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A Service of Song, Word, & Table
September 22, 2024
* Please rise in body or spirit.
WELCOME
PRELUDE
CALL TO WORSHIP
The prophet asks: Can our soul-weary bones live again?
O God, you know!
We ask: Can we dance again after mourning, loss and grief?
O God, you know!
The gift is sure and unmistakable:
God’s breath poured out as new life for weary souls!
Let us celebrate the gift of God’s new life,
And come to worship God in laughter and dancing!
Compassionate God,
the wind of your Spirit is the very sign of life
for all who long for you.
One breath from you and we are rescued
from the arid valley of dry bones,
given muscles and sinews and joy with which to praise you,
and filled with the holy hope you grant to all your faithful children.
Let our whole lives be filled with the life-breath of the Spirit,
that what has lain dormant may burst into bloom,
and what looks to us to be death
may be revealed as but sleep
before the emergence of new life. Amen.
* HYMN
* A READING FROM THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST John 11:1-16
This is the Word of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God!
MUSICAL RESPONSE
MESSAGE VITALOGY: I am the Resurrection and I am Life
MUSICAL RESPONSE
Call to Reconciliation
If it is true that God has recorded our failings, we hope it will never be published. But in truth, if the book were opened, every page would be blank, for God forgives us of everything we have done or failed to do. So, let us wait for God's mercy and grace as we come with our prayers for forgiveness, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
We are set free by your saving grace, Generous God, yet we must confess how we are still bound by our pride and arrogance. We seem unable to throw off the grave clothes of our habitual sin, finding them too comfortable to wear. We cling to our fears, for they are so familiar and make such good companions.
Yet, there in every corner of our lives, in every shadow we fear, into the cold embrace of death itself, you come, Steadfast Love. You break the bonds of sin and terror, giving us new strength and hope for the journey, and calling us to new life through the love and sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
You can put your hope in God, dear friends, for God offers us that love which never fades, that life which never ends.
We wait for God, and God does not fail us. God's hope, God's love, and God's grace are forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
REGATHERING HYMN
INVITATION TO OFFERING
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY
DOXOLOGY Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow 94 UMH
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of tears be with you.
And also with you.
Offer your hearts to the One who calls us out of death into life.
Unbound, we bring our hearts to our God of new mornings.
People of God, sing songs to the One in whom we hope.
We rejoice in God, who dwells in our souls.
In that first moment, God of wonder,
you cried out, 'Unbind creation and let her go!'
and flowers grew in the cracks of chaos,
blustery winds played talk through the forests,
lambs leapfrogged one another in the meadows.
Your hand came upon the dry dust of earth,
and your Spirit breathed life into us.
You longed for us to be with you,
but we allowed sin and death
to lead us around by the nose.
You called to women and men,
'Prophesy!' urging them to call us back.
but we did not believe their words.
So you sent a certain man named Jesus,
to cause new life to come upon us.
With those who have stood beside graves,
and those who wait for signs of hope,
we sing our praises to you:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of our shadowed valleys.
All creation hopes in you and waits.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who calls us to new life.
Hosanna in the highest!
You are holy, Caresser of our souls,
and Jesus is our Child, our Friend.
Seeing that those he loved were sick,
he brought us healing.
Finding us wandering in despair,
he showed us that our hope
need never turn to dust.
Believing that you loved him,
he went to the cross, for us.
And when he was in death's cold arms,
you stood at the door of the tomb,
crying out, 'unbind him, and let him go!'
and our Resurrection and our Life
came forth for us.
Believing that he is the One who calls us to new life,
trusting that, by his tears, he takes away our pain,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith:
Christ died, taking away the sins of the world;
Christ was raised, taking away the power of sin and death;
Christ will return, taking us by the hand to lead us home.
In the bread and the cup,
you give life to us,
as the Spirit comes to dwell
in every room of our souls.
You bless the bread, breaking it,
so it might heal and strengthen us
so we can say
to the barren, 'here is your life;'
to the despairing, 'here is your hope!'
As the grace-filled cup nourishes us
we would go into the world
to visit those who are sick,
to wait with the expectant,
to share tears with the broken.
And when you call of us to your side,
we will join Lazarus, Mary, Martha,
and all our sisters and brothers
in forever singing your praises,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.
In the name of Christ; now, let us pray:
LORD’S PRAYER
AMEN RESPONSE
MUSIC AT COMMUNION
INVITATION TO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
* SENDING HYMN
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
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