Love Opens Belonging

Welcome to your online Sunday worship from St. George’s, Georgetown for Sunday, September 5, 2021.

Our online worship continues this week and will remain in the coming weeks even as we prepare to offer in-person worship services starting Sunday, Sept. 12 at 10am. 

For those who would like to worship in-person next Sunday, you may now begin to register to join us. 

  • Please call or email the office and provide us with the names and phone numbers of all who will be coming from your household. (905-877-8044 ext.1, or office@stgeorgesgeorgetown.com)
  • We are have a total attendance capacity of 50 people. We will cap pre-registration so that a small number of seats will be available at the door. 
  • If we have too many registered, we will contact you and offer you seats for the following week. (You may still come that Sunday and try for one of the seats we kept available for folks who come the door, but you may be turned away if we are at our capacity.)

More information will be emailed this week and will be available here on our church website.

Family Ministry

Our family ministry resources this week continues its focus on our Gospel reading for this week, Mark 7:24-37. Our resources remind our children as school begins after the summer break, that asking for help is a good thing and that God encourages us to approach belonging from a place of love in our hearts. 

Please sign up for our weekly emails to get those links to these great resources to use together with your family.  

Opening Music

For our hymn singers, I am recommending a newer hymn “Come and Journey with a Saviour” for an opening hymn to begin our Sunday worship.

The Gospel Reading (Mark 7:24-37)

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”1

Online Worship

Here is your Sunday prayers and message:

Prayers of the People

Today, we pray for all the places in our world  who have faced natural disasters, for this who have died and those who morn, those who have been hurt, lost their homes, or have been put unexpectedly into any need by these events. We ask God to comfort and strengthen them and all who are working to help them. Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.

We pray for all medical staff, all essential frontline workers and their families, for those living and working at Long Term Care and seniors residences, and for those that are helping to distribute the vaccine: that God will be their strength and support.  Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.

We pray for all those unfairly discriminated against in our society, praying especially for justice and reconciliation for our continent’s indigenous people.  Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.

We pray for all who are facing trials and difficulties and for those who are sick. Show them your kindness, mercy, and healing.  Let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.

(To find the list of those we are praying for in our parish please sign up for our Parish email. To add a name to our prayers please contact me.)

Closing Music

IFor a traditional closing hymn this week I recommend “Will You Come and Follow Me.” 

For our contemporary song this week, I  suggest ”Open The Eyes of My Heart” which is great song very much in keeping with today’s reading.  

As always, I wish you all a blessed and safe Sunday and week.

Thank you for your continued support of the ministry and mission of St. George’s.

Be Well and God Bless.

Peace,

The Rev’d Canon Rob Park

  1. Scripture quotation is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.