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Worship Order for
Sunday
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Call to
Worship
Take a deep breath…
This is the day the Lord has made.
Shall we rejoice and be glad in it?
Take a deep breath…
Wherever two or more are gathered in Jesus’ name,
our Messiah is here among
us.
Take a deep breath…
Again this day, let’s rekindle the gift within.
Remember, we have not received a spirit of fear,
but rather a
spirit of power,
and
of love,
and
a sound mind.
Take a deep breath…
Come, ye thankful people, come.
Rise with Christ and sing a grateful song.
refers to
Psalm 118:24,
Matthew 18:20, and
2 Timothy 1:6-7
to be continued in the Benediction
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"Come,
ye thankful people"
(Hymn #94 interspersed with readings from
Psalm 16)
Verse 1 -
"Come,
ye thankful people"
Psalm 16:1-4
Protect me, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord,
“You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
As for the holy ones in the land,
they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
Those who choose another god
multiply their sorrows;
their drink offerings of blood
I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
Verse 2 -
"Come,
ye thankful people"
Psalm 16:5-8
The Lord is my
chosen portion
and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.
Verse 3 -
"Come,
ye thankful people"
Psalm 16:9-11
Therefore my heart
is glad,
and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.
You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Verse 4 -
"Come,
ye thankful people"
scripture text from
the New
Revised Standard Version
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States
of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Opening
Prayer
For these moments of glory
into which you have invited us to step, O Lord
- we give you thanks.
For the fresh wind of your Holy Spirit
which you breathe upon us
- we are grateful.
For the challenge of faith
that is always just beyond our grasp,
that we may stretch our soul’s muscles
and become more spiritually fit
- we are refreshed.
For the times when we blow it
and fail to live up to your calling
- forgive us,
restore us, and
lead us onward.
Today. Amen.
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An Affirmation of faith
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Please
remain standing and let us speak our faith, with
words which can never say everything, but give voice
to what the Lord has embedded within us. #717 is an
affirmation of faith appropriate for this day of
Thanksgiving. In unison: |
I believe in God,
the giver of grain and bread,
and in Jesus Christ,
the bread of life broken for us,
and in the Holy Spirit,
God's nourishing power in every grain and loaf.
I believe that Christ is to be leaven in us,
so that we may offer the bread of life
to the hungers of every human heart.
Hymnal #717
by Alvin Franz Brightbill
adapted from We Gather Together,
copyright © 1979 Brethren Press.
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For
Children
"Thanksgiving
Always"
Borrowing a children's story from Ruth Gilmore (Barefoot
in the Snow, ©2001, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, p. 42),
we will playfully interact with a calendar to determine when we
are supposed to be thankful. The answer, of course, is not on
one particular day, but "always." Draws from
1 Thess. 5:16-18 and Col. 3:15-16; 4:2.
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Pastoral Prayer
written closer to the time (if not at the
moment)
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Returning
our Tithes and Offerings
During the
following moments of giving, as you place your offering in the
plate, ponder what it means to “provoke one another to love
and good deeds,” as it says in the letter to the Hebrews. We
usually think of provocation as being something negative.
Instead, I invite you to break open that word. “Pro” is a prefix
which means “before, forward, forth.” “Vocation” is what we are
called to do by God. In the words of one author, “the place God
calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the
world’s deep hunger meet.”* Use these moments of giving to think
about how you might nudge someone near you in such a direction.
Ushers?
*Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking,
©1973, p.95.
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Benediction
Take a
deep breath…
This is the day the Lord has made.
We have rejoiced and been glad in it.
Don’t stop now.
Take a deep breath…
We have gathered in Jesus’ name,
knowing that our Messiah is here among us.
Do you think he leaves us when we leave here?
No way!
Take a deep breath…
Again this day, we have rekindled the gift within.
Remember, we have not received a spirit of fear,
but rather a spirit
of power,
and
of love,
and a sound
mind.
Therefore, take a deep breath…
Go, ye thankful people, go.
Rise with Christ and live by faith. Amen.
continues theme from the Call to Worship
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