ST. COLUMBA
ANGLICAN-UNITED CHURCH
Baptism of Jesus
January 12, 2025
United Church Communion
Worship leader: Rev. Bob Gilbert
†††††
Mission Statement
As followers of Jesus Christ, our church is a community called to love, honour, worship, and serve God. We invite others to share our Christian journey as we grow in faith and engage in ministry in our town and mission in our world.
9190 Granville Street
PO Box 1260, Port Hardy, BC V0N 2P0
Office Phone: 250-949-6247
E-mail: admin@stcolumbaporthardy.ca
Priest, The Rev. Sheila Cook
(250)-230-7433 scook@bc.anglican.ca
Wardens: Robert Fyles and Heather Jones
Treasurer: Judy Fyles
Music Ministry: Roldan Yuipco
Video: Ammie Yuipco
Community Partner: Cathie Wilson
www.stcolumbaporthardy.ca

~ Leader: regular font
~ All: bold font
~ Sung words: bold italics
~ Asterisk* stand as you are able

Greetings at the Baptismal Font
Welcome and Announcements
Land Acknowledgement

THE COMMUNITY GATHERS BEFORE GOD

Call To Worship
As a baptized and baptizing people we are claimed as God’s beloved children.
We are called by God to live our lives in the way of Christ.
In this time of worship may we sense the love that created us.
May we know the love that we are called to share with others.

*Hymn: MV 30 It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker (v. 1,2,4)

It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
the thrush sings high in the tree.
It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
the gray whale sings in the sea,
And by the Spirit you and I
can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s a call of life to the Giver,
when waves and waterfalls roar.
It’s a call of life to the Giver,
when high tides break on the shore,
And by the Spirit you and I
can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s the chorus of all creation;
it’s sung by all living things.
It’s the chorus of all creation;
a song the universe sings,
And by the Spirit you and I
can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

Words: Ruth Duck; Music: Ron Klusmeier

Opening Prayer
Eternal God, as your Spirit descended upon Jesus in the gift of baptism, so descend upon us this day as we gather to worship in your name.
Claim us anew as your people, and inspire us through the words we hear, the songs we sing, and the prayers we raise.
Inspire us to live as those who have been baptized into new life in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Hutłilala's! Listen deeply as Scripture is proclaimed.

Isaiah 43:1-7
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Psalm 29 VU 756
Refrain: Glory, glory, glory to our God!
Ascribe to God, you powers of the heaven, ascribe to God all glory and strength!
Ascribe due honour to God’s holy name, and worship in the beauty of holiness.
R: Glory, glory, glory to our God!

God’s voice is over the waters – God’s glory thundering across the great waters.
God’s voice is power, God’s voice is full of majesty.
God’s voice shatters the cedars, splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
God’s voice makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Mount Hermon stampede like a wild young bull.
God’s voice forks into tongues of fire, God’s voice shakes the wilderness, sets trembling the wilderness of Kadesh.
God’s voice causes the oaks to whirl, stripping the forest bare; and in the temple all cry: Glory!
R: Glory, glory, glory to our God!

God sits enthroned above the waters,
God is enthroned as sovereign forever.
You give strength to your people, O God.
Now give to your people the blessing of peace.
R: Glory, glory, glory to our God!

Acts 8: 14-17
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

*Hymn: MV 161 I Have Called You by Your Name

I have called you by your name, you are mine;
I have gifted you and ask you now to shine.
I will not abandon you; all my promises are true.
You are gifted, called and chosen; you are mine.

I will help you learn my name as you go;
read it written in my people, help them grow.
Pour the water in my name, speak the word your soul can claim,
offer Jesus’ body given long ago.

I know you will need my touch as you go;
feel it pulsing in creation’s ebb and flow.
Like the woman reaching out, choosing faith in spite of doubt,
hold the hem of Jesus’ robe, then let it go.

I have given you a name, it is mine;
I have given you my Spirit as a sign.
With my wonder in your soul, make my wounded children whole;
go and tell my precious people they are mine.

Words and music: Daniel Charles Damon.

*The Gospel
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus according to Luke.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
This is the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

RESPONSE TO THE WORD

Prayers of the People
Mission and Service/PWRDF (Alongside Hope)
At the words: “Hear our prayers, O God”
We respond: “for we are your beloved children”.

The Lord’s Prayer (sung) VU 959

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

The Peace
The peace of Christ be always with you.
And also with you.
(We share a sign of peace with one another)

Invitation to the Offering
Response: MV 191 What Can I Do?

What can I do? What can I bring?
What can I say? What can I sing?
I’ll sing with joy. I’ll say a prayer
I’ll bring my love, I’ll do my share.

Prayer Over the Gifts

WE CELEBRATE HOLY COMMUNION
Communion Hymn: VU 468 Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ

Let us talents and tongues employ,
reaching out with a shout of joy:
bread is broken, the wine is poured,
Christ is spoken and seen and heard.

Jesus lives again,
earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around:
loaves abound! (repeat refrain)

Christ is able to make us one,
at the table he set the tone,
teaching people to live to bless,
love in word and in deed express.

Jesus lives again,
earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around:
loaves abound! (repeat refrain)

Jesus calls us in, sends us out,
bearing fruit in a world of doubt,
gives us love to tell, bread to share:
God (Immanuel) everywhere!

Jesus lives again,
earth can breathe again,
pass the Word around:
loaves abound! (repeat refrain)
Words: Fred Kaan

Invitation
The Great Thanksgiving
May the God of glory be with you!
And also with you!
People of God, offer your hearts to God.
We give them to the One who comes to redeem us.
Sing songs of praise and joy, Children of God.
We lift our voices to the One who journeys with us through the waters of baptism, and who feeds us at the Table of hope.
With the water of baptism reminding us of your love for us, Voice of Heaven, we lift our praises to you. ...
...So, with angel choirs in every region, with shepherds who caroled a homeless family, with those who came home singing from exile, we lift our voices in joy and hope:
Holy, holy, holy, Awesome Voice of life and hope. All creation resounds with your wondrous love. Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who comes to be baptized with water and the Spirit. Hosanna in the highest!
Holy are you, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bearer of grace and Singer of truth. ... 
...As we remember Christ's baptism, as we recall his life and ministry, as we follow him through death into the resurrection of the new life, we proclaim that mystery we call faith:
Baptized, Christ was called your Beloved;
dying, Christ was your heart broken for us;
risen to new life, Christ is the Voice which shatters all our fears;
coming to gather us up, Christ will bring us home to you.
Holy Spirit, fill us with the bread of forgiveness and with the cup of hope....
... we will join our voices as your children, singing to God, Child, and Spirit, God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Sharing the Bread and the Cup

Prayer after Communion
We thank you, God, for breaking into our world and pouring into our lives and our experiences. We thank you, God, for this meal of thanksgiving and the stories of love, grace, and hope that it tells. Amen.

*Hymn: VU 644 I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell.

When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.

If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I’ll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk ‘till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I’ll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I’ve begun.

When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I’ll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

Words and music: John Ylvisaker

Commissioning & Benediction
Go forth into the world remembering the words of God through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are mine.”
With this assurance of God’s faithfulness, and as a community of the baptized, we go out to do God’s will as revealed in the life and teachings of our Saviour, Jesus.
Go, then, with courage and resolve to do God’s will and the blessing of God: Creator, Christ, and Spirit be with you now and always.

Three-fold Amen

Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God! Amen! Gilakas’la!

Announcements

• Coffee following the service! Lunch downstairs if you wish
• Canned and dried food are always appreciated
• Mission Focus: Our Place, Victoria
• January 17, 2025 10 AM Church Council
• January 19 Sunday afternoon Communion 3:00 PM
• January 26 AGM Reports to Robert by 
• February 9 AGM Meeting  after church and lunch

Liturgical Resources

• Opening Prayer from Word & Witness, Vol. 98:1, Year C, p. 34.
• Prayers of the People from Presbyterian Church in Canada worship resources, January 9, 2022
• Liturgy for the Sacrament of Holy Communion by Thom M. Shuman, 2015
• Commissioning and Benediction adapted from “Word & Witness” Vol. 98:1, Year C, p. 34.

Sermon Resources

• The Sermon: An Approach” by Beverly Zink-Sawyer in Word & Witness, Vol. 98:1 (Year C), pp. 35-36. Editor: Paul Scott Wilson. Liturgical Publications Inc. New Berlin, WI. 1998.
• “Pastoral Perspective” by W. Carter Lester in Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1, pp. 218, 220. Editors: David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Westminster John Knox Press. Louisville, Kentucky. 2009.
• “Commentary on Isaiah 43:1-7” by Patricia Tull in: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1550.

Music copyright:
Words for hymns reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 or CCLI License # 11033010. All rights reserved.

More Voices 30 It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker Words: Ruth Duck, 1992 Music: Ron Klusmeier, 1992. Words copyright © 1992 GIA Publications, Inc. Music copyright © 1992 Ron Klusmeier, Musiklus. All rights reserved. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 music (#88477) and words (#30221). All rights reserved.

Voices United 756 Psalm 29 Refrain Words: Public domain. Music copyright © 1994 Winnagene Hatch 1930-2015. All rights reserved.

More Voices 161 I Have Called You by Your Name Words and music: Daniel Charles Damon. Words and music copyright © 1995 Hope Publishing Company. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 (#04090). All rights reserved.

Voices United 959 The Lord’s Prayer Words: Public Domain. Music: David Haas © 1986 G.I.A. Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 (#01814). All rights reserved.

More Voices 191 What Can I Do? Words and music: Paul Rumbolt and Michele McCarthy; arr. Alan C. Whitmore, 2005. Words and music copyright © 2005 Paul Rumbolt and Michele McCarthy. Arrangement copyright © 2005 Alan C. Whitmore. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 (#82970). All rights reserved.

Voices United 468 Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ Words: Fred Kaan; Music: Jamaican folk song, adapt. Doreen Potter. Words and music adaptation copyright © 1975 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 (#95156) or CCLI License # 11033010 (178577). All rights reserved.

Voices United 644 I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry Words and music: John Ylvisaker, 1985. Words, Music: John Ylvisaker © 1985 John Carl Ylvisaker. All rights reserved. Reprinted, streamed and/or podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359 (#88253). All rights reserved.