Stewardship 1: World Communion Sunday

Sunday, October 3, 2021
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

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In deeply poetic language scripture reveals the hand of God creating and bestowing unique dignity on humankind. Join us this Sunday, October 3, as we celebrate the ties that bind us to God and to one another!

Join us this Sunday morning! We worship together at 10:30 AM in our sanctuary, live-streaming the service for those at home (or on the road) right here. You are invited!

Online Bulletin

World Communion Sunday

Stewardship 1

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Union Presbyterian Church

October 3, 2021

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Liturgist: Joan Kellam Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube

Prelude Chris Bartlette, organ

“For Communion,” Dennis Eliot

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

Welcome Rev. Pat Raube

Call to Worship Joan Kellam

Who are we, God, that you should care for us?

We are your people, the works of your hand.

Who are you, God, that you should take notice of us?

We are your creation, your beloveds, your children.

How shall we celebrate?

We shall draw near to the table of the Lord.

Hymn # 696 W & R

“Come, Share the Lord,” Bryan Jeffery Leech

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

We gather here in Jesus’ name,

His love is burning in our hearts like living flame;

For through his loving Son the Father makes us one:

Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord.

No one is a stranger here, everyone belongs;

Finding our forgiveness here, we in turn forgive all wrongs.

He joins us here, he breaks the bread,

The Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead;

The one we love the most is now our gracious host:

Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord.

We are now a family of which the Lord is head;

Though unseen he meets us here in the breaking of the bread.

We’ll gather soon where angels sing;

We’ll see the glory of our Lord and coming King;

Now we anticipate the feast for which we wait:

Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord.

Call to New Life

Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

Merciful God, in your gracious presence we admit our brokenness, and the brokenness of the whole world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves, as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste to the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation.

~ silent prayer ~

And we pray,

Lord, have mercy upon us. Heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Assurance of God’s Grace

You, O Lord, are merciful and gracious:

Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

You, O Lord, have spoken, and it is so:

I have called you by name, and you are mine.

You, O Lord, are our healer and our hope:

Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Thanks be to God!

Sharing of the Peace

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.

Scripture Psalm 8 Joan Kellam

O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!—

you whose glory is chanted above the heavens

   out of the mouths of infants and children;
you have set up a fortress against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
what are mere mortals that you should mindful of them,
    human beings that you should care for them?

Yet you have made them little less than divine;
    with glory and honor you crown them.
You have made them rule over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
all flocks and cattle,
    even the wild beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
    and whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Children’s Message Rev. Pat Raube

Scripture Hebrews 1:1-4; Genesis 1:26-31

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

~~~

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind in [God’s] image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Meditation Rev. Pat Raube

Discussion questions

What are the implications of being made in the image and likeness of God?

What is the nature of the dominion that God granted human beings

to have over the earth?

What are the implications of God’s pronouncement that what had been created was “very good”?

Anthem

“Gathered As One,” Deanna Light, Paul Tate

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

Many faces, the young and the old, gathered as one in our God!

Throughout history the story’s retold, gathered as one in our God!

Like those come before us, we listen and learn.

We remember the promise and await your return.

So without hesitation a new generation proclaims the salvation of God!

Gathered as one in Jesus your Son, lifting our voices in praise,

We know and believe and long to receive

The bread that is strength for our days, gathered as one!

Many pilgrims, sharing at feast, gathered as one in our God!

All are welcome the greatest and least, gathered as one in our God!

Like those come before us, we listen and learn.

We remember the promise and await your return.

So without hesitation a new generation proclaims the salvation of God!

Gathered as one in Jesus your Son, lifting our voices in praise,

We know and believe and long to receive

The bread that is strength for our days, gathered as one!

Many voices, raised up in song, gathered as one in our God!

In one family where all can belong, gathered as one in our God!

Like those come before us, we listen and learn.

We remember the promise and await your return.

So without hesitation a new generation proclaims the salvation of God!

Gathered as one in Jesus your Son, lifting our voices in praise,

We know and believe and long to receive

The bread that is strength for our days, gathered as one!

Stewardship Minute for Mission: Kevin Kelley, Chair, Finance and Endowment Committee

The Lord’s Supper (for World Communion Sunday)

The Invitation

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

…Therefore we gladly join our voices to the song of the church on earth and in heaven:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are filled with your glory:

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord:

Hosanna in the highest.

Invocation of the Holy Spirit

The Words of Institution

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

The Communion

O taste and see that the Lord is good!

Let your gentleness be known to everyone: the Lord is near.

Prayer After Communion

In gratitude, deep gratitude, for this moment, this meal, these people, we give ourselves to you. Take us out to live as changed people, because we have shared the Living Bread and cannot remain the same. Ask much of us, expect much from us, enable much by us, encourage much through us. In this way, Lord, may we live to your glory, both as inhabitants of earth and citizens of heaven. Amen.

Hymn # 23 W & R

“All Creatures of Our God and King”

(Public Domain)

All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing

Alleluia, Alleluia!

O burning sun with golden beam, and silver moon with softer gleam,