Order of Service / New Creation in Christ / June 16, 2024

*Gathering Hymn Morning Has Broken (#409 VU)

Welcome& Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: This is the God we worship: not some thundering mountain god daunting us with fearful face;

  All: not some cosmic sin-accountant marking every goof and grace, nor Big Brother in the sky fixing us with pitiless eye.

One: This is the God we worship: deliberate, unstoppable,

All: lighter of creation’s fire;

One: resourceful determined,

  All: healer of the human heart;

One: subtle, adventurous,

  All: shaper of lives of light.

One: This is the God we know in Jesus.

  All: With daring and joy, we name this God our Lord, and worship.

*Rod Sykes.Gathering Summer-Autumn 2007.

Opening Prayer (Unison)

God of grace, compassionate beyond your knowing, patient beyond our imagining, persistent beyond our comprehending: you invite us to imitate your love, to reflect in small measure your forbearance, to act, however we can, as your agents in the world. Gather us now to attend to your word and to sing your praise, as, in Jesus’ name, we come and worship you. Amen.

*Rod Sykes.Gathering L/E 2015.

*Opening Hymn Open My Eyes, That I May See (#371 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

We need forgiveness, God, for we are not the people you would have us be, and we are not the people we would like to be. Time and again, the love that lives within us remains unspent. Time and again, the compassion that stirs inside us remains restrained. Time and again, the life of abundance you call us to live and share remains only a dream. Forgive us and set us free to be all we can be…(a time of silent confession)Amen.

*Curtis Tufts.Gathering L/E/P2001.

Words of Assurance

One: Beloved people of God, be assured that God’s grace knows no bounds and God’s love knows no measure.

All: We are the community of Christ. We are forgiven, and we are loved. Thanks be to God!

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (Don’t Be Afraid / MV #90)

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-19 Everything has become new!

Psalm 20 (VU p. 742)

Mark 4:26-34 Parables of the growing seed and the mustard seed.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Blessed Assurance(#337 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn(#541VU| Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

praise God, all creatures high and low;

give thanks to God in love made known:

Creator, Word, and Spirit, One.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)

Gift of Life, receive the gifts we offer today. May they be used to restore, to build up, and to proclaim the Good News that is found within our hearts, and may these gifts be used so others may experience the Good News that lives for all time. Amen.

*Jim McKean.Gathering Pentecost 1.2015.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn All the Way My Saviour Leads Me (#635 VU)

*Commissioning

One: The Eternal God sends us out to feed people the bread of life.

All: May God grant us discernment on how best to show God’s love and share the bread of life with all we meet.

One: With thankful hearts, we leave this place,

All: filled with the memory of God’s true promises and the joy of God’s spirit us. Amen.

*Karen Hammond Croxall. Gathering  Pentecost 1, 2024. Page 48.

*Commissioning Song God Be with You till We Meet Again(v.2 | #422 UV)

God be with you till we meet again;unseen wings protecting hide you,

daily manna still provide you;God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet, till we meetTill we meet at Jesus’ feet

Till we meet, till we meetGod be with you till we meet again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Like Mom's Food / Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:      “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.      “Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled.      “Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more