Sunday, April 11, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Native American Awareness Sunday
Moments for Preparing Our Hearts – Dean Shinn
CCS WorshipCast License #12794; CCLI License #11363160
Welcome and Announcements – Rev. Candee Martin
Centering Words – Rev. Candee Martin
For all those who lose sight of hope,
adjust our perspective, catch our eye,
and touch us, Risen Savior,
with your surprising presence.
Prelude – Dean Shinn
CCS WorshipCast License #12794; CCLI License #11363160
*Call to Worship (responsive) – Dr. Cecelia Short
We come together today to celebrate the contributions
Native people of this land have made to God’s Church.
We learn from them, that life is a sacred circle,
of which there is no beginning and no end.
We are all a part of that circle, ever contributing, ever receiving.
Native Americans teach us that as a part of the circle,
we must care for all of God’s creation.
We know that God’s creation includes all that is a part of this earth:
the wingeds, the two-leggeds, plants, and the sky.
We remember and worship God the Creator
throughout our daily lives, even as we look
at a tree, the grass, or the sky.
For Genesis reminds us that God looked at everything
and was very pleased.
We join in this Native American Awareness Sunday,
remembering that worship encompasses all of life.
We embrace and celebrate the sacred circle of life!
*Opening Prayer (unison) – Dr. Cecelia Short
Thank you, Lord, for all that you have given us.
Thank you for the beauty of the universe that you created;
the trees, the sky, the mountains, the rain.
All things hold beauty in themselves
and all are related and touch each creature on the earth.
You created the rhythm and pattern of the universe
in a harmony of movement, sight and sound.
Help us to appreciate your creation
and to live with our eyes, ears and hearts
open to your presence. Amen.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:36b-48 (NRSV) – Dr. Cecelia Short
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”
The Word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Pastoral Prayer – Rev. Candee Martin
The Lord’s Prayer (spoken in unison) – Rev. Candee Martin
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory forever. Amen.
Music Meditation – Dean Shinn
CCS WorshipCast License #12794; CCLI License #11363160
Sermon: God’s Peace in the Midst of Chaos – Rev. Candee Martin
Music Meditation – Dean Shinn
CCS WorshipCast License #12794; CCLI License #11363160
Litany of Thanksgiving (responsive): We Thank You, Great Spirit – Dr. Cecelia Short
For life, and the gift of living each day,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For calling us to be Christians by our baptism,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For our family and friends,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For the great gift of Mother Earth,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For the sun that rises in the East
to give us warmth and light
and for its brilliance
as it sets in the West,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For the soft wind and rain that come from the South,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For the shelter you provide
to protect us from the North winds,
We thank you, Great Spirit.
For the gift of vision to see
and the gift of voice that we send
to you in prayer and praise,
We thank you, Great Spirit. Amen.
*Benediction (responsive) – Rev. Candee Martin
God is before us.
God is behind us.
God is above us.
God is below us.
God’s words shall come from our mouths.
For we are all God’s essence,
a sign of God’s love.
All is finished in beauty.
All is finished in beauty.
Postlude – Dean Shinn
CCS WorshipCast License #12794; CCLI License #11363160
[Thank you to our Lay Leader, Dr. Cecelia Short,
for serving as our liturgist in today’s service.]
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Centering Words -- James Dollins, The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 (2020, Abingdon Press)
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All other worship resources listed below are from: Voices: Native American Hymns and Worship Resources, copyright 1992 by Marilyn N. Hofstra [Discipleship Resources, The General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church]
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Call to Worship, Embrace and Celebrate the Sacred Circle of Life [Cynthia Abrams (Seneca) 1989]
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Opening Prayer All Things Hold Beauty [From Mohawk prayer tradition by Sue Ellen Herne (Mohawk) 1991]
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Litany of Thanksgiving, We Thank You, Great Spirit [From Family Prayer by Sister Kevin Marie Flynn. Used by permission.]
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Benediction, We Are God’s Essence [Navajo Prayer Tradition] Bulletin cover page photo obtained from https://pilgrimtraveler.com/john-2029-blessed-not-seen-yet-believed/
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Bulletin cover photo obtained from https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/native-american-ministries-sunday-faq
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Cheerful giver photo obtained from https://christinesbiblestudy.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/2-corinthians-9-giving-cheerfully-communism-part-two/
