I would rather have a million friends than a million -Eddie Rickenbacker

Transcription

1 (Seagull in the Black Sea used with permission from Costel Slincu.) I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars. -Eddie Rickenbacker :15 a.m. November 2, 2014

2 2 The Colonial Church in Prairie Village United Church of Christ R for Relationships All Saints Sunday Worship Service in the Series bless! Please silence your mobile phone in preparation for worship * Please rise in body or spirit WE GATHER AS GOD S PEOPLE GATHERING MUSIC Balm in Gilead -Powell WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (Please sign and pass pew pads and fill out Prayer Request cards you may have. You can place the Prayer Request cards in the offering plates later in the service.) SOAR STEWARDSHIP MOMENT -Jim Cook * OPENING HYMN #381 Faith of the Martyrs WE REMEMBER IN OUR HOLY MEAL All Saints Sunday Communion Prayer Leader: God is in this place. People: And in our hearts. Leader: Open yourself to the nudging God. People: We feel the breath of the Spirit. Leader: Remember God made flesh. People: Jesus, who taught us a new way. (Allow silence to speak for a few moments.) Leader: People: Leader: People: Leader: Tender, transforming God, you have invited us to gather at this table, To taste the feast, the same abundant promises offered to our ancestors in faith. Time and time again you ve offered your grace, Even as we have stepped away, you continue to call us to be your people. You have never left us.

3 3 People: Leader: People: Leader: People: We praise you for second, third, and fourth chances. You are everpatient, always faithful. We give thanks for this time of celebration. For the One this meal remembers. For the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With those who have gone before us, Whose hands touched the bread, Whose lips embraced the cup, We worship you. We glorify you. Remembering and Celebrating the Light of the Saints (In our Christian tradition, a saint is anyone who lives as a follower of Jesus Christ. On this special Sunday, we light candles as we remember the saints in our community who have died, and we also celebrate the new journeys with Christ which have begun this past year. For those households who wish to light a candle for a particular person, you are welcome to come forward. Otherwise, a worship leader will light the candles as the names are read.) Consecration of the Bread and Cup Sharing of the Bread and Cup (As the bread and cup are served, the choir will sing Now We Give You Thanks by Robert Lau. Drink the cup as you are served as a sign of God s particular love for you. Hold the bread until the end of the anthem, and we will eat it together as a sign of our unity in Christ.) Prayer of Thanksgiving Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Remind us today that in order to run this race we must be fed spiritually as well as physically. God, thank you for your sustaining presence in this meal, in our lives, and in one another. Amen. * SONG OF PRAISE GLORIA #759 ADAPTED Glory to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. Amen.

4 4 * SHARING GOD S WELCOME (Greet everyone in the hope of peace and friendship.) CHILDREN S CONVERSATION (Children of all ages are welcome to come forward to the chancel steps. Following the Conversation, children are welcome to remain to worship or to attend our Sunday School.) This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. WE HEAR GOD S WORD -Pastor Aaron Roberts Habakkuk 1:2-4 LORD, how long will I call for help and you not listen? I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you don't deliver us. Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish so that devastation and violence are before me? There is strife, and conflict abounds. The Instruction is ineffective; justice does not endure because the wicked surround the righteous. Justice becomes warped. THE WORD PROCLAIMED Habakkuk 2:1-4 I will stand at my post and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness. Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree doesn't bloom, and there's no produce on the vine; though the olive crop withers, and the fields don't provide food; though the sheep is cut off from the pen, and there is no cattle in the stalls; I will rejoice in the LORD. I will rejoice in the God of my deliverance. The LORD God is my strength. Express your thoughts via social media at #ColonialUCC.

5 5 WE RESPOND WITH THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER * HYMN #438 When Peace, Like a River CALL TO OFFERING AND OFFERTORY All Men Shall Die -Dupre * Doxology (#780 adapted; tune Old Hundredth) Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, you heavenly host: Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen. * Prayer of Dedication Living God, we are your people, we carry your presence. Use us and our gifts to accomplish your mission in the world. Multiply our effort to meet every need. This we pray in the name of Christ, whom with you and the Holy Spirit, reign in our hearts and lives, one God now and forever. Amen. (UCC Worship Ways) TIME OF PRAYER Prayers of the People Believing that each joy and/or concern expressed is indeed a prayer, after each expression, the pastor will say: Lord, in your mercy. And the people may respond: Hear our prayer. Praying in Silence Our Lord s Prayer ( Our Father is the traditional way this prayer begins. You are invited to use whatever name for God you find most meaningful (Father, Mother, Creator, God, etc.). Together our names for God create a beautiful chorus.) 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.

6 6 WE DEPART TO SERVE * HYMN #376 God, We Thank You for Our People * RENEW OUR COVENANT (Turn towards the center aisle as we bless one another with the promise of our covenant.) We covenant with the Lord and with one another and do bind ourselves in the presence of God to walk together in Christian Love. We seek to worship God in spirit and in truth and to love our neighbors as ourselves. With God s help we will honor Colonial Church in our conduct, support its program, and extend the influence of Christ throughout the world. * CONGREGATIONAL SONG OF BLESSING #809 God Be With You God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. O God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. * BENEDICTION AND POSTLUDE Sine Nomine -Vaughan Williams/Kern Liturgist: Children s Conversation: Greeters: Head Usher: Ushers: Communion Servers: Ken Werne Jan Parkinson Jerry and Marilyn Uppman Mariam Fleming Ancel Neuburger, Chucho Marquez and Elizabeth Uppman, Mariam Fleming Sally Huggins, Howard Lee, Rosalie Henry, Stacy Huggins

7 7 ALL SAINTS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2014 We remember the members and friends of our church family who died during the past year or were requested to be remembered. We also celebrate the new lives of those who have come into our community of faith through this period. BAPTISMS George William Akright - September 28, 2014 Maxwell Allen Botha - May 18, 2004 Charlotte Jean Donnelly - March 16, 2014 Nathan Ross Jones - August 16, 2014 Berkeley Marie Kandl - July 27, 2014 Kaylin Marie Knoll - September 28, 2014 Finn McCormick Lutz - August 9, 2014 Lindsey Neuburger October 12, 2014 Hannah Parker, May 4, 2014 Lena Elise Seibert - June 1, 2014 Coletrane Michael Zellweger - August 17, 2014 BIRTHS George William Akright June 24, 2014 Addy Barber September 12, 2014 Maxwell Allen Botha December 06, 2013 Jack Harris Cook April 11, 2014 Grace Ellen Goudy June 2, 2014 Scarlett Mae Gray May 21, 2014 Kaylin Marie Knoll February 4, 2014 Finn McCormick Lutz May 11, 2014 Lena Elise Seibert January 22, 2014 Benjamin Bowie Thompson January 7, 2014 DEATHS William H. Cribbs April 30, 2011 Neva Gotsch September 4, 2014 Robert H. Kurth December 12, 2013 Tom Moses September 5, 2014 Phyllis Parfitt August 14, 2014 Mary Robinson September 19, 2014 Sally Snail May 13, 2014 David Solenberger March 19, 2014 Gabriel Marquez-Uppman November 17, 2000 William Woodson February 18, 2014

8 8 Colonial Church Study Guide Day One Read Habakkuk Chapter 1 Habakkuk is unique in the books of the prophets because he openly questions how God works. He is frustrated and angry that God seems to be on vacation. He witnesses what he regards as injustice as Babylon crushed the last Israelite kingdom. There are two main complaints - the first is 1:2-4 and the second 1: God response is in 1:5-11 and 2:1-4. Read these and imagine yourself to be in Habakkuk s place? When all seems to be lost and injustice seems to rule, how does the response of waiting for future vindication strike you? Throughout time, oppressed people have been told to wait for justice. Sometimes, this may avoid great violence; but it also may be an excuse for working for justice. How does a person know? How did Habakkuk know? Day Two Read Habakkuk Chapter 2 The second chapter of Habakkuk is a series of 5 oracles of what is to come. (Remember that prophecy is not the same as an oracle. Oracles foretell the future; prophecies speak for God.) These oracles warn the arrogant empires (Assyria or Babylon) that there will be a reckoning for their violence. Why do you think that these oracles are important especially since Habbakuk will never live to see them? Is it about having hope for future justice? Is it revenge? What do you think? Notice that Habakkuk s view is that God is the one God of all people even the God of empires who worship other gods. How do you regard his perspective? Arrogance? Faith? Something else? Day Three - Read Habakkuk Chapter 3 This chapter continues to voice Habakkuk s frustration about how things are, but it ends with the words of faith that we heard on Sunday. There is powerful wisdom to be learned in this short book. Spend a few minutes reflecting on your journey and how it may parallel (or not) Habakkuk s experience.

9 9

10 10

11 11

12 12