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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: “We live in a world where fear and cynicism are running sky high, where traditional institutions of faith and culture are breaking down, and where our dislocation from nature and the natural rhythms of life leave our souls a little pent up and crazy. Suspicion and pessimism are pretty good defenses against a world gone mad. But the great spiritual teachings of the ages have suggested a radically counter-intuitive response. When this same question came up in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s great novel The Brothers Karamazov, the wise elder Fr. Zossima said in response, ‘Go help someone. Reach out to a brother or sister in need. Feed the hungry, heal the sick—or at least, take on your small share of the task—and then, only then, will you come to know that the world is trustworthy and God is real.’”
Welcome:
Gathering Music: Holy Spirit (by Francesca Battistelli) – Michelle Currie
Responsive Call to Worship:
One: We are given water
Many: To renew our arid paths.
One: We are given fire
Many: To ignite our dreams.
One: We are given winds
Many: To move us towards our visions.
One: We are given the earth
Many: In which we plant seeds of hope.
All: Through the pieces of Creation, we see the steadfast
presence of God; Through the stirring of the Spirit, we no
longer stand still.
Opening Hymn: Breathe On Me, Breath of God #286 vs. 1,2 & 3
Breathe on me , Breath of God; fill me with life anew.
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God; until my heart is pure.
until with thee, I will one will, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me Breath of God; till I am holy thine.
until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.
Invocation:
Creator God, Divine Artist, you have placed climate, plants,
seas and mountains to be great encouragers in our lives. Your Spirit moves seeds to trees, bulbs to lilies, and clouds to rainbows. The air we breathe enlivens us. The streams we touch awaken us.
May we see Creation as a friend on our journey- one who will teach us of your steadfast love. May we experience the Spirit through Creation, to sustain and strengthen us. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer:
Awakening: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) (by Matt Crocker/Joel Houston)
-Michelle Currie
Scripture: Acts 2: 1-8, 13-14, 22-24,“Now Is the Time” by Hafiz
–Sue Maccalous
Reflection: “What is it in that Sweet Voice Inside that Incites You to Fear?” – Hafiz – Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft aka Nunsense
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Words of Invitation Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Bread The Cup
Music: You’ll Never Walk Alone (by Richard Rogers) -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
Offertory: -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: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling #366 vs. 1,2 & 3
Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down, fix in us the humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thy art; visit us with thy salvation enter every trembling heart.
Come, Almighty to deliver; let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never, never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.
Finish then thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
Benediction:
One: “When all is quiet and we are small and the night is dark, may we hear the tender breathing of all who lie awake with us in fear, that together we may gather strength to live with love, and kindness, and
confidence.” Rev. Dr. Jane Rzepka All: Amen
Recessional: Blest Be the Tie that Binds
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
Thank you to Music Director and today’s Musician, Michelle Currie, reader, Maureen White and Zoom hosts Patricia Mulholland and Stephen Fox.
Rev. Paula Norbert (207) 205-4951 or (pnorbert1217@gmail.com)
Union Church website: www.unionchurchme.com. Church Address: Union Church, P.O. Box 344, B.P. ME. 04006.
Perhaps we just pay less attention to compassion and caring; we reinforce it less. Whereas in some sense, we fully embrace hostility and anger as an emotional state, fueling and reinforcing it. If we were to give the same amount of energy, attention, and reinforcement to compassion and caring, they would definitely be stronger.
Dalai Lama
The Hope of Loving
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey;
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us. Meister Eckhart