The luck of the Irish has returned

Come and celebrate the feast of St. Patrick with a delicious Irish Stew supper March 18th at Freelton Strabane United Church 1565 Brock Road Strabane.   

Open Seating from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Pay at the door. 

$20 per person, $10 for children under 12 yrs.

Let us Gather together for worship. 

 Come touch our souls that we may know and love you 

Your quiet presence all our fears dispel 

Create a space for sprit to grow in us

Let life and beauty fill us, 

Come touch and bless our souls. 

Come touch us now, this people who are gathered, 

To break the bread and share the cup of peace;

That we may love you with our heart our soul, 

Our mind, our strength, our all, 

Come touch us with your grace. 

Call To Worship  

One Gather us in Holy God to this time, to this place.

All We come seeking  more than what this world offers. We come thirsting for more in our lives.

One Gather people of God, and the Lord your God has promised you and will bring you to the waters of life, where you shall never thirst again.

All We shall come to the well of God, For the word of God is water to the soul for this is the place that we need to be  

Here the women at the well stands pondering Jesus. 

Here is a man who knows her past, who speaks to her of a living water that is the very source of life.  Who is this?  This can’t be the long awaited Messiah can he?.

This messiah comes in a form other than the one we expected. A Saviour who comes to us to save, rather than our coming to him. It is all rather disconcerting for the women. 

Here we sit at the “Well” again. Pondering Jesus. He knows us, he speaks to us across time of living water through a living word . A Saviour who comes to us. Who is this? How can this be? 

We have our categories our expectations of what can what can’ t be, and Jesus intrudes disrupting, expanding our expectations. By the end, those in her town who heard the woman’ s testimony were able to say,  this is truly the Saviour of the world.

No matter how hard we try God keeps breaking into our world with his Love flowing like water over us. 

So might we, if we are willing to be surprised, willing to think Big. Bolster the imagination and allow the Spirit to work. For you see God in Jesus is not a projection of who we are, but, a presence which knows us at our deepest level. 

Knowing even what we do not want to know about ourselves and challenging us. Christianity is a religion of revelation. Not projection.  It can be taught but unless it is experienced it has no depth 

Christianity is like this

Christianity is the unexpected. The spirit is that which we just don’t expect. 

That’s often the way Jesus comes to us. Unexpectedly 

He is not a projection of our needs. Rather, he comes to us and speaks to us of a need deeper than even what we thought were our deepest needs.  He seeks us out before we ever go to the trouble to look for him. 

Jesus is the beginning that rocks our practical side, and upsets perceived natural order.

Jesus is our beginning of an examination of God in the Spirit is a part of our lives   

Jesus is our beginning of seeing beyond what is to what can be.  Often as we celebrate lent we may forget that the Road to Jerusalem was full of the unexpected. The disciples did not know what to expect. Likewise as we travel with Jesus we do not know what to expect. 

We are the women at the well. We come to God for one thing and end up finding something different. We are challenged to let the spirit move us.

 To be open to the fantastic, the mystical, the new beginning the challenge of God’s spirit.  Jesus comes to us as we travel on this journey of discovery and in encountering him we are shown again that we are not alone. 

Prayers of the people

 When we shiver in despair when the chill of death comes near,

Hold us Spirit, calm our fear while the evening deepens.

Holy Light, warm our night warm the time of winter

Holy night warm our night warm the time of winter 



God of the unexpected on this journey of faith we encounter you when we least expect it.  We come to you as the women at the well came to Jesus. We come expecting one thing then in your wisdom and love surprise us. We once more feel the living movement of your spirit over us like water.   We once more think, how can this be.  It is because of your love.   When we are discouraged by this world you speak to us.   “don’t be discouraged believe in me, I am with you always.”  Once more we experience the living love you have for us at the well of faith.  You remind us that there is always hope. In that hope we pray for all those who are apart of our lives that need to know your presence which brings hope, the presence of your healing touch. The comforting of your spirit in our grief. In that hope we pray for the People of Ukraine, for all those people who are displaced by war and know such great violence and fear. For all those that live under oppressive regimes. For all those that know illness and hunger. 

In that hope we pray for ourselves and our community of faith. We are thankful for how we are blessed and know that you walk with us as we seek out your calling for us. And it is in that hope that we bring our own personal prayers to you trusting in your love and saying the one prayer that binds us as your people saying Our Father…. 

Offering

We give thee but thy own.   The work of the Church continues and there are three ways you can continue to support that work.   Consider using PAR, use the donate button on our Web Site or drop your gift at the Manse.   Let us make our offering and give thanks.     

God of all humankind, send our generous gifts where we are unable to go/. Send us to places where we would not venture to witness to your love. We offer these gifts to do your work and rededicate all we hare to your service.                                                                  Amen