Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
We are an open and affirming member of the United Church of Christ and no matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here. Contact the Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Murray at 631-727-2621 for more i
Church services are held at 10:00 am usually followed by a coffee hour. Please join us.
All are welcome.
Alley Cat Thrift Shop: Donations of adult clothing , shoes and small household items are accepted Tuesday and Thursday from 10-2 and Saturday 9-1 only. No furniture or children's items accepted.
Sunday School: Please call our church office if you would like your child to join. Sunday School is held during church services.
If you would like to join us on Zoom , please follow the link
Join Zoom Meeting:
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pwd=a0FZcDg5MnRqKz-JMQXRLVzIBTGZFQT09 to start or join a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Meeting ID: 850 1493 9172
Passcode: 7272621
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Service of Word and Sacrament
June 1, 2025✦ 10am
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Aria Smith
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love.
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: The grace of Jesus Christ be with all the saints!
We have gathered in that grace to worship God.
Many: Rejoice in God and give thanks to God’s holy name.
Let all heaven and earth behold God’s glory.
One: God is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
All creation is subject to God’s rule and reign.
Many: We bring our prayers and praise to God most high,
We lift our voices in hymns of celebration.
One: Come, all who hunger, all who thirst;
Be nourished and renewed in this time of worship.
ALL: We bring joys and sorrows, fullness and needs.
Seeking, we come with success and failures..
*HYMN: For All the Saints No. 299
https://youtu.be/WbPshOGxpew
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
We come seeking a presence that shakes foundations and helps us build new ones. We come with all our wounds, asking for healing. We come, remembering our baptism and wanting to claim the difference that makes in our lives. We come through the shadowy clouds of our unbelief, seeking the brightness of your glory. We want a faith to sustain us through times of trial and testing. Be powerfully present with us, gracious Spirit. Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
As Christ prayed that believers might be one, we ask, O righteous Parent, that our church may know a unity of spirit amid our diversity. Make your ways known to us, fill us with your love, and send us out in your name. We seek to bring others to the tree of life and to salvation, through Jesus Christ…..
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever. Amen.
MISSION MOMENT: Strengthen the Church
OFFERING & OFFERTORY ANTHEM: Blessed by the Bread,
Graced by the Wine Beall
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Acts 16:16-34 NT Page 119
❖ Psalm 97 Hymnal Page 685
❖ Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 NT Page 232
❖ John 17:20-26 NT Page 98
*GLORIA:
Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit,
Three -in-one; as it was in the beginning
Is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.
SERMON: “Holy Disruptions”
When it comes to Biblical accounts, the poetic and mystic is fine, but I do appreciate the narrative accounts such as we have today from Acts. Unlike the Gospel account and John of Patmos’ visioning of Revelation, our first reading is delightfully accessible and lends itself to fine considerations as we make our way through the journey of life.
At first, I’m sure the slave girl’s announcement was just a basic interruption. Interruptions tend to be easy enough to manage as they’re just brief pauses in what we’re doing, like a sneeze while preaching. Yet as the slave girl continued with her proclamations for “several days,” it’s understandable how Paul found that the interruption to be more than something that could no longer be ignored and skipped over. And then, of course, the annoyance became a disruption.
We all deal with disruptions, such as when the computer acts up big time or a storm knocks out the power. But as unsettling as those things are, we tend just to deal with them and not get overly agitated. Yet when the disruption is caused by disruptive behavior, such as by a seriously misbehaving child, that’s when the more emotional impulse kicks in. And as saintly as Paul was, he wasn’t immune to that; yet Luke is quite diplomatic with the description of Paul’s initial reaction, writing simply, “but Paul, very much annoyed.” We can see it. Paul was ticked off big time.
At first, there’s a blessing that comes out of the girl’s disruptive behavior as she is exorcized of the annoying spirit. But then, of course, things get considerably worse as Paul and Silas are seized, stripped, flogged and jailed. Now there’s a big-time disruption.
What’s surprising is how they deal with it. No fretting, bemoaning, crying out, or even hexing in the name of God is mentioned. Rather the next image we get of them is as if they were in church: they took to praying and singing hymns. Now that’s taking things in stride for sure.
Yet even church time is disrupted. This time it’s by a violent earthquake. But again, even though the everyone’s chains were unfastened, and doors were opened, they took it all in stride and just stayed put.
Of course, as it turns out, their taking even that grand disruption in stride and not reacting out fear and fleeing, was the perfect, even holy, response. The jailer was not only spared from killing himself but converted and baptized, and his behavior was complete modified as he became nurse and gracious host to the two. Now that’s a Holy Disruption, to the max.
As I took in the account, I contemplated how I tend to be less than perfectly receptive to disruptions. Something, I likely share that with many. My inclination is regularly to get right bothered, even “very much annoyed.” I don’t so much as briefly contemplate the good they may be precipitated by the seeming inconvenience and needed change in plans. Yet it occurred to me through this reading that I’d likely do well to consider a more divine possibility in the disruption. Perhaps something right good could come of it.
And we’ve seen it. It’s the disruption of a sudden physical attack that leads to a needed diagnosis and a remedy that had eluded us. It’s the crash and arrest that leads to a curative and transformative stay in a sober house. It’s the knock on the door that leads to a much needed and healing conversation.
The challenge is not to lament or offer a purely emotional response to the disruption but to consider God at work in it and through it. There well might be a blessing to be found, but it may take more effort that what Paul and Silas had to make.
OUR ORDER OF COMMUNION
The Invitation and Time of Confession:
❖ Call to Confession
❖ Silent Confession
❖ Unison Prayer of Confession:
Hear our individual confessions, O God, as we recall the
ways we ignore you every day. Listen to our regrets over
the abuse we have heaped on others by our words, actions,
or neglect. We join together in asking forgiveness for the
ways our church inflicts injury on members of the household
of faith while excluding many who differ from us. We live
by our own devices rather than taking risks to follow where
Christ might lead us. Deliver us, O God, from empty forms
to receive the fullness of your grace and the power to live as
you intend. Amen.
❖ Words of Assurance
Thanksgiving:
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to God Most High.
People: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Pastor: We give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy,
for calling forth the creation and raising us from dust by the breath of your being.
We bless you for the beauty and bounty of the earth and for the vision of the day when sharing by all will mean scarcity for none.
We remember the covenant you made with your people Israel, and we give you thanks for all our ancestors in faith.
We rejoice that you call us to reconciliation with you and all people everywhere and that you remain faithful to your covenant even when we are faithless.
We rejoice that you call the entire human family to this table of sacrifice and victory.
We come in remembrance and celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ, whom you sent, in the fullness of time, to be the good news.
Born of Mary, our sister in faith, Christ lived among us to reveal the mystery of your Word, to suffer and die on the cross for us, to be raised from death on the third day, and then to live in glory.
We bless you, gracious God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in the church you have gathered. With your sons and daughters of faith in all places and times, we praise you with joy as we say together:
All: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Words of Institution and Communal Proclamation:
Pastor: We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion,
and on the eve of death, Jesus gathered the disciples for a shared meal of preparation.
Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying:
“This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper.
Again he gave God thanks and praise and said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as
often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
All: Christ’s death, O God we proclaim.
Christ’s resurrection we declare.
Christ’s coming, we await.
Glory be to you, O God.
Prayers of Consecration:
Pastor: Eternal God, we unite in this covenant of faith, recalling Christ’s suffering and death, rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, and awaiting Christ’s return in victory. We spread your table with these gifts of the earth and of our labor. We present to you our very lives, committed to your service on behalf of all people. We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine, upon our gifts, and upon us. Strengthen your universal church that it may be the champion of peace and justice in all the world. Restore the earth with your grace that is able to make all things new.
All: Be present with us as we share this meal,
and throughout all our lives, that we may know you as
the Holy One, who with Christ and the Holy Spirit,
lives forever. Amen.
Sharing the Bread and Cup:
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is offered for us.
People: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
We celebrate the grace of God in our midst.
(Please wait until all have been served and we’ll ingest together)
unison Prayer of Thanksgiving:
We give you thanks, Almighty God, that you have refreshed us at your table through the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to heal us, we pray, and strengthen our faith. Increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; we ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*HYMN: Help Us Accept Each Other No. 388
https://youtu.be/7bqkTMO5fW8
*PASTORAL BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel,
Lead us back if we should stray,
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: The Heaven’s Declare Marcello
(please remain seated for the postlude)
Sixth Sunday of Easter
A Service of the Word
May 25, 2025 ✦ 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Finlandia Sibelius
(Once the music begins we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence)
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love;
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship, we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Come to this place of prayer; God is calling us.
Come, all who are burdened; there is healing here.
Many: We have come to hear the Word of God.
We have brought with us all that weighs us down.
One: Let the voices of praise greet the One who calls us.
Be glad together and sing for joy.
Many: Our hearts respond with hope for a new day.
Our voices join in thankful prayers and praise.
One: God reigns among us and fills the world with light.
We are invited to make our home with the living God.
ALL: May God’s ways be known within and among us.
May God guide us in ways of health and peace.
HYMN: Lift Every Voice and Sing No. 593
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
…Maker of all things, Ruler of all peoples of the earth, we bring our prayers of thanksgiving and praise. You have provided the water of life for our baptism. You have fed us with the fruits of the earth and nourished us through your Word. Meet us again in the joyous encounter of worship, lest we forget the source of all we have and all that we are. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
God of love and peace, whose healing Word is offered to every person and group and nation, we long to hear and see and feel your presence with us. Send your Holy Spirit to overpower our excuses, lend new perspective to our troubled thoughts, and equip us to walk into the future with courage. Reign among us that we may proclaim good news to all who need it. Amen.
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory,
now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING & OFFERTORY: God Bless America Berlin
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Acts 16:9-15 NT Page 119
❖ Psalm 67 Hymnal Page 663
❖ Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 NT Page 231
❖ John 14:23-29 NT Page 95
SERMON: “Godsends”
It may strike you a bit odd because it’s rarely that it pluralized, but godsends – with the final s – makes sense to me. As such, it not only points to the plural noun of the blessings, but it also clearly hints at the simple sentence that serves as an affirmation: God sends, as in God sends help, God sends what we need, God sends angels in our path.
From the adventuring Paul and then Lydia, to the mystical visioning of John of Patmos, and the promise of the gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, we are treated to fine illustrations of godsends and we them are led to the contemplate the help and support we’ve received, especially at most opportune moments, and the help and support we’re called to give.
The account of Acts starts with a vision, but with the vision there is no clear plan. It’s just a matter of being summoned to do something – in this case to help some unnamed man and others whom he’s with. It’s also a summons to travel into previously unvisited territory, now a Roman colony, across the norther Aegean Sea. There’s no “you’ve got to be kidding me” or “how are we supposed to do that?” It’s just off we go.
And without any details of the journeying other than the points of call along the way, we end up down by a river in Phillipi where, as it just happens, there is not only a place of prayer but also women who gathered there on the Sabbath. Apparently, they were Gentile converts to Judaism, so that Paul had an easy way of making theological conversation. Anything that’s said goes unrecorded, but it was obviously compelling as Lydia and her household were baptized. (A note of trivia: Lydia is considered the first European convert to Christianity.) It’s already a wonderfully odd story of what some might consider happenstance, but for the believers it would undoubtedly be a clear indication that the hand of God was in it all.
The big bonus – yet another godsend – was that Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth, rare and expensive fabric which meant that she was woman of means. She urges Paul and those with him to stay at her house. That’s quite the invite to a bunch of traveling sailors whom she just met, but it’s just laid out there, so we don’t readily even contemplate that. Lydia’s house then gives Paul and Silas and the crew a place to stay for many days and they’d continue to make converts. That huge gift of hospitality is a major godsend for sure, and if you were to read on, you’d even discover the man whom we expect the one of the original vision, for the godsends don’t end, for there’s even an earthquake to come that frees Paul and Silas from the chains of jail.
The odd thing about godsends, those serendipitous blessings that come our way to help and support us, is that if we only consider them to be for us in times of struggle, we tend to hope we don’t need them. We like to be self-sufficient and have things well under control without the help of others. And yet you, like me, have likely found times when events and people just happen to unfold in such a way as to provide exactly what’s needed. And I consider godsends to come in times of more normal journeying and not only in times of struggle. (Yet, granted, that when the latter is the case, we may well give a bigger “alleluia, thank God!)
Certainly, as I look over my shoulder, I know that meeting Miguel on the streets of Havana some 34 years ago was a godsend. I consider my call to Riverhead a godsend. And I know that some whom I’ve helped -- to marry, or to bury loved ones, or to assist through crisis – have considered me a godsend, too.
One of the biggest godsends in my earlier life was that of being able to not only find free housing in Biarritz for the summer, for the easy exchange of helping a widow in her home to walk the dog, and run errands, etc., but that I also managed to find work there and ended up waiting tables in a French restaurant in France. I assure you, that took some doing and in my eyes it was only by the grace of God that that was possible.
But godsends, as God works in us and through us, certainly go the other way to: that is, we who are blessed can serve as agents of God to share the blessings. It was about a week ago, that after guiding a widow to whom I write daily maneuver through the challenges of Social Security woes, she wrote to me upon her success, “You are my special angel.” And the following day, she again revisited the thanks, writing,
“The relief was overwhelming. I actually wanted to cry. I'll have to find a special way to thank you.”
And there are others, through other challenges, whom I know have found godsends, too. In our recent conversation about Bruce’s passing, Janet spoke to me about the blessing of having her daughters with her through these last days. And I know the gift of the family’s presence, mine included, at my Uncles’s memorial service was a big godsend, too.
As you look over your shoulder, you’re sure to be able to identify those moments when people or events unfolded in such a way as to comfort, support or even sustain you. Revisit them, and give thanks, for God sends the help we need.
Consider too your call to be the godsend that others need. Hospitality, service, gentle conversation, words of comfort, compassion, guidance and support, are all avenues in which you’ll discover the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is working through and with you to be the godsends that others need, too.
*HYMN: My Eyes Have Seen the Glory No. 610
https://youtu.be/_Ic4w_UEpCQ
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel.
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: America the Beautiful Rogers
Third Sunday of Easter
Service of Word and Sacrament
May 4, 2025✦ 10am
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Meditation on Showalter Loggin
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love.
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Sing praises to God, O you saints of God.
Give thanks to God’s holy name.
Many: Praise God for a joyous gift of a new day.
Thank God for healing and ever-present help.
One: Extol the one who lifts us up from defeat.
Praise the one who upholds us when we are discouraged.
Many: God sees and hears our weeping.
God lifts our souls from the pit of despair.
One: Give thanks to God who turns our mourning into dancing.
Praise God who hears our cries and answers our prayers.
ALL: We have cried to you in our need, O God.
We believe you are working to make us whole.
*HYMN: I Sing the Mighty Power of God No. 12
https://youtu.be/eeSoE1Kmmv0
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
…Come to us as a light from heaven, Sovereign God. Pierce the shadows of doubt and despair, anger and scorn, that we allow to rule in our lives. Turn us from ways that deny your rule among us. Awaken us from dull routines to worship that is alive with awe and wonder, spontaneity, and joy. Surprise us with a presence we cannot avoid, a summons we dare not evade, a mission we may not escape. We are gathered by the love of Christ, that we may feed others as we have been fed. Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS:
Installation at Old Steeple: You’re invited to attend the installation of Rev. Kerstin Weidmann as pastor of Old Steeple Community Church at 4:00 pm on May 18th.
Brick Donations: If anyone would like to contribute to the bricks for Lois Berman, Elaine “Bunny” Burns, Gloria Foley, Carol Terry, Dot Walsh, and/or Don Wylie, please put cash or check (FCCR) in the plate as indicated or in the envelope in the back of the church. Thank you.
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
God of love, who raised Christ from the dead to reign in power, we honor and bless you, even as we seek wisdom to follow where Christ leads. May your favor rest upon us, your joy fill our lives, your love motivate all we do. Make us instruments of good news who carry your name to others and share your blessing and delight…
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ 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. Lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING
OFFERTORY ANTHEM: As We Break the Bread Althouse
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ Acts 9:1-6 NT Page 111
❖ Psalm 30 Hymnal Page 639
❖ Revelation 5:11-14 NT Page 220
❖ John 21:1-14 NT Page 101
*GLORIA:
Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit,
Three -in-one; as it was in the beginning
Is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.
SERMON: “Extraordinary”
There’s really no denying it. There’s some pretty weird stuff that happens in Bible land. Today, you’re especially treated to some extra-special weirdness. As the appetizer, you get the account of the conversion of Saul (who becomes the famous Paul of our NTs). Paul, gets jolted by a big burst of lighting, treated to a voice from heaven, but then is left blind. His recovery is also quite fascinating, and perhaps slightly less weird for you as we’re used to remarkable accounts of healing in the Bible. Paul’s recovery is found in the verses that follow the account you heard today. But as it is the appetizer, you just get the first bit.
Next comes the soup course. From Revelation. Frankly it’s a bit amazing that Revelation even made it into the cannon of scripture. It definitely reads as if it comes from one who managed to find some good hallucinogens on that island of Patmos. We only get four verses today, and it’s a big-time mix of angles, living creatures and elders. And when I say big-time, it’s as the author writes, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Plus, they’re singing. And it ends with what is apparently a reference to the really big four, the four living creatures who say, "Amen!" leading to all fall down and worship.
Then the main course comes with the gospel, of course. Mind you, for those in the account, the meal is actually breakfast, but as I haven’t had, and don’t think I know any who have had grilled fish for breakfast, I’m calling it the main course of the main meal of the day. And really, their choice of breakfast isn’t nearly half of the weird of that account itself.
If you were reading this Gospel for the first time, you’d likely be surprised to find another appearance of Jesus. The Doubting Thomas account certainly seemed like a good note to end on. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” And yet we get this one that seems to be an addition to the original work. But there is no evidence that this Gospel ever circulated without this chapter.
It's weird on several levels. The disciples are now back in Galilee; we last saw them in Jerusalem. On this occasion that were seven disciples in all (rather than the full remaining 11). After all they had experienced, they go back to fishing. Apparently, they needed time to process it all, and so, why not go fishing?
It may have been too dark for them to recognize the figure standing on the beach, yet that were clearly within earshot. Oddly, enough they take the instruction of the one on the beach without challenge. There is likely a lesson these for those of us who never see the Lord but discern his voice.
Then comes breakfast. The disciples, it appears, were conscious of a certain uneasiness in the presence of the resurrected Jesus. There was something familiar about him with them by the lakeside, yet there was something quite unfamiliar in the company of one who had returned from the dead. None even ask, “Who are you?” They just seem to know.
Albert Schweitzer, in The Quest of the Historical Jesus, has the best line for this scene. He writes, “He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old.” It just a wonderfully extraordinary time.
He puts them at ease with the simple invitation, “come have breakfast.” And with the help of their own catch, he feeds them. Such is the case even for us, this day, as we celebrate communion.
Then it’s a matter of having breakfast on the beach with one risen from the dead. And we, like them, just take it in. But seriously, it’s pretty weird. Yet once we really consider it, it’s enchanting, an extraordinary meal in an extraordinary time.
I don’t know that it’s often that we have breakfast on the beach with Jesus. We certainly don’t get treated to him in person, or so it seems. But if we take the time to take in this odd account of another, even seemingly superfluous third appearance of Jesus, to the disciples, we too can discover the holy in our time. We’d just have to look a bit deeper to find, to consider, our God who feeds us, who directs us, who calls to us even from afar in the darkness.
If we take the time to take it all in, we’ll discover the extraordinary that is revealed in a gentle account of fishing and breakfast on the beach. We’re to look well, to listen, to follow the directives, and understand that we are nourished by our God who has long been known in the extraordinary wonders of our world.
OUR ORDER OF COMMUNION
The Invitation and Time of Confession:
❖ Call to Confession
❖ Silent Confession
❖ Unison Prayer of Confession:
Loving God, we admit to attitudes that exclude rather
than embrace. We prefer to associate with others who
think and act as we do. We turn away from those who
are different from us. We identify some as enemies to be
avoided or even destroyed. Forgive us, God, for seeking
to limit your family. Awaken us to the limits of our
understanding and the narrowness of our dealings.
Show us the better ways you intend and make us bold to
respond, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
❖ Words of Assurance
Thanksgiving:
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to God Most High.
People: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Pastor: We give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy,
for calling forth the creation and raising us from dust
by the breath of your being.
We bless you for the beauty and bounty of the earth and for the vision of the day when sharing by all will mean scarcity for none.
We remember the covenant you made with your people Israel, and we give you thanks for all our ancestors in faith.
We rejoice that you call us to reconciliation with you and all people everywhere and that you remain faithful to your covenant even when we are faithless.
We rejoice that you call the entire human family to this table of sacrifice and victory.
We come in remembrance and celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ, whom you sent, in the fullness of time, to be the good news.
Born of Mary, our sister in faith, Christ lived among us to reveal the mystery of your Word, to suffer and die on the cross for us, to be raised from death on the third day, and then to live in glory.
We bless you, gracious God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in the church you have gathered. With your sons and daughters of faith in all places and times, we praise you with joy as we say together:
All: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Words of Institution and Communal Proclamation:
Pastor: We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion,
and on the eve of death, Jesus gathered the disciples for a shared meal of preparation.
Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper.
Again he gave God thanks and praise and said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as
often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
All: Christ’s death, O God we proclaim.
Christ’s resurrection we declare.
Christ’s coming, we await.
Glory be to you, O God.
Prayers of Consecration:
Pastor: Eternal God, we unite in this covenant of faith, recalling Christ’s suffering and death, rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, and awaiting Christ’s return in victory. We spread your table with these gifts of the earth and of our labor. We present to you our very lives, committed to your service on behalf of all people. We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine, upon our gifts, and upon us. Strengthen your universal church that it may be the champion of peace and justice in all the world. Restore the earth with your grace that is able to make all things new.
All: Be present with us as we share this meal,
and throughout all our lives, that we may know you as
the Holy One, who with Christ and the Holy Spirit,
lives forever. Amen.
Sharing the Bread and Cup:
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is offered for us.
People: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
We celebrate the grace of God in our midst.
(Please wait until all have been served and we’ll ingest together)
Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving:
We give you thanks, Almighty God, that you have refreshed us at your table through the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to heal us, we pray, and strengthen our faith. Increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; we ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*HYMN: Jesus Calls Us, O’er the Tumult No.172
https://youtu.be/SVJ3G7L_yjU
*PASTORAL BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel,
Lead us back if we should stray,
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Let Us Break Bread Together Wagner
(please remain seated for the postlude)
We're biblical, traditional, yet progressive.
We honor and take pride in our
Congregational roots.
We covenant with one another and with God,
as revealed
in Jesus Christ through the illumination of
the Holy Spirit.
We endeavor to walk humbly with God and
strive for justice and peace.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 56.7
We are an open and affirming congregation in which all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, economic status, gender, age, or personal ability, are equally affirmed into membership, leadership and employment
and joyfully welcomed.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Worship on Sundays at 10:00am.
No matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here.
103 1st Street, Riverhead, New York 11901, United States
Open today | 09:00 am – 12:00 pm |
Our church office is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am-12:00. Church services are held on Sunday at 10:00am, and coffee hour in the fellowship hall following the worship service. Sunday School will be held at 10:00 am. (To run concurrent with our worship service)
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