Each year on the first Sunday in November we remember our beloveds who have gone before us, and we lift up the promises of our faith, that they are, indeed, in the hand of God.

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 Celebration of All Saints

Union Presbyterian Church

November 7, 2021

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

Liturgist: Pat Sullivan Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube

Prelude Colin DeLap, piano

“Shall We Gather at the River,” Vicki Collinsworth

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

Welcome Rev. Pat Raube

Welcome Union Presbyterian Church in Endicott, NY,

on this day when we celebrate the saints,

our beloveds who have gone before us.

A central part of this celebration is the time

when we sit down at table with them and with one another.

If you are watching from home or travel,

you may want to take this time to bring provisions for the meal:

bread and the fruit of the vine.

You may also want to mark this time with some symbol, perhaps of your loved ones who have gone before, perhaps of being in God’s presence.

You may want to light a candle.

You may want to bring a photograph or memento.

Your love and memory is precious to God, and is honored in this time.

A great cloud of witnesses is present, and God is with us.

I am so glad we are on this journey together.

Call to Worship Pat Sullivan

Blessed be our God, who loved us before the world was made.

Blessed be God!

Blessed be our God who honored the holy covenant people.

Blessed be God!

Blessed be our God who spoke through the prophets.

Blessed be God!

Blessed be God who gave us as our forbears

all the holy and beloved ones,

our parents in the faith:

Blessed be God, forever and ever!

Hymn # 501 W & R

“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

(Public Domain)

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but thou art mighty—

Hold me with thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more,

Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through:

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

Be thou still my strength and shield,

Be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Bear me through the swelling current,

Land me safe on Canaan’s side:

Songs of praises, songs of praises

I will ever give to thee,

I will ever give to thee.

Call to New Life

We are part of God’s story. Let us ask God to help us.

Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

Eternal God, in every age you have raised up people to live and die in faith. We confess that we are indifferent to your will. You call us to proclaim your name, but we are silent. You call us to do what is just, but we remain idle. You call us to live faithfully, but we are afraid. Give us courage to follow in your way, that joined with those from ages past, who have served you with faith, hope, and love, we may know the love and justice of your reign.

~ Silent Prayer ~

And we pray,

We are grateful that neither death, nor life, nor present things, nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Assurance of God’s Grace

Hear the good news!

We are a people born of water and the Spirit.

We have died to the old life, and a new life has begun.

Let us live as those who have been raised to new life!

God is with us.

Thanks be to God!

Sharing of 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 Wisdom 3:1-9 – from the Apocrypha

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.

Children’s Message Rev. Pat Raube

Music: “Go, My Children, With My Blessing” (Public Domain)

Colin @ piano

Scripture Revelation 21:1-6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

Response: Holy Wisdom, Holy Word. 

Thanks be to God! 

Meditation 

Anthem   

“A Thousand Alleluias”

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

A cloud of witnesses around us,

A thousand echoes from the past,

Proclaim the one who freed and found us,

And leads us on, from first to last.

For such a gift, let all uplift a thousand alleluias.

A crowd that clamors pain and anger,

Prevents us from nostalgic pride;

The cries of poverty and hunger

Recall us to our Savior’s side.

There we entrust, to God most just, a thousand alleluias.

A throng of future shapes and shadows,

A world that may, or may not be,

Names us the servants and the stewards

Of all the Spirit longs to see.

In awe we bend, and onward send a thousand alleluias.

A rainbow-host of milling children,

God’s varied image, from all lands,

Awakes again our founding vision,

That onward, urgently expands.

Give all, give more. Let love outpour a thousand alleluias.

A Reading from John Donne’s “Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions”

The Naming of the Saints

Barbara Jenkins Sally Finch Darlene Warfield Hicks

Chris Newell Marilynn Dyer Howard Lustgarten

Antonia Gonzales Aileen Hemstreet Lynn Calderone

Larry McCanless Karen Beppler Amy Hawk Winans

Josephine Vojtisek Claire Ernest

The Lord’s Supper/ Prayers of the People

… Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

The Lord be with you!

And also with you!

Lift up your hearts!

We lift our hearts to God!

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise!

…Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels,

with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and with all the faithful of every time and place, who forever sing to the glory of your name:

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.

The Story of the Supper

… According to his commandment:

We remember his life and death,

we proclaim his resurrection,

we await his coming in glory.

The Gracious Spirit

Prayers of the People

Number us among your saints, O God,

and join us with the faithful of every age,

that strengthened by their witness

and supported by their fellowship,

we might have the strength to serve you faithfully

until the promised day of resurrection,

when with the redeemed of all the ages

we will feast with you at your table in glory.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all glory and honor are yours, almighty God,

now and forever. Amen.

Together, we lift our voices in the prayer he taught us…

debtors, trespassers, and sinners together:

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

In life and in death we belong to you, our Alpha and Omega.

We thank you that you bring us together

across all time, in communion with Jesus the Lord.

The table is ready. All are welcome.

Communion Music

“How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” James Koerts

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

Prayer After Communion

God of glory, in this holy feast you have made us one with Christ and with that great multitude of the faithful—those who hunger and thirst no more and worship night and day in your temple. Lead us in the paths of righteousness and guide us to the springs of the water of eternal life, until we join the choir of the redeemed, singing: Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb: Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn # 529 W & R

“For All the Saints”

(Public Domain)

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might;

Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou in the darkness drear, their one true light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle; they in glory shine.

Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again and arms are strong.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day:

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of glory passes on his way.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds and ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Benediction From Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals,

by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro

May the peace of Christ go with you: wherever he will send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.

Postlude Colin DeLap, organ

“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”

(Public Domain)

Worship With Us

All Saints Day: In the Hand of God