Londonderry (NH) United Methodist Church Sunday Worship
well good morning everybody as we begin our worship service together today we have a beautiful uh arrangement with the Chimes is going to be shared with us and so I’m can begin with a word of prayer as we then enter our hearts into this time of worship let us pray Lord we thank you that you’ve called us to this place as we open our hearts to what you would speak to us today help us to hear with open ears and Open Hearts as we pray in Jesus name amen [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] amen that was beautiful thank you CH so we need to have there more often yes amen this is fantastic good morning yeah and thanks for your chiming oh well thank you very much yeah definitely a treat this morning on Mother’s day indeed happy Mother’s Day to all great to see you all here and we celebrate not just mothers but other women as well who mother in different ways whether it’s school or other ways say they care for other people for babies for babies that’s right and anybody who’s got pet animals right that kind of thing absolutely so we know that you are welcome here uh no matter where you’re coming from that this is a place that you are welcomed we celebrate the diverse Journey that we have of faith and so we invite you to just take a deep breath set aside those expectations and just receive the presence of God and what God would have for you this morning as We Gather for worship so glad to have you with us um As We Gather a couple couple things um there should be in the Pew in front of you a white card and if this is your first time with us we invite you to fill up that white card and put it in the offering plate if there’s any way that we as a church can be in Ministry with you please make a note of that we also use the green prayer card as in the Pew van white is taking us for me this is great there you go um and we use those cards in the service and so if you put those in the tray uh we will try to respond as uh things come up um other things going on in the life of the church oh my gosh so we have a triathon they say that you know you always know how to ride a bike right yeah Tri so this is a trike so May 17th Jacob’s Ladder is holding a triathon so if you would like to um donate or participate um uh give us a call or you know there’s a visit friends um of main friends of I can’t even read friends of a that’s right I actually read this beforehand um so I believe you it’s all good um all the proceeds go to friends of a a bement support group for children very good and next week is Pentecost Sunday and uh sometimes people wear red on Pentecost you don’t have to uh but also with Pentecost Sunday we will be having a mini golf thing for families and youth so if you have youth or family who’d like to do some mini golf with us know that that’s happening uh next Sunday at 1:00 uh to meet here and be a part of that okay then there’s Sunshine soup k I’m soup kitchen yeah we’re a little so y on this this coming Wednesday I believe I think it’s Wednesday nope tomorrow oh it’s Monday I have my days off um from 3: to 6:00 pm so it’s our Sunshine um week for for them if you would like to assist please get in touch with Cindy clear amen all right well and uh it’s great to be able to to worship together I invite you to stand as we begin our worship with our call to worship will be on the screen in front of us what does the Lord require of us to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with our god oh Lord help us do what you call us to do we will bring good news to those in darkness and seek justice for all come let us praise God for ministries of Hope and transformation Let Us Praise Gody Hearts OPP Ser please join me in our opening prayer for this morning loving God you have opened the door to us for True service we are encouraged to be involved in the ministries of peace and Justice your spirit reflects the light of promise and it rests in each one of us prepare us to serve you guide Our Lives as we learn more about what you would have us do amen please join me in the first hymn this morning number 192 for the beauty of the earth number 92 for those online [Music] for the beauty of the Earth for the glor of the [Music] us all [Music] to praise for the beauty of the day and of the night and Tre and andon and stars of of to we this of Greatful praise for Joy for the heart and [Music] might to sound and [Music] all [Music] to Joy of you brother sister child Earth and Friends of for all gentle thoughts and for all to the we of Greatful praise for church ever [Music] LIF [Music] [Applause] [Music] holy of to [Music] world [Music] [Music] [Music] please be seated goodness hi would you like to come up you don’t have to you can hi buddy I’ve missed you and good morning to all of you good morning to those of you online do you want to sit with me I have some things I’m trying to balance do you know what the the word balance means yeah okay well this is what happens sometimes there was a lady at the grocery store and she was standing she was in line and she was trying to you know she just thought she’d get some plates and spoons and things for the baseball game and and she’s got oh she also oh here can you hold that for a minute please oh dear then we’ve got vitamins for the family and okay we got to stand in line all right now so the cashier said to her are you a mother no you’re not a mother but this lady was a mother and she’s trying oh uhoh she was trying oh dear can you pick those up with me thank you can you get the vitamins okay thank you thanks you know sometimes we have to balance a lot of things don’t we yeah yes do you ever go to does he go to preschool he goes to preschool and in preschool do you get everything right or does sometimes the day go like you know doesn’t work right doesn’t work sometimes because we’re not perfect right jump and fly yeah jump and fly is that what you do in preschool sir I talk you talk me I’m surprised yeah we we talk yeah good puty high five there well you know what even when Mom s or you or anybody is having trouble balancing things you know what God wants us to be focused on the whole reason we do it last week Pastor David was talking everything was about love everything we do is about l o v e can you read that word love love love love do you see a part that’s broken a part of is broken yeah this part fell off why because you know what guess what love isn’t perfect we don’t do things perfectly do we no that’s so funny that is so funny I know but I’m going to keep it anyway because God says only his love is perfect right we just do the best we can we try hard you’re right oh I I love that answer play basketball play play basketball I get out to play basketball it’s good for you right I get out okay all right first we’re going to throw a basketball and we’re going to pray ready okay here we go get in the hoop okay put your hands like this to pray good job all right dear heavenly father dear Heaven father thank you for these moments thank you for these moments and thank you for love thank you for that’s right and thank you for mamas who try to balance everything kick and fly and kids too okay and kids too okay Ki and fly and kick and fly kick and this out so thankful so thankful thank you God for kicking and flying give me high 10 wonderful love you I’m so glad you’re here on this uh special occasion we are going to make sure to uh celebrate the women in our lives and so as a congregation we have a flower we’re going to give to all the women here in the congregation so as we pass the Peace of Christ um I’ll be making sure that everybody gets a flower so I invite us to stand as we pass the Peace of Christ together all right invite you to help me passing that on that way hello happy Mother’s Day would you make sure we pass it that way happy Mother’s Day there we go we been to the church here we happy Mother’s Day all right would you help me out happy Mother’s Day to you there we go sorry there’s happy Mother’s Day we passing one along here we go happy Mother’s Day passing him that way happy Mother’s Day would you help me with some of those happy Mother’s Day all right there we go happy Mother’s Day if you would pass them that way okay there you go all right in case we miss anyone there happy Mother’s Day all right very good happy Mother’s day pass all right what one gets to go to Arlene all right right we have an extra one here all right there you go now thank you you’re invite cuz I know you’re holding things but after you sing you gra grab one sound good thank you all happy Mother’s Day flow tomor today scrip reading is John I don’t think it is but okay it’s John 5 read by supped to be luke wasn’t it luk four yeah I that yeah it’s on the screen yeah it’s right there on paper just had John up on my under my you read that one that would be better because that one’s going to be relevant to the sermon this one this one’s not I don’t know I’m sure that Jesus is a part of that one but if you read that one that would be helpful and in fact he’s kind of the main act he’s kind of the main character right most of these uh yeah it’s the same thing it’s Luke yeah that’s what’s up there let said John 5 yeah but it’s not John 5 okay you’re the pastor you should know that I mean sorry I thought we’re working through this you went to school for this I thought we working this out this is good I’m an economist for goodness sakes but I was well what’s this schol we have here again here’s Luke 44 to 30 20 20 okay very good it’s going so well so far Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit and news about him spread throughout the whole Countryside he was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him he went into Nazareth where he’ been brought up and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue which was his custom he stood up to read and the squirrel of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him unrolling it he found the place where it is written the spirit of the Lord is in is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor he then rolled up the squirrel and gave it back to the attendant and sat down the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him he banged by saying to them today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing all spoke well of him were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips isn’t that Joseph’s son they said Jesus said to them surely you will quote this proverb to me physician heal yourself and you’ll tell me do in here in your hometown what we heard you have done in Capernaum truly I tell you he continued no prophets accept in his own Hometown I I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time when the sky was shut for three and A2 years there was a severe famine throughout the land Elijah was not sent to any of them but a widow in zerth in the region of sedon and there were many in Israel with Leprosy at the time of Elijah the prophet yet none of them were cleansed only nean the Syrian all the people in the synagogue were Furious when they heard this they got up and drove him out of town they took him to the brow of the Hill which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way the word of God for the people of God thanks be to God for [Music] begin I your In the Still Of My Heart [Music] creator of the of the [Applause] [Music] te a song of Praise I he of your [Music] [Applause] I to you my hes and dreams theur of my life I to you the service that in I for you my fure I may walk beside you all my days [Music] tears a song of praise [Music] thank you that was beautiful it’s great to be able to celebrate with music and song today uh with the Chimes choir and choir today beautiful can we give a hand to our music department they do such a great job for us it’s always wonderful to celebrate with worship together we are in a series in which we’ve been talking about how God sends us as God’s people into the world and unpacking a bit about what that looks like uh and so just a quick review to recognize that God is a sending God and so God sends us into the world and as we are sent we’re called to make some new friends right and we talked about making some new friends being friendly uh showing interest in others and getting involved and then we talked about just not you know being friendly but actually staying put right going to those places and making no friends and staying there eating what is offered to you drinking what is there and uh really in we call that incarnational right being present with our friends to really hear what’s going on in their lives and then we talk talked about uh last week we mentioned about love that God is a loving God and God invites us to bless those people that we are spending time with that as we go into the world that we also are invited to bless others uh all of these pieces are a bit of a transformation for us as a church uh to recognize that uh we are called to move in a different direction rather than inviting the world to come here and try to figure out how do we bless the church we as God’s people are actually called to bless the world that’s why we exist we exist to be a blessing for others and not for ourselves this week as we’re going to look into this theme a bit is talking about the next step of what that is which has to do with transformation uh transformation actually just means change uh that there is a change that is happening that God invites us to be a part of God’s change for the world and the idea is that there would be something that would benefit or something better that would happen as a result of God’s involvement in our lives that there would be some transformation from Darkness to light and we think about this in the beginning know when there was darkness and there was chaos the spirit of God hovered over the darkness and what happened then God spoke and there was light you know and God ordered that chaos and there became Life as a part of this experience of the Holy Spirit and God on creation God is a transformational God God does not just simply let you know what was there stay there but God continues to create and transform and God invites us to be a part of that same transform as we look through the scripture there’s all sorts of stories about these Transformations one of my favorite stories to go to in the Old Testament is always Moses and what happened in the life of Moses with his people God Called Moses to go down to Egypt and he says I’m calling you to go there and to do some amazing things to free my people out of slavery let’s just pause for a moment to think about this the things that Moses could have said Moses could have said I know that you’re dealing with a lot of difficult situations right now I’m really sorry for you I’ll pray for you he could even said God told me he brought me here so that I could comfort you to know that God sees your pain Hallelujah he could even have said you know at the end of your days when you die you get the chance to be with God in heaven Hallelujah would that have been good news it would have desperately been missing what God had called them to God when God act through Moses to free the people he didn’t just send them lip service God transformed their life it wasn’t just that we hope that someday you’ll be free through Moses god freed his people there was an actual Liberation an actual transformation of their situation from being enslaved and servitude to being free and living into the Promised Land There was an actual change that was required as part of the ministry that God Called Moses to be about because God is a transformational God and where there is pain and there is suffering and there is oppression God’s word is not just lip service it’s not just words about I hope you might find Freedom or that I see you in your suffering but that God acts so there would be a transformation of pain into freedom and life because that’s what God wants for his people is to experience newness and life through what his word is in us we see Jesus tied together with that that Luke 4 passage that I thank you very much much for Bruce for reading for us uh Luke 4 uh where it says the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor and we realize that that good news is not just lip service there’s an action to it he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners recovery of sight to the blind to set it free the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor these were the ministry some have said that these were the words that Jesus identified as sort of the core Mission idea of who Jesus is as he was there in his hometown reading this passage helping people to know what his ministry was all about jesus’ Ministry could have been a good uh sermon and uh preaching circuit where you know people man Jesus preaches like nobody but what did Jesus do he didn’t just preach A good sermon he demonstrated that his words had power because people’s lives were changed people who were sick were healed John the Baptist sent some of his friends to Jesus to ask whether or not they’ve done all that they need to do whether or not there there’s somebody else who’s going to come who’s going to be the Messiah are we doing it all are you the Messiah now Jesus could simply have said yes I’m the Messiah just believe it’s fine but instead what Jesus does he says look at the actions look at what has happened and so he says this go back and report to John what you have seen and heard the blind receive sight the lame are walking those who have leprosy are cured the deaf are hearing and hey the dead have been raised and the good news is preached to the poor now what is Jesus what is the concrete the foundation that Jesus is standing on for the truth of the Gospel it isn’t just that it was a good sermons and lip service it was the fact that people’s lives were actually changed and that is the good news good news to the poor isn’t just simply saying when somebody’s hungry well I hope you get fed Hallelujah and amen or someone says I don’t have a place to sleep at night you go well I hope you find shelter somewhere I’ll pray for you the good news is that we step into the ministry with Jesus and lives are actually transformed people are lifted out of the Meer into a new experience with God that’s what it means to be a transformational people not just people of prayer and nice words but to be a people of action that are moving against the oppression of the world into transformation so that people who are experienced Darkness might experience light that’s who we’re called to be as the church hopefully we’re feeling like ah there’s something different about this something different about who we’re called to be as a church we can’t just be people who say I’ll pray for you we have to ask the question how does that prayer transform me to be a person of action be a part of that Jesus changed people’s lives it said in that passage he was anointed to bring Justice to the oppressed where is the oppression in our society where is there people who are subjugated where is it that poverty health issues educational issues seem to be unequally provided and to push into those issues so that all might experience liberty and justice got good news to the poor not just saving Souls right somehow the Christian Gospel has become a spiritual gospel right even in a series I was watching recently when we’re hearing about this passage it’s like well spiritually you’re going to be set free like those things that hurt you on your past you’re going to be let set free from those things that’s nice it’s good news but it’s not really good news unless you’re actually set free Jesus didn’t just simply him to give good words but also that we might actually live into some Liberty some Freedom some transformation and Justice it doesn’t just about our soul it’s about our actual lives and if it doesn’t have if the gospel doesn’t have a relevance in our actual lives does it actually be good news or is it actually good news and I would say it’s not if there is no actual transformation in the way we live Jesus challenged the systemss that perpetuated Injustice I want share with you a story there was a woman who came to the temple and she had been oppressed for 18 years this was described in scripture 18 years oppressed by some evil spirit we’re not sure what that actually was you know whatever that is but she came to the temple to worship and Jesus was there and he saw her and the Pharisees of the day knew that she came every week to the temple to the synagogue for you know prayers and for worship and for healing but she had hadn’t been healed and Jesus asked them is it right to heal on the Sabbath and of course they were silent they were curious to see what would Jesus do and Jesus says to this woman today you are free and this woman who had been crippled for 18 years just you know confined to be in this bent over position was able to pick up her head have some pride to stand up straight and to walk and she was healed Jesus had freed her from the 18 years of Oppression and he looks to the Pharisees says what are you going to do about it and their concern was that Jesus had broke the religious law of the day Jesus pushed off against those systems that perpetuated Injustice so that people would experience Liberty and freedom in their lives religious laws religious expectations and all those pieces that push on folks Jesus pushed against those so they might experience Liberty and freedom we also get to be a part of that same Ministry what Jesus has done he didn’t just leave well enough right he healed on that Sabbath he was willing to make that challenge he could have simply had the woman come and do worship and leave right the status quo but sometimes the status quo isn’t good enough there has to be a change that we’re expected to be a part of Jesus condemnation for the Pharisees he had a lot of things you read through the gospels there’s aot a lot of things that Jesus disagreed with the religious leaders of his day about but in the passage in Luke he identifies it two ways he talks about Justice and love of God he says woe to you because you neglect Justice in the Old Testament it says God is a God of Justice and they had totally forgotten what God was all about a God of Justice and of Liberty and freedom for the oppressed now this is what Jesus is saying of what it’s all about and we realize that for the very core part of change that’s always the gospel’s been about we catch this in the summary of what the gospel is when Jesus began to preach and it says repent for the kingdom of God has come the only verb in that whole passage is repent it’s about change it just means to change your life you know a person who is you know said the man who was there by the pool of Bethesda he’d been there for 38 years right and he every time kept trying to get up and get into the pool we talked about this a little bit last week but there needed to be a change in his life right get up pick up up your mat and walk in a new way in a new life change is a part of the gospel Paul reflects on it this way he says it is for Freedom that Christ has set us free now just take a moment to pause on that if Freedom Liberty is the entire point of the gospel and it is for that freedom that Christ came so that we might be set free where are those areas of Injustice those enslavements those bondage pieces of Our Lives that continue to hold us back from living fully into God’s promises for us not just personally but globally in our communities we know that there are people who are stuck in systems that they can’t seem to get out of themselves God calls us to be those people who give the voice of freedom but also the action of Freedom so that people can be liberated from their oppression what does that look like well a couple interesting examples might be that remember Martin Luther King walking hand inand with the Brothers and Sisters in Christ in order to face off with racial oppression so that there would be people who would be set free from those systems of Oppression and we continue to live into that future of how do we continue to face off with racism today right part of what that looks like as a church I know that in my own Ministry often being in contact with persons who find themselves oppressed because the cost of rent seems to be you know going 20% a year for the last you know 30 years and now people are paying up to 75 or 80% of their paycheck going to their landlord and asking the question are there ways that we can push against some of the systems that are causing people to not have money that they can spend for anything other than rent we have to ask the question are there systems of Oppression that we need to push against as God’s people together see that gospel is not just a personal transformation God does change our lives when we ask God to free us from our enslavements our hurts our habits our Hang-Ups those things that have caused us pain in our lives we look to God for that transformation in our lives but we realize that’s not just for us personally but it’s also what we’re called to be about in God’s people for the world because that is why Christ came so we as the church might step into those places that need to be transformed in the larger society we see this example again in John Wesley in his ministry when he was preaching in and you know John Wesley the founder of the Methodist Church didn’t just preach in his pulpit and I don’t just mean him six feet away but he preached on in the streets he preached at the coal mines and as he was preaching the coal mines he’d see all these you know cold-faced uh miners coming out of the mind and he’d be having a time with them maybe their break and he’d be preaching with them and he realized that there were a few things that were going on that needed to change there were children working in the minds they couldn’t go to school and so he started to work with others about creating child labor laws so the children could go to school he also realized that they were working seven days a week and some of the things that needed to be changed in today is actually creating some labor laws so that people could actually have a day off this came out of the Methodist movement not just preaching the Good News as if it was just like God’s going to save your soul but recognizing that if we’re going to preach that good news it has to have real impact in the way we live our lives we see that example in John wesle we realize that this gospel truly changes our hearts when our hearts begin to reflect the heart of God when our hearts are broken for the things that break God’s heart so we might have to ask the question we think about our community are there places where you feel God’s heart is broken I know that in the last year we’ve had several suicides in our area the mental health issue in our community is insane across the country one in five Americans can be diagnosed with a mental health issue and we realized part of that is coming out of covid with isolation and all the uh stuff of that depression that comes from isolation we need to find a way as a Community of Faith to move into providing light and freedom and joy where there’s been hostility and depression we also recognize that there’s an issue with drug use and people are stuck into a cycle of using drugs and trying to find a way out perhaps there’s other situations you are aware of that you know that God’s heart is broken for the Brokenness that you see there and as a church we need to together like hands and hands to step into those places where God wants to bring liberty and justice for all that’s who we’re called to be as his people and I just one more time just in case you were you’re thinking that it’s well let’s just pray about it I want us to think about the words Jesus taught us to pray he said when When you pray pray like this Lord thy kingdom come your will be done on Earth the same way that it’s done in heaven what that means is that we can’t just simply ask God to do the the heavy lifting because God has told us that’s our job and when our prayers are really Being Earnest the transformation of that prayer is us that we become the ones who become the answer to the prayer that we are praying and we Step In Justice to be a part of what God is asking us to be in the world thy kingdom come means that when the Angels respond to God’s word and they do it when we hear God’s heart is broken for our community we step into that Brokenness so that light shines in the darkness we step into those places where there’s systems of Oppression and we speak words of truth and power to those who hold the power in Chains over those who are in bondage and we say Let My People Go make my people free God’s heart breaks when we simply step by and say well God we’re just going to pray that you do it because God has called us as his church to be a transformational people when Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to all the places that he was going to go he told them to make new friends he told them to sit in their homes to stay in those homes and making those new friends to hear where there’s an opportunity for blessing their lives but also he said cast out the demons raise raise the dead heal those who are sick if we are to be faithful as Jesus disciples not only are we called to make new friends but we’re also called to make a change in our society now this comes from the love of God it’s not just that you know there’s a thing that we have to do but God’s heart transforms us God’s love compels us to reach those who are mired in darkness all over the place and partly because this is Mother’s Day but I wanted to share with you the story of A Mother’s Love which I think helps compel us to this transformational love this story comes out of South America where a mother of a young beautiful girl named Maria saw Maria growing up to be a beautiful young girl and Maria had dreams of her being a star on the big stage and wanted to go to the big city now Maria’s mother knew that going to the big city there were challenges that they weren’t ready to face and Contin need to encourage Maria to stay home and to to not venture out to the big country the big city but stay in the Pueblo stay here with your people don’t run away but sure enough one day Maria’s mother comes home and finds that Maria has gone just a simple note said mom I’ve gone to the big city don’t try to find me immediately mom gathers whatever resources she has gets on the next bus to the big city and she goes there and when she’s at the train or the bus station the first thing she does she takes a bunch of uh self-portraits and you know that photo booth and she takes a bunch of her pictures and cuts them up and she goes to all the places that she feels like her daughter might go if you were somebody who’s walking into the big city didn’t have any options where would you go after she’s run out all of her money she gets on the bus and goes back home praying and hoping that her daughter would come home a few months go by and sure enough as time would transform her life Maria’s hopes and dreams of being a star on the big stage have transformed and just trying to find the next meal and having made several bad choices along the F around her Road finds herself creeping into a hotel room late at night and as she’s walking through the office of that hotel she sees in the mirror of that display her mother’s picture she goes over and picks it up and sure enough it was her mother she recognized her and she turned over the picture and it said simply Maria it doesn’t matter where you are it doesn’t matter what you’ve done come home I love you the message transforms us to know that no matter what places we’ve gone God invites us to experience that transforming love that out of the darkness and the destitute of life God calls us home to know of his love and his transformation and the freedom that is available through Christ we give thanks that we are not alone in this journey that this is what we are called to be as God’s people his church to be part of the hands and the feet of Jesus to bring freedom and liberty to those who are oppressed today as part of this whole series is that we get a chance to have a dialogue right and so that dialogue I’m going to invite you to have with your neighbor about transformation and the transformational response that we might respond as his people uh so where have you seen a positive change in the lives of others if you had the power to make one change in our community what would it be and what might need to happen to make this change now as you’re having that conversation you’ll see that there’s two poster boards on the side here and I’m going invite you as you have those conversations and you think about ways that uh we as a church might move into some change that needs to happen our community to make a note of that on the board uh we got about four or five minutes we’re going to have these conversations together so I invite you to find a friend and have that conversation now go for it I’ll join how’s it going by the way vacation you yeah I think so yeah yeah that’s what I’m talking he get they didn’t see the there not yeah I know be great to get your uh your input on that so I’m going to invite us to uh lift our conversations into prayer before we sing Our Song Lord we thank you that as you call us to be your people of transformation and change in our communities that you have led the way that you came that we might experience your freedom and that we might find Freedom in abundance and Lord as we lift up our conversations to you we know that your spirit is here with us challenging our hearts and our lives and so Lord we ask that you would help us to not just have these being conversations or prayer or Lord that you would instruct us on how we would take these next steps together this we lift in Jesus name amen I invite us to stand to sing the hymn father we have heard you calling [Music] s [Music] father we have your calling to your church INE for True for [Music] of Praise in this place where you us we all see [Music] to [Music] and children of [Music] ET Jesus Christ Our per we ouren [Music] the truth of your great love transform our [Music] people [Music] to and [Music] children of [Applause] holy of Heaven the to bring bring tears trans your church we PR you your PR upon us we to one in love and in Children of ET praise be to God father praise we bring to God the son praise to God [Music] the praise to you the of [Music] to [Music] be and [Music] [Applause] please be seated as our time for our offering this morning um we have been called to speak and to live out the radical Abiding Love of God in the world we do so by offering all that we are and all that we do and all that we have knowing that God will use us and our gifts to bring the Beloved Community ever closer to being realized in the world for [Music] for [Music] for e [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that’s all sock all bless praise God all [Music] here hallelu [Music] hallelu praise God the of All Our Praise Jesus Christ pra the holy spir hallelu hallelu [Music] Hallelujah please join me in the blessing of our offering take take take take we don’t have it well let’s bless the offering Lord we thank you for these gifts that you have provided for us and ask Lord that you would receive them as a portion of all that we have and all that we are that indeed our lives would represent your work in our world in Christ we pray amen amen amen I invite you to be seated it’s a beautiful day it’s a beautiful day uh looky out the cards today uh want to lift up all the women in our church and mothers a happy Mother’s Day to all as we celebrate that together also lifting up a concern uh coworker Arnold uh continuing struggle with cancer and so we lift uh Arnold up Lord in your mercy hear our prayers let us go to the Lord in this time of prayer together Lord we thank you that you are the author and perfector of our faith youve gone before us in life that we might experience your love your blessing and of freedom and Lord we recognize that Jesus came not just with kind words but with a transformational power that brings us from death to life from enslavement to freedom and from oppression to Liberty and Lord as we look to you we recognize that there are many in our own lives and around the world who are struggling in many ways but as we look to you we know that you are the one who provides more than we can even ask or imagine through Jesus Christ who teaches us to pray Our Father who are in heaven be thy name thy kingdom thy will be done on Earth as it is in give us this day our daily and forgive us our Tres as we forgive those who trespass against us glory amen I invite to stand as we sing Our closing song together for [Music] God true the people of God [Music] this is fruits of our worship in all who be the of the [Music] teaching in AC for God and for us to work for God’s kingdom and praise and to God ever living the of our every will face our sharing car embracing God’s children [Music] and [Music] your we sh all the Liv with praise and thanksgiving to all to [Music] Christ as we close our service together today you know that there is a fellowship time uh next door so we invite you to connect with one another in their time with coffee and cookies and other opportunities there uh and invite us now to turn our hearts and hands to God in whatever way is comfortable for you and Lord that you would pour out your spirit who would all hear these words that we would know of your liberating peace and your presence in our lives that we too might be that peace and the presence for all and this we would pray in Jesus name amen go in peace [Music] one [Music] that [Music] [Applause]