ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018 OPENING WORSHIP WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018 7:00 P.M. ENTRANCE INTROIT I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life Conference Choir by Gordan Young PROCESSIONAL HYMN And Are We Yet Alive 553 UMH And are we yet alive, and see each other s face? Glory and thanks to Jesus give for His almighty grace! Preserved by power divine to full salvation here, Again in Jesus praise we join, and in His sight appear. What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past, fightings without, and fears within, since we assembled last! Then let us make our boast of His redeeming power, which saves us to the uttermost, till we can sin no more. Let us take up the cross till we the crown obtain, and gladly reckon all things loss so we may Jesus gain. GREETING The grace and love of God be with you. And also with you. Let us gather beneath the cross of Christ. There is unity and love at the cross. CALL TO CELEBRATION Come, worship God in the beauty of God s holiness, the beauty of God s diversity. We stand beneath the Cross of Christ to worship God, creator of all things. Come people of God, bring your hearts. Bring your minds. Bring your sacred work. Bring your tools for sacred work. Worship God as one. One with many faces. One with many voices. 1
One with different viewpoints. One with different life experiences. One from different regions. One from different districts. One in God s love. One in Christ s work. One with many gifts. One by God s grace. Worship as One body, Christ s body, with many parts. One conference beneath the Cross. SELECTION We are One Beneath the Cross Verse: Here beneath the cross We are all the same People redeemed by the lamb of God Power of sin destroyed Justified by grace We have been freed to love Refrain: We are one beneath the cross, Christ became love for us. Called by Grace, sent to run, we stand as one at the cross. OPENING PRAYER God, creator of us all, you have gathered us into this space. We pray that you will sanctify it, and make it your holy sanctuary, where your presence and love abide, and your people gather to worship. Though we are different, by your power and love we are one. One beneath the cross of Christ. We ask for your blessings upon this Annual Conference and the holy conferencing we are tasked to do. Give us your grace, so that our labor will not be as work, but worship unto you and our gathering an opportunity to experience koinonia. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come and fill our hearts and kindle a holy fire within us. This we pray through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. SERVICE OF WORD PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Spirit of the Living God Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall a-fresh on me. 393 UMH 2
SCRIPTURE Psalm 133 (The Message Bible) 1-3 How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. It s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life. The Word of God for the people of God Thanks be to God Ephesians 4:1-6 (The Message Bible) 4 1-3 In light of all this, here s what I want you to do. While I m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk better yet, run! on the road God called you to travel. I don t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. 4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. The Word of God for the people of God Thanks Be to God SELECTION SERMON Mime Ministry Bishop LaTrelle Easterling SELECTION I Will Give Thanks Unto Thee, O Lord Conference Choir by G. Rossini Detra Battle-Washington, soprano soloist BAPTISM GREETING 3
Brothers and sisters in Christ: Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are initiated into Christ's holy Church. We are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. All this is God's gift, offered to us without price. PRESENTATION OF CANDIDATE I present Abraham James McCubbin-Dominguez for baptism. RENUNCIATION OF SIN AND PROFESSION OF FAITH On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin? We do. Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves? We do. Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races? We do. Will you nurture Abraham in Christ's holy Church, that by your teaching and example he may be guided to accept God's grace for himself, to profess his faith openly, and to lead a Christian life? We will. Do you, as Christ's body, the Church, reaffirm both your rejection of sin and your commitment to Christ? We do. Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith, love, and life 4
and include Abraham in your care? By God s grace, we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround Abraham with a community of love and forgiveness, that he may grow in his service to others. We will pray for him, that he may be a true disciple who will walk in the way that leads to abundant life. Let us join together as body in professing our faith as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Do you believe in God? I believe in God, creator of heaven and earth. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? I believe in Jesus Christ, God s only Son, our Lord, Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? I believe in the Holy Spirit, the universal church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. THANKSGIVING OVER THE WATER The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Eternal God: When nothing existed but chaos, you swept across the dark waters and brought forth light. In the days of Noah you saved those on the ark through water. After the flood you set in the clouds a rainbow. When you saw your people as slaves in Egypt, you led them to freedom through the sea. Their children you brought through the Jordan to the land which you promised. Sing to the Lord, sing to the lord all the earth. 5
Tell of God's mercy, tell of God s mercy every day. In the fullness of time you sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb. He was baptized by John and anointed by your Spirit. He called his disciples to share in the baptism of his death and resurrection and to make disciples of all nations. Declare Christ s works, declare Christ s works to the nations, tell of his glory, tell of his glory to all people. Pour out your Holy Spirit, to bless this gift of water and Abraham James who will receive it, to wash away his sin and clothe him in righteousness throughout his life, that, dying and being raised with Christ, he may share in Christ s final victory. All praise to you God, through Jesus Christ your Son, who with you and the Spirit lives and reigns as one forever. Amen. BAPTISM WITH LAYING ON OF HANDS Abraham, I baptize you in the name of the Triune God, Amen. People of God, I invite you to extend your right hand towards Abraham and pray with me. Abraham, the Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through water and the Spirit, you may be a faithful and loving disciple of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now it is our joy to welcome our new brother in Christ. Through baptism you are incorporated by the Holy Spirit into God's new creation and made to share in Christ's royal priesthood. We are all one in Christ Jesus. With joy and thanksgiving we welcome you 6
as a member of the family of Christ. The God of all grace, who has called us to eternal glory in Christ, establish you and strengthen you by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you may live in grace and peace. SELECTION Hallelujah, Tis Done by Philip Bliss Tis the promise of God full salvation to give Unto them who on Jesus, God s Son will believe. Hallelujah tis done! We believe on the Son; we are saved by the blood of the Crucified One. OFFERING Offering Appeal Offertory Offertory Response SERVICE OF THE TABLE Give Thanks by H. Smith/K. Barker Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because God s given Jesus Christ the Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because God s given Jesus Christ the Son. And now let the weak say, I am strong; let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us. And now let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks, give thanks, give thanks. THE GREAT THANKSGIVING The Lord is here. The Lord is with you. The Lord is with us. It is a good thing, now then, that our hearts are lifted up as we give thanks to the Lord, our God. Good, Good, Good God, we shout our praises to you knowing that the height and depth of your almighty power and might are far beyond our wildest dreams. Seeds of Security Rev. Dr. Andrea King 7
We see your awesome handiwork throughout this broken masterpiece we call creation. You are the Divine Builder who transformed the rocks of the earth into the great Appalachian mountains. You are the Divine Architect who carved away the land and poured the waters into the Chesapeake Bay, and then filled those waters with Maryland Blue Crabs and oysters and all kinds of fish. You are the Divine Gardener that laced our valleys with vegetation for cattle and sheep and horses and pigs you created to eat, and the Divine Harvester that brings forth corn and strawberries and tomatoes and watermelons and all manner of delicious and healing vegetation. You are the Divine Artist that fills our cities and our streets and our suburbs and our villages and our hollers with beautiful diversity in color and size and shape among your places and among your people, the very people you created in your Divine Image, woman and man, each and every one, all ignited by the same Divine Spark and each filled with your very Divine Breath. And so we know, despite the height and depth of your glory, you, O God, are a present God, from the very beginning of time, from the origin of humankind, through floods and commandments and judges and kings and prophets, you, great God, have always been a God who is with us, and for that, we worship and honor you. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The truth is, because you are a good, good, good God, it was never well with you to be apart from us. You proved this by becoming even more like us, Emmanuel, God With Us, embracing the vulnerability of infancy, born to scandalous parents who would become refugees and immigrants, much like your people of old. But God, you ve always stood on the other side of the lines this world draws, 8
and so we glorify the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who ate and drank with sinners and dined with tax collectors and befriended women whom society had scorned. You empowered foreigners and outcasts. You touched the unclean. For three years, you were the walking, talking, living embodiment of love. This world was not ready for your love. We confess that in many ways, this world is still not ready for your love, unconditional and poured out for all. And so, in the ultimate display of your wondrous and amazing love, you emptied yourself for us and took up the cross. And yet, even on the cross, as enemies and disciples alike stood beneath you in terror and wonder, stretched your arms out wide, as wide as east is from the west, as if to declare once and for all, to the entire world, until the ends of this earth, your love is wide enough for all your children and for all people to gather as one beneath the cross. On the night Christ willingly gave himself over to judgement, suffering, and death, he shared one final meal with his disciples. After taking on the role of a servant and washing their feet, he offered another sign of his gracious sacrifice. Jesus took the bread from the table, gave thanks to God, gave it to his disciples, and said, Take. Eat. Whenever you do this, remember, this is my body which I m giving for you. And after they had finished their meal and the dinner was over, Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks to God, he gave it to all of his disciples, and said, All of you, drink from this. This gift of the vine is the blood of the new covenant I am pouring out for you and for all so that sins are forgiven. Remember this, and remember me, whenever you drink from this cup. We still stand beneath the cross. And though we are many, when we gather at this table, beneath the cross, we gather as one. The cross is empty. We remember the blood that was shed and the body that was broken, but we hold fast to the truth that the cross didn t have the final say, that sin and death have been defeated, that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 9
because of his faith, and by his grace, we are one beneath the cross, moving towards the day when bodies no longer break nor bleed, but forever reflect the perfect glory of the divine image in which we all were created. So with a bold and daring confidence, together, we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Three in One God, pour out your Holy Spirit on every individual gathered as one in this place tonight. Pour out your Holy Spirit on these life-changing and transformative gifts of bread and the vine. Just as you commanded your disciples to remember, make these sacred elements be, for each of us, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, so that we might become your body, one body, for the broken world into which we are sent, continuing to offer and proclaim your presence throughout every corner of creation, by our words and our actions, as we realize, declare, and live into the redemption made available to all people. By your Holy Spirit, make us one. Make us one with EACH other. Make us one with THE other. Make us one with Christ and make us one in ministry to all the world, until Jesus comes back, heaven comes down, and we sit down to feast at your great, heavenly banquet where all have a seat at the table, even you, and even me. Amen. And so, with one, beautiful, diverse voice, let us pray together, the prayer the Jesus taught his disciples, in the language, or tongue you are most comfortable. 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. BREAKING THE BREAD One bread. One body. One cup. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God, over all, through all, in all. 10
And all, all, all have been called to this one table, where we are one beneath the cross. We break bread and give thanks over the cup, sharing in the grace and gifts of God, for all the people of God. GIVING THE BREAD AND THE CUP The Body Of Christ, given for you. Amen. The Cup of Christ, given for you. Amen. COMMUNION HYMNS Beneath the Cross of Jesus 297 UMH Come to the Table 2264 TFWS Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed 359 UMH Let Us Break Bread Together 618 UMH PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to each one of us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. CLOSING SONG Every Praise Every praise is to our God, every word of worship with one accord Every praise, every praise is to our God. Sing hallelujah to our God, Glory hallelujah is due our God Every praise, every praise is to our God. God my Savior, God my healer, God my deliverer, Yes You are, Yes You are. Every praise is to our God, every word of worship with one accord Every praise, every praise is to our God! BENEDICTION Go forth as apostles. Go forth as prophets. Go forth as evangelists. Go forth as teachers and students. Go forth as pastors and deacons and laity. Go forth knowing who you are and go forth knowing whose you are. The shadow of the cross falls on saints and sinners alike, and the light of Christ is powerful enough to blanket the entire world with his love and grace. So go forth, not as infants in faith, but as fully-matured disciples of Jesus. Go forth as one beneath the cross. Let nothing of hell or earth break the unity and oneness of this body, as we go forth in peace. Amen. RECESSIONAL HYMN All Hail the Power of Jesus Name 155 UMH All hail the power of Jesus name! Let angels prostrate fall, let angels prostrate fall; 11
bring forth the royal diadem and crown him, crown him, crown him, crown him and crown him Lord of all. Ye chosen seed of Israel s race, ye ransomed from the fall, ye ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace and crown him, crown him, crown him, crown him and crown him Lord of all. Sinners, whose love can ne er forget the worm-wood and the gall, the worm-wood and the gall, go spread your trophies at his feet and crown him, crown him, crown him, crown him and crown him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe and crown him, crown him, crown him, crown him and crown him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall, we at his feet may fall! We ll join the everlasting song, and crown him, crown him, crown him, crown him and crown him Lord of all. 12