Trinity St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday, February 8th 2026
5th Sunday after Epiphany
Prelude
Welcome & Telling Our Story
Gathering to Worship God
Lighting of the Christ Candle
We light this candle as a sign of Christ’s presence among us — the living water who meets us in our thirst and calls us into new life. Amen.
Introit Open Our Hearts MV 21
Open our hearts, open our minds.
Open our lives to you O loving God.
Open our hearts, open our minds.
Open our lives to you O loving God.
(last time) Open our hearts.
Call to Worship
Come, all who are weary. Come, all who are thirsty. We come seeking living water. Come, you who feel seen and unseen, known and unknown. We come just as we are. Jesus meets us at the well: crossing boundaries, asking honest questions, offering grace we did not expect. Let us worship the One who knows our stories and loves us still.
Hymn: Draw the Circle Wide MV 145
Refrain: Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
- God the still point of the circle,
‘round whom all creation turns;
nothing lost, but held forever,
in God’s gracious arms. Refrain
- Let our hearts touch far horizons,
so encompass great and small;
let our loving know no borders,
faithful to God’s call. Refrain
- Let the dreams we dream be larger,
than we’ve ever dreamed before;
let the dream of Christ be in us,
open every door. Refrain
Gathering Prayer & Assurance of Grace
God of living water, you meet us in ordinary places; at wells and tables, in routines and questions, in moments when we are tired of carrying so much. We come with our thirsts and longings, with questions we’re not sure how to ask, with stories we’re not sure how to tell. Speak to us again, O Christ. Open our hearts to your truth, not to shame us, but to free us. Hear this good news: Jesus does not turn away from our past, our doubts, or our complicated stories. In Christ, we are fully known and unconditionally loved. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Time for the Young & Young at Heart
Hymn: There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy VU 271
- There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice
which is more than liberty.
- There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth’s failings
have such gracious judgement given.
- There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that Christ has shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.
- Troubled souls, why will you scatter
like a crowd of frightened sheep?
foolish hearts, why will you wander
from a love so true and deep?
- For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
Blessed at Table & Font
Thanksgiving & Offering
At the well, Jesus offers living water… a gift that cannot be earned or contained. In gratitude for all that God has given us, let us offer ourselves, our resources, and our lives, so that others may also know welcome, dignity, and grace through the ministries of Trinity St. Andrews United Church.
Hymn: Your Work, O God, Needs Many Hands VU 537
Your work, O God, needs many hands
to help you everywhere,
and some there are who cannot serve
unless our gifts we share.
God of abundance, receive these gifts and our lives with them. Use what we offer to quench thirst where there is need, to break down barriers where there is division, and to share your love in places we never thought possible. Amen.
Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer
God who sees us, we give thanks for the ways you meet us — in conversations that change us, in moments of clarity and courage, in people who remind us we are not alone. We pray for those who are weary of carrying their stories, for those who feel judged or excluded, for those who long to be seen with compassion. We pray for those who thirst— for justice, for peace, for belonging, for healing. Be living water for all who are dry with grief, worn down by illness, or discouraged by the state of our world. We lift before you the prayers of our hearts, spoken and unspoken… (silent prayers or spoken aloud) Trusting that you hear us, and that your love is deeper than our fears, we place all these prayers in your care. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray by saying… Our Father…
Listening for God
Hymn: As the Deer Pants for the Water
1. As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee.
Refrain: You alone are my Strength, my Shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee.
2 You’re my Friend and You are my Brother
Even though You are a King
I love You more than any other
So much more than anything Refrain
3 I want You more than gold or silver
Only You can satisfy
You alone are the real joy-giver
And the apple of my eye Refrain
Scripture: John 4:1-26 Peter Raaphorst
Sermon
Anthem
Sent into God’s World
Hymn I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say VU 626
- I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay down
your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
and he has made me glad.
- I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.
- I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise,
and all your day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in him my star, my sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk
till travelling days are done.
Sending Forth
Go now, knowing you are seen and known by God. Go with Jesus, who meets you in unexpected places and offers living water for the journey. May the Spirit give you courage to speak truth, grace to listen deeply, and love that flows freely from your life into the world. Amen.
Sung Blessing: Go Now in Peace VU 964
Go now in peace, go now in peace.
May the love of God surround you everywhere,
everywhere you may go.
Postlude
Beyond the Well
John 4:1-26 Rev. Eric Pagé
I’m not sure how many folks are familiar with wells. Well water, is usually only more common in cottage country or out in more rural areas that don’t have public systems and rely on well water and septic tanks. But, if you do have one, then you know where it is. You probably have a means of checking on its levels and you most likely have a septic guy. If you’re hooked up to the town system then if there’s any issues then you know who to call. Fortunately for you, I’m not a plumber or city surveyor and I know next to nothing about water wells, maybe a bit about wishing wells, but the most I know regarding wells are those of the spiritual variety.
We know where our wells are in our lives right? At Bible Study we discussed this and we left with the challenge to remember the buckets we use for the wells, where we can find living water and be replenished. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Speaking spiritually, I think it’s safe to say that we know where our wells are. Our routines, prayers, traditions, the safe patterns we have in our living and believing. Perhaps it’s the prayer of St. Francis, a simple “Jesus be with me, now”, having an introit that only the choir sings, a sung benediction or announcements at the beginning of the service. These wells are good. They’re comforting. These wells sustain life and they provide comfort and reassurance because they’re a constant, right? These steadfast comforts, these wells, can become the only place we expect water… Access, timing and propriety can start to matter more than thirst. Such as who is at the well, the maintenance of that well, should there be a designated water hauler… These logistical concerns can slowly start to take more prominence than the thirst that is present at and making its way towards the well.
I believe in this Living Water that Jesus spoke of at that well in Samaria. I believe in that Living Water that moves like the Spirit, encouraging, refreshing, challenging. The spirit of God is lively or even unpredictable. I believe in the living water and I also know how quickly I can try to contain it…
As a single parent, pastor and a mostly logical human being I do appreciate the comfort of the standard well. It’s sturdy, time honoured, it’s bones are good and it’s reliable. I deeply appreciate the steadfast confidence of a routine and a practice that has worked. Take for example a walk after supper. I know it sets up the evening to be more calm and it reframes how I look at the rest of the night. Doing this most days is great and I enjoy it and I usually tend to take one of two paths. It’s a well that I return to time and time again. To put more of an intentionally religious overtone to it, I would almost always begin a car ride with the once contemporary praise song “My God” by Chris Tomlin. It was great. However, these practices or habits have a bit of a risk. And now it’s not about icy paths or cell phone reception. But the risk I have run into is mistaking the wells for the water. It’s mistaking the wells that contain the Living Water for the Living Water itself. Put otherwise, it’s mistaking a spiritual practice for God, or a certain prayer or creed for God Themselves…Do you hear the subtle or not so subtle difference? And so, for me, I feel the tension between the comfort of those familiar wells and being tempted to mistake them for what quenches the thirst. The expectation of faith to show up in familiar places; which friends, it does- that’s not up for debate. The well is still full. But I’m challenged when faith shows up, or when the Spirit acts in unfamiliar or unexpected ways. So then there’s this hesitation when God appears in unexpected voices or conversations; it creates this trepidation or uncertainty which can make it difficult to be present in the moment and to recognize God’s action and presence in those moments. So there’s this very real human experience that I encounter between control vs trust. Perhaps even a fear or concern of what happens when that living water moves freely beyond the constructed well. And I don’t think I’m alone in that.
Friends, we’ve inherited wells. Family traditions or faith traditions or practices. Let’s acknowledge the inheritance of traditions, structures, practices, committees, liturgies… These inheritances that were lovingly and carefully stewarded. That were maintained and well thought out. These wells have been dug with care and faith and we do our best to keep them in pristine shape so they can continue to be places where we and others can draw water from. Because of our deep love and passion for these inheritances we can be a little protective of them. It’s only human to care for and protect what is deeply meaningful to us and those that have come before. But as human beings we are tempted to be overly protective. We provide a sort of guarded access and use of these wells and the equipment that is used to draw Living Water, such as hymnals, liturgies or routines…. So in turn we develop unspoken rules about belonging, leadership, worship… It’s then tempting to have a freely accessed well become something closer to a bottling facility with all the entrapments of such an enterprise. Friends, this tension and temptation we experience is not new. In the reading from John this morning the Jews and Samaritans were not fond of each other. Although they started off together during Solomon’s reign they then split and believed in different holy sites, scriptures, practices and even the role of the Messiah. They shared a history, Scripture but there was a deep division between the two peoples. One of the more prominent division that we heard from Peter this morning was the place and identity determining access to God. Which makes it all the more striking where Jesus chooses to stop.
Jesus is beyond the temple in Jerusalem. He’s outside of Judea, he’s in Samaria. He’s not at their holy temple either. Not at a venerated place or especially sacred or “touristy” spot. He finds himself at a well, at the hottest part of the day at noon, with a lone Samaritan woman that has been ostracized and pushed to the fringes. Jesus does a human thing here, he asks her for water. Naturally, and expectedly she questions why he of all people is asking her for this… The woman challenges him here, engages with him as he seeks to defy social norms. They get into a bit of tense discussion in the noon heat. As the conversation progresses Jesus does not shut the conversation down. Doesn’t turn his back or wait for his disciples to return. This conversation continues. And the revelation of Jesus being the Messiah emerges through this dialogue. At first he’s a man, then a prophet then the Messiah. We see how but by bit revelations are made and that understanding is achieved, right? In that place, with that person and in that way Jesus confessess who he is. The first time in this gospel and one of very few times he does that in John’s work.
Jesus speaks of living water. Water that nourishes the soul so that none will ever be thirsty again. Imagine that. Naturally, this Samaritan woman wants that. Don’t we? Jesus speaks of this living water that is not bound to a place or a practice. Notice how it’s not bound, doesn’t mean it’s not present there, right? That the Spirit of God will be worshipped in spirit and truth. He speaks of Spirit moving beyond containment of temple or holy site. He told her that God will be worshipped not in their temple or his… It is in this teaching, in this speaking about the Messiah when he confesses, “I am He”. The Son of God, branch of David, Son of God, Jesus is named outside of any sort of sanctioned space or liturgical fanfare… But at this rural well in the company of this bold, faithful woman who has been through the gauntlet of life and is part of a cultural group that those of the time would say the Messiah is not for… In this well-side interaction we don’t necessarily see right answers but faithful engagement. This curiosity and thirst for understanding as a devout and bold act of faith. Which means this story isn’t just about what Jesus did then. But also about what he’s doing now.
That living water is still moving. God is still speaking, acting and guiding. We are still being invited by Jesus to have a faith that is engaging and active and not simply something that is arrived at. God meets us in honest conversations and in real places not only dedicated and consecrated spaces that have been “set apart”. As followers of Jesus, we know that these encounters and conversations are where our faith can deepen and our love be expanded upon the study foundations that we have inherited, built upon and renovated. Jesus invites us to bring buckets to the wells of living water. Bring your bucket of curiosity, of questions, of doubt and of courage and conviction. And lower those buckets into that deep well where God’s spirit doesn’t run out and where your bucket will always return with thirst quenching and life giving nourishment. It is with those buckets and many others where we get to reframe our faith not as certainty but as an act of willingness to draw and keep drawing water from the wells we know and the ones we come across of. So we seek to learn from and embody the spirit and attitude of the Samaritan woman because she leaves with a story, a conviction and not a mastery of…. She leaves with witness over expertise and an experience where she now knows how to draw on spirit of God. And when one person trusts the water, it rarely stays with just them… It flows onward…
So, like later on this chapter of the gospel according to John, we see what happens to the people beyond the well. The ripple effect from this asking for water, the questioning, the revelation revealed and the gracde imparted. The woman tells her town of this good news, of the relation of Jesus Christ. And there is this communal awakening begins that starts to swell up on the very borders of Jesus’ known world. Witnesses begin to spring up and testify to this Spirit as more and understand and draw upon this water form the living God. We too can experience this awakening as we draw upon that wellspring. We can be that place that maintains wells but also drills down to place wells in places that are more accessible with buckets that all kinds of hands can grasp and use. Whether tiny, or gnarled, nimble or clunky. We can be a community, we can be families that become less anxious about control, more curious than defensive while trusting in the Spirit’s movement. May we be so bold as the Samaritan woman to leave behind our buckets and jars to seek others out, but also to bless others with the use of bucket at the well. God is closer than we ever expect. This story doesn’t end with certainty- it ends with movement. Living water doesn’t wait to be scooped up. It simply gives life- wherever it flows. Amen.
