Welcome to Worship
We gather to worship, we go out to serve.
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD
* Please rise in body or spirit
Tolling of the Bell
Welcome and Announcements
Visitors, fill out the connection card in the pew so we can send you a note
Opening Prayer Ginette Mitchener
Holy One, you have made known to us the ways of life and have promised to fill us with the gladness of your presence. Keep us mindful of your guidance and your promise as we travel through this day, that our hearts may be glad. Amen.
Prelude Christopher Bunch
*Call to Worship (Responsive) Ginette Mitchener
Bless the Lord, O people, sing!
Let the sound of praise ring out.
Come and hear what the Lord has done,
the Lord who has made everything!
*Hymn God of Grace and God of Glory #307
Prayer for New Beginnings (Unison) Ginette Mitchener
Come Holy Spirit, our helper and advocate: Open our hearts and minds this day, entice us with your presence. Spark us with a word of life—a message that we may share with others as we seek to live Christ’s love in the world. All this we ask in the name of God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.
*Passing of the Peace (Responsive)
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
*Congregational Response In My Life #468 v.1,4
In my life, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In my life, Lord, be glorified today,
In your world, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In your world, Lord, be glorified today.
HEARING THE WORD
Prayer for Illumination Ginette Mitchener
Come Holy Spirit, our helper and advocate: Open our hearts and minds this day, entice us with your presence. Spark us with a word of life—a message that we may share with others as we seek to live Christ’s love in the world. All this we ask in the name of God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.
1st Reading Psalm 66: 8-20 Ginette Mitchener
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs; you let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place. I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. I cried aloud to him, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has given heed to the words of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Word in Music Christopher Bunch
2nd Reading John 14: 15-21
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Jeff Sockwell
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
*Hymn Rejoice, the Lord is King #363
*Affirmation of Faith (Unison) the Confession of Belhar
We believe that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ. We believe that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
We believe that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker. We believe that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Prayers of the People / Lord’s Prayer (Responsive)
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us give thanks to God who listens and gives heed to our prayers.
We praise and we bless you, our true and loving God.
We pray for all who search for you: may they find their way in you. Bless us with lips that sing your praise and lives that tell the stories of all that you have done for us. Open our eyes to find you among us as we share your love with others.
Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.
We pray for all who are oppressed by governments or institutions: for those whose voices are not heard or believed, those with no one on their side. Bless us with a joy for justice and the strength to persevere as we work toward your coming realm.
Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.
We pray for all who hunger, and those who worry each day how they will care for their families. Bless us all with meaningful work and fill us with good things, as we love and care for each other and find our sustenance in you.
Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.
We pray for all who suffer the violence and scars of war, for all soldiers and their families, and all who live and serve in war-torn places. Give them courage in the face of fear; in times of trouble, do not let their feet slip. Bless us with your vision of peace, for you have made us one family by giving life and breath to all.
Lord in your mercy, receive our prayer.
We remember before you all who have died, and pray for all who will die today, that they may know your peace. Bless us with the gift of faith, that we may know you and love you, and enjoy life eternal shared with you, in the name of Christ, who gave himself for our sake, and taught us this prayer:
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. Amen.
Invitation to the Offering
Offertory Christopher Bunch
*Doxology #606
*Prayer of Dedication
WE GO OUT TO SERVE
*Hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling #366
*Blessing
May God, who creates, redeems, and sustains, keep you steadfast in faith, buoyant in hope, and abounding in love. And the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Postlude Christopher Bunch