Sunday Bulletin March 13, 2022

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!”

March 13, 2022 • 10:00am

___________________________________________________________

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV

Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor

10:30am Worship begins

God encourages us. . . all the time! All the time . . . God encourages us!

Passing the Peace of Christ and Welcoming the Light of Christ

(Remember when you were told something about yourself you didn’t want to hear?)

Hymn: “Sweet Hour of Prayer” 505 (NCH)

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Maker’s throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter’s snare, by your return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! The joys I feel, the bliss I share, of those whose anxious spirits burn with strong desires for your return! With them I hasten to the place where I would know my Savior’s face, and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! Whose wings shall my petition bear to One whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. And since I’m bid me seek God’s face, believe God’s Word and trust God’s grace, I’ll cast away my every care, and wait for you, sweet hour of prayer!

Call to Confession

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer's words:

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”

Costly grace includes: forgiving and repenting; carefree and disciplined; celebrating and confessing; joy and suffering and so, we turn to confession.

One: Gracious God, oil the hinges of our hearts’ doors that they may swing gently and easily to welcome your forgiving and healing Spirit. Amen

(from 816 NCH)

Let us open our hearts to God.

Prayer of Confession

All: Almighty and everlasting God, always more ready to hear than we are to pray, always willing to give more that we either desire or deserve; pour upon us the abundance of your mercy; forgiving those things of which our conscience is afraid and releasing us to new life. Return us to journey in the way of Jesus. Amen

alt. from 834 (NCH)

Silent Confessions with God

Bringing up rocks

Assurance of Pardon

One: There is no valley too dark nor mountain too high for the healing love of God. We are forgiving. Return to the journey with Christ!

All: Thanks be to God. Amen!

Response “Grace Alone” v1

CCLI license #11038266

Every promise we can make, every prayer and step of faith, every difference we can make is only by God’s grace. Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine, every blessing left behind is only by God’s grace.

Grace alone which God supplies strength unknown God will provide; Christ in us, our Cornerstone, we will go forth in grace alone.

Community Prayer

Spoken Prayer

Silent Prayer

Lord's Prayer

Response: Sing Amen

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, God

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, God

(Sing Amen) Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,

we praise your name, O, God

Offerings of the People

Invitation to share

Dedication Hymn: “Holy Ground”

CCLI license #11038266

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.

Dedication Prayer

Beloved Creator, bless these offerings of our time, talent, and treasure. May all that we are and all that we have be dedicated to your service. May the life of this little church reflect the light of compassion, justice, and spiritual transformation. Amen

Message to Young Hearts

Remember when you were told something about yourself you didn’t want to hear?

Scripture Readings

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Message: “Speaking Truth in Love: Firstly, to ourselves. Secondly, to our neighbor.”

“Reflecting on the Experiences of Mel White,” Wayne Shull

“Reflections on the Insights of Randall Balmer and his book Bad Faith,” Scotty Patton

Silent Reflection

Announcements

God’s Light Goes forth into the World God Loves

Closing Hymn: “Let it Be Said of Us”

CCLI license #11038266

Let it be said of us

That the Lord was our passion

That with gladness we bore

Every cross we were given

That we fought the good fight

That we finished our course

Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord

Chorus

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

By mercy made holy

By the Spirit made strong

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

'Till the likeness of Jesus

Be through us made known

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

Let it be said of us

We were marked by forgiveness

We were known by our love

And delighted in meekness

We were ruled by his peace

Heeding unity's call

Joined as one body

That Christ would be seen by all (Chorus)

Benediction with Hallelujah (new melody) 766 (NCH)

Sunday Bulletin, March 6, 2022

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!”

March 6, 2022 • 10:30 a.m.

___________________________________________________________

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV

Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor

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

Hymn: “Amazing Grace” 547 (NCH)

Public Domain

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see

T’was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home

My God has promised good to me, whose word my hope secures; God will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

Call to Confession

One: We are made of stardust and to dust we shall return. Let us return our lives to God, the maker of the stars, the planets, and every living creature and know the freedom of living the way of Jesus.

Prayer of Confession

Maker of All, we are yours. Hold us in that love as you reveal to us the ways we have fallen short of our potential as your children. Heal the brokenness within us. Heal the brokenness we have caused. Grant to us hearts ready to make the change and become new through the power of forgiveness, the freedom of repentance, and the joy of transformation. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Silent Confessions with God

Lighting of candles on the Cross

Assurance

One: God forgives us.

All: O Majesty, O Magnificence, O Mystery, come!

Be the hammer, and break our indifference.

Be the sun, and splinter our shadows.

Be the wind, and scatter our despair.

Yea, in the dry country of our souls, let thy grace rain;

so that we take root in thee, and grow.

Make us trees strong in all seasons, bearing fruit,

giving shade to all the weariness

and shelter to them that are lost.

So we pray to the glory of Jesus Christ

who made the cross tree green and flourishing forever.

Amen.

(Arnold Kenseth, USA)

Response

Hymn: “Grace Alone” v1

Every promise we can make, every prayer and step pf faith, ev’ry difference we can make is only by His grace. Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine, every blessing left behind is only by His grace.

Grace alone which God supplies strength unknown He will provide; Christ in us, our Cornerstone, we will go forth in grace alone.

Community Prayer

Spoken Prayer

Silent Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Response “Grace Alone” v1

CCLI license #11038266

Every promise we can make, every prayer and step of faith, every difference we can make is only by God’s grace. Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine, every blessing left behind is only by God’s grace.

Grace alone which God supplies strength unknown God will provide; Christ in us, our Cornerstone, we will go forth in grace alone.

A Time of Offering

An Invitation to Share

Dedication Hymn: “Holy Ground”

CCLI license #11038266

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.

Dedication Prayer

Loving God, bless our offerings of time, talent, and treasure. With your blessing, we will fulfill your vision for our lives, our world, and this your church. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen

Listening for God

“Reviewing Our Journey”

Who/What influenced your religious and political views?

Philippians 3:4b-11 from The Message

You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

1 Peter 3:14-16 The Message

Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

Message “How Christian Education Creates Extremists” Naomi Hanvey

Silence

Sharing Holy Communion

Pastor: Friends in Christ, we gather at our many tables mindful of the presence of God’s Spirit that is here with us. We seek to honor the request of Jesus given in the scripture. Of all the teachings Jesus gave to our ancestors, this he asked them and us to remember him.

When Jesus and his friends sat together at a Passover meal, Jesus took bread; giving God thanks and praise, he broke the bread. He gave it to his friends saying, “Take this all of you and eat of it. This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

After the meal had ended, Jesus poured out the cup and again he gave God thanks and praise. He gave the cup to his friends and said, “Take this all of you and drink from it. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.”

Let us pray.

All: Come, Holy Spirit come. Bless this bread and this cup and all who have gathered in your Spirit. Help us to remember that you have dwelt among us. Help us to dwell in the world today as living temples of your presence. Bless us to remember your teachings, commandments, and example. May we be renewed in this sharing. Amen.

Silence

Prayer of Thanksgiving All: We thank you, God, for your presence as we remember the Living Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are among us still, in each of us, and in all of your creation. Bless us to more fully live as your people. Amen.

Silent Reflection

Hymn: “My Faith it is an Oaken Staff” 418 (NCH)

Public Domain

1 My faith, it is an oaken staff, the trav'ler’s well-loved aid; My faith, it is a song of trust, sustains me undismayed. I’ll travel on, and still be stirred by silent thought or social word; By all my perils undeterred, a pilgrim unafraid.

2 My guide is Jesus Christ whose steps, when travelers have trod, whether beneath was flinty rock or yielding grassy sod, they cared on their joy unspent, through pain and trial they onward went, unstayed by pleasures, still they bent their zealous course to God.

3 My faith, it is an oaken staff, O let me on it lean! My faith, provides the ground of hope, supports a purpose keen! Your Spirit, God, upon me send, That I may be what you intend. With patient courage, we’ll contend as radiant saints serene.

Benediction and Sing Amen (760)

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

(Sing Amen) Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

Postlude

Bulletin, Sunday Feb 27, 2022

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!”

Sunday, February 27, 2022 • 10:30 a.m.

___________________________________

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV

Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor

10:30am Worship begins:

God shines through us.. . all the time!

All the time . . . God shines through us!

Passing the Peace of Christ and Welcoming the Light of Christ

( What is a lie?)

Hymn:”Let it Be Said of Us”

CCLI license #11038266

Let it be said of us

That the Lord was our passion

That with gladness we bore

Every cross we were given

That we fought the good fight

That we finished our course

Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord

Chorus

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

By mercy made holy

By the Spirit made strong

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

'Till the likeness of Jesus

Be through us made known

Let the cross be our glory

And the Lord be our song

Let it be said of us

We were marked by forgiveness

We were known by our love

And delighted in meekness

We were ruled by his peace

Heeding unity's call

Joined as one body

That Christ would be seen by all (Chorus)

Black History

P-51 Red Tails and 761st Tank Battalion called the Black Panthers

presented by Cherall Anne St. James

Marian Anderson

presented by Louise Tajuddin

Report back on practice of non voilence

Community Prayer

Spoken Prayer

Silent Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Response: He is our Peace

CCLI license #11038266

He is our peace, who has broken every wall. He is our peace. He is our peace. He is our peace, who has broken every wall. He is our peace. He is our peace. Cast all your cares on him, for he careth for you. He is our peace. He is our peace.

A Time of Offering

Dedication Hymn: Undivided Heart

CCLI license #11038266

If I'm to be whom You desire all throughout my life a vessel unto honor, Lord to Thee and before Your throne to hear You say

that I have done my part, Lord, I need an undivided heart

That I might know You; that I might serve You; that I might worship You as king to see the morning star, to know how great You are, Lord, I need an undivided heart

Dedication Prayer

Holy One, we offer of our time, talent, and treasure as we hold on to your vision of a just and peace-filled world. Bless these offerings. Multiply them to meet the need to move the world from hate to love, from division to community, from war to peace.

Amen

Listening for God

Message with Young Hearts:

Scripture Passage

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Luke 9:28-43

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. 34While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ 36When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Message: Integrity: Our Transfiguration into the Image of God

Silence

Announcements

Our Light moves into the World God Loves

Hymn :“Grace Alone”

CCLI license #11038266

Every promise we can make

Every prayer and step of faith

Every difference we can make

Is only by His grace.

Every mountain we will climb

Every ray of hope we shine

Every blessing left behind

Is only by His grace

Chous: Grace alone Which God supplies

Strength unknown God will provide

Christ in us, our cornerstone

We will go forth in grace alone.

Every soul we long to reach

Every heart we hope to teach

Everywhere we share His peace

Is only by His grace.

Every loving word we say

Every tear we wipe away

Every sorrow turned to praise

Is only by His grace. (Chorus)

Benediction and Sing Amen (760)

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

(Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

(Sing Amen) Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, we praise your name, O, Lord

Postlude

Stay with me. There is more!

During March and into April, each Sunday of Lent we will hear about experiences of life with white nationalists and the Religious Right. Invite friends to join us at 10:30am Sundays. And A reminder: Next Wednesday March 2 is Ash Wednesday 7pm