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GATHERING AS THE BODY OF CHRIST
Prelude
"Beams of Heaven as I Go"
UMH #524
Welcome and Sharing of Announcements
A Time to Connections
(in-person service only)
Meditation Time
Introit
“Where Two or Three are Gathered”
by Deborah Govenor
Adult Choir
(in-person service only)
“In Remembrance”
by Buryl Red
Adult Choir with Joy Stepinski, flutist, April 18, 2019
(online service only)
Call to Worship
Liturgist: Come, people of God, gathered in the light of Christ.
People: We come to give thanks for the saints who have gone before us - those who showed us the way of faith and love.
Liturgist: In Christ, we have obtained an inheritance, sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
People: We come to remember that we, too, belong to God - redeemed, called, and cherished.
Liturgist: The eyes of our hearts are enlightened, that we may know the hope to which we are called.
People: We worship the risen Christ, who fills all in all and unites heaven and earth in love.
Liturgist: Come, let us worship the Lord of glory, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
People: We come with praise and thanksgiving for the saints and for the grace that sustains us still.
Opening Prayer
Gracious and eternal God, You are the source of every blessing, the giver of every good gift, and the keeper of all your saints in light. On this All-Saints Sunday, we remember those whose lives have reflected your grace - those who prayed for us, guided us, and walked beside us in faith. Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, that we may see the hope to which you have called us and the glorious inheritance we share among the saints. By your Spirit of wisdom and revelation, fill us with gratitude and courage, that we may live for the praise of your glory, through Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Amen.
Opening Hymn
“For All the Saints”
UMH #711 (verses 1, 2, & 4)
Honoring and Remembering our Saints
Remembrance Video
The Great Thanksgiving for All Saints Sunday
Invitation to Communion
Come to the table as all saints come,
as God’s people always do,
with love, hope and questions.
Come to the table with your mourning – old or new or delayed –
and your celebration of memories,
and your imagination of possibilities for times yet to come,
because here you are welcome,
in a weeping, laughing communion of saints,
in a weeping, laughing communion … of us.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing,
always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God,
Creator of heaven and earth:
God of Abraham and Sarah,
God of Miriam and Moses,
God of Joshua and Deborah,
God of Ruth and David,
God of the priests and the prophets,
God of Mary and Joseph,
God of the apostles and the martyrs,
God of our mothers and our fathers,
God of our children to all generations.
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. ( Musical Setting A Page 17)
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.
By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection
you gave birth to your Church,
delivered us from slavery to sin and death,
and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread,
gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over he took the cup,
gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. ( Musical Setting A Page 18)
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
Renew our communion with all your saints, especially those whom we name before you—
Names in our hearts.
Silence may be kept for the remembrance of names.
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world,
until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,
all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God), now and forever.
Amen. (Musical Setting A Page 18)
Prayer after Communion
Loving God, we thank you that you have fed us in this sacrament, united us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet in your eternal realm. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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