Falmouth Congregational Church United Church of Christ An Open and Affirming Congregation 267 Falmouth Road Falmouth, Maine 04105 207.781.3413 Serving Christ and Community since 1754 Third Parish Church; 1833 The Brick Church The Reverend Michael H. Richards Pastor and Teacher
FALMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH United Church of Christ An Open and Affirming Congregation 10:00 AM SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER MAY 21, 2017 THE COMMUNITY GATHERS THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Jesus does not leave us alone in our discipleship. Love has little meaning outside of a commitment. LIFE OF THE CHURCH HONORING OUR CALL TO BE PEACEMAKERS *Passing the Peace of Christ One: May the peace of Christ be with you. All: And also with you. (As a sign of our reconciliation with God and one another, we invite you to turn and greet those around you sharing the peace of Christ saying: The Peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. ) PRELUDE Morning Has Broken arr. Brant Adams Ann Sanborn, alto saxophone BRINGING FORTH THE LIGHT OF CHRIST CALL TO WORSHIP- Adapted from Psalm 66 One: Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth! All: Sing the glory of God s name. One: Come and see what God has done. God is awesome in His deeds among mortals. All: Sing the glory of God s name. One: Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of praise be heard. *HYMN OF PRAISE We Sing Your Mighty Power, O God No. 64 *OUR LORD S PRAYER (sung in unison) No. 307 A TIME FOR THE CHILDREN PRAYER OF INVOCATION One: To honor and praise You, O God, All: we come in gratitude and love. One: With great joy and amazement, All: we remember the victory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. One: Therefore, we raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving All: for Your incomparable gift of love revealed in Christ's resurrection. Amen. CALL TO CONFESSION PRAYER OF CONFESSION One: Resurrected Christ, You come to us when we least expect, offering us lives of a different kind of abundance.
All: Yet we often fail to sense Your presence with us and misuse Your generous gifts. One: Joyful Spirit, You long to turn our mourning into dancing, to change our funeral clothes into garments of exuberance. All : Sad or afraid, we often struggle to lift our feet to Your music or wear an emotion that matches Your joy. Forgive us, Creator of all, for failing to live in tune with Your love. Even when we have lost faith in You, do not lose faith in us. Make us once again into Your faithful people, inspired and inspiring others. ASSURANCE OF GOD S LOVE AND FORGIVENESS Pastor Michael One: Christ forgives the most impossible sins, overcomes the greatest fears, comforts the loudest cries, and breaks down the strongest barriers to His love and peace. All: Through the resurrection, Christ s power in the Holy Spirit lives and works here and now. One: Brothers and sisters, know that we are forgiven and be at peace. WE HEAR GOD S WORD THE WORD OF GOD New Testament Lesson Acts 17:22-31 (NRSV p. 120; RSV p. 130 ) One: This is the Word of the Lord All: Thanks be to God Gospel Lesson John 14:15-21 (NRSV p. 95; RSV p. 104 ) One: This is the Word of the Lord All: Thanks be to God SERMON Killed by Loving Kindness? Pastor Michael *HYMN Where the Spirit of the Lord Is No. 264 (Sing twice) SHARING OUR JOYS AND CONCERNS PASTORAL PRAYER WE RESPOND TO THE WORD PRAYER RESPONSE Amen McNeil Robinson II OFFERING OUR GIFTS TO GOD The Invitation The Offertory All Things Bright and Beautiful John Rutter *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. *Prayer of Dedication One: God, your heart is wide open to us. All: You have given to us freely and taught us to return to you a portion of what we have. One: Grant us glad and generous hearts, All: and help us be as open to you as you are to us. One: Help us use your gifts wisely and for the benefit of all your people. All: Amen. *CLOSING HYMN Lord, I Want to Be a Christian No. 589 *BENEDICTION
*BENEDICTION RESPONSE Carrying the Light of Christ into the World Go in peace and the peace of God be with you this day. Go in peace and the peace of God be with you always. Celebrate and share the joy! Celebrate new Life! Go in peace and the peace of God be with you always. POSTLUDE All Hail the Power Oliver Holden/Lani Smith (During the postlude, you may be seated to listen, or you may leave.) (*) Please rise in body or spirit. Throughout the order of worship, if print is in bold, words may be spoken together in unison. NRSV Bibles are on the pulpit side of the sanctuary and the RSV Bibles are on the lectern side of the sanctuary. Please silence or turn off your cell phone before you enter the sanctuary. Thank you! Worship Participants Greeter: Sally Emery Liturgist: Judy Nilsen Ushers: Jack Davis, Jim Parr, Lorraine Bergen, Judy Currier Special thanks to Ann Sanborn for sharing her musical gifts with us today! We welcome you to worship and invite you to join us after the service in Fellowship Hall for refreshments. If you are visiting us today, please pick up a Welcome Bag in Fellowship Hall or in the Narthex. We encourage you to sign the guest book. Children will be dismissed for Kids Church following A Time for the Children. Visiting children are always welcome! Kids Church takes place in the downstairs classrooms, and runs until 11:15 AM. Children in preschool through grade 2 will not be dismissed after class until picked up by a parent. Let s celebrate! Myron Hager turns 100 years young on Friday, May 26. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we will have a cake in his honor following worship TODAY. There will be a basket to collect birthday greetings. Let us raise our voices and make a beautiful sound! Join us TODAY at 3:00 PM for a Community Hymn Sing. Invite everyone you know and sing your favorite hymns. All are welcome! Called to Care is meeting Wednesday, May 24 at 2:00 PM in the Grant Room. Anyone interested is welcome and encouraged to attend. Strengthen the Church is a 5 for 5 mission offering which helps develop spiritual life in our youth and young adults, establish new churches, and awaken new ideas in existing churches. Strengthen the Church funds will also be used to award grants to help congregations communicate the "God is still speaking" message. Your donations will be collected on Pentecost Sunday, June 4, which is 50 days after Easter. Bottle recycling at the Transfer Station: FCC has signed up to sort for the month of June. Please sign up using the sheet on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. Please contact Pam Carroll (pcarroll4@maine.rr.com) for more information. The Falmouth Food Pantry will be open on the following days in May: Tuesday, May 23 from 9:30 AM until 11:30 AM; and on Thursday, May 25 from 4:30 PM until 6:30 PM.
UCC Emergency Appeal for East Africa Famine Famine has officially been declared in South Sudan and, for the first time in recent history, there is a very real possibility of four famines - in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen - breaking out all at once. Twenty million people face starvation within the next six months. International aid officials warn that this is one of the biggest humanitarian disasters since World War II. Increased investment in international humanitarian assistance at this moment is critical to assist these people in crisis. In addition, we see that continued funding for peacebuilding programs that prevent violent conflict are critical pieces that help address root causes of poverty and famine. To address the current famine, the global humanitarian community is ready to scale up the response to avert a catastrophe, but requires additional funds immediately to do so. Let's do our part through our prayers, generous contributions, and advocacy with the U.S. government to release emergency funding to meet the catastrophic needs of these four countries and support robust funding for diplomatic, development, and peacebuilding tools, which are critical to our security, and to the well-being of others around the world. We must act now, before it is too late. If you would like to make a contribution, please use the offering envelopes provided in the bulletin and reference OGHS Famine Emergency in the memo of your check. The next Coffee House event will be on Friday, June 9 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. The featured musicians are Choro Louco. They are a local group who specialize in the unique Choro Brazilian music. This promises to be a musical treat! Come enjoy a beverage and listen to great music. Invite your friends and neighbors to this family-friendly event! PLEASE REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS Robbie Coleman Charlie Grubb Maureen Grubb Mimi Mahirwe Joyce Harmon Bee O Brien Ted Vail Nora VanDusen Our deepest sympathy is extended to Joanne Varga and other family members of Paul Varga. Paul passed peacefully to his eternal rest last week. A memorial service will be held here next Saturday, May 27 at 10 AM. In life and in death we hold fast to the promises of the Gospel. Please let the church office know if we have missed someone. We will keep people on the prayer list for one month. If you would like them to continue on the prayer list, please update us so that we may better pray for them. Thank you. Next Sunday s Lectionary Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11; John 17:1-11
Church Office Hours Monday-Thursday: 9:00 AM 3:00 PM, Closed on Friday Church Phone: 207.781.3413 Visit our Web site: www.falmouthcongregationalchurch.org Church Office e-mail: fccdesk@maine.rr.com Pastor Michael Richards Minister pastormichaelfcc@maine.rr.com Kristen Coleman Christian Education Coordinator fccchristianeducation@maine.rr.com Matthew Strobel Sexton mstrobel66@yahoo.com Doris Krueger Minister of Music dnkrueger@gmail.com Paul Davis Moderator nevis56@gmail.com Gini Medford Office Manager ginifcc@maine.rr.com Marilee Pillsbury Vice Moderator bigmarilee@yahoo.com Laurie Logan Office Assistant fccdesk@maine.rr.com This Week s Schedule Sunday May 21 10:00 AM Worship 10:10 AM Kids Church 11:15 AM Myron Hager Birthday Cake 11:30 AM Bible Study (Parlor) 11:30 AM Ministry of Christian Education (Grant Room) 3:00 PM Community Hymn Sing Tuesday May 23 10:00 AM Bible Study (OceanView) Wednesday May 24 2:00 PM Called to Care (Grant Room) 7:30 PM Chancel Choir Rehearsal Thursday May 25 10:00 AM Collators (Grant Room) Saturday May 27 10:00 AM Paul Varga Memorial Service Sunday May 28 9:00 AM Choir Practice 10:00 AM Worship 10:10 AM Kids Church 11:15 AM Coffee Fellowship Falmouth Congregational Church is a fragrance-free environment. Please help us to accommodate our members and visitors who are chemically sensitive to fragrances and other scented products. Thank you for not wearing perfume, aftershave, scented hand lotion, fragranced hair products and/or similar products.