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| Postlude from Lorie |
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| Quiet Disciple recognition |
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| Well done, Abby! |
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| Enjoying time together |
Today’s Meditation Verse: “Yes, goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will live in the Lord’s house as long as I live.” —Psalm 23:6
Welcome...Pastor Charles
Prelude...Lorie Courier / “For the Beauty of the Earth/This is My Father’s World”
*Call to Worship (based on themes from Psalm 139)...Amy Abshire
Leader: We gather together to worship our loving, nurturing God,
People: Who, like a mother, knows us intimately, loves us unconditionally,
Leader: teaches us the way we should go and comforts us in times of need.
People: Praise God, the Source and Sustainer of life!
*Hymn ...to the tune of “Faith of Our Fathers” (UMH #710)
Faith of our mothers, living still
In cradle song and bedtime prayer;
In nursery lore and fireside love,
Thy presence still pervades the air.
Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our mothers, loving faith,
Fount of our childhood's trust and grace,
Oh, may thy consecration prove
Source of a finer, nobler race;
Faith of our mothers, loving faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our mothers, guiding faith,
For youthful longing, youthful doubt,
How blurred our vision, blind our way,
Thy providential care without.
Faith of our mothers, guiding faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our mothers, Christian faith,
In truth beyond our stumbling creeds,
Still serve the home and save the Church,
And breathe thy spirit through our deeds;
Faith of our mothers, Christian faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
“Mother’s Day Prayer” (© 2008 Rev. Jane Sommers )...Amy Abshire
This day we gather with eager hearts, hungry for Your Word, yearning for the joy You promise in love. O God,together we hold a vision of Your kingdom, a people of prayer and open hearts, a loving Body of Christ eager to learn and eager to share. You bless us, O God, and shine upon us with the mercy of Your salvation. And Your Good Earth has yielded its increase through those who have brought us great blessing.
On this day of celebrating Your love, we lift to You those who have given us life, those who have loved us, those who have blessed us, and those who have taught us, our mothers. May Your blessing pour out upon the woman who gave us birth, and those beautiful, strong women of faith who have been mothers to us along our journey.
We praise You, O God, for Your gift of motherly love, both gentle and fierce, both strong and humble, both kind and true. Where we have been so blessed, we give our grateful praise, for You have provided loving hands that have worked so hard in raising us, cared enough to correct us, blessed us in ways we cannot have fully known as children.
We call forth Your compassion upon every mother who has unknowingly caused pain and suffering. And so, we lift to you our mothers, so imperfect, also so wounded by this world.
We bless our mothers this day, no matter what they have done or left undone. We do this because we
believe in Your healing, and we believe in Your love and we believe that You love every mother, good or bad; and we stand together with all mothers in solidarity, for we all need Your grace. Where we have
failed because we did not know better, help us to forgive ourselves. Where we have seen Your face in
any woman who has been to us a mother, in her face we have seen Your light and Your love and we give thanks -- for where they have loved, they have kept Your word and blessed us.
We lift to You the heart of every mother who has watched her child die of hunger, every mother who
had been a victim of abuse, every woman who stands in protest against a world that massacres her
children and renames them "collateral damage." We lift to You the prayer of every mother who has ever
loved and lost.
We lift to You our Mother Earth. We lift to You our Mother Church. We lift to You, O God, Your mother's heart; and although we cannot fully express our gratitude, help each one of us to be Your blessing of love, a blessing straight from Your heart. Amen.
*Offering/Doxology (UMH #94)
Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations
Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer...Pastor Charles
First Lesson: Acts 9:36-43...Amy Abshire
Special Music...Chancel Choir / “Now Let Me Fly,” arranged by Victor C. Johnson
Second Lesson: Revelation 7:9-17...Pastor Charles
Pastor: This is the Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon...Pastor Charles / “The scene around the throne”
*Hymn...to the tune of “Be Thou My Vision” (UMH #451) © 1998 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.
God of the women who answered Your call,
Trusting Your promises, giving their all,
Women like Sarah and Hannah and Ruth —
Give us their courage to live in Your truth.
God of the women who walked Jesus’ Way,
Giving their resources, learning to pray,
Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and more —
May we give freely as they did before.
God of the women long put to the test,
Left out of stories, forgotten, oppressed,
Quietly asking: “Who smiled at my birth?” —
In Jesus’ dying You show us our worth.
God of the women who ran from the tomb,
Prayed with the others in that upper room,
Then felt Your Spirit on Pentecost Day —
May we so gladly proclaim You today.
O God of Phoebe and ministers all,
May we be joyful in answering Your call.
Give us the strength of Your Spirit so near
That we may share in Your ministry here.
*Words for the Journey...Pastor Charles
*Postlude...Lorie Courier / “Jesus Loves Me/Jesus Loves the Little Children”
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