Bulletin

Welcome to United Christian Parish! Use the bulletin as guidance as you worship.
(download the bulletin as a PDF)

MAY 3 ORDER OF WORSHIP

PRELUDE

WELCOME

CALL TO WORSHIP
One: We gather to worship the God who made the world and everything in it.
All: The One who gives life and breath to all people.
One: In God we live and move and have our being.
All: God calls us out of darkness, breaks the chains that bind us, and leads us into new life.
One: Let us worship the living God.

OPENING SONG *
“Blessed Assurance” (#473)
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of the Spirit, washed in Christ's blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blessed;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with God's goodness, lost in Christ's love.  [Refrain]

CALL TO CONFESSION *
One: God has given us a world filled with beauty—sky and sea, field and forest, creatures great and small.
All: Yet too often we receive these gifts without gratitude and use them without care.
One: God calls us not only to enjoy creation, but to tend it with love and justice.
All: Trusting in God’s mercy, let us confess where we have fallen short in our care for the earth and for one another.
One: Trusting in God’s mercy and longing to live more faithfully within creation, let us confess our sins first together and then in a moment of silence.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION *
One: Merciful God, you call us to live in freedom and love, yet we confess that we often fall short.
All: Through our words, actions, or neglect we sometimes cause harm or place burdens on others that diminish the fullness of life you intend.
One: We judge too quickly, fail to understand those who are different from us, and overlook the work of your Spirit moving in and through others.
All: Forgive us when we lose focus, when we give less than we are capable of in serving you and our neighbors.
One: Drive out what is misguided within us and cultivate within us a sense of awe and appreciation: both in you as Creator, and for all that you create. Let our hearts sing, for we have been rescued and set free by your merciful actions. Release us into the world to serve you in all things. In silence we bring before you the prayers of our hearts.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON *
One: Lord in your mercy we have been heard, we have been loved, we have been forgiven.
All: Thanks to you, generous God. Amen.

GLORIA *
“Glory to God
Glory to God, whose goodness shines on me,
and to the Son, whose grace has pardoned me,
and to the Spirit, whose love has set me free.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.

PASSING THE PEACE

OFFERING

DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise Christ, all people here below;
praise Holy Spirit evermore;
praise Triune God, whom we adore.
Amen.

CHILDREN’S TIME

SONG
“Poor Wayfarin’ Stranger”

SCRIPTURE (Acts 16:16-34; 17:16-31)

SERMON

COMMUNION

PRAYER
All: Gracious God, we thank you for this meal of grace. In bread and cup you have met us again with the life of Christ. Through this gift you remind us that we belong to you, that in you we live and move and have our being, and that nothing can separate us from your love. Strengthen us by your Spirit to live as people set free—to bring hope where there is despair, welcome where there is loneliness, and good news wherever we go. Amen.

CLOSING SONG *
“God Our Author and Creator” (#530)
God our Author and Creator, in whose life we find our own,
make our daily witness greater, by our lives make your love known.
Help us show how love embraces those whom fear and greed downtrod;
in all yearning hearts and faces let us see a child of God.

Like those first apostles, Savior, give us strength to love and serve:
when our fainting spirits waver, fire our hearts and steel our nerve.
Teach us wisdom and compassion: bid our restless thoughts be still;
by your guidance help us fashion lives conformed unto your will.

Keep us faithful, Holy Spirit, help us bear the message true,
that at last all lands may hear it: "God is love; Christ died for you."
Join our lives in mighty chorus till we come from every place,
with all those who went before us, to the fullness of God's grace.

CLOSING MESSAGE *

POSTLUDE

*Rise in body or spirit