Worship Celebration
Worship Celebration
United Church of Hyde Park
November 4, 2018
Guiding Vision
“We are a diverse, Christ-centered people, learning together and reaching out to serve the community in faith, hope, and love.”
** Let’s gather together towards the front during Communion Sunday. **
We Open Ourselves to God and Each Other
Prelude “On Eagles Wings”
Welcome
Choral Introit “Sweet Spirit”
*Call to Worship
One: O God, you summon the day to dawn;
You teach the morning to waken the earth.
All: Great is your name,
Great is your love.
One: For you the valleys will sing for joy,
The trees of the field shall clap their hands.
All: Great is your name,
Great is your love.
One: To you the monarchs of earth shall bow,
The poor and the persecuted shall shout for joy;
All: Great is your name,
Great is your love.
One: Your love and justice shall last forever,
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise.
All: Great is your name,
Great is your love.
*Hymn “For All the Saints” #711
All Saints Day Prayer
One: Let us pray together. Lord God, by your grace we are running a race.
All: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses—
One: Patriarchs and matriarchs, prophets and psalmists, disciples and evangelists, martyrs and saints.
All: We thank you for their example. We praise you for their lives of faith. For all your saints, O Lord, who strove in you to live, who followed, obeyed, adored you, our grateful hymn we sing.
One: Lord God, by your grace we are running a race.
All: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses—
One: Loved ones now resting in you, who guided us, nurtured and cared for us; ancestors who worked and traveled, lived and died that we might be who we are, where we are–your precious children in this community of believers.
All: We thank you for their example. We praise you for their lives of faith. For all your saints, O Lord, who strove in you till death, who counted you their great reward – – accept our thankful cry.
One: Lord God, by your grace we are running a race.
All: We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses—
One: Family members and members of this congregation; fellow believers in every country, every denomination; friends who help, guide and uplift us – children of your family, sheep of your fold, saints of your redeeming.
All: We thank you for their example. We praise you for their lives of faith. For this, your name we bless, and humbly pray anew, that we like them in holiness may live and die in you. Amen.
Candle lighting
Pastor: We acknowledge those gone before us as we light this candle. You are invited in this time of silence to remember your loved ones and those whose witness you honor.
Silence is kept
Words of Assurance
Pastor: Hear these words of scripture. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. (Heb. 12:1-2)
All: Glory to God. Amen.
*Passing the Peace
One: The angels said these words to startled shepherds, and Jesus said them to frightened followers. And now these words that came from heaven are shared to make us whole and to make us one. Peace be with you.
All: And also with you.
We invite the congregation to greet one another: “Peace be with you.” Show a smile, shake a hand, give a hug. Let’s share God’s love with one another. During the singing of “Blest be the tie that binds,” please find your way back to your seat as our worship continues.
*Song of Response (sung while on the way back to our seats)
“Blest Be the Tie That Binds” #557 (1st verse)
Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
We Listen Together for the Divine Word
Anthem “In This Very Room”
Prayer for Illumination
One: Let us pray.
As we hear the words of Scripture,
may our minds be opened,
our spirits renewed,
and our hearts warmed.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
1st Scripture Reading Deuteronomy 6: 1-9, pew Bible p. 143
One: Here ends the reading
All: Thanks be to God.
2nd Scripture Reading Mark 12: 28-34, pew Bible p. 825
One: Here ends the reading
All: Thanks be to God.
Sermon “Not Far From the Kingdom” Rev. Paul Dietterich
We Respond to God’s Call
*Hymn of Response “Lord, speak to me” #463
Invitation to the Offering and Presentation of our Pledges
Please come forward to present your offering and your pledge card. As you place your gifts in the offering plate state your name aloud. Then take a place in a large circle around the communion table for the remainder of the service. Bring your bulletin with you. Leave the front pews open for those who need to be seated.
Offertory “Blessed Are Ye Faithful” Brahms
*Doxology
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” # 95
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
The Lord’s Supper
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us pray.
All: God beyond holiness,
as we do what Jesus once did,
let your Spirit move among us
to settle on this bread and wine,
that they might become for us
the body and blood of Christ.
And let that same Spirit stir our souls
so that as we share this sacrament,
we may recognize our Lord and receive him,
that he may be in us and we in him forever. Amen.
The Faction
Pastor: Among friends,
gathered round a table,
Jesus took bread;
and when he had blessed it,
he broke it and said,
“Take this and eat it.
It is my body.
It is given for you.
Do this to remember me.”
Then later, during the meal,
he took a cup of wine;
and when he had given thanks, he said,
“In this cup is the new relationship with God
made possible because of my death.
Take this, all of you,
to remember me.”
Invitation
Pastor: All you who hunger and thirst
for a better life,
for a deeper faith,
for a better world,
here is the bread of life;
feed on it with gratitude;
here is the cup of salvation;
drink from it and believe.
The servers come forward
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
Communion
(The servers will bring the communion elements to you. Take bread and dip it into the cup and eat. “The body and blood of Christ, for you.”)
The Lord’s Prayer (unison)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us,.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
And the glory, forever. Amen.
Hymn “Spirit of the Living God” (Repeat) #399
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
*Benediction.
*Postlude
Pastor: Rev. Charlene Hill
Director of Music – Organist: Joe Wilkinson
Liturgist: Ann Audrain
1st Scripture Reading, Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 (pew Bible p. 143)
The Great Commandment
6 Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem[b] on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
2nd Scripture Reading, Mark 12: 28-34 (pew Bible p. 825)
The First Commandment
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.