​ 
 
June 25, 2023
4th Sunday after Pentecost
Gathering
 
MUSICAL OFFERING
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
·  Please join us in Calvin Hall following worship today for a time of  fellowship.
 
· We are now receiving the Pentecost Offering which goes to benefit youth.   40% of our receipts will go to The Vince Jetter Center here in Clinton.
 
· Find the address for Rich and Lois Lewis posted on the bulletin board.
 
· Our donation to Information, Referral and Assistance Agency will be delivered on Thursday morning, June 29.
 
· School Supply Drive.  See more information about this United Way effort to provide school supplies to all the elementary students in Clinton County.  A box has been placed in the hall outside the sanctuary.
 
· Your Help is Needed!  We have some projects that need extra hands and your assistance:  1.  Hostesses for The Gathering Place.  Come to play a couple games and enjoy an afternoon with some of our neighbors. If this effort is going to be sustainable, we need 8-12 people who can contribute up to 3 hours per month.  2.  We will be packing up the household of a lady who has recently gone into the nursing home.  She is donating all of her items to the Gateway Community Center.  The Community Center will do the moving.  We will put things in boxes.  2 hours of your time on Tuesday, afternoon, June 27 will make all the difference in this effort.  Please speak to Pastor Joyce to let her know you can help with either, or both projects.
 
PRAYER REQUESTS 
JoAnn Grimm who struggles with health problems.
Arlene Pawlik who is recovering from a broken leg.
Joan Pinkston, on hospice.
The Mike Nile’s and family as they mourn the loss of his dad.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP
 To the God who counts the hairs on our head.
 To the Lord who holds the sparrows in his hand,
To the Almighty who proclaims us as even more valuable and precious than these birds of the air.
 To our Savior who walks the path ahead of us.
 We sing your praise, O Lord.
 We lift to you worship and thanksgiving.  Amen.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Loving Savior.  You have asked us to pick up our cross and follow you.  How frightening that is!  So we come this day to be filled with your spirit and offered the strength of your love.  Hear our prayers and give us what we need to be worthy to follow you. Amen.
 
*HYMN                             Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above                          #483    (You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION
God is good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all.  God hears our confessions and is anxious to wipe away our guilt. Let us approach our Lord and offer our failings into his ear.  Please join me in our prayer of confession.
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION 
O Lord, We come to you, lifting to you our hopes and dreams.  Sometimes there are appropriate steps we can take to make these things happen, but at other moments we have to leave matters in your hands.  Forgive us for the times when we ask, but then impatiently try to manipulate things.  Forgive us for the times when our request is selfishly aimed at our own well-being. Forgive us for demanding that you grant our request instead of asking for your wisdom to show us the way.  Help us, Lord, to live more in tune to your design for our lives and for our world. Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Take heart, People of God, for our Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Know this day that our guilt has been wiped away in the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
 
SONG OF PRAISE  Gloria Patri  #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE 
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
 
INTERLUDE
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
As your word is read and proclaimed, O Lord, give us the courage to be your disciples who follow in your footsteps, carrying our cross and finding true life in you.  Amen
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS     
Genesis 21: 8-21
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”  11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”  14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.  17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.  20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
 Matthew 10: 24-39
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!  26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your   Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.  34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
 
 
 
SERMON     It Will Be OK.
 
Do you remember that time when you were 16 and the cute boy (or girl) that you liked made fun of your new haircut in front of the whole class?  You were mortified and humiliated and so very hurt.  Do you also remember what your mom said when you came home all upset?   “It will be OK.”
Moms say that a lot.  They say it to comfort their children and others.  We say it to our friends, to our spouse, and even to ourselves at times.  It will be OK.  Perhaps we’ve totally embarrassed ourselves.  Maybe our friend betrayed us by telling our secret.  Maybe our project went all catty-wompus, and we have no idea how to fix it.  But it will be OK.  Perhaps we have to start over and work all night.  Maybe we need to confront our friend to tell them how hurtful their words were.  Maybe we need to recognize that our embarrassment isn’t that big a deal.  These things happen, after all.
Abraham would really like for someone to tell him, “It will be OK.”   He was really afraid it wouldn’t be OK, not at all.  Between him and Sarah they had really messed things up.  You see, God had promised them a child.  In fact, he’d promised children as many as the stars in the sky, but it just wasn’t happening.  For over 20 years he and Sarah had waited—NOTHING.  So when Sarah had suggested that they should help themselves, Abraham went along.  Sarah gave him her maid servant, Hagar, saying that the child born of the union would be like her own.  So that’s what happened.  Hagar had become pregnant, but it hadn’t quite worked the way they had imagined.  Being pregnant with the child who would inherit lifted Hagar’s standing and suddenly she was seeing herself as an equal (or maybe even a bit above) Sarah.  That didn’t go over well.  Sarah still had the power of the mistress, so she made Hagar’s life miserable—so miserable that Hagar ran away.  But an angel of the Lord found her and told her, “It will be OK”  She was instructed to return to Sarah and that God would bless her son.
So Ishmael was born.
But Ishmael was the product of human manipulation and human effort.  This wasn’t what God had promised.  God had promised a child for Abraham and Sarah.  They day came to pass and Isaac was born.
Now Abraham had two sons, and by the custom of the land, Ishmael as the oldest should receive the lion’s share of inheritance, blessing and title.
Sarah knew that, and one day when she looked out and saw her beautiful boy playing with the son of the maid, something hard and brittle snapped inside her.  She went to her husband demanding that he cast aside Hagar and Ishmael.  Not her finest moment, but it was a very human, moment, none the less.
Now what will Abraham do?  Ishmael was his son.  Hagar was innocent in all of this—well, mostly innocent!  What a mess!
That’s the thing about our humanly designed answers.  The unintended consequences can really tie us in knots. Abraham goes to God.  Did he expect that God would scold him?  Did he expect that God would shake his head and tell him to figure it out?
God didn’t do either of those things.  Rather God told Abraham to go forward with Sarah’s plan.  It would be OK.  It would be OK because Isaac was the child of the promise.  Isaac was the future.  Isaac was God’s design.  But that didn’t mean that Ishmael was a rubber chicken to be tossed aside.
When Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness with a skin of water and a bit of food, Hagar assumed the worst.  She would have to watch her son die.  But God had another plan.  God spoke to Hagar.  He spoke to a woman.   That’s not something that happens very often in our Old Testament.  God spoke to this grieving mother and he made some promises to Hagar and Ishmael—the same promise he had made regarding Isaac.   Ishmael would be the father of a great nation.  God would be with him.  God would guide the boy AND his mother.
It will be OK.  Our human messes are a part of the experience for us human creatures.  We blow it, but God has the capacity to step in and clean things up.  Our faithful God doesn’t let us down. It might not be the outcome that we are looking for, but it will be OK.  That’s the amazing good news of our scripture, and we see it over and over again.
It think that’s a big part of the message from our Gospel lesson, too.  Jesus is telling his disciples to get out there and tell the story of our faith.  He know and acknowledges that there will be people who don’t want to hear what they have to say, who will persecute them for speaking Jesus’ name.  Do it anyway.  It will be difficult and painful at times, but it WILL be Ok.  After all, just as God stood with both Abraham  AND Hagar, God will stand with us.  God even takes care of the sparrows.  How much more are we to our Lord?
But there’s a caveat here.  It’s a take-note, and don’t be surprised.  Don’t assume that the pain and division will all come from sources beyond the family unit.  There could be division within your most intimate ties.
“I have not come to bring peace but a sword.”  For some, Jesus will be that sword which cuts apart families.  A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.   Maybe even a husband against his wife!
Now that’s the really scary stuff.  Our family is suppose to be that place we come home to, the lace where we can be safe, where the outside world is held at bay.  But Jesus is telling us that when we choose to follow him, even our closest loved ones might not understand.  They might try to move heaven and earth to get us back to their side of things.
Michaels’s family grew up Roman Catholic, and they were very devoted to their faith.  But when Michael married Cathy who was Methodist, Michael was very happy to join her church—much to the terror of his parents who were terrified that their son and future grandchildren were losing their salvation.
Marie was asked to take on the youth group in her church.  She enjoyed the kids and she had the time, but her own children were mortified that their mom would be managing the group, and her husband was mad because he wanted Marie home with him.
Jane was feeling God’s call and she signed up to be a young adult missionary in Mozambique for a year.  Her parents didn’t understand.  Her boyfriend felt like she was running away from him.  Her sister was mad that Joni would miss her wedding.
James had spent some time volunteering at the homeless shelter.  It gave him a whole new perspective on our capitalistic econo9mic system.  His dad hated when James started talking about how the upper 1% was grabbing all the wealth and making it so difficult for the bottom 30% to enjoy some of the basics of life.  “Just be quiet,” his father said one day.  “You don’ know what you’re talking about.”  But James couldn’t be quiet. For him it was the language of speaking God’s justice into our world.
And I bet you can come up with other examples of the ways our faith can divide families.  It’s so tempting to bow to the pressure.  We love these important people in our lives.  We don’t want to make them unhappy.  Perhaps we even questions our own position and wonder if we should just go along—make peace in the family.
But that’s not our message today.  “Pick up your cross and follow me,”
  Jesus said.  That cross can be really heavy when it amounts to family divisions.  The pain is big.  But Jesus tells us, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lost their life for my sake will find it.”  In other words, to go along, to push away God’s command in order to keep our life—well, we’ve already lost a big piece of ourselves. But to let go of our life for Jesus’ sake is to truly find the meaning and joy that will define us.
And here’s the scoop. If we hand tight to God’s truth and God’s call to us—if we do so with some compassion for our loved ones, God’s healing can happen.  God will help us move forward and probably, likely can help us retain the relationships that are so important.   Just like God was there for Hagar and Ishmael, God will be there for our loved ones, too.
It will be OK.  Just don’t turn aside from God’s call.  Don’t bend to the pressure around us.  Don’t be nasty and combative, but don’t turn away from God.
God’s healing and love is so much bigger than we might imagine.  God will handle our lives, but we are called to listen and respond and hold tight to our faith.
It’ll be OK.  It really will.  Here we are, Lord. Use us.  Amen.
 
 
 
*HYMN                                   O Love That Wilt Not Let me Go.                            #384
                                                       (you may be seated.)
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
OFFERING OUR GIFTS TO GOD
 
 
*DOXOLOGY  Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow  #592
 
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH  -- Apostle’s Creed
 
   
 
*HYMN                                                Lift High the Cross                                           #371                           
(You may be seated.)
 
Sending Forth
 
*CHARGE & BLESSING  
 
POSTLUDE
 
* Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.

​ 
 
June 11, 2023
Second Sunday after Pentecost
 
Gathering
 
MUSICAL OFFERING
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Please join us in Calvin Hall following worship today for a time of  fellowship.
· Session will meet today at 10:45 in the Wee Dining Room.
 
· “THE GATHERING PLACE” will be open Thursday, June 8. Please invite a friend and join us from 1:00 to 4:00!
 
· We continue  to receive the Pentecost Offering which goes to benefit youth.   40% of our receipts will go to The Vince Jetter Center  here in Clinton.
 
· Our gifts to Information, Referral and Assistance will be delivered June 29.  Please bring your items and put them in the chapel before that date. 
 
· Find the address for Rich and Lois Lewis posted on the bulletin board.
 
· Please sign up for the Ladies Lunch Bunch for Wed. June 14 at 11:30.  We will dine at Candlelight Inn.
 
 
PRAYER REQUESTS 
· JoAnn Grimm who struggles with health problems.
· Arlene Pawlik who is recovering from a broken leg.
· Joan Pinkston, on hospice.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP
  “Come.”  It is a holy summons.
 
  Abraham heard the call and obeyed.  In faith he became the father of a new people of God.
 
 “Come,”  God still calls to us today.
 
Will we hear?  Will we be brave enough to follow?
 
 Let us approach to listen well.
 
 Let us hear and accept the strength to obey, to know the joy of new possibilities.
 
We worship our God who calls and who then takes our hand to lead the way.
 
 Amen.
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
Like the woman who reached to touch your robe, O Loving Savior,  let us reach to you this day.  We seek our own healing, our own ability to glimpse your grace in our lives.  Be with us, Lord, that we too might hear your assurance, “Take heart, your faith has made you well.”   Amen.
 
*HYMN                              God of Grace and God of Glory                              #420
    (You may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION
We are the recipients of God’s many blessings, more abundant that we can even name.  One of those gifts is the assurance that even when we fall short of God’s desire, we can come and lay ourselves before our wonderful parent in heaven where we will be washed clean and offered new life.  Let us come now to claim this most amazing gift.
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION 
Lord God.  Forgive us for our arrogance and pride.  Forgive us for the times when we look at the blessings we enjoy and congratulate ourselves for the hard work or good decisions we have made.  Forgive us for not recognizing these gifts as flowing from your abundant grace.  Forgive us for turning away from our neighbor’s misfortune. Forgive us for hard heartedly assuming that logical consequences or their lack of faith is at the root of their despair. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to recognize the many gifts that flow from your hand, including the gift of care for others.  Amen.
 
Assurance of Pardon
How the heavens rejoice when a son or daughter claims the grace of your forgiveness!  How joyfully God opens new doors that allows our faith to abound and our lives to become tethered to holy love.  This is the good news that we celebrate today: We are forgiven and God’s hand leads us forward. Amen.
 
SONG OF PRAISE  Gloria Patri  #579
 
 
PASSING THE PEACE 
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
 
INTERLUDE
 
 
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Precious Lord, You are the Great Physician.  You called sinners and tax collectors to be your disciples.  You desire mercy and not sacrifice. Let us hear your call this day that we might be healed of our misguided perceptions and our misplaced priorities.  Amen.
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS   
  Genesis 12: 1-9
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.  2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.  6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
                                           
 Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. ‘For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.  20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.  23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.
 
 
SERMON     Called and Healed
 
Abraham and Sarah were the mother and father of our faith.  But it wasn’t an easy decision. Can’t you just imagine the conversation between Abram and Sarai when he came home to tell her that God had called for them to leave the life and the home they had made for themselves?
    “You want to do what?”      
     “But why?”    
     “You do realize that with your arthritis and my glaucoma that this won’t be a stroll through the woods, right?”
      “Abram, we’re old.  We don’t have any children to help us with this.  What can we possibly gain?  There are dangers out there, bad people, wild animals, storms, diseases, unknown pitfalls.  Abram they haven’t even created a map of the land you want us to go into, let alone the GPS app!” 
Oh, the many reasons to stay home, and Saria didn’t even name the big ones.  Fear, loneliness, and what will the neighbors say?
But Abram might have had a few answers to offer.  “Sarai, God has promised that we will be the parents of a great nation.  We have no children.  We have nothing to show for our lives.  We cannot have children at this point.  That day is past—at least on our own.  We have nothing to look forward to.”
So the conversations went.  I imagine they went on for some time.  I imagine Terah, Abram’s father, might have voiced his concerns.  Other family and friends shook their heads at the folly.  But still, once the decision was made, they resolutely went about the task of sorting and packing, planning and securing what they would need.  Livestock was rounded up and prepared for the journey.  Servants were outfitted and given specific instructions and responsibilities.  And Abram probably kept in pretty close contact with God.
This story is a transition point in God’s story.  Previous to this moment, we have the story of humankind.  Creation and Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel.  Then we notice that the people had so turned their back upon God that God sent a flood to push the reset button.  Only Noah and his family would be there to start over, but it really didn’t work.  Sin and rejection of God was still rampant.  Finally we learn that the people had undertaken a building project that would allow them to climb right up into the heavens to confront God.  This isn’t what God intended.
In chapter 11 we hear one sentence that encapsulated all of it.  It was within the story of Terah and his 2 sons who moved from the land of Ur.  Their wives are named and we hear, “Now Sarai was barren.  She had no child.”  It might have been the story of one couple, but it was a representation of humankind, as well.
All of humanity had lived and worked and reproduced, but in the midst of it all was barrenness.  God’s experience with these humans whom he had created in his own image was missing the vitality and life that God had desired.  It was time to do something new.  God had already pushed the reset button once.  That was the flood, and it sure didn’t  work.  So it was time for Plan B.  God found one man and one woman who were motivated to try something new.  God would make of them his own people, a people who would live God’s intention for humanity.  The nation of Israel was being
born.
Abram WAS motivated.  Abram knew that there was exactly zero chance without God’s intervention.  Abram had developed enough of a relationship with the Lord that he trusted God’s promises.  He wasn’t without his own failings.  He and Sarai would blow it many times as they journeyed forward.  God’s grace, God’s gifts would continue to call them back, continue to give them the next steps, a way out of the jams they created. Israel was born.
So that’s the thing about being human.  On our own, barrenness is our story.  Have you heard the saying, “The faster I run, the behinder I get?”  We all know that feeling.  Nothing goes the way it should because we are trying so hard.  We try to cut corners in our hurry.  We get pushy and selfish in our goals.  We fail to see the bigger picture.  We get a little lazy, and the result is barrenness.  Nothing productive or hopeful emerges. There is conflict, destruction, injustice and dis-ease.
Before we start beating ourselves up, let’s just recognize that this is the way it works.  It just is!  It’s part of the human condition.  Some call it original sin.
But that’s not to say there is no hope.  Because God can do something that we cannot.  That’s the purpose of Jesus’ entry into our world. He brings the power of God to heal our errant, misbegotten lives.  He brings healing and hope and new possibilities for the fullness of life.
Our gospel stories are an example of the complete futility of our efforts to heal ourselves and get it right. Two stories with one theme: On our own it is useless.  With God, life flourishes!
This leader of the Synagogue came to Jesus in a panic.  His beloved daughter has just died.  There’s 3 things to take into consideration.  The first is that death is pretty permanent.  That should be obvious, but in Mark’s telling of this story, the girl is very ill, near death when her father comes to Jesus.  We need to stay with Matthew here.  The second thing is that girls were often given very little value in the family.  A girl was much more of a burden, so it wasn’t much of a tragedy for a family to lose a daughter!  But here, her father uses his Jewish standing to approach Jesus, the one who offered healing to so many others in God’s name.  The third thing is that nowhere in the Bible up to this point does God offer his resurrection gift to females, and Jesus has not lifted anyone from death yet, either.  So putting those 3 things together—the finality of death, it’s just a girl, and God doesn’t bring girls back from death—and this is a pretty hopeless situation.  It’s a classic example of a Hail Mary pass in football.  It’s unexpected and unprecedented. And yet, Jesus does it.  He doesn’t need to.  No one would question him for saying “NO.”  This is completely God’s good gift.  This child is given back to her parents.  God’s grace abounds.
But there’s another story woven into this one.  It also speaks to God’s gift of life in the midst of hopelessness.  It also lifts a woman and demonstrates God’s care for all, regardless of societal norms.
This time it’s an older woman. We don’t know anything about her except that she has been suffering from a medical condition which, under Jewish law, made her a pariah in her society.  She had a flow of blood. Now today we would know that she would also be anemic, be weak and feel terrible, but according to Jewish law she was considered unclean, AND anyone who touched her would also be unclean, at least for the rest of the day.  They could not participate with others or in worship to God.  There was shame in that, as well as loneliness and exclusion.
She probably shouldn’t have been out in the crowd, but this was her last hope. She’d tried everything to no avail.  She knew the law.  She knew she shouldn’t touch Jesus.  She was afraid, but maybe, just maybe if she only touched his robe, she could attain the healing that she so desperately needed without passing on her uncleanness to him.  It was suppose to be completely unnoticed.
But Jesus did notice.  He recognized the healing power that flowed from him.  He saw her fear, and he knew.  Instead of scolding her, he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
What was beyond human capacity and control was offered as a free gift by God in Jesus Christ.  God’s gifts are for all people.
But do you notice that in both stories the one seeking came to Jesus.  The leader of the Synagogue had the authority to ask, even if the request seemed outside of God’s agenda.  The woman had no right to ask, and yet she came.  Her need was equally outside of God’s agenda—at least by most standards.
I wonder.  Do you think Abram had also been asking God for a child before God called him out from his father’s house?  Do you think there’s a formula here?  Hopelessnes -> seeking God’s intervention -> God calls us -> healing and new life arrives.
God called Abraham and he followed and became the father of Israel.
Jesus instructed the leader of the Synagogue, and he obeyed and his daughter was raised from the dead.
Jesus reassured the woman and she was healed.
So, what, we might ask is the barrenness in our lives, in our world?  Where to begin, right?  There are almost too many to name.  But isn’t our life in Christ meant is to address some of that?  Maybe we need to narrow the question.  Where is the barrenness in our faith life, in our faith community?  It’s so easy to fall into a rut.  To go through the motions, to do church instead of being the church.
Doing church isn’t what Christ calls us to.  It doesn’t lead to the vibrancy of new life or the boldness of a rich and joyful faith.  Doing church is showing up but keeping ourselves insulated from any of the efforts or demands of the gospel.  God calls us to BE the church.  That means we offer our gifts, and not just the check we put in the plate each week.  We are called to be a people who offer healing and hope in the name of Christ.  We offer it into the larger society in which we live.
To be called is to be healed.  To be called is to be blessed.  To be called is to be a blessing in the name of Christ.
We ae called to BE Christ’s church.  It will take the lifting of all of us.  Many hands can accomplish what just a few cannot.  That might be scary, but if we remember the way Abraham was led through the wilderness, the way God guided him and cared for him along the way, we should be reassured.
There is life in the call.  There is hope and healing such that the barrenness is chased away.
God is calling.  Can we hear?  Will we follow?  Will we be healed in the name of our Lord?  The next move is ours.  Let’s go.
Amen
 
​PASTORAL PRAYER
 
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
OFFERING OUR GIFTS TO GOD
 
*DOXOLOGY  Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow  #592
 
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
 
*HYMN                         For the Bread Which You Have Broken                           #508                              
                                                      (you may be seated.)
 
 INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
 
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING  (by Pastor)
 
RECEIVING THE BREAD AND THE CUP
 
COMMUNION PRAYER.
  
 
*HYMN                                     There is a Balm in Gilead                                 #394                                          
                                                  (You may be seated.)
 
Sending Forth
 
*CHARGE & BLESSING  
 
POSTLUDE
 
* Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.
 

​ 
Gathering
 
MUSICAL OFFERING
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Please join us in Calvin Hall following worship today for a time of   fellowship.  Would you like to bring cookies or treats?  Sign up sheet is in Calvin Hall.
 
* THE GATHERING PLACE  will be Thursday.  Please invite a friend and join us from 1:00 to 4:00!
 
* We will continue  to receive the Pentecost Offering which goes to benefit youth.   40% of our receipts will go to The Vince Jetter Center here in Clinton.
 
* Find the address for Rich and Lois Lewis posted on the bulletin board.
 
* Please sign up for the Ladies Lunch Bunch for Wed. June 14 at 11:30.  We will dine at Candlelight
 
 
PRAYER REQUESTS 
· JoAnn Grimm who struggles with health problems.
· Arlene Pawlik who is recovering from a broken leg.
· Joan Pinkston, on hospice.
 
PRELUDE
 
*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                      (based on Psalm 8, Genesis 1)
  O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth.
 Your glory is higher than the heavens. “We gather this day to praise you!
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...”.
 
“O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!   Your glory is higher than the heavens.”
We gather to celebrate our God!
 
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...   And God saw that is was good…”
We gather to praise our God!
 
“O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.”
We gather to give thanks to our God!
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...
And God saw that is was very good…”                                                         
We gather to worship our God! Holy, Holy, Holy is our Lord God Almighty!
 
*GATHERING PRAYER
God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity, we know that you are present here in this place and we come before you with grateful praise and adoration on this holy day that you have given us.  
 
Father and Creator, Son and Redeemer, Spirit and Advocate, we call upon you to fill our hearts and our minds with your Spirit as we gather together in our worship.  We long to know you, Lord.  Teach us to pray. Teach us to love.    Teach us to be one, as you are one, merciful, mighty, most Holy Lord.  Amen
 
*HYMN                          Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty                                                                                       #138
                                                  (you may be seated.)
 
CALL TO CONFESSION
Friends, by the sacrifice of Jesus, we are reconciled and united with God and with one another and we are transformed to a new life through the Holy Spirit.
Let us now come to God in shared confession:
 
PRAYER OF CONFESSION 
Triune God, you protect and care for us, giving us all that we need through your Word and Spirit.  Yet we so often miss your gifts and your blessings in our lives.  We do not always see you, hear your voice, or follow your ways. Have mercy upon us and forgive us for sinning against you and one another. We have not loved one another as you have loved us. We have not shared the gospel as you commanded.  We have hurt others, intentionally and unintentionally through our thoughtlessness, our selfishness, and our inattention to the needs of others.  Restore us, Lord. Forgive us our sins and help us to set aside the hurt and disappointments and wrongs of the past to willingly and joyfully move forward in your will and be a blessing to one another in ways that show the world your love and grace Amen.
 
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
18 Then Jesus came to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 So you must go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end.”
 
 
SONG OF PRAISE  Gloria Patri                                                                                                                                   #579
 
PASSING THE PEACE      
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
 
INTERLUDE
Word
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today.  Amen.
 
 
SCRIPTURE LESSONS   
The Old Testament   
Genesis 1:2 – 2:4
2 The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. There was darkness over the surface of the waves. At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.  6 God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.” 7 And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. 8 God called the huge space “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.  9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.” And that’s exactly what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land.” He called all the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that it was good.  11 Then God said, “Let the land produce plants. Let them produce their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that grow fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds.” And that’s exactly what happened. 12 So the land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. And the land produced trees that grew fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds. God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day three. 14 God said, “Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let the lights set the times for the holy celebrations and the days and the years. 15 Let them be lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth.” And that’s exactly what happened. 16 God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars. 17 God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. 18 He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day four. 20 God said, “Let the seas be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures. He created every kind of living thing that fills the seas and moves about in them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them. He said, “Have little ones so that there will be many of you. Fill the water in the seas. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.” 23 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five. 24 God said, “Let the land produce every kind of living creature. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals.” And that’s exactly what happened. 25 God made every kind of wild animal. He made every kind of livestock. He made every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own likeness. He created them to be like himself. He created them as male and female. 28 God blessed them. He said to them, “Have children so that there will be many of you. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Rule over every living creature that moves along the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that produces its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food. 30 I am giving every green plant as food for all the land animals and for all the birds in the sky. I am also giving the plants to all the creatures that move along the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.” And that’s exactly what happened. 31 God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six. 2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.  2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on that day he rested from all his work. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. He blessed it because on that day he rested from all the work he had done.4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
 
The Gospel  
Matthew 28: 16-20
16 Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him. But some still had their doubts. 18 Then Jesus came to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 So you must go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end.”
 
SERMON                     In the Beginning to the End of the Age
 
 
Today is Trinity Sunday --- and for me, at least, it is a somewhat difficult Sunday to preach.  Last week I was fortunate to visit another church in our Presbytery and I was happy to preach on Pentecost Sunday --- the Holy Spirit coming down in tongues of fire, empowering Jesus’ followers in such a real and tangible way --- that’s a pretty easy sermon, right?
 
The concept of the trinity --- three in one, three distinct persons of God, all one but still three separate persons?   That is not quite so easy to talk about.    When I don’t really think about it, it makes perfect sense to me … but when I do really try to think about or describe what that actually means, it doesn’t make quite as much sense to me.
 
Our scriptures today point us to all three persons of the Trinity --- all three with their separate roles but also as one.  In Genesis, the first 2 verses of the entire Bible tell us that In the beginning, God created and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.   And Jesus is very clear in the persons of the trinity in Matthew when he commands us to baptize in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit.   If we also look at John’s “in the beginning” passage in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, we also know that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.    Jesus and God are one, yet two.  Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are one, yet three.  It’s confusing at best, and maybe one of those things that is “more than we can now bear, or understand,” as Jesus says in John 16:12.
 
In the beginning, God ---- that is quite a statement on it’s own.     Especially knowing as we do that the Holy Spirit was right there hovering over the waters and Jesus, the Word of God was with and of God.   In the beginning God is the trinity.
 
Science has always been fascinated with the beginning --- actually with both the cosmic beginning and ending.   Both involve some speculation – although at least with the beginning of the universe there is some distinct tangible evidence to be considered.   We have the evolution concept and more commonly in the realm of science, the Big Bang theory. 
Interestingly, the Big Bang theory it was first proposed in 1927 by an astronomer named George Lemaitre.   His idea was that a very long time ago, the universe started as just a single point. He said the universe stretched and expanded to get as big as it is now, and that it could keep on stretching.    Now I realize I’m simplifying this a lot, but doesn’t that sound a lot like God?
 
Since the end has not yet come, of course, theory and speculation are all we have through science.     The general idea, though is that the enormous amount of energy that came from the Big Bang and formed all of the universe will eventually end up being too much to sustain life, and the same rush of energy that created life will eventually result in extinction of the universe as we know it. 
 
Of course, even if this scenario were to be true, it would millions – actually trillions – of years away, so we don’t need to worry about that today.  But scientists are saying that the same energy that will be the end of the universe is essentially the energy of the beginning of the universe.
In reality, isn’t that what the Bible has said all along, way before science expressed that thought.  And from our perspective of faith, this is all good news! 
 
In the beginning, God --- God, the three persons of the trinity --- present in the beginning and promised to be with us to the end of the age.   We don’t actually need to understand much more than this --- we don’t need to understand the hows of what happened at the beginning or what will happen at the end … and no matter how hard science tries to understand and explain, we serve a much bigger God than any human mind, no matter how intelligent, educated, creative or informed, can explain or understand.   In our very limited human understanding, we simply cannot comprehend all of the details of the wheres and whens and hows  of something as complex as creation and the start and end of the universe.  
 
There are some things we do understand though, so let’s concentrate on those.  On this Holy Trinity Sunday, right after the celebration of Pentecost, we look at the work all three persons of the Trinity in our lives.
 
Of the work of God, our Father and the master creator in our lives … of the work of Jesus as our savior and redeemer in our lives, and of the work of the Holy Spirit our comforter, our advocate, who brings God’s presence, who brings God himself into our lives.
 
I feel like we sometimes take the Holy Spirit for granted as the third person of the Trinity.  We are quite familiar with the work of God the creator and our Father.  We look all around us, and we can visibly see God’s creating work. God is still creating, still molding, still forming his creation.
Our scripture from Psalm today that we said together in our call to worship is a good example of our understanding of the pure majesty of God our creator --- “O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.”  And so it is.
 
We fully acknowledge and know Jesus as our savior, teacher and the redeemer in our lives. We have the Bible as a tangible historical record of Jesus walking on earth.    We have Jesus’ teachings written down.  We have no difficulty understanding and trusting in the saving work of Jesus.  We know Jesus as the Son of God.  We know Jesus --- What a Friend we have in Jesus, right?
 
Sometimes though, we may get so focused on Jesus and his redeeming love for us, and God the Father, the creator, that we forget about the Holy Spirit, who is also at work, and actually at work constantly, in our lives.
 
Scripture gives us much insight into the Holy Spirit, and to the three persons of the Trinity.   
 
Today, we read a passage known as the Great Commission from Matthew 28 --- Jesus tells us to “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember,”  Jesus says,  “I am with you always, to the end of the age."
 
Each of the gospels has this same command – the Great Commission – where Jesus tells his disciples – then and now – that we need to go and make disciples.   If we look at this Great Commission passage in the gospel of John, we can very clearly see the triune God at work in this commission – Jesus says “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you”  --- and then Jesus breathes on his disciples and says “receive the Holy Spirit.”   
 
 From Matthew, we hear Jesus say we need to go and baptize and make disciples in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  From John, we know that the Father has sent us and Spirit comes to us and will guide us into all the truth through Jesus.  We learn that all that belongs to the Father, God, all that is God, is Jesus, that Jesus has all authority just as God has, and we learn that the Spirit will glorify Jesus.   The Spirit receives from Jesus what he makes known to us.   It’s complicated, isn’t it, all of that working together, being together as the three in one.  It’s complicated, but it’s also very clear that all three persons of the trinity work together in us, for us and through us.  
 
A year or so ago, I completed my CRE education through the University of Dubuque, and as part of that process I was required to write a statement of faith, both for the program at Dubuque and for the Presbytery.  Although there certainly was not an exact format required, there were topics that should be covered, and of course those included my beliefs about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity.
 
Being required to write these things down made me really think about how I view the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.   I’m going to share part of that with you today, as these are my own my beliefs about the three persons of the Trinity, and I would imagine at least some of these are similar to your own thoughts.   
I believe in God the Father, maker of all things, master of the universe, who is bigger than I can imagine, more powerful than I can comprehend, and who loves me and guides me and protects me as my heavenly Father in ways that far exceed even the very best examples of fatherhood here on earth.  I believe that God is in total control of my life and of the world, even when I, and the world, turn away from Him and stop listening, going our own way instead of following His way.
I believe that God has chosen me and knows me intimately and completely, and that nothing can separate me from the love of God my Father.
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, son of God and son of man, and my personal Lord and Savior.  I believe that God sent Jesus to the world to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, and I believe that because I totally accept  Jesus as my savior and redeemer and confess my sins, I have the amazing promise of eternal life through the saving grace and redemption of Jesus.   I believe that by living in Christ, and Christ in me, there is a peace and calm and power in me and that there is nothing that the two of us cannot accomplish within the will of God.  
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit, my comfort, my guide, my counselor, my ever-present help in times of trouble and in ordinary times.  I have felt the Holy Spirit as a quiet presence in my life, guiding and directing me with a whisper, and I know the Spirit is with me always.  I have also felt the Holy Spirit in a rush of almost tangible presence and emotion in a powerful worship service or a gathering of believers praying together or when hit by the meaning of the words of a hymn or praise song, or when viewing the amazing creation of God in rivers or mountains or a sunset, or simply when sitting alone in our beautiful sanctuary. 
Those were the easy beliefs to define …. Then it came time to write down what I believe about the Trinity – the three in one.  This part was much harder, and you’ll notice much shorter : )
 
I believe in the Trinity … the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit … the three in one; one God with three distinct and equal persons in power and glory, in ways that I cannot fully comprehend or understand.  Yet I believe. 
 
And that’s it --- I wrote what I understand, and it was not a lot.
 
I don’t know everything.  Sometimes, I feel like I don’t know anything.  The mystery about the three persons of God is something that I simply have to believe and accept, even though I do not and cannot fully comprehend or understand.
And that’s hard for me … I am someone who wants to understand things … who researches and figures things out … who likes to be in control.  But the mystery of God, and the mystery of the Holy Trinity is something I simply have to believe in without understanding.
 
Isn’t that the very definition of faith?  From Hebrews 11, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 
 
God is bigger than my very limited understanding, than our understanding, and thank goodness he is.
 
One thing that I can understand, and that I feel the scriptures are clear about, is the relational nature of the three members of the trinity.  The three members being deeply linked – intertwined -  in a mutual relationship of love, service, sacrifice and dependence.
 
As Jesus prepared to leave this earth, he left his disciples some very specific instructions --- commandments – as a farewell message and as a commission --- a duty to continue the work of Jesus here on earth.   Jesus’ farewell messages are in all of the gospels, in multiple chapters and verses, but they have a few things in common … we are to go and tell people about Jesus … we are to baptize and bring others into the family of God … and we are to love one another as Jesus loved us.   And as Jesus is leaving, he is also sending the Holy Spirit to be with us always, to the end of the age.
 
This is important work, my friends --- to tell everyone, to all the ends of the earth, about Jesus, and not just to put the message out there, but to live out our faith by loving one another as Jesus loved us …
We must love one another so the world will know Jesus.  as much as we strive to be like Jesus, we fall short --- even the best of us fall short.  We are human, and just can’t be expected to love just like Jesus, or reach all the ends of the earth from Clinton Iowa, can we?   
 
But Jesus knows we will fall short --- Jesus knows us and through the Father he sent the Spirit.  And we are changed … we are empowered … we can do what we could not do on our own before.  With the Holy Spirit, we can truly understand and give Jesus’ love and show the world God’s glory.
 
God created us and sent his only Son to the world to walk with us … Jesus came to earth to save us and to teach us and to love us, and he sent the Holy Spirit to help us and to comfort us and to guide us.  And we are to share all of this with everyone we meet so that all the world will know Jesus.
 
I don’t know everything about the Trinity …. I don’t know exactly how three distinct persons, each one fully God, can also be one Triune God --- not separate parts of God, but fully one God.    But I don’t have to know everything.
 
I know that God - our Triune God - has been with us since the very beginning and will be with us till the end of the age, bringing us power and love and understanding and glory to share with the world.   And that, my friends, is more than enough.
 
Amen.  
 
*HYMN                         Lord Speak to Me, That I May Speak                                #426
                                                       (you may be seated.)
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
 
 
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen.
 
OFFERING OUR GIFTS TO GOD
 
*DOXOLOGY  Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow                                                                                           #592
 
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Good and Gracious God, we pray that these our offerings, small and large, of money, gifts, and time, may be used to bring your kingdom here to earth.   May our gifts strengthen this church and this congregation to be more faithful, more present, and more daring to be the hands and feet of Christ in our community, sharing your love with all as you have commanded to do.   Amen.
 
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH    from the Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,
Of all that is, seen and unseen.
 
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, The only Son of God, Eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God, Begotten, not made, Of one being with the Father; Through him all things were made.
 
For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven;
Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary And became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again In accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven And is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, And his kingdom will have no end.
 
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, Who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.
 
*HYMN                            God of Grace and God of Glory                                #420
                                                 (you may be seated.)
 
Sending Forth
 
*CHARGE & BLESSING
POSTLUDE
 
* Sections of the service preceded with * are times to stand if you are able to do so.
Bold text is to be read together aloud as a congregation.