July 7, 2024

July 3, 2024

Grace Presbyterian Church and Union Congregational Church

SUMMER WORSHIP SERVICE in the Sanctuary of Union Congregational Church

Serving people, through Christ, to meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of the community and the world around us.

PRELUDE Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor Jeremy Whitener & Charl Louw

Words: Emma Lazarus Music: Irving Berlin
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The weary migrant of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-toss’d to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

WELCOME Rev. Ron Verblaauw

*CALL TO WORSHIP

One: Let us rejoice, for morning has dawned. A new day is born, and we are newly alive to enjoy it.
Many: We celebrate the beauty of creation and the wonder of human family. We remember those who love has shaped our lives and those whose struggles for justice have been unsleeping in spite of opposition.
One: We gather to worship God, to share prayers and gifts, to pledge ourselves to God’s work in the world.
Many: May God bless us, so that what we do in this time together may be honest, sacred, and filled with hope.

*PRAYER OF INVOCATION

*OPENING HYMN #592 God of the Ages NATIONAL HYMN

Words: Daniel Crane Roberts Music: George William Warren

PRAYER OF CONFESSION Ruth C. Duck

God, if we carry excess baggage on life’s journey, teach us to travel more simply. If our possessions own us, free us to trust you and share with others. If our need for control keeps us anxious and demanding, help us to relax. If we carry loads of guilt, may we hand them over to you, trusting you to forgive us.

God, make us simple: simple in trust, simple in life, simple in commitment to you. Prepare us for your mission. Allow us to join your labor to heal the hurting, feed the hungry, and bring good news to the poor. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, in whose name we are baptized and sent out on mission. Amen.

MOMENT OF SILENT REFLECTION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

PASSING OF THE PEACE

TIME WITH OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

SCRIPTURE READINGS Jeremy Whitener

Ezekiel 2:1-5 (NRSVUE)
1 He said to me: “O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Mark 6:1-13 (NRSVUE)
1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown and among their own kin and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff: no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

SERMON Rev. Ron Verblaauw

*HYMN #575 O for a World AZMON

Words: Miriam Therese Winter Music: Adapt. Lowell Mason

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Our [Name for God] in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kin-dom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

OFFERING

Invitation

Music for Meditation

*Response of Thanksgiving Doxology OLD HUNDREDTH

Words: Thomas Ken, adapt. William B. Abernathy Music: Louis Bourgeois

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God for all that love has done;
Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One.

*Prayer of Dedication (unison)

We thank you, God, for your steadfast love. We offer our praise; may it reach to the ends of the earth. We ask that our gifts empower ministry in this place and wherever our influence can reach. Let unbelief be turned to faith, ignorance to knowledge, sickness to health, brokenness to wholeness, both in us and in our neighbors near and far. Guide us, as we seek to invest our best for the sake of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Celebration of Holy Communion for the Journey of Life Maren Tirabassi

Invitation to Communion

Words of Remembering

Prayer of Consecration

Pastor: In sanctuaries and homes, we rest our hands lightly upon these elements which we set aside today to be a sacrament. Let us ask God’s blessing upon them, upon us and upon all those who are in our prayers this morning.

God, send your Spirit, upon every piece of every loaf so it is the Bread of Heaven. Pour your Love into every cup so it is the Cup of Blessing. Strengthened, may we become both travelers and welcomers on your holy way, healed and healers, comforted and comforters, rich in hope and givers of hope, in the name of Jesus whose table this always is to serve and be served. Amen

Sharing of the Elements

(Lifting and breaking the bread; Pouring and lifting the cup)

Share this harvest of the promise of life.
May it fill us with peace.
Drink from the fruit of God’s vine.
May we taste new words of love.

All are invited to come forward to the communion table.
We share gluten-free, nut-free bread and grape juice. The ushers will invite you forward. If you would like to be served in your seat, just indicate so to the ushers.

If you do not wish to participate in communion, we invite you to come forward and extend the right hand of fellowship to you, or remain seated.

Communion Hymn (next page) – Come to the Table of Grace Words & Music: Barbara Hamm

Prayer of Thanksgiving

HYMN OF PARTING #393 Blest Be The Tie That Binds (vs. 1) DENNIS

Words: John Fawcett Music: Adapt. Lowell Mason

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love;
the sharing of a common life is like to that above.

*BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE Charl Louw

Resources used or adapted in this morning’s liturgy:

*https://giftsinopenhands.wordpress.com/2022/06/24/holy-communion-for-pentecost-july-3-2022/
•Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi, Editors, Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2012).
•Lavon Bayler, Led By Love: Worship Resources for Year B, (Cleveland: United Church Press, 1996).

Mark your calendars:
Thursday, Church Rebuild Committee, 10:00 am, Online and at the Manse
Sunday, July 14, Friends of Grace Dinner, 5pm-7pm, St John’s Episcopal

Daily Devotionals online Monday-Friday 9:00 AM. Check out www.gracemontclair.org for more information.

Food for the Little Pantry is always wanted and needed. Non-perishables only please. With school out of session peanut butter, mac and cheese, and other kid-friendly items are needed. Food may be dropped off at the Manse or placed in the basket as you enter or leave the chapel on Sunday.

The next Friends of Grace Community Meal will be on July 14, 5pm-7pm at St John’s Episcopal. Thank you to those supplying the meal. We are all set.