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Order of Worship
29 October 2023
Communion Sunday
(Please gather your bread and wine for communion)
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Sunday Morning Spiritual Formation
For Adults: the How and Why of Spiritual Connections
We gather at 9:00 am in the Multipurpose Room. Expect a warm welcome and grace-filled discussion about spirituality.
For Children Ages 4 and up: Getting to Know You
You can find us in the Blue Room! Look for signs and friendly faces as you enter the education building. For children under 4, Amy and Jaian are ready for you in the Red Room. Sunday mornings are time for fun and connection.
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Order of Worship
Prelude ~ Building Block
Shared by Travis Meyers
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Welcome and Announcements
Pastor Ken
Opening Words
Led by Pastor Ken
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.
Call to Worship
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
One: The grace of God be with the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, the prisoners and the wretched earth.
All: Come, let us behold the God of the least, the last, and the lost, who feeds, heals, clothes, provides, protects, and preserves.
One: Come, let us hear God's voice in the sacred wind, illuminating fire, life-giving waters, and the groaning earth.
Singing Our Faith ~ Listening Now
We’re so thankful that you are still speaking,
you’re still speaking, gracious God,
for the sake of the world you are seeking
we are listening, listening now.
O God, your precious word has been a lamp unto our feet every time we stray
and still it lights the shadows out along our path
showing us the way.
Refrain
Sometimes we hide in fear but still you whisper in our ears words of grace so fine that call us out to justice,
righteousness and peace, to let our light shine, let it shine!
Refrain
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Gathering and Centering Prayer
Shared by Pastor Ken and Travis Meyers
Give us serenity to know our limits.
Give us strength to do all we can.
To the One who binds us all together,
Give us wisdom to know the difference.
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Celebrations and Celebration Song
Led by Pastor Ken
At this time, we share moments from our lives: birthdays,
anniversaries, and words of peace and justice. We celebrate
sorrows and grief as part of our comprehensive view of life.
Give voice to goodness!
Celebrate your heart and your spirit.
Celebrate your life while you live it.
Even when it’s hard to do,
celebrate the best of you!
Celebrate your dreams and your visions.
Celebrate the love you’ve been given.
Cherish all that you’ve been through.
Celebrate the best of you!
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Celebration of Life and Love At The One Table
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
Like a loving mother calls her children to dinner so God calls all people to the table of inclusion, peace, and loving fellowship. Shadow Rock affirms an inclusive and open Communion Table. All persons (all ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations/identities, abilities, religious affiliations, and other unique and distinguishing features) are welcome to share this bread and cup which affirms that we are all part of God’s family and are to commune together in sacred relationship. Love and peace are the uniting virtues of this spiritual meeting place. Therefore, all who wish to join in this ritual of unity are invited to do so providing that you do so in the spirit of peace and mutual love for one another.
God seeks to be in communion with us, and wills that we be in communion with one another. Through the Christ in Jesus, God drew closer to us by living among us with all the desires and temptations of being human, and showed us that we each have the power to overcome wrongdoing by the inspiration of our spiritual lives and the discipline of our physical lives; thereby effecting the Christ in us. Jesus represented the individual model of how we each can do this; and in calling to his side the disciples and followers in his way of love and peace, many of whom were ostracized by the wider society, he revealed how to model this in our community here on Earth.
Reminding us symbolically of this union of body and spirit, Jesus took a loaf of bread, broke it like we are often broken in our relationships with one another, and showed us the way to reconciliation by asking us to share our bread with one another in remembrance of his own example. Through the broken bread, we participate in and become the body of Christ in the world.
In like manner, Jesus took the cup filled with the fruit of the vine, the vine that sustains us and links us to one another, and the fruit that nourishes the spirit of virtue that abides within and between each of us, and asked us to drink of that same spirit of loving-kindness and uniting harmony that was in him. Through the cup of blessing, we participate in and become the new life of Christ in the world.
The bread and fruit we partake nourishes us that we may nourish others. Through this sacrament of Holy Communion, we affirm that we are committed to Christ’s way of love and peace by our motives, thoughts, actions, and practices in this world. We acknowledge that we are one community made by God, and that we must consciously choose, day by day, to be in right relationship with God, each other, and our sacred values. We therefore dedicate ourselves, individually and collectively, to make the Body and Spirit of Christ real in this world, here and now, and throughout our life as a community of the faithful. What we symbolize here in this holy space, we make real by our service when we go forth from
this place.
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Invitation to the Table
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
One: At this table, all are welcome.
All: At this table, God’s abundant grace flows.
One: At this table, we are gifted beyond measure.
All: At this table, we are called to share what we have been given.
One: Come then, as you are.
Come and receive God’s blessing.
Come and be filled so that you can find the hope, the courage, and the wisdom to make God’s gifts to multiply in ways of peace.
All: We come! With gratitude, we come!
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Invitation to Give
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
Wisdom from our tradition tells us each of us must give as we have made up our minds, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Friends: let us offer our resources, our time, our talents, and our very lives to God whose love and grace fills us.
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Offerings and Offertory ~
Shared by Travis Meyers
Dedication of Our Offerings
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
With joy in our hearts and upon our lips, O God, we offer to you our very best: our joy, our faith, our treasure, our gifts, and our skills. We also offer to you our doubts, fears, and sorrows, knowing you transform each of our lives with your love. May these gifts we offer today be used to bring hope to others. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Word About Life With Travis and Cindy Interview With Pastor Ken |  | |
Words For Mission
Led by Rachael King & Coulter L’Heureux
One: Go in peace and serve the least, the lost, and the last.
May the God of the poor meet you on the streets,
May the God of the weak surround you with open hands,
May the God of the outcast sustain you to do every good deed. These are the times!
All: We are the people.
One: All of Creation is blessed!
All: May we love all and serve all!
One: May God be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Amen.
All: Amen.
Sending Forth Song ~ Every Time I Feel The Spirit
Chorus
Every time I feel the Spirit
moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit
moving in my heart I will pray.
1. Upon the mountain when my Lord spoke,
Out of God’s mouth came fire and smoke.
Looked all around me, it looked so fine,
Till I asked my Lord if all was mine.
Chorus
2. The Jordan river chilly and cold,
It chills the body but not the soul.
There is but one train upon this track;
It runs to heaven and then right back.
Chorus
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Sermon Reboot is ON for today. We will be enjoying each other's company with coffee and refreshments in Smith Hall.
Please join us next week for Sermon Reboot. 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.
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