Order of Worship
August 3, 2025
10:00 AM
*If you are able, please stand.
Prelude: “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart” Charles Callahan “Bread of Life from Heaven” G. Winston Cassler
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
MISSION STATEMENT: (Let us say our Mission Statement together)
“To welcome and inspire All through faith, love, and fellowship according to Christ’s example.”
Introit: “Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove” Isaac Watts/John Dykes
*Call to Worship (Responsive)
Leader: So many things draw us away from God.
People: We are tempted by trinkets and gadgets.
Leader: We place our interest in temporal things.
People: But Christ calls us to a higher level.
Leader: We are called to focus our lives on living as God would have us live.
People: We are called to be open to ways of service and compassion. AMEN.
*GATHERING HYMN: “God of Grace and God of Glory” #464
PRAYER OF INVOCATION: Bountiful God, who gives to us all that we need to sustain our lives: Open our hearts today to hear your words of compassionate justice, that we may focus on the ways in which you intend us to live and be of service to you by serving the world. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.
Let us pray as Christ taught us to pray. Our Father 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 debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
STATEMENT OF FAITH: We believe in God known to us in three persons: Creator of all, resurrected Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who guides and brings about the creative and redemptive work of God’s love in the world.
We believe that each person is unique and valuable.
We believe that we are called to welcome each person who is on a
spiritual journey, no matter who they are or where they are on that
journey.
We believe that the persistent search for God produces an authentic
relationship with God, one that engenders love, strengthens faith,
dissolves guilt, and gives life purpose and direction.
We believe we are a people of possibility.
We believe we have the breathing room to explore and to hear our call. We believe that God is still speaking…
*SERMON HYMN: “Take My Life” #609
WORD OF GOD: Luke 12: 13-21 (Pew Bible p. 905)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Sermon Title: “Castles Made of Sand” Rev. Norman Michaud
JOYS AND CONCERNS OF THE PEOPLE: (Please share by phone, text, or email at [email protected] or 603-812-1161 before the service.)
CALL TO PRAYER:
Pastor: May God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Silent Prayer
Pastoral Prayer:
God, we use time and energy in gathering things. We justify our purchases so that we remain current. When we gather enough stuff, we relax and spend more. We hope to pass our abundance on to our children, who may have no interest or need for what we have gathered.
Have we given thought to how we have given our best in service to others? Have we spent so much time gathering and building things that we have overlooked the good we could have done? We can be foolish people. We desire and want things that make us feel satisfied only to go on to the next best thing.
We gather on Sundays asking for your healing mercies for people and situations that impact our lives. We place our trust in your compassionate love. Help us to gather peace, joy, justice, and hope as gifts to be given abundantly to all. Bring us again to your mercy and care, for we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
Choral Response: “Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song” Carl Daw/Peter Cutts
COMMUNION HYMN: “All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly” #419 (verse 3)
SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
One: Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. You who come to me shall not hunger; you who believe in me shall never thirst.”
All: In company with all who hunger for spiritual food, we come to this table to know the risen Christ in the sharing of this life-giving bread.
One: You need not be a member of this church or any church to partake of this spiritual food. All you need be is hungry.
Communion Prayer: (Unison)
All: Eternal God, who created the heavens and the earth, giving breath to every living thing, we thank you for the gifts of creation and for the gift of life itself. We thank You for making us in your image, for forgiving us when we act as though you have no claim on us, and for keeping us in your steadfast care. Praise you for Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection and for calling forth your church for its mission.
One: We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion, Jesus took bread, gave you thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, Jesus took the cup after supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
All: Bless this bread and this cup. Bless all of us in our eating and drinking at this table, that our eyes may be opened and we may recognize the risen Christ in our midst, in each other, and in all for whom Christ lived and died. Amen.
One: Through the broken bread we remember the body of Christ.”
Through the cup of blessing, we remember in the new life Christ gives.
The gifts of God for the people of God. Come, for all things are ready.
Sharing of the Elements: (One) Eat and drink in remembrance of Christ.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Unison)
Holy one, you gave us this day our daily bread and nourished us with Christ’s presence. Through one loaf and cup, you have made us one, with you and each other. By your grace and love, feed the world with this bread. Let us remember the joy of your presence with the fruit of the vine. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
CALL TO GIVING: Let us demonstrate that we are the body of Christ through our extravagant sharing of God’s blessings this day. And let us give out of our joy, rather than out of a sense of obligation, as we offer to our God the gifts of our heart.
Offertory Music for Inspiration: “Now Thank We All Our God” Larry Shackley
Doxology: (Tune: Old Hundredth) #46
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*Prayer of Dedication: (Unison) God, our Creator, we stand before you as a people of faith, investing our lives and our resources for the glory of your kingdom. Bless these gifts and those who gave them, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
*HYMN OF DEPARTURE: “God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending” # 606
Benediction: Place your life in the hands of God. Go in peace and may the peace of God always be with you. AMEN.
Postlude: “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” Karl Osterland