June 25, 2017
Reminder: Our Congregational Meeting will be held at around 12:15, after our post-worship fellowship today. All members are cordially invited to attend.
Worship Leader – Rev. Samantha Tuttle
For Meditation and Reflection:
We come together from our separate lives, each of us bringing our concerns, our preoccupations, our hopes, and our dreams. We are not yet fully present. The traffic, the last-minute cooking, the final details still cling to us. Our bodies hold the rush of the past few hours. It is now time to let go of these pressures and embrace and become aware of the present moment…When you are ready, repeat silently to yourself: ‘Hineini’ or ‘Here I am’. Hineini is used in the Torah to signify being present in body, mind, and spirit. It means settling into where we are and simply being “here”.
Welcome and Announcements – A warm welcome is extended to all. Your presence both enriches us and this time of celebration together.
Call to Worship:
Pastor: We gather in this sacred place to honor and affirm life. We come to consider again being the change we wish to see in the world.
Congregation: This morning we acknowledge the challenges of life, faith and religion. And we celebrate a journey filled with new thoughts and commitments, born out of critique and letting go.
Pastor: This morning we celebrate the unfolding of the universe, and our ability and possibili-ties for creating brighter and gentler futures for our communities.
Congregation: As we meet and as we prepare to depart, may we again commit as individuals and as a community to the values and ideals that would contribute to the transformation of this world.
Pastor: May each of us undertake again the appraisal and joy of living out what is dear to us, and what truly advances and invites compassion, grace, forgiveness,
kindness, justice and love to flourish and transform.
All: Welcome to worship.
Opening Hymn: Enter, Rejoice and Come In – Black, #73
Opening Prayer: (Unison) In this caring and supportive community, during this time of prayer and quiet reflection, we come to be emptied, and to be filled with the spirit that flows in and among us and throughout the world. We, here today, are also people of spirit. We, too, are struck in awe before the great mystery of the cosmos. We, too, are powerfully moved by a deep concern for our world and our care for one another. The spirit moves in us as in others. We give thanks for love, which created us, which restores us, and which connects us to each other to unite and give purpose. Amen.
Scripture Reading: John 4: 1-30
Sermon by Rev. Samantha Tuttle – “A World Without Delineations”
Responsive Sharing
Reflective Hymn: God of Change and Glory – Black, #177
Our Offerings
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)
Closing Hymn: In the Midst of New Dimensions – Black, #391
Pastor’s Blessing and Sending
The God we worship is never confined to this holy place.
So go and travel with the God who is found in ordinary and surprising places.
Worship need not cease.
It can echo in our lives, in our words, in our deeds, in our moods, in our dreams.
Carry worship with you wherever you may go.
Be a blessing in your going out and your coming in.
Go in peace.
Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.
Thoughts for the Day/Week
“Do we not destroy our enemies when we make them our friends?”
Abraham Lincoln
“Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don’t tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all His children. Don’t preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell, as in how you choose to live and give.” -Cory Booker
Announcements:
This Sunday, June 25th
Our Worship Leader will be the Rev. Samantha Tuttle.
Our annual congregational meeting will be held at around 12:15, after our post-worship fellowship. All members are cordially invited to attend.
Sunday, July 2nd
We will gather for our monthly potluck at 9:00 a.m. (for breakfast rather than lunch). After our meal of fellowship, we will have a roundtable discussion to share thoughts and feelings about the structure of our worship, and to brainstorm ideas for expanding our outreach into the community. All are welcome! (no shoes required)
Sunday, July 9th
Our Worship Leader will be the Rev. Samantha Tuttle.
Sunday, July 16th
Our Worship Leader will be David Plume.
Sunday, July 23rd
Our Worship Leader will be the Rev. Michael Lyle.
Sunday, July 30th
On the fifth Sunday of the month, we will once again join another local congregation
to share their worship. This Sunday, we will join Pastor Roland England, at the Christian Community Church at St. Paul, in Neersville. Directions and ride-sharing options will be provided.
Our Statement of Faith
We gather in worship as an inclusive community, an open & affirming community of faith that transcends any distinctions based on gender, sexual orientation, nationality, race, or religion…
Our formal worship flows into a living worship of love and support for one another as we pursue ways to reflect God’s reign of mercy, justice, and peace in our community and throughout the world…
….along with a continuing search for ways to celebrate the goodness of life together…
and always reaching out to draw others, with total inclusiveness, into this communal experience.