|
GATHERING WITH HOPE
Call to Worship ~ Shared by Linda Johnston
One: As we gather in this sacred place, let us open our minds to the challenge of reason,
All: We open our hearts to the healing of love,
One: Let us open our lives to the calling of conscience, and our souls open to the comfort of joy.
All: Astonished by the miracle of life, grateful for the gift of fellowship, and confident in the power of a living faith, we celebrate this time together.
Singing Our Faith ~ America the Beautiful
O Beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O Beauitful, for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion’d stress,
A thoroughfare for freedom beat,
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Opening Prayer ~ Linda Johnston
Gracious God, on this Memorial Day weekend, we remember and give thanks for those who have given their lives in the service of our country. When the need was greatest, they stepped forward and did their duty to defend the freedoms that we enjoy, and to win the same for others.
O God, you yourself have taught us that no love is greater than that which gives itself for another. These honored dead gave the most precious gift they had, life itself, for loved ones and neighbors, for comrades and country - and for us. Help us to honor their memory by caring for the family members they have left behind, by ensuring that their wounded comrades are properly cared for, by being watchful caretakers of the freedoms for which they gave their lives, and by demanding that no other young men and women follow them to a soldier's grave unless the reason is worthy and the cause is just.
Holy One, help us to remember that freedom is not free. There are times when its cost is, indeed, dear. Never let us forget those who paid so terrible a price to ensure that freedom would be our legacy. Though their names may fade with the passing of generations, may we never forget what they have done. Help us to be worthy of their sacrifice, All: O God, help us to be worthy.
Singing Our Faith ~ America the Beautiful
O Beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!
O Beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Prayer for Pentecost ~ Pastor Ken
| 
