10/04/2026
19th Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
October 4, 2026
Call to Worship:
The banqueting table is prepared and God calls us to the feast.
We have come from east and west, from north and south, to sit at Christ’s table.
Here compassion, love, and grace pour out like fine w**e.
Here we taste the bread of life, bread for our journey.
There are gifts of God for all the people of God.
Let us taste and see that the Lord is good!
Musical Interlude: This is the Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRLxugEtqx8
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Steadfast God, as the seasons change, we know you to be ever-constant and see that you are still at work in the world, transforming hearts and situations.
You have shown us the true face of love in Jesus Christ, reaching out with healing and hope to touch desperate lives.
We praise you for your love that works for reconciliation among neighbours and nations in this divided world.
May we see the face of Jesus as we break bread at his table.
Renew our hope by the gift of your Spirit at work among us, so that we can live to praise you as one God now and always with the whole Church that bears Jesus’ name.
Confident of your grace and forgiveness, we confess to you our sins:
Almighty God, you love us, but we have not loved you.
You call, but we have not listened.
We walk away from neighbours in needs, wrapped in our own concerns.
We fail to condemn evil, prejudice, warfare, and greed.
God of grace,
Forgive who we have been, amend who we are and direct who we shall be through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ – and Christ died for us; Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven by God’s renewing grace.
Musical Interlude: Thank You, Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44trVhtZX4
Prayer for Illumination:
Send us your Spirit of wisdom, O God, so that we may hear your Word speaking through the Scriptures with ears that understand and hearts that respond in love.
Amen.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 80:7-15
Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.
Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
Though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Tenants
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a w**epress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Sermon: WHAT ARE WE GROWING?
There is a common image running through our readings today: growth.
In Psalm 80, Israel is described as a vine. God brings the vine out of Egypt, clears the ground, plants it, and watches it grow. Its roots go deep. Its branches spread. It becomes strong. Then something goes wrong. The walls come down. The vineyard is damaged. What had once flourished is now struggling, and the people cry out: “Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine.”
Then Jesus picks up that same image in Matthew’s Gospel. Again, there is a vineyard. Again, someone has carefully planted it, protected it and prepared it to bear fruit. But this time the problem is not with the vineyard itself. The problem is with the people who have been trusted to care for it. They begin to act as though the vineyard belongs to them. They forget that they are caretakers.
And maybe that is where these readings begin to speak rather loudly to us. We live in a world where it is very easy to start believing that everything belongs to us. Our possessions belong to us. Our accomplishments belong to us. Our churches belong to us. Our communities belong to us. Even the earth itself can become something we think of primarily in terms of what we can take from it.
But Scripture keeps reminding us that we are caretakers. We have been given something precious, and the question is not simply, “What can I get from it?” The question is, “What am I growing with what I have been given?”
That feels particularly important today, because today is World Communion Sunday.
Around the world, Christians are gathering at tables. The buildings will look different. The music will sound different. The prayers will be spoken in hundreds of languages. The bread itself will look and taste different from one place to another. Some will worship in enormous cathedrals. Some will gather in tiny country churches. Some will worship outdoors. Some will meet in places where openly practising their faith carries real risk. Some will come to the table surrounded by peace. Others will celebrate Communion in communities affected by war, displacement, hunger, poverty or persecution.
And yet, somehow, we come to the same table. That is an extraordinary thing, especially because we live in a world that seems very good at finding reasons to divide people.
We divide ourselves by nationality, politics, language, race, economics and religion. Social media can turn disagreement into outrage within minutes. We are encouraged to choose sides, defend our group, distrust the other group, and make sure everyone knows exactly where we stand. There is an awful lot of noise. There is an awful lot of anger. And sometimes there is an awful lot of fear.
Then we come to this table, and the table tells us something completely different. It reminds us that before all the labels we place upon ourselves and one another, we belong to Christ.
At this table, nobody gets the better bread. Nobody gets a larger share of grace. Nobody gets to claim that Christ belongs more to them than to someone else. There is one bread, one cup, one table, one body. And perhaps that helps us understand the vineyard. The vineyard doesn't belong to us. It belongs to God. We have simply been invited to work in it together.
And the question Jesus asks us through this parable is surprisingly simple: What kind of fruit are we producing?
Are we adding to the anger? Are we adding to the division? Are we so determined to be right that we forget to be kind? Or are we producing something different: compassion, patience, justice, generosity, forgiveness and hope?
Paul gives us another way of thinking about this in Philippians. Paul lists all the things he could use to prove his worth: his background, his religious credentials, his accomplishments, his status. And then he basically says, “None of that is the point.” What matters is knowing Christ.
That message seems especially appropriate on World Communion Sunday, because when we come to this table, we don't bring a résumé. We don't have to prove that we belong here. We don't come because we have everything figured out. We come because Christ invites us.
And Paul gives us one of the great images of the Christian life: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.”
Paul knows he hasn't arrived. That may be one of the most comforting things in today's readings, because neither have we. We haven't figured everything out. Our churches haven't figured everything out. Our country hasn't figured everything out. Our world certainly hasn't figured everything out.
And that's okay. Christian faith isn't about pretending that we have arrived. It is about deciding which direction we are going.
Paul says: keep moving toward Christ. Keep growing. Keep learning. Keep trying. When you fail, get up. When you discover that you were wrong about something, change. When someone helps you see the world differently, listen. When you have an opportunity to show compassion, take it. When you have an opportunity to speak for someone who isn't being heard, speak. When you have an opportunity to forgive, try.
And when the world tells you that anger, cynicism and division are inevitable, plant something else. Because we are still working in God's vineyard, and God is still asking for fruit.
Perhaps that is the challenge we can carry with us this week. Not, “Have I got everything right?” Not, “Have I done enough?” Not even, “Am I a good enough Christian?” Instead: What am I growing?
In my family, what am I growing? In my workplace, what am I growing? In my church, what am I growing? Online, what am I growing? In the lives of the people I meet, what am I growing?
Because every conversation plants something. Every act of kindness plants something. Every time we choose understanding instead of judgement, we plant something. Every time we choose hope instead of despair, we plant something.
And today, as Christians around the world gather around the Communion table, we are reminded that none of us tends this vineyard alone. Somewhere today, someone we will never meet will break bread. They may speak a language we don't understand. They may live in a country we have never visited. They may worship in ways very different from ours. They may even understand parts of the Christian faith differently than we do.
But they will take the bread, and so will we. They will share the cup, and so will we.
And for a moment, across borders and oceans, across languages and cultures, across all those things humanity uses to separate one person from another, we gather around one table: Christ's table.
Perhaps that is one of the fruits our world desperately needs right now. The reminder that we belong to one another. The reminder that the vineyard is bigger than our little corner of it. The reminder that there is always room at God's table.
So we keep pressing forward. We keep tending the vineyard. We keep planting compassion, justice, forgiveness and hope. And today, we come to the table together.
One vineyard. One table. One body. And one Christ who welcomes us all.
Amen.
Musical Interlude: Above All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_cxhf5ISeg
COMMUNION LITURGY FOR WORLD COMMUNION
Invitation to the Offering:
World Communion Sunday celebrates the relationship we share with Jesus’ followers around the world. Let us share our gifts with God, so there can be an outpouring of generosity in Jesus’ name around the globe.
Prayer over our Gifts to God:
Generous God, we have received so much from you in Christ and in creation. Bless the gifts we offer so that they will speak of your love for the world in all its detail and diversity. May our gifts touch the need around us in the name of Christ who makes us one.
Amen.
Invitation to the Table:
This table is set for all;
around it there are no divisions.
Just as bread is not made from one grain, but from many,
and w**e is not made from one grape, but from a full harvest,
so too, we, who are many, are made one in Christ.
This is a sacrament of unity.
Come and join with neighbours east and west, north and south,
to celebrate Christ’s presence with us all.
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving:
The Lord be with you;
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts;
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God;
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
It is our calling and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise,
Lord God, Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth.
You spoke, and all things came into being:
the sun, moon and stars, the earth, sky and waters,
and everything they contain.
Your Spirit swept over creation,
bringing order out of chaos and life out of the formless void.
From the elements of earth, you created humankind in your image.
You breathed life into us and called us to love and serve you.
But we turned away, seeking to live in our own way.
Yet you have never turned from us.
Through the law and the prophets, you called us back to you.
In the fullness of time, you sent your son, Jesus, born of a mother’s flesh,
to reveal your grace and love.
Again and again, you welcome us back to your side
with the open arms of a loving father.
Therefore we praise you,
joining our voices with those from every time and place,
to proclaim your glory in the unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy is your son, Jesus.
Walking this earth, feeding the hungry, calling the lost,
offering healing and teaching to all who sought him,
he revealed your kingdom at work in your world.
Among his friends, on the night he was betrayed,
he took bread, broke it and said,
“Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.”
After supper, he took a cup and offered it to his friends, saying:
“This cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood,
for the forgiveness of sins. Drink from it, all of you.”
Every time we eat this bread and share this cup in Jesus’ name,
we recall the mystery of faith:
Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.
O God, pour out your Spirit upon us and upon this bread and w**e.
May they be for us the body and life blood of our Lord Jesus,
healing, renewing and making us whole.
Unite us in worship and witness with your Church throughout the world
so that together we will bring honour and glory to your name
through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in whose name we offer these words:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
Forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer after Communion
Lord Jesus Christ, you have nourished us in this meal,
and fed our bodies and souls.
We have heard your love; now send us out to speak it.
We have seen your love; now send us out to show it.
We have been fed by your love; now send us out to share it.
and let all things be done for your glory. Amen.
The Words of Jesus:
The Lord Jesus, on the night before he died, took bread,
and after giving thanks to God, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood.
Whenever you drink it, do it in remembrance of me.”
Every time you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Prayer after Communion:
Lord Jesus Christ, you have nourished us, body and soul, in this meal.
We have heard your love proclaimed, now send us out to speak it to others.
We have seen your love poured out, now send us out to show it in everything we do.
We have been fed by your love at your table, now send us out to share it so the world may believe.
And let all things be done for your glory.
Amen
Hymn: Now Thank We All Our God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GvSMerBDUc
Prayer:
Gracious Creator, you have given us so much, but too often we take those gifts for granted, or as something to which we are entitled.
You call us to live in caring community, but too often we place our wants and needs first, with those of others a distant second.
You call us to share Your gifts with the world around us, but we are worried that there may not be enough, and our worrying gets in the way of our sharing.
For all the times when we mistreat and misuse Your gifts, for all the times we assume that we get what we have by ourselves, forgive us and lead us back to the path of wisdom.
For we know that…
God is a gracious giver.
God is gracious in forgiveness.
God calls us to new patterns and new life.
We are a forgiven people!
Thanks be to God!
Amen.
Ending Song: Come, Ye Thankful People Come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imK0j7eBJsc
Benediction:
This week, think of yourself as an ambassador for Christ, seeking reconciliation where people are divided, carrying the peace of Christ into each encounter.
And so may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and go with you into each new day. Amen.
Exit Song: Praise to the Lord Almighty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNq0WtMSmIY
May God bless you in the week ahead!
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MISSION MOMENT
PWS&D IN ACTION: RESPONDING IN NEPAL
When disaster strikes, the church responds.
Following devastating flash floods in Nepal, Presbyterian World Service & Development is working through its partners and networks to help communities affected by the disaster. Thousands of people have faced damage to homes, livelihoods and essential services.
Through PWS&D, Presbyterians across Canada are helping provide support to people facing some of their most difficult days.
We pray for the people of Nepal, for those providing emergency assistance and for communities beginning the long work of recovery and rebuilding.
Your gifts to PWS&D help make this work possible.
Sunday, October 4 - World Communion Sunday
On World Communion Sunday, we give thanks for the church throughout the world. As we gather around Christ’s table, we pray that the bread we break and the cup we share will remind us that, across nations, cultures and traditions, we are one body in Christ.
Monday, October 5
We pray for teachers, educational assistants, administrators and all who nurture and encourage young people. May God grant them patience, wisdom and joy as they help students discover their gifts and find their place in the world.
Tuesday, October 6
We pray for those who struggle to put food on the table. May we work together for a world where everyone has access to nourishing food, clean water and the resources needed to live with dignity.
Wednesday, October 7
We pray for communities around the world affected by natural disasters and the growing effects of climate change. We remember those who have lost homes, livelihoods and loved ones, and we pray for all who are working to bring relief, hope and healing.
Thursday, October 8
We pray for the congregations of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, especially those facing change and uncertainty. Give them courage to listen for your call, imagination to discover new ways of serving and faith to step boldly into the future.
Friday, October 9
We pray for people who work quietly behind the scenes to care for others: volunteers, caregivers, food-bank workers, community organizations and neighbours who simply notice when someone needs help. May their acts of kindness remind us that even small acts of love can transform a community.
Saturday, October 10
As Thanksgiving approaches, we pause to recognize the abundance that surrounds us. Help us, God, to receive your gifts with gratitude, to share generously with others and to remember that everything we have is entrusted to our care.
