Getting Truth Back

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Service of Worship

O For The Wings Of A Dove
Felix Mendelssohn
© Public Domain

Opening Prayer
Holy, Holy, Holy God of Justice and Peace,
divine parent of all. Restore in us a spirit of hope not fear Justice not corruption Peace not violence
So that we may be agents of your love, bearing witness to your glorious salvation, In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, Mother of us all. Amen.

Opening Hymn — #103 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

1. Immortal invisible God only wise
In light inaccessible
Hid from our eyes
Most blessed most glorious
The Ancient of Days
Almighty victorious
Thy great name we praise

2. Unresting unhasting
And silent as light
Nor wanting nor wasting
Thou rulest in might
Thy justice like mountains
High soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains
Of goodness and love

3. To all life thou givest
To both great and small
In all life thou livest
The true life of all
We blossom and flourish
As leaves on the tree
And wither and perish
But naught changeth thee

4. Great Father of glory
Pure Father of light
Thine angels adore thee
All veiling their sight
All praise we would render
O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor
Of light hideth thee

Immortal Invisible God Only Wise (St. Denio)
Walter Chalmers Smith
© Public Domain

Scripture Reading – Ephesians 4:1-16 (NRSV)

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said,
“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Children’s Time with Ms Becky

Special Music – Mason

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
Traditional
© Public Domain

Joys and Concerns — Pastoral Prayer

Pastoral Prayer

God in Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ, calls us by grace
To be renewed in the image of our Creator, that we may be one in divine love for the world.
Today is the day God cares for the integrity of creation, wills the healing and wholeness of all life, weeps at the plunder of earth’s goodness.
And so shall we.
Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people, despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace.
And so shall we.
Today is the day God deplores violence in our homes and streets, rebukes the world’s warring madness, humbles the powerful and lifts up the lowly.
And so shall we.
Today is the day God calls for nations and peoples to live in peace, celebrates where justice and mercy embrace, exults when the wolf grazes with the lamb.
And so shall we.
Today is the day God brings good news to the poor, proclaims release to the captives, gives sight to the blind, and sets the oppressed free.
And so shall we. Amen.

Offering Our Gifts to the Lord
For those who are called and able, gifts and tithes can still be made through online giving, by mailing them in, and by dropping them off to the office through the secure mail slot to the left of the double door entry to the church hallway.

Offertory – Antone

Lord God of Abraham
Felix Mendelssohn
© Public Domain

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Old 100th)
Louis Bourgeois | Thomas Ken
© Public Domain

Offertory Prayer

We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We offer back to God now what we have inherited. May they be multiplied and used for peace with justice in the ministries of this congregation, this conference, and throughout the world. Amen.

Sermon – Pastor Stacy Dickson
Getting Truth Back

Call to Reconciliation
We are each complicit in systems that harm our neighbors and circumvent God’s vision of peace with justice. With the confidence of God’s children may we confess our failings to the Divine Parent.

Confession
Abba God,
We remember the times that we could have spoken truth in love to the bully, the rude co-worker, or the racist family member but chose instead to stay comfortably silent. We confess that when injustice does not directly affect us we find it too easy to look the other way. We become frozen when we face the enormity of peace making even though we know that the Body of Christ suffers when any of our sisters and brothers suffer. Forgive us for our fear, complacency, and complicity. Encourage us to leverage our privilege and use our resources to replace unjust systems with Beloved Community.

Words of Assurance
L: We are loved so much that God sent Jesus to us . . . not to condemn us but to be saved through him. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out. “In the name of Jesus you are forgiven.
P: Thank you, God. Amen.

Closing Hymn — #569 We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations (v. 1-2, 4)

1. We’ve a story to tell to the nations
That shall turn their hearts to the right
A story of truth and sweetness
A story of peace and light
A story of peace and light

Refrain
For the darkness shall turn to dawning
And the dawning to noonday bright
And Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth
The kingdom of love and light

2. We’ve a song to be sung to the nations
That shall lift their hearts to the Lord
A song that shall conquer evil
And shatter the spear and sword
And shatter the spear and sword

Refrain

4. We’ve a Saviour to show to the nations
Who the path of sorrow has trod
That all of the world’s great peoples
Might come to the truth of God
Might come to the truth of God

Refrain

Benediction

As we go into the world
May the Divine Parent lead us to be agents of peace with justice May the Holy Spirit fill us with a spirit not of fear, but of adoption
So that all who we meet will know the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Go now in peace. Amen.

Postlude – Hani