PRELUDE Prelude in C Major, BWV 553 (“Little”) attributed to J.S. Bach

ADORATION

CALL TO WORSHIP        Psalm 133

How very good and pleasant it is

when kindred live together in unity!

It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion.                                               

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God who cares for the sparrow, for the widow, and the orphan. God who numbers each of the hairs on our heads, and calls us to care for all of our neighbors. Help us to share from our abundance of time, treasure, and talent. Help us to use our privilege and property to speak for those without either. Help us to lay down our lives for your great kingdom. Amen.

HYMN 457 V. 1,5    I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art

1. I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,

My only trust and Savior of my heart,

Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;

5. I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.

 Our hope is in no other save in Thee;

Our faith is built upon Thy promise free;

Lord, give us peace, and make us calm and sure,

That in Thy strength we evermore endure.

CALL TO CONFESSION        

SILENT CONFESSION                                                          

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)

Almighty God, you poured your Spirit upon gathered disciples creating bold tongues, open ears, and a new community of faith. We confess that we hold back the force of your Spirit among us. We do not listen to your word of grace, speak the good news of your love, or live as people made one in Christ.

Have mercy on us, O God. Transform our timid lives by the power of your Spirit, and fill us with a flaming desire to be your faithful people, doing your will for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON               

GLORIA PATRI 579        

PROCLAMATION

FIRST LESSON                                         Luke 3:7-17

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”               

MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN    “What’s Mine Is Yours”

ANTHEM                                    By Faith            Arr.  Richard Nichols

By faith we see the hand of God in the light of creation’s grand design, 

In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness, 

who walk by faith and not by sight.

By faith our fathers roamed the earth with the pow’r of His promise in their hearts Of a holy city built by God’s own hand, a place where peace and justice reign. (refrain) We will stand as children of the promise; we will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward. Till the race is finished and the work is done, we’ll walk by faith and not by sight.

By faith the prophets saw a day when the longed-for Messiah would appear With the pow’r to break the chains of sin and death and rise triumphant from the grave.

By faith the church was called to go in the pow’r of the Spirit to the lost To deliver captives and to preach good news in ev’ry corner of the earth. (refrain)

By faith this mountain shall be moved, and the pow’r of the gospel shall prevail. For we know in Christ all things are possible for all who call upon His name. (refrain)

Second Lesson                                 Acts 4:32-37

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 

The Word of God for the People of God

Thanks be to God. 

SERMON                 “No One In Need”                 The Rev. Aaron Ochart

RESPONSE 

RECOGNITION OF GRADUATING SENIORS

Leader: God of truth and knowledge, by your wisdom we are taught the way and the truth. Bless our graduates as they now finish this course of study.

All: We thank you for those who taught and worked beside them,

and all who supported them along the way.

Leader: Walk with the graduates as they leave and move forward in life. Take away their anxiety and confusion of purpose.

All: Strengthen their many talents and skills, instill in them a confidence in the future you plan, where energies may be gathered up and used for the good of all people.

Leader: For the graduates, this truly is a season of new beginnings, a time to remember and move on, and a time to believe what love is bringing.

All: May they always know that Christ is alive and goes before us,

to show and share what love can do. This is a day of new beginnings, our God is making all things new.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH                    Confession of Belhar   10.5-10.6

We believe 

that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ; 

that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

that God’s lifegiving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God’s lifegiving Word and Spirit will enable the church to live in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world;  

that the credibility of this message is seriously affected and its beneficial work obstructed when it is proclaimed in a land which professes to be Christian, but in which the enforced separation of people on a racial basis promotes and perpetuates alienation, hatred and enmity; 

that any teaching which attempts to legitimate such forced separation by appeal to the gospel, and is not prepared to venture on the road of obedience and reconciliation, but rather, out of prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief, denies in advance the reconciling power of the gospel, must be considered ideology and false doctrine. 

Therefore, we reject any doctrine which, in such a situation sanctions in the name of the gospel or of the will of God the forced separation of people on the grounds of race and color and thereby in advance obstructs and weakens the ministry and experience of reconciliation in Christ. 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER               

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.

HYMN 442         The Church’s One Foundation          AURELIA

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.

She is his new creation by water and the word.

From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride.

With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,

she waits the consummation of peace forevermore:

till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,

and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

Yet she in earth has union with God, the Three in One,

and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:

O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,

like them, the meek and lowly, may live eternally. 

PARTING PRAYER                         Attributed to Nels Ferré (1908-1971)

Come, O Holy Spirit. Come as Holy Fire and burn in us, come as Holy Wind and cleanse us within, come as Holy Light and lead us in the darkness, come as Holy Truth and dispel our ignorance, come as Holy Power and enable our weakness, come as Holy Life, and dwell in us.

Convict us, convert us, consecrate us, until we are set free from the service of ourselves, to be your servants to the world. Amen.                                                     

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE  Allegro maestoso from Sonata II – Felix Mendelssohn