Aylesford United Church
2414 Highway 1, PO Box 180 B0P 1C0 Aylesford, NS, Canada

January 17 Service

Prayer for January 17: God, the psalmist says that you have searched us and known us, that you are acquainted with all our ways, and that even before a word is on our tongues,... you know what we are going to say. (Psalm 139) If that is the case, it may seem that prayer is a waste of time. Why do we need to tell you what you already know? Perhaps we need to do this because we do not already know. We do not know our own hearts and we do not know your heart. And so, we stand on the testimony of faithful people through the ages who have trusted your willingness to hear of our fears and our longings, of our joys and our hopes, and in loving wisdom to answer. We pray again for all who are caught up in the Covid-19 pandemic: for those who have fallen ill, for those who have died, for those who know the pain of loss and grief. We pray for those work who work in elder care trying to tend to the needs of some of the most vulnerable among us. We pray for overwhelmed hospital workers struggling to keep up with scarcely imaginable demands on their strength and skills. We pray for the inmates of our prisons and penitentiaries and for those who work in these institutions. We lament that they have been scapegoated by politicians looking to sow division and score cheap points. We pray for business owners and employees for whom the future is clouded with uncertainty. We pray for members of police forces and the armed forces and the first responders who are often on the front lines of risk. We pray for students and teachers trying to carry on with learning and teaching under daunting circumstances. We pray for those who are or will be responsible for the Covid-19 vaccinations. They carry the heavy weight of our hopes and our expectations. We thank you, God, that life goes on, in spite of everything. The sun rises and sets, the days lengthen; even now, the bravest of the seasonal birds are beginning to return. May these reminders of a reality greater than ourselves invite us to look up and see the first glimmer of the dawn. Speaking of the dawn, we thank you for the brave and persistent people who continue to work for justice and resist evil, who will not make a bargain with the demons of racism, hatred and inequality. We thank you for people of Christian faith, for people of all faiths, who continue to believe in the supremacy of love and to live what they believe with integrity and courage. They are shining lights in a dark times. We pray that in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in the coming year, you will help us find a path by which we can travel from this present confusion and discouragement to a better place for all your children. We dare to believe that this is your will for us. Thank you for listening, God, and may we find grace and wisdom to listen for what you are saying to us. Amen. See more

We invite you to join us on this page for the live-streaming of our worship service on Sunday, January 17, at 10:30 am AST, 9:30 am EST.

January 10 Service

Prayer for January 10: Where shall we begin, God? The Covid-19 virus rages unchecked in many parts of the country, in many parts of the world.... We still hope that the vaccines will work but the wild seas and the rough terrain to be crossed before we reach a better place are daunting enough to make many of us loose courage. Sometimes we fantasize about going to sleep on a warm, sunny beach and waking up when it is all over. Fantasize as we will, there is no escaping the reality of these times. We will need strength to endure, strength to retain our humanity until the days comes when the plague is contained. We have seen our great neighbour to the south, that proud republic, once a beacon of hope and freedom for so many, torn apart by the lies told by politicians without conscience or scruple and believed by the desperate and the fearful. God, we cannot not see how these lies can be undone or how the hatred can be changed to understanding but we cling to the promise that you are able to do far more than all we can ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) Therefore, we pray that the United States of America will be delivered from evil, that wisdom and truth will guide their leaders, that the American people will resist violence and reject falsehood and come to embrace again the dream of liberty and justice for all. We pray especially for president-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and the new administration they will head. May they always seek to do what is right and good, even if it is not politically expedient. May they find strength and wisdom to face the monumental challenges before them. In this country we have seen our leaders reverting more and more to pre-Covid form sniping, criticizing, jostling for advantage. We have been astounded by the hypocrisy of politicians who have told us to stay safe and stay home while they have travelled freely. God, deliver us from cynicism and deliver our leaders from folly and self-serving so that the good of all may be served. As we pray about these big issues, life continues in millions of ordinary places for billions of ordinary people. You know the anxiety that keeps us awake at night; you know the loneliness that haunts us; you know the anger that sometimes arises when we come face to face with our own helplessness to make things better. God, we offer it all up to you. Lift our burdens, lighten our hearts, give us what we need to get through today and grace to trust you for tomorrow. We pray in the name Jesus who is in this with us. Amen. See more

We invite you to join us on the third Sunday of Advent for our live-streamed worship service: December 13 at 10:30 am ADT, 9:30 am EDT.

Prayer for December 13, Advent 3: Quite frankly, God, the Mary of the Magnificat scares us. It is one thing for her to be the handmaid of the Lord, quietly accepting her appointed role... as God-bearer for the world. We are okay with that, even if we do have our doubts about the virgin birth. When she begins to sing of a world overturned, of the proud scattered in their conceit, of the mighty pulled from their thrones, of the lowly lifted up, of the hungry filled with good things and the rich sent empty away, we just want her to shut up. Although we mostly do not consider ourselves proud or mighty or rich, we do know on which side our bread is buttered. The status quo, the way the world is arranged, has been pretty good to us, all things considered. It has allowed us to live out our lives in a degree of comfort and affluence unattainable to multitudes of our fellow citizens of this planet unattainable to many in this community. If things were to really change, what would happen to us and our comfort? When Mary finds her voice, she sings of all that we would like to keep hidden away. When Mary finds her voice, she sounds a lot like those who insist that black lives matter and call on us to root out systemic racism. When Mary finds her voice, she echoes aboriginal voices refusing to be ignored any longer. When Mary finds her voice, she joins the youthful chorus demanding climate justice and the possibility of a decent future. God, surely it is our great sin that Mary’s voice is not our voice and that we cannot bring ourselves to join her song for this is the song of all humanity. Give us grace now to repent and believe the Gospel. Help us see as our kin, not only those who share our bubble of comfort and privilege, but also those who struggle every day for bread and dignity. Help us learn Mary’s song, unaccustomed to singing as we are, unaccustomed to wild, desperate hope as we are, unaccustomed to trusting as we are. If we are ever going to sing with the angels, this must be where we need to begin. You know what distracts us now, what deafens us to anything but the insistent dirge of bad news so we ask you to abide with us during this strange time when the end of the Covd-19 plague is in sight and yet still seems immeasurably far away. We pray for health, we pray for safety, we pray for wisdom, we pray for patience, we pray for courage until the world can sing again. Amen See more

January 3 Service

Our "Memorial Tree" started with white lights, and as donations have come in, the lights have been changed to coloured. All donations received are sent to the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church of Canada. Thank you for your help. (This picture was taken Thursday, Dec 10, 2020)

Opening Prayer for December 13, Advent 3: We long to be filled with joy, O God ---the deep, unquenchable joy that bubbles up from the reality of who you are to us:... the One who will bring us all home to your new Creation. Keep us from settling for the cheap substitutes on offer everywhere in our culture. Save us from the folly of thinking that we can be saved while the cries of the exiles ---the hungry, the homeless, the oppressed--- go unheeded. Teach us how to sing in harmony until all your children know freedom and justice. We pray in the name of Jesus, the song of Mary’s heart. Amen. See more

https://www.facebook.com/christine.allen.35175633/videos/697511021160574/?notif_id=1607524814499336¬if_t=page_wall&ref=notif

Be on the look-out for the Rev. Dr. Christine Marie's Gladu's Advent reflection on Peace which should be posted to this page by Wednesday, December 9, at 11:30 am AST, 10:30 am EST.