THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST IN HARTFORD An Open and Affirming Congregation of The United Church of Christ THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM May12, 2013 Welcome ~ Bienvenidos 10:30 AM WELCOME TO WORSHIP AT CENTER CHURCH. We are glad you have joined us for this service of worship and the fellowship of this congregation. We hope that you will be both comforted and challenged by the Word of God for us today. If you are new to our community, we hope you will consider making this your church home. Any of our worship leaders or ushers will be able to help with your questions. If you are already a member, be sure to extend a friendly greeting to those around you, starting with someone you don t know yet. Please turn off all cell phones and other electronic devices before the service of Worship begins. A comfortable nursery is available in the basement of the Meeting House where concerned parents may take young children who are restless and might seem to be disruptive to neighbors sitting in the pews. The service can be heard through a speaker system in the nursery. PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, boots, cakes and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can imagine how this can exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. ~ G.K. Chesterton CHIMING OF THE HOUR and GREETING
COMING BEFORE GOD PRELUDE for Organ Andante religioso from Sonata IV [op. 65, no. 4] Felix Mendelssohn, 1845 INTROIT for Choir Gathered Here music and text: Phil Porter, 1990 Gathered here in the mystery of this hour, gathered here in one strong body, gathered here in the struggle and the power, Spirit draw near. *CALL TO WORSHIP All: We gather this morning as the people of God. We gather together with praise and thanksgiving. As God breathed life into creation, let the Holy Spirit breathe new life into us. Open our ears to hear your Word; Open our hearts that we would be shaped by your Word. Let us worship our God! *HYMN of Praise No. 24 The God of Abraham Praise PRAYER OF INVOCATION and THE LORD S PRAYER LEONI stanza 4 descant: Craig Sellar Lang (1891-1971) Creating and redeeming God, calling and sending Spirit, we welcome you and open our hearts to receive you into our worship. We welcome the love that is the essence of your Divine nature. We receive the Word that mediates your grace. We welcome the one who is new to us, and receive the one who is hurting, sad, or lonely. We welcome the old and the young, the healthy and infirm, and the strong and the weak; for we all have been, or will be, each of these in our turn. * Those who are able are invited to stand.
We receive your gifts and blessings with profound gratitude. Envelop us now in the mystery of your presence. We continue to pray, as we seek to worship you in spirit and in truth, with the words you taught us, 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, for ever. Amen. (* = traditional wording but you may use alternative wording, such as God, Creator, or Mother, as seems fitting.) CONFESSION AND RESPONSE CALL TO CONFESSION AND RECONCILIATION UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION All: Merciful and forgiving Savior, were it not for your open and loving invitation to bring our sin before you, we could not bear the burden of our brokenness and repeated failures. We are weary of facing our addictions another day, tired of the cycle of family dysfunction, drained from battling at every turn, and exhausted by our inability to overcome our past. Yet, in you, we find rest and peace. We are cradled in arms of love. We receive hope, reconciliation, and encouragement to let go and try again. Hear the cries of our hearts, dear God. Heal our pain and forgive our sin, we pray. Set us upon the way of loving you and self, so that we may love our neighbor. Amen. SILENCE FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION
WORDS OF ASSURANCE Minister: You are loved. You are forgiven. You are redeemed. ALL: Thanks be to God! *Congregational Response Glory to God the Creator music: Ronald A. Nelson, 1986 text: Gloria patri, 3 rd century, transl. *THE PASSING OF THE PEACE The love of God, the Peace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always. And also with you. Since in Christ we have been reconciled, let us share his peace with one another. THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Candidate: Bojun Xu Sponsor: Dorothy Wurts *HYMN of New Life Out of Deep, Unordered Water RUSTINGTON OPENING WORDS BY MINISTER *CONGREGATION The UCC Statement of Faith, Adapted by Robert V. Moss We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify: God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death. God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin. God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death, and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator. God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races. God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table, and to join him in his passion and victory. God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end. Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God. Amen. CHARGE TO CANDIDATE Minister: Bojun, do you desire to be baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ? Candidate: I do. Minister: Sponsor Dorothy, are you ready, with God s help, to guide and encourage Bojun, by counsel and example, in prayer and with love, to follow the way of Jesus Christ? Sponsor: I am. Minister: Do you renounce the powers of evil, and desire the freedom of new life in Christ? Candidate: I do. Minister: Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Candidate: I do. Minister: Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and world of Jesus Christ as best you are able? Candidate: I promise, with the help of God. Minister: Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith, and to be a faithful member of the church of Jesus
Christ, celebrating Christ presence, and furthering Christ s mission in all the world? Candidate: I promise, with the help of God. CONGREGATIONAL ASSENT Minister: Jesus Christ calls us to make disciples of all nations, and to offer them the gift of grace in baptism. Do you, who witness and celebrate this sacrament, promise your love and support to Bojun as she lives and grows in Christ? We promise our love and support. THE ACT OF BAPTISM PRAYER FOR THE BAPTIZED Minister: Gracious God, you have filled the world with joy by giving us the gift of Jesus. Bless Bojun as she is newly baptized. May she be filled with joy, and may she never be ashamed to confess a personal faith in you. Give her strength for life s journey, courage in time of suffering, the joy of faith, the freedom of love, and the hope of new life; through Jesus Christ, who makes us one. Amen. PROCLAIMING GOD S LIVING WORD *HYMN of God s Word No. 317 Make a Gift of Your Holy Word MIKITOBA OLD TESTAMENT READINGS Judges 14: 19-20 NRSV: Old Testament, p. 230 I Samuel 1: 12-19 NRSV: Old Testament, p. 242 Genesis 3: 1-7 NRSV: Old Testament, p. 2
SERMON Some Wonderful Biblical Women: Heroines in Their Time, Role Models in Ours! Dr. Stephen Fuchs, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford RESPONDING IN FAITH *HYMN of Faith No. 404 Give Up Your Anxious Pains ICH HALTE TREULICH STILL THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Response (sung by the choir) Day by Day music: Harold Friedell (1905-1958) text: Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) Day by day, dear Lord, of thee three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly. THE OFFERING OF GIFTS AND TITHES Anthem for Choir, Quartet of Voices, and Organ Praise Him music: Johann Sebastian Bach, c. 1726 [Cantata 207] text: from the Psalms; arr. J. Michael Diack, 1931 Lisa Williamson, soprano; Benjamin Rauch, countertenor; Philippe L Esperance, Jr., tenor; Jermaine Woodard, Jr., baritone Praise him, praise the great Creator, for his goodness, for his bounty, showered upon us still throughout the year. Praise him, snow and wind and rain, praise him, buds and blossoms fair, fruits and fields of golden grain, beasts of earth and birds of air; Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him, Praise him, angels in the height.
*Eastertide Doxology LASST UNS ERFREUEN music: Geistliche Kirchengesäng, Cologne, 1623; harm. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906 text: Thomas Ken, 1674; alt. *UNISON PRAYER OF DEDICATION O God, receive these gifts, bless them and multiply them, that they may strengthen and unify the work of your Church here and around the Earth you love. In Jesus name we pray: Amen. GOING FORTH *HYMN for God s Guidance No. 556 God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens HOLY MANNA *BENEDICTION POSTLUDE for Organ Carillon de Westminster [op. 54, no. 6] Louis Vierne, 1927 We conclude Eastertide with this great fantasia based upon the four notes of the Westminster chime. Louis Vierne (1870-1937) served as organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death (at the Notre Dame organ console, while playing a concert!). BEING THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD HIGHLIGHTING OUR MINISTRIES DISMISSAL Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.