Calendar

Order of Worship

*Call to Worship

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise God in the heights.
Praise God, sun and moon; praise God, all you shining stars!

Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars
Make a joyful noise before the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy.

Let us praise the name of the Lord,
for God’s glory is above earth and heaven.
Praise the Lord!

Welcome and opening prayer

Prayer of confession

In the community of Christ’s church and in the presence of all God’s people, I confess to God that I have sinned in thought, word and deed. I have not loved God, cared for God’s world, or respected God’s people as I should. I own my responsibility and pray for God’s pardon.
May God forgive you, Christ befriend you, and the Spirit renew and change your life.
Amen.

In the community of Christ’s church and in the presence of all God’s people, we confess to God that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved God, cared for God’s world, or respected God’s people as we should. We own our responsibility and pray for God’s pardon.
May God forgive you, Christ befriend you, and the Spirit renew and change your life. Amen.

Silent prayers are offered.

Assurance of pardon

With a gentle breeze God enflames our spirits; with a strong wind, God reminds us of our need to forgive and be forgiven. Like a cleansing storm, God takes away our past, revealing our fresh, new life.

Awakened, refreshed, renewed, made whole; now we can dance with the wind, singing our praises to the One who gives life to all. Thanks be to God. Amen.

*Hymn: “Be Thou My Vision”

1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

3. Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou, mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

4. High King of Heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Remembrances

Song

Scripture Readings

Joel 2:21-27

Do not fear, O soil;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

O children of Zion, be glad,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army that I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Matthew 25:34-40

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’

Meditation, Rev. Dorothy L. Boulton

Prayer (Unison)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Prayer of Thanksgiving, Intercession, and the Lord’s 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 and the power
and the glory, forever. Amen.

Song

Pamela Conn Beall & Susan Hagen Nipp

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills
I love the flowers, I love the daffodils
I love the fireside when all the lights are low
Boom-dee-a-dah (3x) Boom-dee-yay

*Prayer of commendation

*Benediction

Postlude