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!”
June 26, 2022
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10:20 Gathering and Prelude
Rev. Mike Denton, Conference Minister, PNCUCC
Wayne Shull, Music Director
Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV
Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor
Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor
Rev. Gen Heywood,
10:30am Worship begins:
God is with us ...all the time! All the time...God is with us!
Passing the Peace of Christ and Welcoming the Light of Christ
(Look for things that belong together, like yellow and green or peanut butter and chocolate or dance and music…)
Hymn: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Community Prayer
Community Prayer
CCLI license #11038266
ALL: My peace I give to you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Prayers of Gratitude
ALL: My peace I give to you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Prayers of Concern
ALL: My peace I give to you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Silent Prayer
ALL: My peace I give to you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
The Lord’s Prayer
Response 812 (NCH)
Amen, amen, amen.
A Time of Offering
An Invitation to Share
Hope House Offering
Dedication Hymn: What Does the Lord Require
CCLI license #11038266
1. What does the Lord require of you? What does the Lord require of you?2. Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God.
3. To seek justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.
Dedication Prayer
Infinite Source of All, we make this offering to the work of this community gathered in love, reflection, and service. May our gifts for Hope House and our practice of faith be pleasing in your sight. Amen
Message With Young Hearts
What have you found that belongs together?
Rite of Membership
About Veradale UCC
*You don’t have to be a member to participate in the life of the church
*Membership - belonging. It is a covenantal relationship where we stand with the community gathered in this time and place.
*Our members determine the direction of our church, care for the ministries we do together, the rules we live by are ones we choose through the determination of our congregation.
*As an autonomous church, we are free to determine what God calls us to be in this time and place. Our covenantal relationships with the Conference and National Church gives us guidance and offers us possibilities.
Invitation (The names of those wanting to become members are spoken and they are invited to affirm their baptism and unite with us in this household of faith.)
Sentences: Friends in Christ, we were all received into the global church through the sacrament of baptism. Today, the journey of these, our siblings in Christ, has brought to claim us as their community where they will grow in their relationship with God and all God’s creation. Also, we claim them as our companions in this practice of the way of Jesus.
Having prayerfully considered the commitment they are about to make, they will affirm again their baptismal pledges. May we listen with love and support and may we be reminded of our promises made in baptism and membership.
(to the Candidate/s): You are no longer strangers or sojourners. You are equal citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone. You are part of that holy temple, the body of Christ. You are built as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Questions of the Candidate:
Pastor: Do you desire to affirm your baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?
Response: I do.
Pastor: Do you profess Jesus Christ as the one who governs your life, and the one who sets you free?
Response: I do.
Pastor: Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of Jesus, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able?
Response: I promise, with the help of God.
Pastor: Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful participant in the community of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s vision of compassion and justice in all the world?
Response: I promise, with the help of God.
Address:
Pastor: By your baptism, you were made one with us in the body of Christ, the church. Today, we rejoice that your journey of faith has brought you to be with us in this time and place. We give thanks for every community of faith that has been your spiritual home and we celebrate your presence in this household of faith.
Question about Participation:
Pastor: Do you promise to participate in the life and mission of this family of God’s people, sharing regularly in the worship of God and enlisting in the work of this local church as it serves this community and the world.
Candidate/s: I promise, with the help of God.
Welcome and Reception:
Moderator: Let us, the members of the Veradale United Church of Christ, express our welcome and affirm our mutual ministry in Christ.
All: We welcome you with joy in the common life of this church. We promise you our friendship and prayers as we share the hopes and labors of this church of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit may we continue to grow together in God’s knowledge and love and be witnesses of our risen Savior.
Greeting of Christian Love:
Moderator: In the name of Jesus Christ, and on behalf of the Veradale United Church of Christ, we extend our hearts in Christian love, welcoming you into the company of this local church.
Prayer:
All: O God, we praise you for calling us to faith and for gathering us into this church, the body of Christ. We thank you for your people gathered in this Veradale United Church of Christ and rejoice that you have increased our community of faith. Together may we live in the Spirit, building one another up in love, sharing in the life and worship of the church, and serving the world for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Listening for God
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-16
2 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So, they went down to Bethel.
And
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So, the two of them went on.7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water. He said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Where is he?” He struck the water again, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed over.
15 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.”
Message: "You have asked a hard thing, yet..."
Rev. Mike Denton, Conference Minister, PNCUCC
Silence
Announcements
Hymn: “Bless Be the Tie that Binds” 393 (NCH)
Public Domain
Bless be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The sharing of a common life is like to that above.
Before our God we come and pour our ardent prayers. Our Fears our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.
We share each other’s woes, each other’s burdens bear, and often for each other flows a sympathizing tear.
When we are called to part it gives us inward pain, but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.
Benediction
Postlude
Where the Spirit will lead…
