April 27th Worship Bulletin
2nd Sunday in the Season of Easter.
Camping Sunday.
*denotes: Please rise as you are able.
Meditations for Personal Preparation:
“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” ~ Martin Luther
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods; There is rapture on the lonely shore; There is society, where none intrudes, by the deep sea and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.” ~Lord Byron
“In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.” ~Charles A. Lindbergh
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” ~ John Burroughs
“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” ~ Greek Proverb
We Gather as People of God
Hymn Sing & Welcome:
Sounding the Singing Bowl, Lighting the Christ Candle & Bringing in our Prayers:
*Call to Worship & Gathering Prayer:
The birds sing their song; the grasses deepen in shades of green.
Creation bids us to enter in and lose ourselves to find ourselves.
Leaves and flowers break their buds and burst into light.
Creation bids us to break forth into light and reveal our true selves.
Buzzing and winging; humming and fluttering.
Creation bids us to dance and sing,
to playfully and prayerfully live and love.
Whispering and bending, branches reach higher and roots dig deeper.
Creation bids us to grow, be flexible and let go.
Holy Love, during this sacred time, we are open to your creative, birthing presence. May we
breathe you in, so we may live you out. May this time be what we need it to be so we may be who
you need us to be.
*Hymn of Welcome: “Grab Another Hand” ~ J&J Strathdee
Grab another hand, grab a hand next to ya,
Grab another hand and sing this song!
Grab another hand, grab a hand next to ya,
Grab another hand and sing…
And sing this….
Ha-la-la-la-la-la-le-lu-jah-yah!
Ha-la-la-la-la-la-le-lu!
Ha-la-la-la-la-la-le-lu-jah-yah!
Ha-la-la-la-la-laaaaa, Ha-le-lu-jah!
2. Clap another hand…
3. Raise another hand…
4. Hug another friend…
Prayers for Healing and Renewal:
God who created the heavens and the earth, who separated land from water and placed life upon
and within its soils and waters, on this Sunday, which follows so closely Earth Day; on this Sunday
designated as United Church Camping Sunday, on this Sunday which falls before the local Peace
March, we ask for your healing presence; your healing light.
We admit that we often feel separate from your creation. We do not look upon our world as
something to be cherished, protected; or as something we are a part of. Instead we wage war upon
it. We dump our waste within it. We exploit it and consume it; conquer it and modify it.
God, help us choose life. Help us to care for your creation because we are part of your creation.
Loving the earth is loving ourselves. Loving ourselves is loving your earth. Give us opportunities to
breathe in fresh mountain air; to lose ourselves in your trails; to find ourselves beside your still
waters. May we dig our hands into your soil and dip them into streams of clean water and know
you are here – present with us in every molecule, grain and droplet. May we look upon butterflies
and lily pads and see the miracle they are – and know ourselves miracles too. And may this
awareness heal us.
Remove the separation we have created between ourselves and your earth, our home. May we
never deny access to the fields and forests to anyone – young or old. In the songs and silence of
Creation, it is so easy to know ourselves loved by you and one with all of life. Maybe that’s why it
scares us so much…and why we can’t live or love without it….
Sung Response: MV#37 “Each Blade of Grass”
Each blade of grass, ev’ry wing that soars,
the waves that sweep across a distant shore,
make full the circle of God.
Each laughing child, ev’ry gentle eye,
a forest lit beneath a moon-bright sky,
make full the circle of God.
Each silent paw, ev’ry rounded stone,
the buzz that echoes from a honey’d comb,
make full the circle of God.
Each fire-brimmed star, ev’ry out-stretched hand,
the wind that leaps and sails across the land,
make full the circle of God.
Each icy peak, ev’ry patterned shell,
the joyous chorus that the dawn foretells,
make full the circle of God.
Each cosmic hue, ev’ry creature’s way,
all form the beauty of this vast array,
making full the circle of God.
Assurance:
Hear the Good News: Death has been defeated. Light follows darkness. Joy follows sorrow.
Healing follows breaking, in all of its forms. Why? Because Life’s Source is Love’s Source. And that
Source created us for life, and life abundant. Thanks be to God…Amen!
We Listen for God’s Word
Family Story Time: “Yah, Right!”
Song of Blessing: “Doubters” ~ Linnea Good © 1992
Refrain: Can you believe in something you can’t see?
A mind is made up when it’s ready to be.
Believing may be easy, but faith is slow.
It takes a lot of doubting for our faith to grow.
Now, Thomas was a doubter; a questioner was he.
He said, “I’ll know it’s Jesus when the wounds I see.”
He wasn’t hesitating, his heart was simply waiting,
And not precipitating to an answer.
Nicodemus was a doubter; a questioner was he.
He said, “I can’t be born again, it’s plain to see.”
He wasn’t hesitating, his heart was simply waiting,
And not precipitating to an answer.
By the well, there was a doubter; a questioner was she.
She said, “If you’re a prophet, give some answers to me.”
She wasn’t hesitating, her heart was simply waiting,
And not precipitating to an answer.
Scriptures:
Christian Testament: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Thanks be to God!
Reflection: “Rejoice with an Indescribable and Glorious Joy” ~ The Rev. Teri Meyer
Hymn of Reflection: MV#106 “I Am the Dream”
I am the dream and you the dreamer.
I am the song and you are the rhyme.
You are the tune sung in ev’ry silence.
You are the now in the endless stream of time.
I am the bell and you the silence.
You are the yearning I cannot curtail.
I am the blest and you the blessing.
You are the wilds in which I lose my trail.
You are the word and I the echo.
You are the leader and I am the led.
You are the joy and I the laughter.
You are the Rock on which I lay my head.
We Respond in Faith
Prayers of the People and the Jesus Prayer “A Paraphrase VU#916”:
World / Country / Communities / Church Camp – MacKenzie on Mable Lake; Grafton; Hurlburt (Trinity United, Vernon) / Family and Friends:
Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-Giver;
Source of all that is and shall be.
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven.
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and forever. Amen.
Folk of Note Anthem: “Another Hallelujah” ~ L. Cohen
Passing of the Peace of Christ: May the Peace of Christ be with you…And also with you.
Offer our Gifts, and a Minute for Mission:
*Sung Response: VU#291 “All Things Bright and Beautiful” v.2&5
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful, in love, God made them all.
2 The purple-headed mountains, the river running by,
the sunset and the morning that brightens up the sky; R
5 God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell
how great is God our maker, who has made all things well. R
*Prayer of Thanksgiving & Dedication:
Thank you, God. Thank you for every good and wonderful gift that heals us. Thank you for
moments we experience in creation that take away our breath and moves us into awesome
silence… Thank you for every painful gift that breaks us open to let the light shine in and light
shine out, that expands our capacity to love and be loved. In deep gratitude, we give to you our
time and our talents; we give of our passions and resources. And we do not doubt, we trust you to
bless and use these gifts and our hearts to reveal your realm that is already here – a reality that is
just, peace and mercy-full, that is beautiful and filled with grace.
Sending Forth
*Hymn of Thanksgiving: VU#352 “I Danced in the Morning”
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
and I came from heaven and I danced on the earth;
at Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
and I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
2 I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
but they would not dance and they would not follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
they came with me and the dance went on. R
3 I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame;
the holy people said it was a shame;
they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high,
and left me there on a cross to die. R
4 I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
it’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;
they buried my body and they thought I’d gone,
but I am the dance and I still go on. R
5 They cut me down and I leap up high;
I am the life that will never, never die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;
I am the Lord of the dance, said he. R
Announcements and Special Celebrations of the KUC Community
*Commissioning & Blessing:
Go out today, this week and take off your shoes to walk on the grass;
Break out the lawn furniture and gardening utensils.
Pull out the walking stick, hiking shoes and binoculars.
Air out the life jackets and put new line on your rods.
Call your friends and family and gather around a campfire
and sing silly songs and songs that move us.
Go with God and God’s deepest blessings,
into God’s beautiful and broken world expecting to see miracles big and small.
Go with Jesus who gathered his friends around the campfire
sharing food and stories of inspiration and connection.
Go with the blessings of the Spirit –
that urging in our hearts to connect with that which is greater than ourselves alone,
now and always, Amen.
*Choral Closing: “Friends are Something…”
Friends are something when they *sing together
When they *sing whole day, when they *sing the night