Order of Worship

9-6-26

Always maintaining a proper balance between proclamation of the word about life with the deeds which make life good.

Welcome and Announcements

Shared by Cindy Gattorna

Opening Words

Led by Cindy Gattorna

One: Who are we and what are we called to do?

All: We are the sensitive and responsive ones called to

create a world where every person is radically affirmed and barriers between people become bridges of inclusion, justice, and spirituality.

Prelude

Shared by Tanner Bayles

Call to Worship

Led by Kennedi Martin

One: Welcome to the banquet of hope, the open bar of prayer, the “anonymous” circle of acceptance.

All: We come because we are invited. We come to a fiesta of joy or a mercy meal of tenderness, where every seat is a place of honor.

One: Welcome to a party for God’s love-reveal, where all seating is a circle, and the karaoke is just us singing our own

stories.

All: We come because we have an invitation not on fancy paper, simply our names. Our invitation emboldens us for compassionate action!

Singing Our Welcome For Everyone Born

Shared by Tanner Bayles

For everyone born, a place at the table

For everyone born, clean water and bread,

A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,

For everyone born, a star over head.

Chorus:

And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace:

Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice,

justice and joy.

For woman and man, a place at the table,

Revising the roles, deciding the share,

With wisdom and grace, dividing the power,

For woman and man, a system that’s fair.

Chorus

For everyone born, a place at the table,

To live without fear, and simply to be,

To work, to speak out, to witness and worship,

For everyone born, the right to be free.

Chorus

Centering Prayer

Shared by Rev. Dr. David Hodgson

Spirit of Life and Love, we come to you today with hearts wide open, celebrating the breathtaking diversity of your creation. Empower us to be agents of your radical hospitality. May our community be a sanctuary where the lonely find belonging, where the marginalized are embraced, and where every person knows they are celebrated, wanted, and fiercely loved just as they are. Today we come to the table Jesus prepared for us. May this table remind us of our shared humanity. As we journey forward, let your inclusive love compel us to seek justice, extend mercy, and walk hand-in-hand with all our siblings on this earth. Amen.

Celebrations

Cindy Gattorna

This is our time to share the celebrations of our lives: birthdays, anniversaries, words of kindness, and works of peace and justice.

Special Music for Thinking of You Cards

Shared by Tanner Bayles

Invitation to Give

Shared by Kennedi Martin

In gratitude for the gift of life, the grace that comes to us, and the gift of each other, let us in gratitude give of ourselves and our offering to God.

QR Code for Giving Page

Dedication of Our Offerings

Led by Kennedi Martin

One: May what we give today be blessed.

All: May all that we receive today enrich our lives and the lives of others.

The Chime Calls Us to the Word About Life

Cindy Gattorna

Word About Life The Welcoming Table

Shared by Rev. Dr. David Hodgson

You will be drawn back to this meal again and again...

You must not let familiarity breed contempt...

Come to this meal in holy awe.

1 Corinthians 11: 26, 28

The Message

Celebrating Our Table and Community

Led by Rev. Dr. David Hodgson

One: Welcome to the Table of Jesus. At this table we give thanks for inclusion justice, love, peace and freedom.

All: At this table we give thanks for friends and strangers, together in community in this safe place. At this table we welcome old and young.

One: We give thanks for the unfolding of matter, mind,

intelligence, and life that has brought us to this moment in

time.

All: We celebrate our common origin with every thing that exists.

One: We celebrate the mystery we experience and address as “God,” ground and sustainer of every thing that exists, in whom we move and have our being.

All: We acknowledge this mystery embodied in every

human person, aware that each one of us gives God

unique and personal expression.

One: God is everywhere present, in grace-filled moments of

sharing and in carefully created communities of loving

solidity.

All: We are one with everything, living and nonliving:

connected interrelated, interdependent.

One: We remember the stories from our tradition, how on many occasions Jesus would share a meal with friends. He created community by sharing bread and wine.

All: For everyone born, a place at the table.

One: We are mindful how the bread would be taken, a blessing offered, and then passed between them.

All: And all of them ate.

One: We remember how some wine would be poured out, a

blessing offered, and then passed between them.

All: And all of them drank.

One: We imagine this time sharing as a time of sharing concern, conversation and celebration.

All: The bread and the wine symbolized human lives

interconnected with other human lives and the power

of giving and receiving.

One: May the passion for life as seen in Jesus, and in the lives and struggles of many other committed and faithful people then and now, enable us to dare and to dream and to risk.

All: Together may we re-imagine the world.

One: Together may we work to make all things new.

All: Together may we be healed.

One: This is the cup of peace and of new life for all. A sign of love for the community of hope.

All: A reminder of the call to live fully, to love abundantly, and to be all that we can be.

Words for Mission

Led by Rev. Dr. David Hodgson

One: Friends, may you be blessed when you sit at the fine table of welcome and when you spread the picnic blanket of peace.

All: May we all be blessed in giving and receiving. May we go forth into the week not repaid for our action but our hearts repaired.

One: These are the times!

All: We are the people!

One: All of Creation is blessed!

All: May we love all and serve all!

One: God be with you.

All: And also with you.

One: Amen.

All: Amen.

Sending Forth Song Go Make a Difference

Shared by Tanner Bayles

Go make a diff’rence.

We can make a diff’rence.

Go make a diff’rence in the world.

Go make a diff’rence.

We can make a diff’rence.

Go make a diff’rence in the world.

We are the salt of the earth, called to let the people see the love of God for you and me.

We are the light of the world, not to be hidden but be seen.

Go make a diff’rence in the world.

Chorus

We are the hands of Christ, reaching out to those in need, the face of God for all to see.

We are the spirit of hope; we are the voice of peace.

Go make a diff’rence in the world.

Chorus

Sermon Reboot is ON for today.

This is a time to talk about the message and explore together using the ORID Art Form Conversation methodology. What is ORID? It stands for Observation, Reflection, Interpretation, and Decision. You will get the hang of it.