Order of Worship
Let us be as open vessels that God’s spirit may enter.
The Community Gathers: Experience God’s presence in the assembly. Please greet one another with joy and welcome new friends into our community of love.
You are welcome here…come and worship!
Focus: “When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” —Tecumseh
Gathering Music: Simple Gifts (by Joseph Brackett)
-Cheryl Sager & Neal Zweig
Welcome: An Invitation to name the gifts you have received over the past year…
Responsive Call to Worship:
Leader: We live in a beautiful land, flowing with abundant harvest.
People: Yet people in our country are hungry every day.
Leader: We have so many blessings given to us by God.
People: Children go to bed hungry and cold; others live on the streets.
Leader: Lord, we thank you for the blessings you have bestowed upon us.
People: Lord, remind us that we must share these blessings for all so that no one goes hungry; no child goes to bed cold and people no longer live on the streets. We pray that we may find a better way. Amen.
Opening Hymn: An Autumn Morning Has Broken **See Lyric Insert
Invocation:
We gather this day to praise God for the abundance of gifts we have been given as we look ahead to joining with others around a table of plenty. As these gifts are a blessing to us, help us to be a blessing to others. Open our hearts to your word and your ways this day, O Lord. As we count our blessings around the table, help us to remember those who dwell in lands of poverty and war. Help us to find ways to reach out to them in ministries of hope and peace, for we ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer:
Awakening: I Have a Dream (by Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
-Cheryl Sager & Neal Zweig
Scripture Reading: A prayer for those who are Hungry, Joel 2:21-27, Matthew 6:25-33 -Peter McPheeters
After the reading, you may respond, “Thanks be to God.”
Sermon: Reasons for Hope and Gratitude Rev. Paula Norbert
Meditation Music: Grateful (by John Bucchino) -Michelle Currie
Musical call to Prayer: (two times) Hush now in quiet peace, be still your mind at ease. The Spirit brings release, so wait upon the Lord.
Prayers of the People:
Silent Prayers Pastoral Prayer
Closing Hymn: Now Thank We All Our God #643 vs. 1 & 2
Benediction:
As you celebrate this Thanksgiving,
may the depth of your gratitude give you hope
to work toward a better harvest of the ground and of the Spirit.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Recessional: Go in Peace
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
Thank you to Music Director Michelle Currie and our Musician’s today: Cheryl Sager & Neal Zweig. Thanks to our reader and Zoom Host today.
Rev. Paula Norbert (207) 205-4951 or (pnorbert1217@gmail.com)
“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ” — Adabella Radici
“Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.” — Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear
“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach
“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”
— G. K. Chesterton