Sunday, November 10, 2019

Veteran’s Day

Organ Prelude – In illo tempore (Gregorian Proper)

Words of Welcome and Announcements John Strawbridge

Choral Introit – We Praise You, O God (Barnby)

We praise You, O God; we acknowledge You to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship You, the Father everlasting. Amen.

* Call to Worship

L: We are gathered to give witness to the enduring realities of life.
P: We have come to affirm that life is a gift, that the gift is good, and that it comes from God.
L: We are gathered to renew our hope in Jesus Christ, as we travel life’s long journey.
P: We find God in the paths of our present and our past, but we also trust in God’s love in our future.
L: The same God guides us all the way, every day of our lives, and beyond life.
P: Let us praise God with our whole hearts, and entrust our lives to God’s hands. Amen.

* Opening Hymn – Eternal Father, Strong to Save TFWS 2191

1. Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm does bind the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

2. O Savior, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amid the rage did sleep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

3. O Holy Spirit, who did brood
Upon the waters dark and rude,
And bid their angry tumult cease,
And give for wild confusion peace;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

4. O Trinity of love and pow’r,
Your children shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,
Protect them where-so-e’er they go;
Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Prayer of Invocation (All)

God of life, in this time of prayer and song and remembering may we feel your presence among us. May our worship here re-awaken in our hearts and souls a new hope for the possibility of peace. May you fill our very beings with a vision of your justice that brings true peace to the world. This we pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus of Nazareth, the one we call Christ. Amen.

Sharing Joys and Concerns

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Reception of New Members UMH 38

Sir James Patrick Frazier

Children’s Moment

Anthem – A Hymn Of Praise To The Creator (Thiman)

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is your brothers and sisters, draw near,
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth;
shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen all that is needful hath been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Litany for Veterans Day John Hutchinson, Liturgist

L: Loving God, the framers of our Declaration of Independence claimed that you have endowed us with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet there are those who would take these from us.

Today we remember all those who have served in our country’s armed forces to preserve the freedoms you have granted us, to make it impossible for those who would take away our freedoms from prevailing.
L: For the men and women who serve in the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard,
P: We ask your blessing.
L: For the family members who have made great sacrifices in order to make it possible for their service members to be on watch at home or around the world or to go into harm’s way,
P: We ask your blessing.
L: For the families who grieve the death of a member who went in harm’s way, never to return,
P: We ask your blessing.
L: Jesus tells us that no one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. For all those veterans who have been willing to lay down their lives for us,
P: We ask you blessing.
L: For the veterans of past wars who bear scars in their bodies and spirits,
P: We ask your blessing.
L: For veterans who came home but couldn’t “fit in” with their families or communities anymore,
P: We ask you blessing.
L: Keep all our veterans in your care today. Grant them the peace they sought to preserve for others. As we honor our veterans, we also pray for peace. Teach all your people the ways of peace that those who have sacrificed so much for peace and freedom will not have done so in vain. We pray all these things in the name of your son, our savior, Jesus Christ.
P: Amen.

* Hymn – We Are Called TFWS 2172

Reading from the Old Testament – Haggai 1:15b – 2:9

On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

Sermon – “Rebuilding God’s House”   Rev. Debbie Scott

The Offering of Gifts & Tithes

Offertory – A Gaelic Blessing (Rutter)

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.

* Presentation of Offering – Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow UMH 95

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, yet heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Offering Prayer (All)

Gracious God, receive and bless these gifts we pray. We offer them in response to the great gift of yourself, revealed in Jesus, and the precious gift of faith, carefully handed down, through the power of your Holy Spirit, from one generation to another. May this offering, and the offering of our lives, truly witness to our dedication to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, sharing and passing on our faith through word and deed. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

* Closing Hymn – This Is My Song UMH 437

1. This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

2. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.

3. This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms: Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done. Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him, and hearts united learn to live as one. O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations; myself I give thee; let thy will be done.

* Benediction

L: Here, before God in his sanctuary, here, amid the love of his people,
here in the somber embrace of memories more precious than any gold.
P: We have come to remember, to be renewed, and to give thanks.

* Benediction – Response Bless The Lord, O My Soul (Moore)

Bless the Lord, O my soul; bless His holy name. Amen.

* Ringing of the Bicentennial Bell

* Organ Postlude – Cascando, non presto (Rourke)