You can view or download the full weekly bulletin below.
WELCOME
Greeting & Announcements
Prelude - Down By the Riverside, The Honey Creek Stompers
Call to Worship
Sisters and brothers, rejoice. We live sustained by God’s presence and love. Thanks be to God.
As we mourn the wounds of God’s children, God weeps with us.
As we give thanks for brothers and sisters who have lived in faith, God gives thanks with us.
As we struggle for justice, God struggles with us.
As we strive for peace, God strives with us.
As we offer our gifts to all, God blesses us.
Sisters and brothers, rejoice.
Sustained by God’s presence and love, we worship God.
+ Hymn 352 - My Lord! What a Morning vs. 1 and 3
+ Call to Confession
+ A Prayer of Confession
Most holy and merciful God: we acknowledge and confess our slowness to do good, our blindness to injustice, and our complicity in deferring the dreams and hopes of the oppressed. We have refused to heed your call to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you, our God. We condemn racial injustice in our pronouncements, yet we cling to the privileges derived from inequality. Help us to name our sin, to claim responsibility for our actions, and to change our behavior. In accordance with the commands of Jesus Christ, our savior, shake us from our sleep with your imperative to do justice; move us to action with the compassion of your grace; and give us courage to pay the price, however painful or costly, that the justice you will, may be done on earth, as in heaven. Hear now our silent prayer to you…Hear now our silent prayers of confession…
• Assurance of Pardon
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581 Gloria Patri
Passing of the Peace
Children’s Message
Special Music - Go Down Moses
Prayer for Openness - Prayer by Martin Luther King Jr., Ebenezer Baptist Church 1953
O God, our eternal Father, we praise thee for gifts of mind with which thou hast endowed us. We are able to rise out of the half-realities of the sense world to a world of ideal beauty and eternal truth. Teach us, we pray Thee, how to use this great gift of reason and imagination so that it shall not be a curse but a blessing. Grant us visions that shall lift us from worldliness and sin into the light of thine own holy presence. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Scripture Reading - Amos 5.18-24
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
MESSAGE - In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this morning’s message is a selection of readings from his speech following the March from Selma to Montgomery, which was given 60 years ago, on March 25, 1965. These readings are being done by members of our Social Justice and Worship Committees. They remind us that our collective faith should inspire us to take steps toward justice and reconciliation. The full text of this speech can be found here: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/our-god-marching
Introduction - Rich Copley
First Reading - My Soul is Rested - Helen Richardson
Offering
• Offertory - Just a Closer Walk with Thee
Second Reading - The Best of American Instincts - Trisha Bernard
Anthem - Precious Lord, Take My Hand, arr. Ringwald
Shawnee Press and Roy Ringwald dedicated this setting “to the honored memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Blues musician Thomas Dorsey wrote the song in an anguished response to the death of his wife and child during childbirth.
Third Reading - On the Move - Katie Whaley
Fourth Reading - Normalcy - Janet Lumpp
Statement of Faith - From the PC(USA) Brief Statement of Faith
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ HYMN 317 - In Christ There Is No East or West verses 1, 2, and 4
THE LORD’S SUPPER
• Invitation
• Prayer of Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise…
• Words of Institution
• The Communion of the People
The congregation is invited to come forward to tear off a piece of bread and dip it in the cup. There is gluten-free bread on the table. If you would prefer to receive Communion in your pew, an elder or deacon will serve you. After consuming the bread and the cup and returning to your seat, turn your mind to what God is inviting you to consider in this moment of stillness.
• Music During Communion: What a Wonderful World
• Prayer after Communion
Gracious God, we give you thanks for uniting us with Christ and with all the faithful who have come before us who have served you with courage and with joy. Renewed for our daily living, help us remember that we belong to you and that you lead us into newness of life. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
+ HYMN 339 - Lift Every Voice and Singverses 1 and 3
Closing Reading - How Long Will it Take? - Rev. Matt Falco
…And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own. How long?
Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
How long?
Not long, because: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…
Benediction Response - 354 - Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
he has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible
swift sword. God’s truth is marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah! God’s truth is marching on.
Postlude - When the Saints Go Marching In
Greeting & Announcements
Prelude - Down By the Riverside, The Honey Creek Stompers
Call to Worship
Sisters and brothers, rejoice. We live sustained by God’s presence and love. Thanks be to God.
As we mourn the wounds of God’s children, God weeps with us.
As we give thanks for brothers and sisters who have lived in faith, God gives thanks with us.
As we struggle for justice, God struggles with us.
As we strive for peace, God strives with us.
As we offer our gifts to all, God blesses us.
Sisters and brothers, rejoice.
Sustained by God’s presence and love, we worship God.
+ Hymn 352 - My Lord! What a Morning vs. 1 and 3
+ Call to Confession
+ A Prayer of Confession
Most holy and merciful God: we acknowledge and confess our slowness to do good, our blindness to injustice, and our complicity in deferring the dreams and hopes of the oppressed. We have refused to heed your call to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you, our God. We condemn racial injustice in our pronouncements, yet we cling to the privileges derived from inequality. Help us to name our sin, to claim responsibility for our actions, and to change our behavior. In accordance with the commands of Jesus Christ, our savior, shake us from our sleep with your imperative to do justice; move us to action with the compassion of your grace; and give us courage to pay the price, however painful or costly, that the justice you will, may be done on earth, as in heaven. Hear now our silent prayer to you…Hear now our silent prayers of confession…
• Assurance of Pardon
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581 Gloria Patri
Passing of the Peace
Children’s Message
Special Music - Go Down Moses
Prayer for Openness - Prayer by Martin Luther King Jr., Ebenezer Baptist Church 1953
O God, our eternal Father, we praise thee for gifts of mind with which thou hast endowed us. We are able to rise out of the half-realities of the sense world to a world of ideal beauty and eternal truth. Teach us, we pray Thee, how to use this great gift of reason and imagination so that it shall not be a curse but a blessing. Grant us visions that shall lift us from worldliness and sin into the light of thine own holy presence. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Scripture Reading - Amos 5.18-24
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
MESSAGE - In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this morning’s message is a selection of readings from his speech following the March from Selma to Montgomery, which was given 60 years ago, on March 25, 1965. These readings are being done by members of our Social Justice and Worship Committees. They remind us that our collective faith should inspire us to take steps toward justice and reconciliation. The full text of this speech can be found here: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/our-god-marching
Introduction - Rich Copley
First Reading - My Soul is Rested - Helen Richardson
Offering
• Offertory - Just a Closer Walk with Thee
Second Reading - The Best of American Instincts - Trisha Bernard
Anthem - Precious Lord, Take My Hand, arr. Ringwald
Shawnee Press and Roy Ringwald dedicated this setting “to the honored memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Blues musician Thomas Dorsey wrote the song in an anguished response to the death of his wife and child during childbirth.
Third Reading - On the Move - Katie Whaley
Fourth Reading - Normalcy - Janet Lumpp
Statement of Faith - From the PC(USA) Brief Statement of Faith
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ HYMN 317 - In Christ There Is No East or West verses 1, 2, and 4
THE LORD’S SUPPER
• Invitation
• Prayer of Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise…
• Words of Institution
• The Communion of the People
The congregation is invited to come forward to tear off a piece of bread and dip it in the cup. There is gluten-free bread on the table. If you would prefer to receive Communion in your pew, an elder or deacon will serve you. After consuming the bread and the cup and returning to your seat, turn your mind to what God is inviting you to consider in this moment of stillness.
• Music During Communion: What a Wonderful World
• Prayer after Communion
Gracious God, we give you thanks for uniting us with Christ and with all the faithful who have come before us who have served you with courage and with joy. Renewed for our daily living, help us remember that we belong to you and that you lead us into newness of life. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
+ HYMN 339 - Lift Every Voice and Singverses 1 and 3
Closing Reading - How Long Will it Take? - Rev. Matt Falco
…And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own. How long?
Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
How long?
Not long, because: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…
Benediction Response - 354 - Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
he has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible
swift sword. God’s truth is marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah! God’s truth is marching on.
Postlude - When the Saints Go Marching In