September 5, 2021
In-Person Sunday Morning at 9:30 am
or
Pre-Recorded Worship Service
To access, please visit our website at www.umcw.org/sermons
Order of Worship
BOLD indicates congregational SPEAKING participation
* stand with your heart or with your posture
GATHERING AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

Prelude
Gather Us In
TFWS #2236
(In-Person Only)

Welcome and Sharing of Announcements

A Time to Make Connections
(In-Person Only)

*Call to Worship

Liturgist: Once we were not a people
People: Now we are the people of God.
Liturgist: Once we had not received mercy,
People: But In Christ we have received mercy.
Liturgist: Let us together declare the praises of him
People: Who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Opening Prayer

O God, you are the gathering one who calls us into community with each other to love and work, to support and heal. You are the gathering one who calls us into community with all people; to bring justice and hope, freedom and truth. You are the gathering one who calls us into community with the whole creation; to live in harmony, to cherish and renew. Let us worship the God who makes us one. Amen
(posted on the Monthly Prayers page of the Christian Aid website. http://www.christianaid.org.uk/)

Opening Hymn
"The Church's One Foundation"
 UMH #545 (vs. 1 & 2)


GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

The Lord be with you. 
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. 
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We offer our thanks and praise, O God, for the glories of creation: for the black velvet of the night sky that allows the stars to twinkle, and the moon to glow; for the sun that peeks over the horizon and paints the sky as it sets. We offer our thanks and praise for the heavens and the inhabitants of Heaven, for the cloud of witnesses. We on earth sing with them above as we say together these words:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are you, Holy One, and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. Born in the stillness of night, he knew the love of family and stranger alike. Threatened by evil, he fled to 
a distant land. Endowed with the spirit, he taught about grace and forgiveness, and he healed the sick, and confronted the powerful. In humility and trust, he lay down his life that he might rise again and bring new life to the world.

Great is the mystery. 
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come
For the gifts of his life and presence, we give you thanks, and ask for one thing more: that your Spirit descend now upon us, upon this table, that the bread we break and the cup we share would be transformed from their ordinariness to sacred things. As we share one loaf and one cup, may we become one with the world, bringing good news to all. And now, with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:

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. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Family share the Bread and Juice)

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
O Jesus, our beloved, we give you thanks for inviting us to your table and sharing your feast. May we know that we have been fed with love and grace, and may we follow you out in the world, ambassadors of your hope and peace. Amen.
(by Beth Merrill Neel)

ATTENTION TO THE WORD OF GOD

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NRSV)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are Gods people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:9-10 (The Message)
9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted..

Liturgist: The word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

Message
“Life Together: Community as God’s Own People”
 Pastor Seok-Hwan

*Offertory Prayer

Faithful God, you ask us to be faithful people. In this community, you ask us to be people of justice. In this community, you ask us to be people of mercy. In this community, you ask us to be people of peace. Be with us as we try to be faithful in large ways and in small ways so your eternal community may come in every way.
 (from Seasons of the Spirit: All Saints Day—Year A, published by WoodLake Publishing.) 

*Closing Hymn
 “Jesus, United by Thy Grace” 
UMH #561 (vs. 1, 2, & 6)

The Blessing and Sending Forth

Benediction Response
“Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)”
Traditional
Jane Beatty

Postlude
Fugue after Dona Nobis Pacem
Johann Baptist Peyer
(In-Person Only)

Online Service
Video: Sharon Lipp
Liturgist: Pete Seymour

In-Person Service
Liturgist: Nancy Keelan
Usher: Marge Barnett
Projection: Sharon Lipp
Sound Board: Valarie Wilder
Organist: Matt Cron
Our Mission Statement
“God calls us to be disciples of Jesus, building community through service and fellowship and sharing the love of Christ with all.”

Our Openness Statement
“The United Methodist Church of Westford is an open and welcoming community of Christian Faith. Without any exceptions, we welcome anyone who seeks to love and to serve God.”
Please click here for “A Statement of Our Openness”.