Welcome to the only Sunday of the year dedicated to a theological claim: the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or, as Saint John of the Cross described the Trinity, the Lover, the Beloved, and Love. How do we begin to understand this paradox of one God in three Persons? This is a Sunday that may offer more questions that answers as we ponder the mystery.
Join us in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship is live-streamed; videos are available here or on Youtube following the service.
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Trinity Sunday
The Divine Dance
Psalm 29; John 3:1-17
Union Presbyterian Church
May 26, 2024
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Jane Park Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome Rev. Pat Raube
Announcements Jane Park
Prelude Colin DeLap
“Holy, Holy, Holy,” Jim Brickman.
©2005, Universal Tunes, a Division of Universal Inc.
Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847
* Call to Worship
Father Son, and Holy Spirit:
Glory to you forever!
Speaker, Word, and Breath of Life:
Glory to you forever!
Font of Blessing, Living Water, Flowing River:
Glory to you forever!
Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child, Live-Giving Womb:
Glory to you forever!
Sun, Light, and Burning Ray:
Glory to you forever!
Giver, Gift, and Giving:
Glory to you forever!
Lover, Beloved, and Love Itself:
Glory to you forever!
Rock, Cornerstone, and Temple:
Glory to you forever!
Consuming Fire, Dividing Sword, Overpowering Storm:
Glory to you forever!
Rainbow of Promise, Ark of Salvation, Dove of Peace:
Glory to you forever!
God who was, God who is, God who is to come:
Glory to you forever!
* Hymn #141 W & R “Sing of a God in Majestic Divinity”
©1981, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Sing of a God in majestic divinity,
Seeding the heavens with numberless stars,
Forming our dust and our dreams of infinity,
God of our lives and the judge of our wars.
Sing of a child who was cradled so tenderly,
Sing of a boyhood by Galilee’s lake;
Sing of a cross and a Savior who wondrously
Suffered and died for humanity’s sake.
Sing of a Spirit who daily addressing us,
Lives in our sciences, nature and arts;
Moving through all of creation and blessing us,
Guiding our minds and engaging our hearts.
Sing of this God who in glory and mystery
Chooses to lie in humanity’s womb,
Enters the prison and pain of our history,
Rises triumphant and opens the tomb.
* Call to New Life
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
God of grace, love, and communion, we confess that we have failed to love you with all our heart, soul, and mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We ignore your commandments, stray from your way, and follow other gods. Have mercy on us. Forgive our sin and heal our broken hearts. Raise us to new life, that we may serve you faithfully and give honor to your holy name. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
God came in Jesus Christ to be among us,
not to condemn the world,
but to save it.
God, our judge, came in mercy.
God is love!
The Lord our God is kind and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
Friends, we are forgiven. Friends, we are made whole.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Amen.
* Sharing of the Peace (Romans 5)
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 29 (setting by Chris Bartlette)
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The Lord thunders over the sea.
Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The Lord thunders over the sea.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
The Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young, wild ox.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The Lord thunders over the sea.
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The Lord thunders over the sea.
The Lord sits enthroned over flood;
The Lord is enthroned as king forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The Lord thunders over the sea.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “God’s Love Made Visible,” Dave Brubeck
©1976, Shawnee Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Anthem Choir
“The Music of Creation,” Shelton Ridge Love
Text: ©1992, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Music: ©2018, Beckenhorst Press, Inc., All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
For the music of creation,
For the song Your Spirit sings,
For Your sound’s divine expression,
Burst of joy in living things:
God, our God, the world’s composer,
Hear us, echoes of Your voice.
Music is Your art, Your glory;
Let the human heart rejoice!
All creation will rejoice!
Psalms and symphonies exalt You–
Drum and trumpet, string and reed.
Simple melodies acclaim You–
Tunes that rise from deepest need,
Hymns of longing and belonging,
Carols from a cheerful throat,
Lilt of lullaby and love song,
Catching heaven with a note.
All the voices of the ages
In transcendent chorus meet;
Worship lifting up the senses;
Hands that praise and dancing feet.
Over discord and division
Music speaks Your joy and peace.
Harmony of earth and heaven–
Song of God that cannot cease.
All creation joins to sing.
All creation joins to sing!
Amen, amen!
Scripture John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon The Divine Dance
* Statement of Faith Confession of Belhar
We believe that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ; that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells; and that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit will enable the church to live
in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world.
* Hymn #118 W & R “Lord of the Dance”
©1963, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth.
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
But they would not dance and they would not follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
They came with me and the Dance went on.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame,
The holy people said it was a shame;
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high;
And they left me there on a cross to die.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back;
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone,
But I am the Dance and I still go on.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that'll never, never die;
I'll live in you if you'll live in me;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
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.
Prayer Response #489 W & R
“Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying,” Ken Medema
©1973, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace.
Call for Offering
The Offering
* Doxology
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Bradley Sowash
©2003, Presbybop Music, All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures high and low;
Praise God, in Jesus fully known;
Creator, Word, and Spirit, One.
* Prayer of Dedication
* Hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King,” Deanna Witkowski
©2004, Presbybop Music, All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.
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,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
O rushing wind that art so strong,
You clouds that sail in heaven along,
O praise him, Alleluia!
O rising morn in praise rejoice,
O lights of evening, find a voice,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
O flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for your Lord to hear,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O fire so masterful and bright,
Providing us with warmth and light,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
All you who are of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
Sing praises, Alleluia!
All you who pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on him cast your care,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
* Benediction
May God bless us. May God keep us in the Spirit’s care,
and lead our lives with love.
May Christ’s warm welcome shine from our hearts,
and Christ’s own peace prevail through this and every day,
till greater life shall call. Amen.
Postlude Colin DeLap
“Holy, Holy, Holy,” with “Holy Is the Lord,” Anna Laura Page
©2010, Word Music, LLC.
Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal
Liturgy taken and/ or adapted the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Benediction taken from A Wee Worship Book, the Iona Community, Scotland.