Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday, August 2, 2026 – 10th after Pentecost
We welcome Danah-Lee Krieger as our Guest Speaker,
and Schroeder Nordholt as our Guest Music Director
Prelude
Words of Welcome / Land Acknowledgement
TSA acknowledges that today’s worship service is taking place on the traditional, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinàbe People. This land has never been given up, and it continues to bear witness to the systemic marginalization of its original caretakers.
We remember that our solidarity with oppressed communities everywhere is part of our call to live justly, love mercy and walk humbly. Together, in this place, we commit to ongoing learning, truth-telling and relationship-building and trusting that through love, community and shared work, we can help create a future rooted in justice and belonging.
Announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
As we light the Christ candle, we remember that even in the darkest moments, the light of Christ is still with us. This light does not erase our pain or answer every question, but it reminds us that we are never alone and that hope can still shine, even in the midst of suffering.
Passing the Peace of Christ
Call to Worship
Leader: When life feels steady and the morning is bright…
All: God is with us.
Leader: When life changes without warning and we’re filled with questions…
All: God is with us.
Leader: When we’re weary, grieving, angry or afraid…
All: God is our refuge and strength.
Leader: We come as we are, without pretending and without easy answers.
All: We come to seek comfort, courage and hope.
Leader: Be still and know that God is here.
All: In life, in death and in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone.
Leader: Come, let us worship God. Amen.
Hymn Morning Has Broken VU 409
- Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!
- Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where God’s feet pass.
- Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day!
Prayer of Approach
Loving God, We come before you this morning just as we are. Some of us come with excited and grateful hearts. But some of us come carrying questions. Some of us are weary, grieving, angry or afraid. You don’t ask us to pretend. You welcome our honesty, doubts, hopes and even our silence. Be our refuge and our strength. Meet us in the places where life feels uncertain. Help us to trust that even when we don’t understand what’s happening, that we are not alone. Quiet our minds, open our hearts and draw us closer to You and to one another. May this time of worship remind us that Your love is present in every joy and unanswered question. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Time for Young and Young at Heart:
A Bible story of The Story of Job – taken and condensed from The Book of Job
Scripture Reader: Leslee Gervais
Psalm 46
Luke 13:1-4
Hymn Precious Lord, Take My Hand VU 670
- Precious Lord, take my hand,
lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
through the storm, through the night,
lead me on to the light:
take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
- When my way grows drear,
precious Lord, linger near,
when my lift is almost gone,
hear my cry, hear my call,
hold my hand lest I fall:
take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
- When the darkness appears,
and the night draws near,
and the day is past and gone,
at the river I stand,
guide my feet, hold my hand:
take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Sermon: When Life Does a “Job” On You
A New Creed: VU 918
“We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Special Music
The Offering
We give thanks to everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us. You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our different ministries. For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.
Offering Song 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.
Offering Prayer
Generous God, We offer these gifts with thankful hearts, trusting that You can use what we bring to offer comfort, hope and help to others. Bless these gifts and bless the work of this church. May they be used to care for those who are struggling, to strengthen our community and to remind people that they are not alone. May we also offer our time, compassion and willingness to stand beside one another through all that life brings. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Hymn Nearer, My God, to Thee VU 497
- Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
- Though, like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
- There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;
all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;
angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
- Then, with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise,
out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
so by my woes to be nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
- Or if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
Pastoral Prayer
Loving and Compassionate God, We bring before you all that is on our hearts today. We pray for those who are grieving, those who are ill, those waiting for answers and those who are tired, anxious or afraid. Be close to all who are suffering. Give strength to caregivers, comfort to those who feel alone and hope to those who cannot yet see a way forward. We pray for our community and our world. Where there is violence, bring peace. Where there is injustice, bring courage. Where there is need, help us to respond with compassion. When life makes no sense, remind us that we do not have to face it alone. Be our refuge, our strength and our ever-present help. All this we pray in Jesus’ Name who taught us to say and pray together*
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness VU 288
- Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou has been thou forever wilt be.
Refrain: Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided –
great is thy faithfulness, ever to me!
- Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Refrain
- Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow –
wondrous the portion thy blessings provide. Refrain
Benediction
Go from this place knowing that you don’t walk alone. When life is joyful, give thanks. When life is uncertain, hold on. When life feels unbearable, remember that God is your refuge and strength. And may the love of God surround you, the presence of Christ walk beside you and the Spirit fill you with courage, comfort and hope, this day and always. Go now in peace friends, Amen.
Choral Amen Amen, amen, amen VU 967
When Life Does a “Job” On You
Danah-Lee Krieger, Sunday, August 2, 2026
I’m gonna start with something that might give you a little groan. I heard about this man who had died and left $30,000 to his wife. A few weeks had passed since the funeral and the wife shared with a friend that she was completely broke. The friend said, “Wait a min… didn’t you just say that you had $30,000?” Well… the widow said… I spent $10,000 on the funeral and $20,000 on the memorial stone. The friend said, “Wow! That must be some kind of stone! How big was it?” And the widow held up her finger and said 3.5 carats.
Would you bow your heads and pray with me?
Loving God, May the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts and indeed the actions of our lives always be acceptable to you, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
How many of you heard the story of Job growing up in Sunday School? Or Vacation Bible School? Or even in church? Show of hands? Ok great. Over the course of my lifetime in “church”, I’ve heard the story of Job told in many ways. But before we get into that piece, I want to give you a little biblical background on the Book of Job. Firstly, Job belongs to what we call the Wisdom Literature of the Bible, alongside Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Within the “Wisdom Literature” of the Bible, there is much probing on what it actually means to live wisely before God and what it means to wrestle honestly with some of life’s hardest and most difficult questions.
Next, Job is also one of the poetic books of Scripture. Although the story begins and ends in prose, most of the book is actually written as beautiful Hebrew poetry. In fact, many scholars have described Job as one of the greatest works of poetry ever written. Unlike many Old Testament books, Job isn’t focused on the history of Israel. Instead, it tells the story of a faithful man who endures the most unimaginable suffering and wrestles with questions that people still ask today: Why do good people suffer? Where is God in our pain? And what does it mean to trust God when life doesn’t make sense? Or namely, why do bad things happen to good people?
As I was preparing this message, I was struggling to come up with a title. Normally, I’d work my way through the message, find a line or theme that stands out and build something catchy around it. There was a very small part of me that wanted to call this message “Job… The Man, A Literal Myth… and Maybe a legend”. Although many Christians believe that Job was an actual real person… it’s pretty heavily debated with no definitive consensus if he really existed. So alas, I decided to keep the title a little lighter and decided on “When Life Does a Job on You.” Obviously, a play on words. But, I kind of like it. It’s a lot lighter than another title that I considered as a close runner up which was, “Curse God and Die”. Which isn’t really great for advertising if you were going to invite a friend to church this morning. But interestingly, enough, those aren’t actually my words! They’re taken straight out of Job 2:9. Job’s wife looks at her husband as he is sitting there on an ash heap, scraping his boils with a broken piece of pottery… after everything he’s lost and she says, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die.”
Although I’m not an ordained minister, as many of you know, I’m currently on the path toward becoming a Licensed Lay Worship Leader. And one of my responsibilities in this role in leading worship is to preach, teach, pray and to learn alongside all of you, in such a way that we’re all prepared in mind and heart and spirit to not curse God when tough times come. But even more than that, that maybe we can learn to find meaning and comfort in our relationship with God and in community… even amid our deepest grief and most traumatic or painful moments. Because Friends… they are inevitable. Tough times will come. Jesus said, “Rain falls on the just and the unjust”. Essentially… we are all going to face tough times.
So today, I’d like for us to try to understand the overarching insight that we can garner from the Book of Job… or perhaps the many messages found within the Book of Job. And it’s likely not the same understanding that many of us learned in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School as kids growing up in church. You know that saying, “He, or She, had the patience of Job”? This story isn’t automatically about how Job was calm, cool and collected with all of his devastating hardships. In this book, God’s love feels completely impossible to understand. When we see what happens to Job, all we can do is shake our heads and ask, ‘Why? Why would God allow this?”
And not to sound dark and depressing, but every single one of us in this room, sooner or later will experience a bitter crisis knocking on our doors. And you can mark this down right now, when that moment arrives, it will absolutely feel completely random and irrational. We all know how those moments can be. In an instant, everything changes.
You could be sitting in a coffee shop, or out for lunch… or trucking on down Hwy 17 when you get some pretty awful news. You may be lathering up in the shower and find a lump on your breast. Or the doctor’s office calls and they want to talk to you in person about your scan or test results. Or you’re shaving and you find a spot on your neck. You could be stocking up on a 6 pack of Diet Coke at Metro, when all of a sudden, your phone rings and you get the most devastating news about your child.
And when it happens, it may seem completely senseless and utterly inconceivable. You may cry out, “Why?” a million times before the tornado finally passes, and even then, you might not ever receive the answer. And of course, sometimes, it’s easy to understand why certain things happen to us. Sometimes, deep down, we recognize that our own actions have created consequences. But that’s not always the case. Some of the deepest sorrows and most devastating pains that we experience in this life aren’t punishments and aren’t things we brought upon ourselves. They simply arrive, often without warning, leaving us confused and unable to make sense of what has happened.
When Bad Things Happen to Good People is the title of a bestselling book by Rabbi Harold Kushner, first published in 1981. The book is a theological reflection that grew out of the death of the Rabbi’s son. It’s a book about grief and suffering and questions of faith. In many ways, the title isn’t only a statement, but also that very question that we all ask… Why do bad things happen to good people?
In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus asks that same question, only in a slightly different way… Why do bad things happen?
Someone comes up to Jesus and tells him that Pilate has killed a group of Galileans while they were offering their sacrifices. And Jesus asks the crowd, “Do you think those Galileans were worse people than everyone else? Is that why this happened to them? Did they somehow deserve it?” Then Jesus reminds them of another tragedy… a tower near the city walls of Jerusalem that suddenly collapsed and killed 18 people. And again, Jesus asks, “Do you think God caused that to happen? Do you think those 18 people deserved to die? Were they somehow worse sinners than everyone else?” “No,” Jesus tells the crowd. “That’s not how God works.” Sometimes terrible things happen, not because anyone deserves them and not because God is punishing them. Sometimes bad things happen… even to good people.
And much like Jesus, Rabbi Kushner, comes from the Jewish tradition. And he has a similar conclusion in his book… God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, nor does God will them to happen. Kushner suggests that perhaps God doesn’t prevent every bad thing from happening either. Because if God did, we wouldn’t have free will, we wouldn’t value life and we wouldn’t learn and grow.
That isn’t a very satisfying answer, is it? Because it’s human nature to want to know why things happen. We want to find a reason for everything, especially when something terrible happens. And as Kushner points out in his book, people often try to make sense of our pain for us. They want to comfort us, so they offer clichés like, “It’s going to be ok.” But sometimes, we’re actually not ok. Or they say, “I know how you feel.” But no, you probably don’t!
And then there are those hollow platitudes that are meant to help, but somehow only make things worse… “You know… everything happens for a reason.” or “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Well, maybe I don’t want to be strong for once! Maybe it’s not going to be ok right now! And maybe, when bad things happen, it’s perfectly ok not to be ok!
And maybe that’s why the Book of Job is so applicable. Job is going about life and then out of left field… calamity happens. It has zero connection to his character. Ultimately, it’s my belief that his story is in the Bible to help us navigate our own brutal and bitter storms. Job’s story isn’t telling us to “just tough it out” or to “pull ourselves up by the bootstraps”, it’s teaching us how to trust in God’s unconditional love when life makes absolutely no sense.
We’re told that Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” So, if suffering were meant to be a punishment for doing wrong, (which it isn’t), Job wouldn’t be the most likely candidate. He’s a good person. He tries to do what’s right. He has a reputation for living a faithful and decent life. But we saw what happened, didn’t we? Job’s goodness doesn’t protect him from suffering. After that strange wager between God and Satan, Job loses almost everything he has. He was a wealthy man, but in a single day, thieves, violence and storms took away his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, servants, and children. All of his kids! It’s hard to even imagine. But how does Job respond? Scripture tells us that Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground and worshipped God. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. God gave, and God has taken away. Blessed be the holy name.” And through all of this, we’re told that Job didn’t sin or blame God.
Honestly, I find this part of the story troubling. It doesn’t seem fair, does it? And yet, most of us who’ve lived any length of time on this earth already know that bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen and sometimes we have no idea why. They just do.
At first, Job can only sit in his grief. But not quite in silence because the silence is broken by Job’s wife. For someone who only speaks one line in the entire Bible, she certainly leaves an impression. Job hasn’t quite lost everything. His wife is still there. But here’s the thing… she’s lost everything too. So, when she speaks, you can almost hear her deep emotion and bitterness that comes from such terrible loss. She says, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die.” It’s as though she can see only 2 choices.
She’s basically telling Job that if he stays loyal and keeps praising God through this nightmare, he’s just lying to himself. And let’s face it… when we see someone get completely leveled by tragedy, but they insist on keeping their rose-coloured glasses on, it can feel a bit unreal to us, too. It feels like they’re just hiding from reality. But on the flip side, if Job lets himself get completely real about the agony of his loss, the next logical step would be to lash out and curse God. And that isn’t who he is. So, on top of losing everything else, Job is emotionally trapped. In his wife’s eyes, he’s jammed with only 2 exits… cling blindly to his faith… or scream his curses at heaven and just give up. And yet, Job’s relationship with God survives his honesty. Job doesn’t remain composed. He curses the day he was born. He accuses God of treating him unfairly. He demands answers and says things that would make many church people deeply uncomfortable.
And yet, Job’s relationship with God survives all of that honesty because, even in his anger, he doesn’t turn his back on God. He keeps speaking to God. He keeps wrestling with God. His faith isn’t polished, but it’s still there. And well… things really haven’t changed that much since Job’s story, have they? We still find ourselves wishing for some magical answer that will explain why we suffer. But often, all we get are the same old explanations, and they don’t make us feel any better.
There’s an old saying that goes, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.” Now, I don’t think that means we simply choose whether or not to be miserable. Grief, trauma and depression are far more complicated than that. But perhaps, in terms of faith, it means that when we’re hurting, we don’t have to carry that hurt entirely by ourselves. We can bring it to God. We can question God. We can rage at God. We can even say things that might make other church people uncomfortable. Job certainly did. But like Job, we can keep the conversation going. Because there’s a difference between being angry with God and completely shutting God out.
Now, I’m definitely not the poster child for perfect behaviour, and I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve tried it both ways. I’ve tried to keep praising God when crappy things happen, and honestly, there’ve been times when I completely failed at it. There’ve also been moments in my life when I’ve straight-up cursed God. I’ve called God some pretty nasty names. I’ve flipped God the proverbial bird when life felt like a pile of hot wet garbage.
But here’s what I’ve come to understand. Being angry with God isn’t necessarily the same as turning your back on God. Even in my anger, I was still talking to God… even with a few profanities. I was still wrestling with God. The real emptiness came when I shut God out completely. When I decided to carry all of my suffering by myself, I also shut myself off from hope, and something inside of me began to die. There was an inexplicable emptiness.
But things can change. Hope can come back to life. God can rebuild that hope even when you think it’s gone for good. And, I must be real with you, because holding onto hope is incredibly arduous and taxing. It means looking an unimaginable and horrible reality right in the face and somehow trying to see what could be. It means refusing to let go, even when the pain is overwhelming. It means refusing to let go, even when the suffering is overwhelming. It means holding on because the sun will rise again. And holding on to hope is truly the only way to find real life, which is the abundant, full life that Jesus promised us in the Gospels.
You see, bad things will happen. That’s a fact. Awful and terrible things will take place. But the hope… and the prayer is… that with it… comes the realization that we’re not alone. In our Psalm reading today, it starts with “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”
And it continues, “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early” And it ends with “God makes wars cease to the end of the earth; God breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, God burns the chariots with fire!” And the Psalm finishes with one of my favourite lines, “Be still and know that I am God”. As we prepare to leave from this place, it’s ok to question why bad things happen to good people, but eventually we need to take a deep breath and remember to be still, to know that God is with us.
And as I was preparing the scripture readings for this morning, I noticed that in our Psalm, some translations end each stanza with the word Selah. Which means to take a breath. To literally stop in the middle of the reading of the Psalm and to take a breath. We might never know why things happen. But we’re invited to remember that we are not alone. That’s why as Christ followers it’s so important to share our stories with one another. We are not alone. As the United Church of Canada’s new creed ends, “in life and death and life beyond death, God is with us and we are not alone. Thanks be to God”. As Harold Kushner says, “We may not ever understand why we suffer or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering, but we can have a lot to say about what suffering does to us, and what sort of people we become because of it.”
So, if you came through those doors carrying more than anyone around you can see… If you’ve been asking, “Why is this happening to me?” If you’re sitting there wondering how much more you can take… My prayer isn’t that you force yourself to feel hopeful or pretend everything’s fine. My prayer is simply that you stay open to the possibility that you’re not alone, that God’s still with you, and that even here, in the middle of all of this, you’re still deeply loved.
Let’s close by reading together our New Creed which is found in Voices United 918, but the words are on the back of your bulletin.
“We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
