Post artwork by Amelia Longworth, age 5
We Gather Together
Musical Prelude
Announcements
Promise of Divine Welcome
Invocation: What Does the Lord Require of You, VU 701
What does the Lord require of you?
What does the Lord require of you?
Justice, kindness,
walk humbly with your God.
To seek justice, and love kindness,
and walk humbly with your God.
Call to Worship:
One: God has shown us what is good, and what then is required of us?
All: To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
One: Jesus says: Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me.
All: The Spirit says, “Come.” Let each one who hears the Spirit say, “Come,” for all are welcome here.
One: Let us worship God!
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Listening in the Light of Reconciliation
Opening Hymn: Fairest Lord Jesus, VU 341
Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God to earth come down:
thee will I cherish, thee will I honour,
thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
who makes the troubled heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and fair the twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest beauty heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer
than thou, my Saviour, art to me.
Opening Prayer
Invitation to Confession
Song: Listen, God Is Calling, MV 97
Listen God is calling, through the Word inviting,
offering forgiveness, comfort, and joy.
Prayer of Confession
One: We are a pilgrim people, accompanied by our God,
who journeys beside us, accepting who we are;
yet goes before us, beckoning us toward who we might become.
All: But as we move through our days, other gods call to us,
questions confound us, direction blurs, indifference lulls; we lose our way.
One: So we enter into silence, to discern again the nearness of God,
who is our hope and guide.
A Time of Silence
Siblings, sisters and brothers, we can trust God at all times,
for the Holy One is our refuge and our salvation! So with confidence,
let us pour out a shared confession of our hearts.
All: We confess to You, steadfast God, that we wander from the path
of love upon which we are meant to walk. Fears divide us,
prejudice hardens us, violence destroys us.
One: But God eternally beckons.
All: We turn our hearts again to You, God of grace and mercy.
Forgive us our love that is self-satisfied, and teach us
love that is self- and other-affirming.
One: Forgive us faith that makes us rush to judgment
and give us faith that fills us with compassion.
All: Forgive us the peace we have made with our divisions
and unite us in the peace that passes understanding.
One: We pray, with thanksgiving, in the name of Christ.
All: Amen.
Words of Assurance
One: By God’s mercy, our feet are set again upon
the path of faithfulness; our hearts are set again
upon the coming of God’s realm.
All: Thanks be to God, our hope and our guide forever!
Song: There Is Room for All, MV 62
There is room for all in the shadow of God’s wing;
there is room for all, sheltered in God’s love.
And I rejoice and sing, “My refuge and my rock, in whom I trust.”
There is room for all, there is room for all! (2 x)
Choral Anthem
Children’s Hymn: Yahweh Be Praised, MV 51
Yahweh be praised in the heavens.
Yahweh be praised in the streets.
Yahweh be praised with our singing
When in worship we meet.
Yahweh be praised. (8X)
Repeat verse and refrain
The Lord’s Prayer
Our parent, 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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
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.
Children’s Prayer:
God, be in my eyes and in my looking.
God, be in my ears and in my listening.
God, be in my mouth and in my speaking.
God, be in my heart and in my understanding. Amen.
God Calls and We Respond to the Word
Psalm 77, VU with Sung Response:
God, bend your ear and hear my prayer
I cry aloud to God, I cry that God may hear me.
In my time of distress I have turned to God;
with hands uplifted I have prayed all night,
but my soul refuses all comfort. R
Then I recall your deeds, O God!
I remember your wonders of old.
I recount all your works and ponder the things you have done.
O God, your ways are holy. What god is as great as you!
You are the one who works wonders;
you have shown your strength among nations.
By your arm you redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. R
The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and churned in fear;
the seas trembled to their depths.
Clouds streamed water, the heavens rumbled;
your arrows bolted on every side.
The voice of your thunder was heard in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world,
the earth quaked and shuddered.
Your way was through the sea;
your path, through mighty waters;
your footprints could not be seen;
but by the hand of Moses and Aaron,
you led your people like a flock. R
Galatians 5:1, 13-15
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you all were called to freedom, siblings, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Sermon: Whole and Holy Fruit
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. R
Let our hearts touch far horizons,
so encompass great and small;
let our loving know no borders, faithful to God’s call. R
Let the dreams we dream be larger,
than we’ve ever dreamed before;
let the dream of Christ be in us, open every door. R
Invitation to the Offering
Music
Doxology: Grant Us, God, the Grace, VU 540
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
with a spirit large and free,
that ourselves and all our living
we may offer faithfully.
We Give Thanks
Invitation to Communion
Communion Hymn: One Bread, One Body, VU 467
Refrain:
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless;
and we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
Gentile or Jew, servant or free,
woman or man, no more. R
Many the gifts, many the works,
one in the Lord of all. R
One: The Holy One be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to God.
One: Let us give thanks to the Holy one, our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
One: It is indeed right that we should praise you
gracious God, for you created all things…
…we give you thanks and raise our voices
to proclaim the glory of your name.
Song: Sanctus and Benedictus, VU 932
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of power and might;
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in your name.
Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna in the highest!
Remembering Jesus at the Table
One: Holy God, source of life and goodness…
…Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
All: Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
One: Recalling his death, proclaiming his resurrection…
…God most holy, now and forever.
All: Amen.
Promise of Divine Hospitality
Sharing the Elements
Prayer After Communion
All: Nourishing One,
your gifts renew us in body, spirit, and mind.
Through this taste of Love
May the Spirit send us with a faith that is brave.
Letting no institution or narrow thinking hold us back,
make us people who boldly pursue collective justice
and tend gently to the world’s pain. Amen.
We Pray
Prayers of the People
Song: God, Enfold Us
God, enfold us in your heart,
and keep us safe, keep us whole,
keep us in the palm of your hand.
Poem: When I Am among the Trees by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Closing Hymn: When the Spirit of The Lord
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will dance as David danced.
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will dance as David danced.
I will dance, I will dance, I will dance as David danced.
I will dance, I will dance, I will dance as David danced.
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will sing as Mary sang.
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will sing as Mary sang.
I will sing, sing, sing, as Mary sang.
I will sing, sing, sing, as Mary sang.
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will love as Jesus loved.
When the spirit of the Lord is within my heart, I will love as Jesus loved.
I will love, love, love, as Jesus loved.
I will love, love, love, as Jesus loved.
Commissioning:
One: Go in the companionship of the Spirit and be a light to the world
and all who are yearning to be free.
All: We will embrace our difference, celebrate the difference of
others, and proclaim the Good News:
One: God’s love does not conform to the standards of our culture.
All: It is without boundary. It extends to all.
Benediction
Song: I Am Walking A Path of Peace, MV 221
I am walking a path of peace; (3x)
lead me home, lead me home.
I am walking a path of hope; (3x)
lead me home, lead me home.
