Trinity Sunday - June 7, 2020.
Preparation for Worship:
"If I had the influence of the good fairy who is supposed to preside offer the christening or all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world wold be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength." Rachel Carson, 20th century
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Let us worship the eternal God, the Source of Love and Life.
People: Let us worship Jesus Christ, the Risen One, who lies among us.
L: Let us worship the Spirit, the Holy Fire, who renews us.
All: To the one true God be praised in all times and places, through the grace of Jesus Christ.
OPENING HYMN: "Holy, Holy, Holy" (No. 277, NCH)
THE COMMANDMENT OF JESUS (john 15: 5, 12)
I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
Holy Trinity, you are Sacred Three,
Blessed One,
Elusive God.
We pray to you:
Creator that we may give forth new life.
Christ, that we may be rooted deeply in this life,
Spirit, that we may soar beyond possibilities.
May your just and loving ways be our ways. Amen.
SPECIAL MUSIC. "Air" JS Bach
SCRIPTURE LESSON: Genesis 1: 1 - 2:4a
CHILDREN'S MESSAGE
SHARING OUR JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Let us pray
Holy God, we were created in your image,
an image of mutuality and respect for one another;
an image of a dance ever moving, ever in tune, one with the others;
an image of community with shared blessing and mission.
You have given us dominion over the work of your hands.
You have charged us to be fruitful and multiply,
t make disciples of all nations.
For give us God; we have denied our purpose. We have abused the earth's
resources for our own selfish gain and the consequences wreak havoc upon
the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and every living thing that moves on the earth.
Forgive us God: we have defiled your image.
We have regarded some of your children as "other" or "less than"
and therefore, have treated them with injustice and inhumanity.
Forgive us God; for we have sinned.
Words of Assurance - Pastor
God desires to see broken relationships restored
and has heard our prayer.
In the name of Jesus the Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit,
we are forgiven. thanks be to God.
PRAYER SONG: "Spirit of the Living God" (No. 283, NCH)
PASTORAL PRAYER.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS.
OFFERING THOUGHTS- Pastor
God has abundantly bestowed upon us the gift of life. Our best response is to offer or whole lives as channels for God's mission in the world. Give as you are able to build the community of God, both where you are and around the world.
MUSICAL OFFERING "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Paul Simon
MESSAGE: "A good Life in a Good World" Pastor Candy Thomas
Communion Hymn: "I Come with Joy" (No. 349, NCH)
I come with joy, a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free.
The life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me, in love laid down for me.
I come with Christians far and near to find, as all are fed. The new community
Of love in Christ's communion bread, in Christ's communion bread.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
INVITATION
L: From the Beginning, the followers of Christ have broken bread together.
P: Gathered at tables fancy and simple, sharing wafers or full meals,
L: In this era of pandemic and separation we continue to gather together.
P: Sitting in our homes, with our own supplies, but linked together by the bits and bytes and cables.
L: The meal we share is hosted by; the God who meets us where we are. And so all who seek to live by the values of God's Kingdom are welcome to join as we eat together, from a distance.
P: Let us break bread together in our homes.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION/REMEMBRANCE
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
BREAKING AND POURING
SHARING THE ELEMENTS
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
We have broken the bread, we have poured the drink, we have shared a meal together.
Even while we remain physically separated, we have been united in our souls.
May this meal we share with each other and with the whole Christian family across the centuries and miles change who we are. And now, as we continue to live as people who have had the Holy Spirit breathed onto us and into us, may we love and serve God, our neighbor , and ourselves. So that the Kingdom of Love is made real in our lives. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: "For the Beauty of the Earth" (No 28 NCH)
For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies,
For the love which from our birth, over and around us lies,
over and around us lies.
Refrain: God of all, to you we raise, this our grateful hymn of praise.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light,
Sun and moon and stars of light.
Refrain
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friend above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,
For all gentle thoughts and mild,
Refrain
For the good that love inspires, for a world where none exclude,
For a faith that never tires, and for every heart renewed,
And for ever every heart renewed.
Refrain
COMMISSION
This is the faith that Christians proclaim:
The power of God which created the world is the power of love.
The power in Jesus which rescues the world is the power of love.
The power in us which changes the world is the poser of love..
Therefore, I bid you--go in the name of love.
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE