Order of Service / Christian Family Sunday / May 11, 2025

*Gathering Hymn Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love (#574 VU)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: Come, mothers and those who mother! Come, all who have mothers,

  All: through birth, adoption, fostering, or simply by being taken under the wing of someone with a kindly mothering soul.

One: Come, those for whom today is hard, those for whom today brings grief for many reasons, those who need to be enfolded in the care of this community.

  All: Today we worship in music and prayer the God who loves us with a maternal love, a. love beyond anything we could ask or imagine, or hope for!

One: Come, let us worship God.

*Chelsea Masterman, Gathering L/E 2023. Page 53.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn God, We Praise You for the Morning (#415 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

God of all families, we confess that we do not always love as we should. We often overlook the care we receive from those who offer us time, patience, and grace. We speak in haste, hold grudges, and forget to say thank you. In our homes and in our hearts, we fail to live the love you call us to. Forgive us. Heal our relationships and renew in us the desire to care, to listen, and to love well. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: There is no mistake too big, no silence too long, no wound too deep for the healing love of God.

  All: We are held in mercy, surrounded by grace, and invited to begin again.

One: In Christ, we are not condemned but set free to grow, to reconcile, and to live in love.

  All: Thanks be to God. We are forgiven. We are renewed. Let us walk forward in compassion and peace. Amen.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (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.

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Revelation 7:9-17 The saints of God will never hunger or thirst again.

Psalm 23 (VU p. 749) God is my shepherd.

John 10:22-30 My sheep listen to my voice.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth (#320 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#541 VU)

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)

Here we are, God, as your invited family, as people who love the risen Christ, as those who are woven together as one by the Spirit’s power. Take what we offer: our hearts, our living, our time, our talent, and our treasure. May you so bless what we give that we become

transformed for love — a love that fosters good news for the broader fabric of this world. Amen.

*Gord Dunbar, Gathering L/E 2025. Page 53.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn Bring Many Names (#268 VU)

*Commissioning

One: As we go from this place, remember this promise: God is with us in our families, in our friendships, and in our daily lives.

All: God fills the cracks with love, brings healing where it is needed, and blesses us in ways we may not expect.

One: Let us go with open hearts, trusting in God’s care and kindness.

All: We carry this promise in our hearts, our minds, and our lives. Amen.

*Commissioning Song May God’s Sheltering Wings (#214 MV)

May God’s sheltering wings, her gathering wings protect you,

May God’s nurturing arms, her cradling arms sustain you,

And hold you in her love, and hold you in her love.


 

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