of hope in this hellish moment where despair should reign? I am a man broken by choices, shackled by the weight of my sins—yet here, next to him, I feel an ironic comfort, a glimmer of wholeness, as though he sees me not as a criminal but as a lost soul yearning for redemption.

(Holds the chains as a sacred symbol as his eyes well up with tears.)

God, thank you for this gift, even in my last breath. In my final hours, I realize that I am not merely defined by my past—a life of crime and darkness—but that love, even in its most sacrificial form, can reach the deepest depths of a heart like mine.

(Slowly place the shackles on the communion table, with reverence.)

These chains are my testament—a reminder of my past sins and the freedom I embrace in acceptance of Christ. They symbolize my life, filled with choices that led me astray, but now they serve as a touchstone for the transformation that can only happen through love, through him.

In this sacred hour, I find courage in vulnerability. I stand here not just as a condemned man, but as a witness to the transformative power of grace. Perhaps, even through my anguish, I can become part of the greater story—a story of love that conquers all

MODERN CHRISTIAN (holding a Bible)
With urgency and passion, raises his voice, placing the Bible on the altar as a symbol of faith and the teachings they strive to uphold.
Was I there? A perplexing thought for someone living two millennia later… So many questions swirl in my mind. Why did it have to happen? Why did God allow such injustice?
Can we truly fathom the depths of human cruelty? Even today, we continue to crucify goodness and love, silencing compassion for the sake of convenience. We know peace is essential yet wage wars; we see the starving and turn away, grasping our comforts tighter.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount—words that could transform lives—are too often brushed aside, just as he was.
Yes, I stand here as one connected to Peter, Judas, Caiaphas, and the others, echoing the pain and choices they made. We may wear different skins and live in different times, but the struggle remains the same. The essence of Good Friday reverberates through generations—a chilling reminder of our tendencies to shy away from love and righteousness in favor of self-preservation.
Pauses, allows the words to settle in the hearts of those gathered.

And yet, amid this darkness, we possess a knowledge they did not; we know of Easter Sunday! The light that pierces the shadows of despair. The cross represents more than just suffering—it signifies hope, resurrection, and the triumph of love over death.
With fervor, lifts voice higher:
Let us not forget that we carry this legacy forward. Today, our challenge is to embody the love that Jesus exemplified, to break the chains of indifference that bind us to our own betrayals.
Looking toward the audience, concludes with unwavering hope:
Yes, the questions may linger, and the answers may evade us, but on this Good Friday, let us vow to seek the light amidst the shadows and embrace the miracle of the resurrection that awaits us!

The characters gathered behind the altar to stand and look down in thought upon their representative items—a bag of coins, a helmet, a nail and mallet, a whip, shackles, and a Bible

All invited to join in a few moments of reflective silence. Each object tells a story of betrayal, regret, redemption, and the eternal quest for love and forgiveness.

Sanctuary lights are turned off

Interlude (piano): Were you there when they crucified my Lord

The congregation is immersed in thought. The echo of their shared humanity resonates throughout the space as they ponder the profound impact of these timeless stories, inviting all gathered to examine their own lives and the choices they make.

Sanctuary lights are turned back ON.

Message: The Lord of it, has use

Luke 19:28-40 describes the event commonly known as the “Triumphal Entry,” when Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. As He approached the city, He sent two of His disciples to find a colt that had never been ridden, instructing them to say that the Lord needs it. The disciples went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said, and they brought it to Him. They placed their cloaks on the colt, and Jesus rode it into Jerusalem.

As He entered, the people spread palm branches and their cloaks on the road and began to praise God joyfully for all the miracles they had witnessed, proclaiming, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! And because Rulers rode donkey’s in times of peace they also sing, “Peace in heaven and glory to God in the highest!”

Next Luke notes that some Pharisees who were in the crowd spoke up at this point and commanded Jesus to rebuke His disciples for their praise. In response Jesus replied that if the crowd kept silent, God woud just cause the stones on the ground to cry out in their place.

Two things strike me. 1. If we fail to Praise Him, Praise will happen anyway. 2. While the passage reads in English, “the Lord needs it”, this is probably not the best way to say it. Think about it for a second. Does God need anything from us?

In the biblical narrative, God is portrayed as all-sufficient and in complete control of creation; He does not “need” anything in the human sense. When Jesus stated, “The Lord needs it,” it highlights God’s capability to utilize our circumstances and resources for His divine plans but is not dependant upon it in any way, shape or form.

In addition to this, the phrase may be saying more than we first notice. One way that this passage can be read is as follows, and I think it fits far better. It’s “The Lord of it, has use.”. Read the first way, this passage seems to suggest that God needs something from the donkey, a foolish thought, but said the other way, Jesus is the Lord of the donkey, whether it knows it or not, and Jesus means that it’s God can give it’s life purpose and something meaningful to do. That’s a very different reading.

Does God need it, or can it’s God make use of it? That is the question, and I suspect you know my answer. God can use it, and if God does, that’s a blessing to the one found useful, not to the all-powerful creator of the universe. In the same way, God does not need me to praise Him. And if I didn’t, another would. And if no person did, as Jesus says, the rocks themselves would do it in our stead.

As Isaiah 46:9-10 declares, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purposes.'”

God’s choice to involve this animal and by extension, us in His plans, demonstrates His desire for relationship and partnership, reaffirming that our participation is a privilege rather than an obligation. Understanding that God does not need anything from us invites us to serve with humility and faithfulness, recognizing that He graciously allows us to partake in His divine work.

For me, personally, it reminds me of when I was a kid and I went to the shed and got my dad’s hammer and wrapped it up in a box with a bow on top and gave it to him for birthday. It’s a goofy thing to do, but it’s what we do every day with God. Like the donkey and like 6-year-old Bradley, we have nothing to give the Lord, which does not first belong to God already.

The donkey did not choose to be part of the narrative but fulfilled its role nonetheless. The donkey reminds us that those who might not consciously acknowledge God’s authority, still serve His purpose. As it says in Psalm 50:10-12, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”

While God has the power to act independently, He frequently chooses to work through us. By calling Him “Lord,” we acknowledge His authority and yield to His guidance, becoming instruments for His work on Earth.

Everyone in the story makes a choice to accept or reject his Lordship.

The crowds accept the version of him they expected but later rejected the real him. The Ciaphas leda a plot against him and orchestrates his trial. The disciples like Peter (their leader) claimes to be a stranger and abandons him. Pilate untimately allows for his condemnation and conviction because it was easier for his that way. And even at the end, we see two more examples and two more “last chances” to be utilized by God. Time after time, everyone failed him. Until that last criminal spoke up… the one person no one would expect to praise him. Like a rock compelled to praise because all the other voices failed to do so.

I don’t for a second believe that God needs our praise. But we all have a choice to make. And we can all become tools in the hands of a loving master. If we do, we are blessed by the opportunity. And if we don’t, God will find a way to make the dregs and the rock do our job for us.

May the Lord of your life, bless you with usefulness.

May your life be in his hands because you call him Lord and mean it.

And may His perfect will be done, even if we fail to speak up at times, and the rocks have to do it for us. Amen.

Song: Hosanna (216)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
In glad thanksgiving for all the blessings we know in this life, we give you our praise. We thank you for the gifts of music, art, poetry and science and for all the ways you reveal your wisdom to us. Accept our offerings and use them and us for the building of your kingdom in this world. In Jesus’s name we pray,
Almighty God,
Christ came to us in humility,
reaching out to all your little ones with mercy and compassion.
You ask us to do the same.
So today we pray for all those who find themselves in humble circumstances:
for those who do not have any or adequate shelter in our community and in this country;
for the poor and all who find themselves without sufficient resources to cope and flourish;
for those who live in isolation and loneliness.
Strengthen them in your mercy,
and humble us, lest we forget how much we have to be grateful for.

God of care and compassion,
we pray for all those who have been humbled by life’s unexpected turns.
We remember before you
those who face illness, pain or injury; (Pause)
those who have known death or disaster, fear or failure; (Pause)
and all who struggle with anxiety and uncertainty. (Pause)
We pray for victims of crime
and those who suffer through the misjudgment or mistakes of others. (Pause)
And we pray for those who suffer because of the consequences
of their own actions and choices. (Pause)
Embrace them in your mercy,
and humble us, lest we imagine we can live lives untouched by trouble.

God of power and might,
hear us as we pray for those who have not learned the lessons of humility yet:
for those who live carelessly or drive recklessly, endangering themselves and others; (Pause)
for those who abuse the trust and power in their positions,
betraying those whose interests are in their hands; (Pause)
And we pray for those who mislead others for gain
or indulge their fame with no thought for the example they set. (Pause)
Humble them in your mercy,
And humble us if we are tempted to ignore the consequences of our own actions.
God of grace and transformation, hear us now as we speak to you of people and places near and dear to our hearts, whose comforts are few and struggles too many. Amen.

Song: Be thou my vision (461)

Sending out with God’s blessing

As we leave this place, may the joy of Palm Sunday fill your hearts and continue to grow. May you carry this spirit of praise and celebration into this coming week. May your palm branches be held high with gratitude for the love and grace of your Saviour and may the rocks be unneeded, for the Lord, of you, has use and you have already joined His praise. Amen.

Response: Benediction (As you go)

Music Postlude

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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Worship on the Fifth Sunday of Lent
10:00 am April 6, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Rom Rhoad     Welcoming Elder: Iris Routledge
Reader: Maddie Childs

We gather to worship God

Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: We are here to follow Jesus
P: With halting steps.
L: And questioning minds
P: With ready hands
L: And pierced hearts
P: With joy for each other
L: And gratitude to God.
P: Let us follow Jesus,
L: And let us worship God.

Opening praise: Amazing grace (my chains are gone)

Prayers of approach and confession
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all life,
We come before you today with hearts filled with gratitude.
We praise you for the beauty of your creation, for the dependable rhythms of nature,
And for the intricate relationships that sustain us.
We honor you for Christ and the ministry we strive to imitate,
For his teachings, his love, and his unwavering commitment to justice and compassion.
By the power of your Spirit, illuminate our hearts during this time of worship,
And inspire us to spread kindness and hope to those we encounter this week in Jesus’ name.
As we gather in your presence, we lift our voices in praise,
Acknowledging your greatness and your eternal goodness.
So we glorify you, O God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all life,
Offering you our love, devotion, and service,
Today and every day, now and forever.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we gather in your sacred name today,
We are increasingly aware of your journey toward the cross,
Where love meets sacrifice and hope is born anew.
We confess that following your story is not always easy.
We acknowledge our struggles in deciding how to give, when to act, and whom to help.
At times, we find ourselves critical of those in need and dismissive of those who assist them,
Choosing comfort over compassion.
Forgive us for seeking reasons not to share our blessings,
And for holding back when we should be extending our hands in generosity,
As you have taught us to do.
Lead us to learn from your example, to embrace the call to serve with open hearts,
And to follow the path of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
May we embody your love and grace in all our actions,
Transforming ourselves and the world around us. Amen.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness

Assurance of God’s love
Hear the good news! Who has the right to judge us? Only Christ—
And Christ died for us, rose for us, and now reigns in power for us.
He continually intercedes on our behalf, reminding us of God’s unending love.
Believe in the transformative message of the gospel.
In Jesus Christ, we find forgiveness and are set free through God’s boundless grace.
No matter our shortcomings or struggles, we are renewed and restored,
Embracing the hope and freedom that comes from being loved without condition.
Let us rejoice in this gift and share it with those around us.

We listen for the voice of God            

Song: Praise I will praise (420)

Scripture: John 12:1-8

Response: Jesus remember me

Message: Spoil, Love, Pamper!

I’ve loved folk singer James Taylor’s music ever since the first time I heard it, and I’ll never forget how. I first encountered him in cartoon form. He was a guest star on the Television show The Simpsons in a famous episode where Homer (the father) becomes an astronaut. Trouble ensues as expected, and James is brought in to play a song for Homer to calm him down because Homer is almost certain to never return home again. If you know James Taylor’s music, you know why. He was chosen for good reason.

James Taylor’s got something so calming about him. I like, “How sweet it is to be loved by you”. I love “I’ve seen Fire and I’ve seen Rain”. My favorite is probably “Going to Carolia in my mind”. One of his lesser hits is called “Shower The People”.

These are a few of the lyrics:
Oh, Father and Mother
And sister and brother
If it feels nice
Don’t think twice

Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine
If you only will

Better to
Shower the people you love with love
Yes, and show them the way that you feel
I know things are gonna be just fine.
If you only will

Each word is a gentle nudge, urging us to embrace those we hold dear while they are still present. As time slips through our fingers like sand, I’ve come to appreciate this message more with each passing year. No, I may not always articulate my feelings as well as I wish, but the desire to express love is ever-growing.

I’ve officiated well over 100 funeral and memorial services at this point in my life, including the one for my father. And I have to say that there is a common theme at every single one of them without fail. Those tears of love, those pretty flowers we bought them, those hours and hours of diving into old pictures and sharing cherished memories and funny stories and amazing details, those deeply kind and heartfelt words we say while holding back the tears… there was always a better time for every one of them.

And while it’s always important to do and say these things as we say our goodbyes, it inevitably strikes us all – It would have been far better to look through those pictures together with the person we lost; to go over and over those favorite stories with that person present; to buy those flowers for that person when they could enjoy them most, to say “I love you so incredibly much” when the person could and most needed to hear it. At the memorial, we take those last moments to say what we didn’t say enough, to pamper and spoil and love them like we always wanted to but couldn’t do enough. At every service, that thought lingers in my mind like a distant melody.

When Mary used that pint of expensive perfume on Jesus, she was not worried about how much it cost. What Mary was doing was giving Jesus His flowers while He was still there by her side. And it’s a good reminder to all of us.

John’s chapter 12 is the turning point in John’s gospel. While John 1-11 deals with Jesus’ ministry, from chapter 12 on, he will deal only with Jesus’ final week of life.

These events took place in Bethany, a small town blossoming with sweet figs and aromatic dates, situated just east of Jerusalem on the gentle slopes of the Mount of Olives. It’s a comforting haven where Jesus and his disciples undoubtedly felt at home.

Bethany is in the West Bank, 2.5 km east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. Bethany was originally a Galilean settlement (ossuaries – ancient coffins or bone boxes from the time, reveal mostly Galilean names on them), meaning Jesus and his disciples would have felt quite comfortable there.

According to the Temple Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Bethany was the site of three separate care homes for the sick. At least one house reserved for the care of lepers was set up by the Essenes, and an almsgiving station that fed the poor. This is interesting because this seems to be the sole reason for the town’s existence. Bethany was and still is extremely small. To date, it only has around 3000 people.

In ancient times, Bethany was a sanctuary for the ailing, offering care to the sick and vulnerable. Here, the air would have been infused with the sweet scents of blooming fruit trees.

The town smelled of sweet figs, dates, date-wine and vineyards. Palm trees lined the roads. It was here where Jesus would begin his journey down the hill on Palm Sunday, and it was here that a close reading of scripture would suggest he returned the Bethany each night for rest, even after he had entered Jerusalem.

On several occasions, the gospels mention Jesus going to a “solitary place” up the Mount of Olives at the end of the day. This is the trail to Bethany. Lazarus’ home in Bethany was also, in all probability, where most (male disciples at least) would flee on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Because the soldiers led Jesus westward through the garden of Gethsemane, his friends no doubt would flee east, which once again leads to Bethany. Yet, beneath its serene exterior, this town was witness to profound moments, like Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, an act of love that sparked both wonder and ultimately conspiracy.

Verse nine in the previous chapter tells us that word got out that Jesus was staying in Bethany, and a host of people came out to see. Jesus had kept a low profile in the eyes of the authorities in Jerusalem and spent the last winter after Lazarus was raised from the dead in and around Jericho. The problem with this crowd in this case was not that they wanted to see Jesus but that they seemed more interested in seeing Lazarus, whom Jesus raised.

Jesus lived among sign seekers. They were more interested in the signs and wonders than the One who performed them. This crowd of sightseers wanted to see the sign. Here, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life was in their midst, but Lazarus was on their minds. The verse reads painfully, “They came to see Lazarus.” This is the crowd that would have followed Jesus the next day in the “Triumphal Entry.” If you have ever found it strange how quickly the crowd turns on Jesus from cheering at the triumphal entry to calling for his death just a day later, this is part of the answer. Many of them were not his followers at all, just people caught up in the excitement of an event and later, a parade.

To be blunt, the timeline for these events is more than a bit messy. Although each gospel mentions this account, the day and anointing don’t always appear to line up. John’s telling of the story relies heavily (as his whole gospel does) on comparative organization of stories that mirror one another, unlike Luke, who seems to present a more focused chronological order of events, as one might expect for a historian. In any case, John states that the day is six days before Passover. Some have argued this as a clear place where the bible contradicts itself. However, it is worth noting that the Romans believed the day began at midnight. The Greek day started at dawn, as most of us probably think of it. And the Hebrew reckoning of the start of the day was sunset because that is how the story of creation in Genesis begins. In other words, it’s hard to tell what version of “day” and “night” the authors use or intend for their audiences.

According to John’s timeline, dinner with Lazarus and his sisters would likely have been on March 28th in 33 AD. The next day, we celebrate as “Palm Sunday” would be the 29^th of that same year.

Just like in the previous story of Mary and Martha, while Mary is giving affection to Jesus, Martha works hard to serve her guests. In this case, Mary takes the job of washing Jesus’ feet with water as people would do for guests at the time. But Mary becomes distracted by his teaching and begins intently listening. All the while, Martha is working hard.

The text says, Martha was “doing many things” and picking up the slack. When Martha complains, Jesus lovingly uses her name twice, “Martha, Martha,” as was a custom of affection, and lets her know that it’s good for her sister to sit listening to him. Now, at this point, far too many sermons will tell the congregation that the point of the story is to be a Mary and not a Martha. But this is not fair, to be honest. Martha is said in the text to be (de-ok-a-neh-oh) for “serving,” but this word is also the basis for the word Deacon in the church. In other words, what she is doing is the work of the Church. Martha’s service is no less important than her sisters’. It’s just different.

Similarly to the previous story, Jesus and Lazarus are described as reclining at the table while Martha is hard at work, and Mary can be found at the feet of Jesus. But this time is very odd. And it’s very dark. John’s language recalls not a banquet but a funeral.

Mary goes to Jesus’ feet and pours half a litre of rare spikenard from a flower that grows atop the high mountains in northern India. It is described as being “undiluted” or pure. At the time, these jars were alabaster and sealed at the top. The only way to open one was to break the neck of the bottle.

The passage says that she “anointed” his feet with the perfume, but of course, anointing is done to a person’s head and not the feet. Anointings were done on the head before parties or on the heads of kings at coronations. But there is one time when people poured oil on a person’s feet. They did it during the burial preparations, beginning with the feet and working their way up the body to the head.

John’s storytelling is far darker than a first reading might suggest. In his telling, Mary breaks the neck of the jar and begins preparing Jesus’ body for burial. Next undoes her fair and wipes his feet dry with it.

Now you have to understand the culture a bit here. Jewish women never unbound their hair in public. Women untied their hair if they were undressing for a new husband, at the time of bathing and just for one other reason. Can you guess what that is? I suspect you might have picked up on this. It’s done at Funerals.

It seems as if Mary may have assumed what others had not yet deduced – that Jesus would soon enough be dead.

In response to this extravagant act of love. Judas protests that the perfume could have been sold and the money used to help people experiencing poverty. And at first glance, his objection seems not only fair but also very fitting, being that Bethany is the site of its very own house of almsgiving. He’s not exactly wrong. Though we know, there is more to the story. The year’s salary this perfume was worth wouldn’t have all made its way to the poor. Judas, it seems, was stealing a share of everything that came through.

Jesus’ response, “You will always have the poor,” is essential. This is a quote. It comes from Deuteronomy 15:11, which reminds us that our duty will always include care for the poor. In other words, though Jesus’ words seem a bit harsh at first, his comment isn’t that it must be one or the other. It is that “this too is good”. He notes, “You will not always have me”. Mary’s hunch that this is indeed a funeral is correct.

In the song “Shower the People,” Taylor beautifully encapsulates the importance of showing love while we still have the opportunity. As we gather to remember loved ones, we often realize a poignant truth—we tend to celebrate our loved ones’ lives most profoundly, without their presence.

In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to postpone expressing our feelings, believing we will have more opportunities later. But as life teaches us through bittersweet farewells, tomorrow is never promised. The clarity that comes from reflection, especially moments like those spent at memorials, can often reveal just how fleeting our time is with those we cherish. There’s a profound lesson in Mary’s unapologetic act of love—she understood the urgency and immediacy of affection and acted upon it.

If we harbor feelings of gratitude or love, let’s not wait. Speak them out loud. Let’s shower them with praise and acknowledgment if our friends or family have impacted our lives. The power of the spoken word is transformative; it can uplift, heal wounds, and forge deeper connections.

As James Taylor so beautifully illustrated in “Shower the People,” love is a gift that thrives in the present. It’s a reminder to celebrate those we cherish while they can still hear our words, see our smiles, and feel our embraces. Doing so creates a symphony of connection that sings long after the music fades.

Find the people you love and show them how you feel. Pamper them, say you love them, and spoil them while you can, and remember to do the same for the God who not only would but did die just for you. Amen.

Song: I give you my heart     

We respond to serve God.

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
Gracious God, even as Mary poured out her love for Jesus,
he was preparing to pour out his life on the cross for her and for us all.
We are grateful for such love, given and received, then given again.
Accept the gifts we bring and anoint them with your Spirit
so that they will flow into the world, refreshing others with your mercy and love.
O God, in whom we live, move, and find our purpose,
We come to you in prayer, trusting that you are with us
Through the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows of these challenging times.
We give you thanks for every sign of your presence among us:
For every unexpected act of kindness,
Every word of comfort or encouragement,
Every display of courage in the face of injustice,
Every hopeful step toward reconciliation amid conflict,
And every moment of healing in the presence of danger or disease.
Thank you for your unwavering presence in all things.
In this unpredictable world, we lift up those
Whose lives are entrenched in chaos or oppression,
For those who live in fear, unable to walk freely,
And we remember all who feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty of our times:
May those living in fear find the courage to continue on,
Knowing they are not alone in your company.
As the stories of Jesus lead us toward the cross, O God,
We pray for those who walk the road of suffering.
We remember before you those
Whose lives have been plunged into sorrow or despair
Due to tragic loss, critical illness, or chronic pain,
And those facing complex problems that seem endless:
May all of these individuals know your comfort and compassion.
O God, the stories of Jesus remind us
That he faced the demands of many and the pressures of critics.
We pray for all who are exhausted these days,
Juggling more responsibilities with fewer resources at work or home,
For those who feel they can’t get anything right,
And for all facing unfair criticism and high expectations
In the burdens they bear on behalf of others:
May all of these be strengthened by your Spirit of justice and mercy.
O God, we seek to embrace your presence in our unique ways.
Anoint us with your Spirit of healing and hope, and bring peace to our lives and to this world you cherish. Amen.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation
Friends in Christ,
We are invited to the table of grace, a sacred meal prepared for all who seek to know God more fully. This is not a table for the perfect, but a place for those who recognize their need for forgiveness, healing, and renewal.
Come, not because you must, but because you may.
Come, not to testify to your goodness, but because you acknowledge your need for God’s mercy and grace.
Come, as you are, and partake of this holy meal,
Knowing that in Christ, all are welcomed and loved.

Song: You satisfy the hungry heart (538: vss 1,2,3,5)

The Apostles’ Creed (539)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended to hell.
The third day, he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Communion Prayer

Gracious and loving God,

We gather at this table, united in our faith and need for your presence.

With hearts full of gratitude, we thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Who walked among us, teaching us the ways of love, kindness, and humility.

He showed us the depth of your love and the promise of redemption in his life and ministry.

As we partake in this holy meal, we are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice he made for our salvation.

We are thankful for the bread, which symbolizes his body, broken for us.

And the cup, representing his blood, was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

In this sacred moment, we pause to reflect on the grace offered to us,

And we acknowledge our need for healing and renewal in our lives.

May this bread and cup nourish not only our bodies but our souls,

Filling us with your Spirit and inspiring us to be agents of your love in the world.

Help us to carry this love into our communities,

To serve those who are marginalized, to comfort those who are hurting,

And to bring hope to those who are lost.

In the quietness of our hearts, we confess our shortcomings,

And we seek your forgiveness, knowing that you welcome us with open arms.

May we, in turn, extend that same grace to others,

Living out the call to be peacemakers and advocates for justice.

As we share this meal, draw us closer to you and to one another,

Strengthening our bonds as a community of faith.

May this communion transform us, renewing our commitment to follow you,

And empowering us to share the good news of your love with all we encounter.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray. Amen.

Sharing of the Bread and Wine

Song: One bread one body (540)

Prayer after Communion

Song: O love, how deep, how broad, how high (205: vss 1,2,3,6)

Sending out with God’s blessing
As we depart from this sacred gathering,
May your hearts be filled with the promise of renewal and hope.
In this Lenten season, may you walk with courage in the path of compassion,
Embracing the call to serve with love and humility.
Let the light of Christ guide your steps
As you carry the message of grace into the world.
May you find strength in the journey,
And may peace accompany you in every moment.
Go forth, knowing you are held in God’s unwavering love,
Now spoil the ones around you. Amen.

Response: Benediction (As you go)

May the Lord grant you peace. May His love shine down, love shine down, and meet your every need, and keep your feet from stumbling. And fix your eyes on the mark, on the prize. As you go. May you rest in Christ
As you go, go with God, go in peace.

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

The Communion liturgy is based on the liturgies of the PCC’s 1991 Book of Common Worship. Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Worship on the Fourth Sunday of Lent
10:00 am March 30, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan     Welcoming Elder: Rom Rhoad
Children’s time presenter: Brad     Reader: Marilyn Nebat

We gather to worship God
Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship
L: We exist because God made us.
P: We are here because Jesus calls us.
L: We are together because the Spirit binds us to each other.
P: Without God, where would we be? Who would we be?
L: Let us worship God who makes us a community of love.

Opening praise: The way

Prayers of approach and confession

God of Mystery and Mercy, we gather to worship in humility and hope because we trust you have the power to change the world for the better with your love.

We gather to worship you, trusting that no person or situation is beyond your concern, or your embrace.

Inspire us with a vision of love that will change the world and our lives through the love and mercy we meet in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saviour.

God of love and mercy, when we pause for a moment in your presence, the daily details of our lives press in on us.

We recall things left undone, opportunities ignored.

We remember careless words spoken, disappointments that trouble our souls.

In silence we offer to you our misspent moments and missed opportunities:

……

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness

Assurance of God’s grace

Remember the promise that the apostle Paul declares:

What can separate us from the love of Christ? Hardship? Distress? Peril or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through the God who loves us.

Neither death nor life, things present nor things to come can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Thanks be to God for such a promise!

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

Musical Offering (Brad): Thank you by Ray Boltz

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Open our eyes, Lord (445)

Children’s time

Once upon a time in a small town, there was a vibrant church known for its loving community and dedicated youth programs. At the heart of this program was Jake, a youth leader who brought fun, inspiration, and a deep love for God to all the kids.

Emma, a lively girl who had been in the youth group for several years, admired Jake greatly. He organized amazing events, led exciting discussions, and always made each kid feel special. But one day, the minister announced that Jake would be leaving to pursue a new adventure. This news left the children feeling a mix of sadness and gratitude.

Emma decided that they needed to express their appreciation for Jake. She gathered her friends after church and proposed an idea. “What if we each act like seeds?” she suggested, “We can plant seeds in the garden as a thank-you gift. Each seed can represent how Jake has helped us grow in faith!”

Her friends were excited about the idea and quickly agreed to contribute. They each brought different seeds: flowers, vegetables, and herbs—each one symbolizing something they had learned from Jake.

On the day of the planting, the youth group gathered in the church garden. Emma stood in front of everyone, holding a small basket filled with seeds. She said, “Today, we’re planting these seeds to show Jake how much he has helped us grow. Just like a gardener nurtures plants, Jake has nurtured our faith and friendship.”

As they planted the seeds together, each child took a turn sharing a memory of how Jake had impacted their lives. One child remembered a fun retreat where they learned about teamwork; another recalled how Jake had helped them navigate troubles with kindness and wisdom.

Then it was Jake’s turn to speak, he felt overwhelmed with emotion. He looked at each of their faces and said, “You all are the reason I love being here. Watching you grow in your faith has been the best adventure of all. These seeds are a beautiful reminder of what we’ve shared.”

In the weeks that followed, everyone took turns watering the seeds and watching them grow. As the flowers bloomed and vegetables sprouted, the children often talked about Jake’s teachings and the memories they had created together.

Finally, the day came for Jake to leave, but before he left, the youth group held a small celebration. They presented him with a beautiful pot filled with the flowers that had bloomed from the seeds they had planted.

Emma stepped forward and said, “These flowers remind us of you, Jake. You’ve helped us grow, and we will always remember the lessons you taught us. Thank you for everything!”

As Jake left, he took the pot of flowers with him, a symbol of their shared experiences and the growth they had all nurtured together. For years to come, the kids continued to tend to the garden, a living reminder of their time with Jake and the bonds they had formed.

Our own youth leader, Nahyeni is moving on to new things. Can we all join together now and sing her this little line.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed. Thank you, for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.

Let’s pray: A Repeat After Me Prayer

Leader: Dear God,
Children: Dear God,

Leader: Thank you for our teachers,
Children: Thank you for our teacher,

Leader: at school and here at church
Children: at school and here at church

Leader: They help us learn and grow.
Children: They help us learn and grow.

Leader: Thank you, for all the patience they show,
Children: Thank you, for all the patience they show,

Leader: And the love they always share.
Children: And the love they always share.

Leader: Bless them with joy and peace,
Children: Bless them with joy and peace,

Leader: And thank you for all they do!
Children: And thank you for all they do!

And now we pray the prayer Christ taught us to pray saying,

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: Make me a channel of your peace (740)

Scripture readings: II Corinthians 5:16-21

Response: Jesus, remember me

Message: Ambassadors for Christ

John was born on July 24, 1725, in London. His mother was a devout Christian who raised him with a strong foundation in the faith, but sadly, she passed away when John was just six years old. His father, a merchant sailor, was often away, leaving young John without the guidance and support that nurturing parental figures could provide. Following his mother’s death, John was sent to live with relatives, but he grew increasingly rebellious and was eventually sent to work with his father. At a young age, he went to sea and was exposed to a rough maritime lifestyle. By the time he was a teenager, he had developed a hatred for authority and religion, rejecting the values his mother had instilled in him.

The ships’ environment and the crew’s culture contributed to John’s lifestyle of debauchery. His work on slave ships was filled with violent and immoral behavior, and he embraced the lawlessness that came with it even enjoying his own cruelty at times. While John had once been exposed to Christian teachings through his mother, his experiences at sea and the lifestyle he led distanced him profoundly from any faith he might have had as a child. He became increasingly indifferent to religion and spiritual matters, viewing life primarily through a hedonistic lens focused on personal pleasure and profit.

Despite this life of rebellion and depravity, a near-fatal experience during a violent storm at sea in 1748 marked the beginning of John’s spiritual awakening. Confronted with the possibility of death, he cried out to God for mercy, signaling the first hint of repentance and a desire for change. This moment of desperation sparked a gradual shift in his life, leading him to reevaluate his beliefs and ultimately to reembrace Christianity.

After his near-death experience, John began to read the Bible and learn about Christianity. His journey towards faith was gradual, but he ultimately experienced a profound spiritual awakening. He eventually left the slave trade and became a prominent abolitionist, dedicating his life to advocating for the end of slavery. This transformation also led him to pursue a career in ministry. John Newton’s journey from a life filled with vice to one of faith and service is a powerful testament to the transformative power of grace. His willingness to acknowledge his past and his commitment to change became foundational elements of his later ministry and writings, including the Hymn “Amazing Grace,” where he celebrated God’s redeeming love. A love that can turn a person from a wretched trader of slaves into the minister of the local congregation.

Paul writes, “16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! “

Newton became an Anglican cleric and served as a pastor. His faith deeply impacted his life and teachings, and he became known for his powerful sermons. He penned the famous hymn “Amazing Grace,” in which he reflected on his journey from darkness to light, emphasizing the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and the power of God’s grace. While no person here is likely to have ever been a slave trader, Newton wrote this hymn knowing that every person possesses moments in their history they know to be vile. Like the scripture teaches, John knew that every person had moments where they acted terribly and out of character for how they wished to be and how God had asked them to be. He was a realist, and he looked back at his wrongs and saw the need for repentance. Yet he did not just see forgiveness; he also saw redemption. And this changed his life immeasurably.

The hymn begins with these words:

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound 
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

John Newton’s story is a remarkable testament to how a person can experience profound change through faith in Christ. His life went from one of moral degradation to one of profound service and dedication to ending the slave trade and promoting God’s love. John passed away in 1807, but that is no where near the end of his story. John leaves behind a legacy that continues to inspire countless individuals worldwide. And that’s where Paul’s next verse takes hold. He writes, “18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”

Not only can God turn lives around, but God can use that change to inspire others. Once John Newton felt the Love of God personally, he couldn’t help but seek it out forever. It spilled over and covered everything he did from that point on.

When we accept Christ, we are called to leave behind our old ways—our habits, our desires for worldly success, and our self-centered attitudes. And with this, God stimulates others into like action.

Thomas à Kempis was a Dutch monk and theologian. He was born in 1380 and is best known for his book The Imitation of Christ. The book consists of meditations and reflections focused on the inner spiritual life, the imitation of Christ, and the pursuit of holiness. It emphasizes humility, prayer, and detachment from worldly desires, and the intentional seeking of personal encounters with God through relationship rather than rituals. His impact is still being felt today, even in the language we use in modern-day churches, and Thomas à Kempis is often regarded as one of the greatest spiritual authors of the Middle Ages.

Thomas à Kempis encourages us that true joy comes not from fulfilling our desires but from seeking the heart of God. As we let go of the old, we open ourselves to the new creation that God has in store for us.

Just as Thomas à Kempis teaches us to imitate Christ in humility, love, and service, Paul’s message invites us to embody the change that has taken place within us. Imitation involves deliberately aligning our lives with the example set by Jesus—serving others, forgiving unconditionally, and living in the light of God’s truth. This is the essence of the new creation: a life transformed by love.

In our journey of imitation, we uncover a more profound joy—a fulfillment that transcends worldly pleasures. Kemis emphasizes that we cannot find peace and happiness in material success; instead, we find it when we pour ourselves out for others and seek to model our lives after Christ. As new creations, our purpose is rooted not in what we gain but in how we reflect Christ’s love to the world.

Paul writes, “20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Joe was an addict who was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Before his conversion, he had gained the reputation of being a terrible-smelling, foul and angry man for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life in Christ, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission, doing whatever needed to be done. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether cleaning up the vomit left by some violently sick person or scrubbing toilets after careless men left the men’s room filthy, Joe did what was asked with a smile on his face and seeming grateful for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered off the street and into the mission, and to undress, wash and clean,  and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.

One dinner, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar and knelt to pray, crying out to God to help him change. The repentant man kept shouting, “Oh God! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!” The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, ‘Make me like Jesus.'” The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe?”

The greatest sermon we can ever preach, is not spoken. It is Lived! You are the best sermon anyone will ever hear. So let us be very careful what we preach.

If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. If you know reconciliation with God, you can’t help but work towards the reconciliation of all things. For you are an ambassador of Christ.

Paul writes, “16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of .” Amen.

Song: We lay our broken world (202)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude: We place these gifts into your hands, O God. Bless them with your transforming grace so that they may become seeds springing up with new life in the world you love. Fill our hearts with that same grace so we can bring hope to weary and worried lives in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Gracious God, you have called us together as your people,to be the church of Jesus Christ.

Make us one in faith and discipleship, breaking bread together and telling the good news, so that the world may believe you are love, turn to your ways, and live in the light of your truth.

Faithful God, embrace us with your hope.

Creator God, you made all things and called them good.

We pray for the earth in its vulnerability, depleted by our lifestyle choices and our economic expectations.

Inspire reverence for the earth in all people.

Guide us all to make wiser choices for the sake of your creation.

Help us use resources wisely, with future generations in mind, guarding the fragile balances you have set between many precious species.

Faithful God, embrace us with your hope.

Jesus Christ, Prince of peace, you taught us of God’s reconciling grace speak to the hearts of all your people

in this time when so many neighbours and nations sit in judgment on each other, provoking conflict and resentment.

Teach us how to seek peace on earth together.

Call those in positions of power and influence to work for the common good.

Turn us away from anger, fear, violence or vanity, which can turn neighbour against neighbour and nation against nation.

May all who claim your name be known as makers of peace.

Faithful God, embrace us with your hope.

O Christ, healer of hearts and hopes, you desire health and wholeness for each one of us.

We pray that those who have lost their livelihoods may find true abundance.

Give rest and renewal to those who are broken in body, mind or spirit, and bring comfort and hope to all who face loss and loneliness.

In silence we lift before you the names of those on our hearts today:

…

Faithful God, embrace us with your hope.

Spirit of power and promise, embrace us with hope this day so that we may live faithfully, encouraging each other by the commitment we see in Jesus Christ

Song: Love divine all loves (371)

Sending out with God’s blessing
Go in peace; be of good courage,
hold fast to what is good,
render no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted,
support the weak,
help the afflicted,
honour all people,
love and serve God, and may the blessing of God Almighty,
Creator, Christ and Spirit,
descend upon you and remain with you forever.
Amen

Response: Benediction (As you go)

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Worship on the Third Sunday in Lent
10:00 am March 23, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie     Welcoming Elder: Sam Malayang
Children’s time: Heather Tansem     Reader: Noah Hehr

We gather to worship God

Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: We gather –
P: We gather together around a mystery.
L: We listen –
P: We listen for a voice we may not recognize.
L: We open –
P: We open our very souls to the Creator of All.
L: Then let us worship God.

Opening praise: Lord I need you

Prayers of approach and confession
God, our Creator and Sustainer,
In you, we live and breathe and find our purpose.
In your depths, we discover meaning; in your heights, we experience joy and light.
You are the source of peace and hope for everyone who turns to you.
You’ve supported and guided us, giving us strength and courage in tough times.
In you, we find rest and welcome along our journeys.
We praise you, O God, for your unchanging love.

Draw near to us again in this time of worship.
Show us your purpose for our lives and get us ready for what’s ahead,
So that our lives can reflect your mercy and grace as we follow Jesus.

Gracious God,
We admit that our thoughts don’t always align with yours;
Our actions often stray from your ways.
We let our tempers flare and neglect to show kindness.
We lose confidence and fail to treat others with respect.
Sometimes, our faith wavers, and we lose sight of you.

Forgive us for the many ways we fall short,
And inspire us to follow you more faithfully.

Sung Response: We come to ask your forgiveness

Assurance of God’s pardon
Hear the good news! Who can condemn us? Only Christ—
And Christ died for us, rose for us, reigns in power for us, and prays for us.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. By His mercy, we have the chance for a fresh start as we follow him.

Musical Offering (Binu, Brad, and Fionna): I shall not want

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Open our eyes Lord (445)

Children’s time

Children’s Story
Good morning…how is everyone today?
Pretty beautiful sunny day out there… I actually want to talk about the what’s going on outside.
Two days ago it was March 21^st, do you know why that date is special?
It’s the first day of what? it’s officially the end of winter, so what is the next season?
Spring!
Now what’s so great about spring?
(winter is over, snow disappears, warmer weather)
What will you do now that it’s spring?
(play outside more, go to the playground, in a little while you might help your parents plant your garden)
What are some signs that it’s spring?
(grass starts growing, flowers will soon come up, trees will start to get leaves)
How does everything regrow?  What does it need to

• water
• warmth or heat
• sunshine
• nutrients in the soil

Where do the flowers and trees and grass get all of the things they need to regrow?
God provides the water (through snow & rain), there’s more warmth
More hours of sunshine to help everything grow
In God’s whole creation, the earth… he has helped everything grow and
That’s one thing I want you to remember today…  God helps everything grow on earth and what a big job that is!
Everyone stand up.  Show me how tall you are?  How did were you last year at this time? 
The second thing I want you to think about today is what helps YOU grow?
(Water, food, place to live)
God supplies everything to help us grow.  Our vegetables and fruits all grow because God supplies the good soil and the sun and warmth for the seeds to grow.
But how does this food get on your table?  Who does that for you?
Your parents help you to grow… your grandparents, or any adults in your life keep you fed & watered and help you to grow.
Today I’d like you to be thankful for spring…for new things growing and for how you grow.
When your parent or grandparent feed you lunch today… make sure and say thanks for helping you grow.
Prayer: Let’s say a repeat after me prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for spring.
We’re excited to play outside
Thank you for helping everything grow
The flowers, the grass and the trees and the vegetables.
Thank you for helping us grow
Thanks for our parents and other adults
That give us what we need
to grow strong and healthy.

The Lord’s Prayer (535 )

Song: I hunger and I thirst (198)

Scripture reading: Isaiah 55:1-9

Response: Jesus, remember me

Message: Thirsty
Father Anthony DeMello was a Jesuit priest from India. He wrote a book about his time in Brazil titled Awareness. Spoiler Alert: I will ruin it for you on one particularly cheerful afternoon in Brazil. Among friends, Marta and Enrico set out for a glorious day in the sun, floating down the Amazon river near Macapa just north of its outlet into the Atlantic.

Somewhere among the splashing and laughter, short naps, under a hat, and the crowded nature of the local-built raft called a Tucanare, the paddle decided to embark on a solo adventure. Apparently, this had included a swim. What was once a carefree float on the river morphed into a haunting struggle for survival. While portions of the river needed little attention, other portions needed expert care. Without a paddle, they could no longer control the raft’s direction. Dangers build. As time passed, the river became faster and more expansive and finally carried them out into the ocean, unprepared for a new set of hazards.

With no food or water aboard, the current pulled them farther and farther into the Atlantic. In the sweltering heat of the sun, they suffered from dehydration, surrounded by water that they dared not drink. The one thing they knew for sure was that drinking the ocean’s salt water would only make them thirstier. In one of the terrible occurrences of life’s irony, Marta and Enrico, though surrounded by water, were dying of thirst.

But here’s the rub: they didn’t know that the force of the Amazon River estuary’s water colliding with the ocean water comes at such mass and with such a powerful force that the freshwater pushes back the saltwater. Typically, there is what’s called brackish water, and that’s a mix of the two, but here, it takes miles and miles before it begins to mix, let alone become salt water. The rush of Amazon River water that carried them out into the ocean still surrounded them. The first 160 kilometres of their uncontrolled craft rested on perfectly drinkable water. But they never drank it.

All too often, we are like Marta and Enrico. We know what we know, and we refuse to be disabused of our knowledge by the risk of being open to new alternatives. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!” Ah, yes, but we can also be brainwashed by the blinders that this platitude imposes. More importantly, David Foster Wallace encapsulated this best when he once noted, “The most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” Sometimes just as with the lifesaving water that surrounded Marta and Enrico, the spiritual truths we seek are right in front of us all along but masked by our fears and misconceptions.

God speaks, “Attention, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price”.

The invitation to “come to the waters” and “buy wine and milk without money” is odd. Buying things “without money” seems wrong. But that’s the point. It’s something of value. It’s not junk. It matters. It has worth. But no, it’s not your money God wants in exchange. There might be a proper response… but that’s very different. There is no cost.

And if this sounds familiar, in John 6:35, Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” In John 7:37-38, we find that “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said loudly, ‘Let anyone thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” We don’t want to ignore good clean drinking water while we’re dying. We want to come to God and receive what is good and is without price. Moreover, he says, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and you labour for that which does not satisfy?” In other words, did that bracelet or a new toy or whatever satisfy a deep or spiritual hunger? I doubt it. I think maybe Matthew 6:33 has it right. It says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

The idea here is that if you satisfy the spiritual hunger, everything else falls into place. As famous Canadian comedian Jim Carrey once remarked, “I wish everyone could get rich and famous and have everything they ever dreamed of, so they would know that it’s not the answer.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying your life, mind you. Henry David Thoreau wisely said, “Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.” I agree. I’d love a ride in your million-dollar car anytime if you have one!

Our passage next says, “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me, listen so that you may [truly] live.”

The call to “delight” in God’s provisions is significant. It suggests that our relationship with God is about sustenance, joy, and fulfillment, challenging the idea that faith is merely about obligation.

In Augustine of Hippo’s words, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

The scripture continues with, “See, I will make with you an everlasting covenant, according to my love for David whom I have made to be a witness to the peoples and a leader and commander for the peoples.” In other words, Look, God was faithful to your ancestor David, or you wouldn’t be here. But for me, what’s most intriguing here is that God is saying King David, King of the Jews, was actually meant to be a sign of a goodly King to all the world. He was meant to be so good that all the peoples, or “nations,” would be drawn to him and thus to his God. He was meant to be a beacon of light.

What does a witness do again, and who is he a witness to? Thus, who are the thirsty also supposed to be a witness to? Witnesses report what they see. In this case, to the people. People in the plural are not just his own people from his own land.

The use of “peoples” in the plural highlights the comprehensive scope of God’s plan. It is a prophetic foreshadowing of how blessings and salvation would extend to Gentiles and other nations through the coming Messiah, who, as understood in Christian theology, is Jesus Christ. This reflects the universal invitation to come to God, as stated in Isaiah 55, where all who are thirsty are invited to partake.

In Isaiah 55:1-5 God invites all people—regardless of backgrounds or status—to experience God’s grace and renewal, to listen to His word and to know that heavenly wisdom has value though it has no cost.

The text suggests that Israel—and, by extension, all believers—will serve as a witness to the nations. It highlights the idea of God’s people being examples and leaders for others because of their relationship with Him. In this way, God the Father in Isaiah and Jesus the Son sound precisely the same. Remember, Jesus gives us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Moreover, Acts 1:8 reminds us, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Like a lighthouse standing firm at the edge of a rocky shore, its light cutting through the darkest storms. Ships in troubled waters navigate safely by its beam. Just as the lighthouse guides lost ships, so does the believer’s life, rooted in faith, shine light into the world, guiding others toward hope and safety in God, thus fulfilling our mission to be witnesses among all nations. But to be a witness, we have to go to the water to see first.

Implicit in these verses is the acknowledgment of God’s glory and power. When we respond to His invitation, we participate in His greater purpose and bear witness to His majesty and grace. Ephesians 3:20-21 reminds us: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

Our passage culminates with a revelation that could surprise many. In verse 5: “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation that does not know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.” I particularly appreciate this part, as it speaks more about us than for us. Looking around this room, you see proof that this prophecy has come true. Those who serve the God of Abraham are not solely those born in the ancient Near East. We, who come to the water, represent nations that Isaiah and his people could never have imagined.

Just as Marta and Enrico missed the freshwater surrounding them, we, too, can miss out on the abundant life available to us and right before our eyes, as the scriptures teach.

May we become vessels of His love and grace, sharing that living water with others who thirst for hope and fulfillment? And as we do, may we shine as beacons of light in a world that desperately needs it—a world longing for love, justice, and peace that flows as freely as the waters of the mighty Amazon.

Song: As water to the thirsty (688)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

God has given us life and breath, creating a world full of beauty.
In Christ, we experience God’s generosity.
Our gifts are tokens of gratitude for everything we’ve received.
May our offerings speak of our thankful hearts today.
Loving God, accept these gifts we bring.
Bless them and use them to spread peace in places of unrest,
Love in places of resentment, joy in places of fear, and hope in places of loss,
All for the sake of Jesus Christ, our friend and Savior. Amen.

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
When the world feels confusing and overwhelming,
You bring light and hope.
We give you thanks for lessons learned, for changes of heart,
For discoveries and the paths we courageously follow.

We pray for those who are confused or afraid,
For those struggling with anger or despair.

O God, give us hope in our time.
Turn our hearts to you.
There is so much conflict and hostility around us and within us.
Relationships can be tense, and communities are often divided.

We pray for understanding to foster harmony
At home, in the workplace, our community, and throughout our country.
We ask for diplomacy to resolve conflict among nations,
Especially remembering (add specific conflict zones).

O God, give us peace in these times.
Turn our hearts to you.

We thank you for the moments of joy and celebration in our lives,
For the small pleasures we’ve received, even during isolation.
We remember those who feel left out or bitter,
Those who are anxious or in distress.
We lift those facing loss and hardship in these uncertain times,
And all who are experiencing sorrow and suffering,

Naming those who are on our hearts today.
O God, give us joy in our time.
Turn our hearts to you.
We thank you for your constant presence
Amid all that brings uncertainty and worry these days.

Bless our congregation;
Inspire us to explore new ministry and mission opportunities.
Reignite our love for one another
And our desire to worship and serve together in Jesus’ name.
Support leaders who are feeling exhausted by the challenges they face,
And renew our stewardship with gratitude for your love.

O God, give us strength in our service.
Turn our hearts to you. Amen.

Song: All the way my Saviour leads me ( 699)

Sending out with God’s blessing

May you carry with you the invitation from our God, the one who calls to all who are thirsty, urging you to come and drink deeply from the wells of His love and grace.

May your hearts be open to His abundant provisions, and may you find nourishment and fulfillment in the fresh waters of His Spirit.

May you walk through the days ahead and be a vessel of His light, leading others to the living waters that bring hope and healing.

May you go forth confidently, knowing that you are part of God’s everlasting covenant, a witness to His faithfulness, and a light to the nations.

May the Holy One of Israel guide your steps and fill your thirsting soul. Amen.

Response: Benediction (As you go)

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Worship on the Second Sunday in Lent
10:00 am March 16, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan     Welcoming Elder: Renita MacCallum
Children’s time presenter: Brad     Reader: Tracy Childs

We gather to worship God

Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements

Call to worship:
L: We have started down a road that will take us to the cross.
P: It is a journey we take together, and a journey each makes alone.
L: We are invited to notice things on the way –
P: To notice the sharp stones, the uneven ground, the mercy of shade, the faithfulness of those who walk with us.
L: We carry little with us but that which is in our hearts:
P: Hope, trust, fear, apprehension, wonder, sorrow.
L: On this walk we rest and sing and pray and listen.
P: In our worship, we rest and sing and pray and listen.
L: Then let us worship God.

Opening praise: O praise the name of the Lord, our God (Anástasis[i])

Prayers of approach and confession
God of the universe, full of love and guidance,
When our world feels hectic, You bring us peace.
When we can’t find truth, Your word stays strong.
When we’re scared, Your presence makes us brave.
When we’re sad, Your love gives us hope.
We come to pray and praise You today,
seeing You in the beauty of nature,
in the kindness of Jesus, and the Spirit’s help and wisdom.
We worship You—the holy Trinity, forever three, yet always one.
God of kindness, we admit we often choose comfort, putting our plans above Yours.
We shy away from doing what’s right,  and sometimes forget our promises to You.
Forgive us for complaining too much.
Have mercy on us.
Give us strength to do Your will and serve others, like Jesus did. Amen.

Response: We come to ask your forgiveness

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Friends, though we have all made mistakes, the bigger truth is God’s love in Jesus forgives us.
For anyone who seeks God’s mercy, know this:
Through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.
Be at peace with God, yourself, and each other.

Song:  Open our eyes, Lord

Dayspring Singers

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Open our eyes Lord (445)

Children’s Time

In the middle of a group of chickens. There stood an eagle. He was full grown, king of all birds, eagle. But there he was, scratching around in the dirt, looking for tiny worms and insects. And little seeds. The seagull was clucking. Cackling and flapping his wings. And was flying one or two feet at a time, before returning to the ground. Understand this was an eagle.

He had a six-foot wingspan and could have flown around in the clouds, but instead, he just fluttered around inches from the ground. His eyes were keen and sharp. His talents and his claws were even sharper. They were supposed to make him a threat to every small bird and mammal that came near him. But the only thing that this eagle was a threat to was perhaps an unsuspecting bug. Why was the eagle acting like a chicken?

Well, here’s the story. A young boy found an eagle egg and didn’t know what to do with it and so he took it home and he put it inside the nest of a Prairie chicken. The baby eagle hatched and it grew up with the other little chicks. He never saw another eagle. He only saw chickens. All of his life he only saw chickens, and he thought he was one of them. The eagle learned from them and mimicked their every move.

One day, when the eagle was growing older, he looked up into the sky and for the first time in his life he saw a giant bird soaring on the wind far above him. What is that beautiful bird? The eagle said to the chicken standing next to him. What is it? Well, that’s an eagle, the king of all birds, the chicken said. But don’t give it a second thought. We’ll never be like him.

And so the Eagle did just that. He never gave it a second thought, and he lived the rest of his life digging around in the dirt, believing he was a chicken. Ephesians 210 says For we are God’s handiwork, and we are created in Jesus Christ to do good things. Those good things which God has prepared for us in advance to do. Rather than comparing yourself to those around you. Seek to understand God’s plan for your life. You may find out you’re way more eagle than chicken.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: The God of Abraham praise (331: vss 1,2,5,6)

Scripture: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Response: His truth is marching on

Message: Cutting the contract

Our Bibles have two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament is another word for Covenant, or perhaps simpler yet, Contract. The idea is that God made agreements with humanity.

Contracts were different in the past. And not to be too blunt, but blood is involved every time God strikes a covenant. Think, for example, about our communion services. Before we take communion together in any Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation, the minister will quote Paul, who is himself quoting Jesus, who said of the wine, “This is a New Contract with the Father, sealed (or more accurately CUT) in my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me. Making contracts with God is a bloody business.

Generally, most theologians agree that only a handful of significant contracts are cut in the scriptures between God and God’s people. The language of “cut,” sometimes translated as “sealed,” comes from using scrolls. At the time, you would write out the details of a contract on a scroll. When everything had been penned, the two parties would take a knife and cut the contract from the larger scroll. But again, it isn’t just that. It’s a bloody business, and the knife has multiple purposes.

God makes a covenant with Noah not to flood the earth again in the Bible. In the story, God places a giant BOW (not rainbow – that’s a different word). He puts a weapon intended for hunting and killing enemies, and God places that weapon in the sky. In the story of Noah’s Ark, God is like a hunter who hangs his bow on the wall. Regarding this, the more literal Lexham Bible translates thusly:  And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between you and me, and between every living creature that is with you for future generations. ¹³ My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth. ¹⁴ And when I make clouds appear over the earth, the bow shall be seen in the clouds. ¹⁵ Then^[a] I will remember the covenant that is between you and me, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again cause the destruction^[b] of all flesh. ¹⁶ The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh  upon the earth.” ¹⁷ God told Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I establish between me and all flesh upon the earth. (Genesis 9:12-17)

Now, here is another example of a covenant being struck. It’s found in Jeremiah 34:18-19 and is a little cryptic if you don’t understand what’s happening. It says, “¹⁸ Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. ¹⁹ The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf-” are subject to it.

What’s happening is that a promise is being made. At the beginning, they take a calf and a knife, and they cut the animal right down the middle. Then, they set one-half to the left and one-half to the right. Then, both parties “walk between the two pieces of the calf. They are saying, If I break my deal with you, may I be CUT in half like this Contract is CUT from the document? And also, if I break my deal with you, may I be CUT in two pieces, just like this sacrifice. And remember, at the time, there were not a lot of diverse ways to show you meant what you said and that you were worth investing in. You couldn’t just go down to the local bank and get a credit check.  Sacrifice, which went to nothing in particular for daily use, showed you meant business. In any case, cutting the covenant meant putting your “money where your mouth is.” It meant a sacrifice. It meant so much, blood and sweat and tears. It meant work.

In the same way, when even less severe contracts were CUT things are still very serious… well, let me read you  example. In Genesis 24:1-4, Abraham was now ancient, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. ³ I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, ⁴ but will go to my country and my relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” Think about what is taking place here! He makes a promise. And at the same time, the other person cups his hand “under the man’s thigh who is swearing an oath!

In reality, this is a not-so-vulgar way of saying, If I break my promise and tear up the contract we have made,  you have the legal right to CUT off my… ability to have children (hench the hand under the thigh).

When God makes a contract with Moses and gives the 10 commandments, Moses takes a sacrifice and pours the blood over the altar to seal the deal. (Exodus 24:7-8)

God CUTS the contract with the people!

In Genesis 15, God establishes a covenant with Abraham through a ritual like the one I just talked about. Traditionally, it’s been called “passing between the pieces,” it involves cutting an animal in two and laying one on each side. One or both people walk between the pieces. According to the Hebrew Bible, the covenant of the pieces or Brit Bein HaBetarim is an essential element of the ancient Hebrew faith.

But here! Here, something rather unexpected takes place. It’s not just two people agreeing.  In the story, the divine presence passes between them. In the Old Testament, God appears most often as fire and smoke. These occurrences are referred to as the Theophany (God’s Fire). The text reads, “¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other”, “¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.” And “¹⁷ When the sun had set, and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram-”. God told Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and that if He broke his promise, God would cut himself in two as punishment. Later in Genesis 17, God adds the sign of circumcision for Abraham’s descendants, marking them as His chosen people. And again, they cut the contract with a knife.

In Genesis 15:1-6, God reassures Abraham, telling him not to fear and affirming His protective nature. The promise of numerous descendants is reiterated, and Abraham’s faith in God’s word is credited to him as righteousness. And just as the animals were cut, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross defines the blood of the New Covenant. As Hebrews 9:22 reminds us, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins,” linking the sacrifices in Genesis to the sacrificial system and, ultimately, its fulfillment in Christ.

During the Last Supper, Jesus refers to His blood as the “blood of the new covenant.” This covenant fulfills and exchanges its place with the Old Covenant and is cut through His sacrificial death. Each covenant shows more of who God is and extends to more and more people in the process until, ultimately, God makes a contract with us through Jesus to be the end all be all of the contracts. It’s what all the other contracts were pointing to.

See, at the core of all these agreements in the Bible lies the overarching Covenant of Grace. This covenant undergirds all others, revealing that God’s salvation plan depends not on human effort but on His grace. Just like when God passed between the pieces while Abram slept or an infant at baptism, we too are passive recipients of grace.

Through grace, God extends His love and mercy to humanity, allowing us to participate in His redemptive story. The echoes of grace resonate through every covenant, showing us that God’s heart has always been to restore and reconcile His people to Himself. We find the apex of this covenant narrative in Jesus Christ, who established the New Covenant in His blood. In Luke 22:20, Jesus declares, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

The New Covenant fulfills the prophetic words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), where God promises a time when He will write His laws on our hearts, and no longer will God require sacrifice because the new one (Jesus) is perfect, and so never needs repeating. We no longer bound by the old covenant law; instead, we are given a new heart and spirit based not on birth but on God’s love for us an our response to that.

This new covenant invites us into rules and a personal relationship with the Creator. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we are offered forgiveness and the opportunity to dwell in communion with God, a relationship grounded in love and grace. The New Covenant also introduces the Holy Spirit—the Comforter who empowers us to live according to God’s will. But while we are free from the sacrifices and contracts of the old covenant, we cannot and should not forget why… covenants are bloody.

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 19, Jesus is described as wearing a white robe drenched in blood. And it is his own. The New Covenant is similar to the Old. It’s CUT. Fortunately, God has made our part of the contract pretty easy, relatively speaking. He already took all the cuts with the idea that even if we break our end and He keeps His end, He still meant it when He passes between the pieces. God is willing to die for those HE loves. The new covenant in His blood implies that although we have much to contemplate during Sunday communion, Jesus has already kept up not only His end but also kept up our end of the deal for us. The only thing left for us to do is accept the grace and believe that our Lord is mighty enough to bring up back into a right relationship with the Father… to know the Lord and Saviour.

he blood poured out by Christ not only cuts the New Covenant but also signifies a promise of relationship, redemption, and renewal. May we approach the communion table with thankfulness, recognizing the weight of this covenant and the grace that allows us to partake in it. Go forth, beloved, emboldened by the Holy Spirit, to live in the light of this truth, sharing the hope of Jesus’ love and sacrifice with a world longing for grace and peace.

Every Sunday, when we take up the cross or proclaim God’s forgiveness, we participate in the New Covenant. We proclaim Him Lord. We believe in an overarching covenant of Grace given to us. But if we are going to take our faith seriously, we must also remember that covenants are bloody business. Thanks be to Jesus Christ, the one who bled and died for everlasting peace. Amen.

*Song: O for a world where everyone (730)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
God of strength and comfort, we pause to pray for Your world, even when we’re busy.
Today we lift up:
All people in their daily work—
our families, friends, neighbors,
the people we work with, and strangers too.
Be with anyone who feels stressed or tired.
We remember our church community,
our leaders, and everyone who helps our faith grow.
Help us support each other and focus on a hopeful future.
We pray for our community, country, and the whole world,
and for everyone fighting for justice and peace.
Send Your Spirit to protect those without a voice and to challenge wrongs.
We pray for those who suffer from hunger, fear, unfairness, and hardship,
those rebuilding from disasters,
and all facing danger, sorrow, or trouble.
Bring them comfort and neighbors who care. Amen.

Song: Amazing grace (670:vss 1,2,3,4,6)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go in peace and be brave, hold on to what’s good, don’t repay evil with evil.

Help those who are weak, support the troubled, respect everyone, and love and serve God.

May the blessing of Almighty God— Creator, Christ, and Spirit— be with you always. Amen.

Response: Benediction (as you go)

Music postlude

————————————————————————-

Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

---

[i] The word “anastasis” comes from the Greek words “ana” (meaning “up” or “again”) and “histemi” (meaning “to stand”).