Prelude
Welcome & Announcements
Hymn of Praise – Come, Christians Join to Sing (UMH#158)
Come, Christians, join to sing:
Alleluia! Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King:
Alleluia! Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
before his throne rejoice;
Praise is his gracious choice.
Alleluia! Amen!
Come, lift your hearts on high:
Alleluia! Amen!
Let praises fill the sky:
Alleluia! Amen!
He is our guide and friend;
to us he’ll condescend;
His love shall never end:
Alleluia! Amen!
Praise yet the Lord again:
Alleluia! Amen!
Life shall not end the strain:
Alleluia! Amen!
On heaven’s blissful shore
his goodness we’ll adore,
Singing for evermore:
Alleluia! Amen!
Call to Worship:
Pastor: Come and see what great love has been given to us, that we should be called children of God.
People: Thanks be to God for the great love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Pastor: Abiding in Christ’s love means loving others as Christ has loved us.
People: Loving others fills us with the joy of Christ.
Pastor: Come, let us bless the God of grace.
People: Let us worship and praise the Lord of love.
Affirmation of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed UMH 881
Message in Music - Brian Barber
A Prayer and Litany for Mother’s Day
Lord, on this day set aside to honor and remember mothers, we give you thanks for our mothers. We are grateful that you chose to give us life through them, and that they received the gift of life from your hands. Thank you for the sacrifices they made in carrying us and giving us birth.
We thank you for all the women who raised and nurtured us in our lives. Whether birth mom, adopted mom, older sister, aunt, grandmother, stepmother, or someone else, thank you for those women who held us and fed us, who cared for us and kissed away our pain, who listened and guided and loved us when we needed it most. We pray that our lives may reflect the love and sacrifice they showed us.
Pastor: We pray for older moms whose children are grown.
People: Grant them joy and satisfaction for a job well done.
Pastor: We pray for new moms experiencing changes they could not predict.
People: Grant them rest and peace as they trust you for the future.
Pastor: We pray for pregnant women who will soon be moms.
People: Grant them patience and good counsel in the coming months.
Pastor: We pray for moms who face the demand of single parenthood.
People: Grant them strength and wisdom.
Pastor: We pray for moms who enjoy financial abundance.
People: Grant them time to share with their families.
Pastor: We pray for moms who are raising their children in poverty.
People: Grant them relief and justice.
Pastor: We pray for step-moms.
People: Grant them patience, understanding, and love.
Pastor: We pray for moms who are separated from their children.
People: Grant them faith and hope.
Pastor: We pray for moms in marriages that are in crisis.
People: Grant them support and insight.
Pastor: We pray for moms who have lost children.
People: Grant them comfort in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Pastor: We pray for moms who gave up their children in adoption.
People: Grant them peace and confidence as they trust in your providence.
Pastor: We pray for adoptive mothers.
People: Grant them joy and gratitude for the gift you have provided.
Pastor: We pray for girls and women who think about being moms.
People: Grant them wisdom and discernment.
Pastor: We pray for women who desperately want, or wanted, to be moms.
People: Grant them grace to accept your timing and will.
Pastor: We pray for all women who have assumed the mother’s role in a child’s life.
People: Grant them joy and the appreciation of others.
Pastor: We pray for those who are grieving the loss of their mother in the past year.
People: Grant them comfort and hope in Christ’s resurrection. Amen.
Prayer of Intercession
Prayer of Confession
Amazing God, we come to you today awed by the depth of your love and humbled to be known as your children. We want to love others as Christ has loved us and know the full joy of living as Christ’s friend. Still, we still struggle to faithfully follow Christ’s commands. Forgive us, we pray. Strengthen us by your Spirit that we may abide in Christ’s love by loving each other, such that the joy of Christ may be made complete in us. Amen.
Experiencing and Extending the Peace of Christ (Note: we will extend the Peace of Christ without physical contact.)
Offering
Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn – What A Friend We Have in Jesus (UMH#526)
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all of our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
Sermon – No Greater Love - Pastor Brad
Hymn – Love Divine All Loves Excelling, v1,2,4 (UMH#384)
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
all thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation;
enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
into every troubled breast!
Let us all in thee inherit;
let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray and praise thee without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Benediction
Postlude/Dismissal
Accompanist: Brian Barber
Special Music: Barber Barber
Erin Maurer, Jeff Cartwright, Ron Oedemann, Rebecca Carey
Rev. Brad Leight
Ruth Portzline, CLM
