“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
Sunday, June 14
ORDER of WORSHIP
Prelude Music
Greeting and Welcome
Opening Hymn “Morning Has Broken” UMH #145 Words: Eleanor Farjeon, 1931.
Music: Trad. Gaelic melody, harm. by Carlton R. Young, 1998.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved.
1. Morning has broken like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!
2. Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where his feet pass.
3. Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day!
Call to Worship
Pastor: There’s a story to be told, a love to be taught; witness of things seen and unseen.
All: Lord, tell me the story; teach me the love; open my eyes.
Pastor: There’s a world too long dear, words too long unspoken; a story that needs to be told.
All: Lord, give me the words; send me to speak; teach me your story.
Pastor: There’s a book too long unopened by the power of the voice.
All: A heart too long unmoved by the silence of our song.
Pastor: A world hungry to know the story of our God. Who will go to teach and to tell?
All: Here I am, Lord; send me.
(Homiletics Online, June 1996)
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, you call us to be your servants and to accept the cost and joy of discipleship. Help us to understand and accept the costs of following Christ, that we may know the joy you intend for the faithful. Make us lifelong learners in the school of faithfulness, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Ruth C. Duck, ed., Flames of the Spirit, New York: Pilgrim Press, 1985, 85, adapted)
Hymn
“Make Me a Servant” TFWS #2176 Words: Kelly Willard. Music: Kelly Willard, 1982.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved.
(Sing Twice) Make me a servant, humble and meek,
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak.
And may the prayer of my heart always be:
Make me a servant, make me a servant,
Make me a servant today.
The World Methodist Social Affirmation
UMH#896. World Methodist Council, 1986.
We believe in God, creator of the world and all people;
and in Jesus Christ, incarnate among us,
who died and rose again;
and in the Holy Spirit,
present with us to guide, strengthen, and comfort
We believe:
God, help our unbelief.
We rejoice in every sign of God’s kingdom:
in the upholding of human dignity and community;
in every expression of love, justice, and reconciliation;
in each act of self-giving on behalf of others;
in the abundance of God’s gifts
entrusted to us that all may have enough;
in all responsible use of the earth’s resources.
Glory be to God on high;
and on earth, peace.
We confess our sin, individual and collective,
by silence or action:
through the violation of human dignity
based on race, class, age, sex, nation, or faith;
through the exploitation of people
because of greed and indifference;
through the misuse of power
in personal, communal, national, and international life;
through the search for security
by those military and economic forces
that threaten human existence;
through the abuse of technology
which endangers the earth and all life upon it.
Lord, have mercy;
Christ, have mercy;
Lord, have mercy.
We commit ourselves individually and as a community
to the way of Christ:
to take up the cross;
to seek abundant life for all humanity;
to struggle for peace with justice and freedom;
to risk ourselves in faith, hope and love,
praying that God’s kingdom may come.
Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Gloria Patri
“Glory Be to the Father” UMH #71 Words: Lesser Doxology, 3rd-4th cent. Music: Henry W. Greatorex, 1851.
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
Prayers of the People, Lord’s Prayer
Scripture Reading
Matthew 9:35-10:8 (NRSV)
Meditation
“See All the People” Rev. Matthew Sergent
Hymn “Together We Serve” TFWS #2175 Text: Daniel Charles Damon. Music: Daniel Charles Damon, 1988 Hope Publishing House.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved.
1. Together we serve, united by love,
inviting God’s world to the glorious feast.
We work and we pray through sorrow and joy,
extending your love to the last and the least.
2. We seek to become a beacon of hope,
a lamp for the heart and a light for the feet.
We learn, year by year, to let love shine through
until we see Christ in each person we meet.
3. We welcome the scarred, the wealthy, the poor,
the busy, the lonely, and all who need care.
We offer a home to those who will come,
our hands quick to help, our hearts ready to dare.
4. Together, by grace, we witness and work,
remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong.
Together we serve in Spirit and truth,
remembering love is the strength of our song.
Benediction
Pastor: God’s harvest needs dedicated and skilled laborers!
All: We want to answer the call of Christ.
Pastor: Even if the work is demanding and the hours long?
All: We will need endurance.
Pastor: Those whom God calls, God also equips.
All: But we cannot do such work alone!
Pastor: Strength beyond human measure comes with the whole church working together!
All: May we go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, with God’s blessing!
Benediction Hymn “Go Forth for God” UMH #670 Words: John R. Peacey, 1975. Music: Genevan Psalter, 1551; harm. By C. Winfred Douglas, 1940 alt. (verse 2)
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved.
2. Go forth for God, go to the world in love,
strengthen the faint, give courage to the weak;
help the afflicted; richly from above
God’s love supplies the grace and power we seek.
Go forth for God, go to the world in love.
