Order of Worship
Quest: The Awakened Traveler
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: “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” Maya Angelou
“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” Miriam Adeney
Gathering Music: O Happy Day/My Sweet Lord (by Edwin Hawkins/George Harrison Arr. Michelle Currie) -Michelle Currie
Welcome: Sometimes when we have traveled away from the familiar, we return and find the familiar holds more than we had noticed before. Our eyes, now trained to wonder and appreciate, behold the place we left afresh. Our “Quest” has brought us right ’round again.
Invocation:
Gracious God, we know you are always moving in
our lives and accompanying us on the journey;
your Spirit exists everywhere, on every path,
inviting us to move with curiosity and compassion toward
each other. May we see that our home paths are the unfamiliar
paths for someone else. With renewed compassion, open our
hearts for hospitality, so that in our welcoming, we will grow
together in peace, expand our chances for love, and deepen
understanding right where we are. Nudge and guide us, we pray.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer:
Opening Hymn: Here I Am, Lord #69
Confession and Assurance:
Leader: The shore of the Sea of Galilee was the place where Jesus called the disciples away from their familiar lives and roles into an
adventure, a journey, that would change their lives and our world forever. After his crucifixion, the disciples returned there to the water–to what they knew. But can you imagine? It would never be the same again. And it was there that the resurrected Jesus met them again. He offered them comfort through hospitality–a meal of fish on the shoreline. He meets us even now, at these waters.
Let us pray: Merciful God, we confess that we have not always loved you with our whole hearts and have not always loved our neighbors as ourselves, through what we have done and left
undone. Forgive us when we return to the familiar in fear rather
than promise. Forgive us when we turn inward rather than
become the hosts you call us to be. Guide us as we seek to turn around toward greater love. Lead us to travel in your ways. Amen.
Know this:
Jesus’ welcome is always there.
He stokes the flames of love and invites us to gather ’round,
filling our emptiness, calming our fear, making home for all.
He is our constant companion, inviting us to reach out in care
to one another, traveling together toward the Kin-dom of Love.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
Glory to God. Amen!
Peace The peace of the risen Christ is with you!
And also with you!
Awakening: Love Changes Everything (by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
-Michelle Currie
Scripture: Psalm 36: 5-9, John 15: 1-17 -Anne Murray
(You may respond, Thanks Be To God…)
Reflections: On Returning Home Rev. Paula Norbert
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Words of Invitation The Bread and The Cup
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Response: Meditative Instrumental ~ Michelle Currie
Musical call to Prayer: (sung 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
Offertory: Put Your Hand in the hand (by Gene MacLellan) -Michelle Currie
Doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God above ye heavenly hosts, Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication:
Closing Hymn: Blest Be The Tie That Binds
Benediction:
As you move into the journey of your life, may you love
the journey as a spiritual act, encouraging you ever to
embrace the infinite delight of this earth and its beings.
And may the Creator continue your unfolding,
the Christ accompany your deeper knowing,
the Spirit enliven your growing, until one day we all
gather in the Kin-dom of Love.
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
Reminder: Our Semi-Annual Church Meeting will be held today
following our Service. We hope you may join us.
Thank you to Music Director and Musician Michelle Currie,
to our Reader and Deacons today.
Worship Resources: Worship Design Studios
The Opening Of Eyes
That day I saw beneath dark clouds,
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before,
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing,
speaking out loud in the clear air.
It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last, fallen in love with solid ground.
David Whyte
New and Selected Poems David Whyte
and Many Rivers Press Island in the Light
Our prayer
May this not be just “another day”
but one where,
as I open the door to what is
an orchestra of bird song
in this beautiful, if fragile world,
that somehow, I connect with you
who gifted us this temporary home and yet,
still daily walks with us,
even when we think we are alone.
For such gracious and enduring love,
we offer this,
our heartfelt thanks. Amen.