- Feb 8
- 6 min read
Veradale United Church of Christ
An Open & Affirming Congregation
Worshiping God in Christ – Welcoming All – Working for Justice & Peace
“No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey,
you are welcome here!”
February 9, 2025 • 10:30 a.m.
------------------------Please, silence cellphones-----------------------
10:20am Gathering and Prelude
Wayne Shull, Music Director
Charlie Salt, AV
Joe McSwain, AV and Usher
Jerry Brines, Usher
Louise Tajuddin, Usher
Diane Smith, Scripture reader
Heidi Fowler, Candle lighter
Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor
________, Fellowship Set-Up
________, Fellowship Server
Naomi Hanvey, Fellowship Clean-up
Rev. Genavieve Heywood, Pastor
10:30am Entrance of the Light of Christ
Land Acknowledgement
We worship on the unceded traditional territory of the Spokane, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Coeur d’Alene, and other tribes. We acknowledge the history of indigenous genocide, removal, and erasure that continues to this day. We recognize the role that Christian communities played in these injustices, and we recommit ourselves to seeking more peaceful, just, and neighborly ways of sharing this land with all who call it home.
Community Affirmation
God loves everyone . . . all the time!
All the time . . . God loves everyone !
Service and Fellowship Opportunities
Next Sunday: Luke’s Sermon on the Plain
Bible Study, Monday at 7pm
Silent Prayer, Tuesday 9:00 to 9:30am
String-A-Lings, Wednesday, 5:30pm;
Sing-A-Lings Wednesday, 6:30pm
Community giving this month: MLK Community Center
Opening Hymn
You who have Come to the Lakeshore 173 (NCH)
You have come down to the lakeshore seeking neither the wise nor the wealthy but only asking for me to follow.
Refrain: Jesus, you have looked into my eyes, kindly smiling, you’ve called out my name. On the sand I’ve abandoned my small boat; Now with you, I will seek other seas.
You know full well my possessions, neither treasure nor weapons for conquest, just these fishnets and a will for working. Refrain
You need my hands, my exhaustion, working love for the rest of the weary – a love that’s willing to go on loving. Refrain
You who have fished other waters; you, the longing of souls that are yearning; As loving Friend, you have come to call me. Refrain
Community Prayer
Holy Ground (Red Book 148)
We are standing on holy ground, and I know that there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in his presence on holy ground.
Prayers of Gratitude
Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in his presence on holy ground.
Prayers of Concern
Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in his presence on holy ground.
Prayers in Silence
Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in his presence on holy ground.
The Lord’s Prayer use the translation which is meaningful to you or
Our Father (Creator) 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Response: 769 (NCH)
Hear our prayer, O God, hear our prayer, O God: incline your ear to us, and grant us your peace.
A Time of Offering
An Invitation to Share
A Moment from American History
Belle Da Costa Greene
Presented by Cherall-Anne St. James
Dedication “Lord, Be Glorified” Red Book 176
In my life Lord, be glorified, be glorified. In my life Lord, be glorified today.
In your church Lord, be glorified, be glorified. In your church, be glorified today.
Dedication Prayer:
Compassionate God, you know us as we are and love us with a power great enough to set us free. We thank you with humble hearts. Bless these offerings of our time, talent and treasure. May these small tokens of our gratitude be a light of your presence in our world. Amen
Listening for God
Paul has been calling the Corinthians to a way greater than all their petty hierarchy of gifts. He has told them that way that is greatest is Agape love, to love others as God has loved us, to have compassion. He further calls them to live the way of Jesus. They have received this good news — no doubt. But receiving is not the end. It is the beginning of doing.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
The writer of Luke has taken us to the edge of a cliff last Sunday and this Sunday we meet Jesus by the Lake of Gennesaret/ Sea of Galilee. Notice, he will call his disciples from their everyday work.
Luke 5:1-1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Message: Gathering All People, No Exceptions
Meditation in Music
Our Light moves into the World God Loves
Hymn: Precious Lord, Take My Hand 472 (NCH)
Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear, Precious Lord, linger near. When my life is almost gone. Hear my cry, hear my call. Hold my hand lest I fall:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
When the shadows appear and the night draws near, and the day is past and gone, at the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Benediction and Community Blessing
Be Yourself.
Grow in Christ.
Live with Compassion.
