Sunday Worship Bulletin, April 21 2024

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!”

April 21, 2024

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, AV

Tom Cuilla, AV and Usher

Jerry Brines, Usher

Diane Smith, Scripture Reader

Cherall-Anne St. James, Candle lighter

____________, Fellowship Set-up

____________, Fellowship Cean-up

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor

10:30am    Worship begins

We worship on the unceded traditional territory of the Spokane, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Coeur d’Alene, and other tribes. We acknowledge the history of indigenous genocide, removal, and erasure that continues to this day.  We recognize the role that Christian communities played in these injustices, and we recommit ourselves to seeking more peaceful, just, and neighborly ways of sharing this land with all who call it home.

Community Affirmation

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

Service and Fellowship Opportunities 

Bible Study Monday at 7pm at John and Maureen’s home

Silent Prayer, Tuesday 9:00 to 9:30am

String-A-Lings practice Wednesday, 5:30pm 

Sing-A-Lings (a.k.a.Choir) practice Wednesday 6:30pm

 Community giving this month: Coats for Kids

Welcoming the Light of Christ

*Hymn: “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” 295 (NCH)

1. I sing a song of the saints of God, faithful their whole lives through, who bravely labored, lived, and died for the God they loved and knew. 
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green: they were saints of God if you know what I mean. God help me to be one, too. 

2. They loved their God and they lived that love. It was loving that made them strong; They did what was right, for Jesus’ sake, lived justly their whole lives long. And one was a prophet, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast; there is no earthly reason, none in the least, why I shouldn't be one, too.

3. They lived not only in ages past; there are hundreds of thousands still. The world is filled with living saints who choose to do God’s will.  You can meet them in school, on the road or at sea, in church, in a train, in a shop, or at tea; for the saints are folk like you and like me, and I mean to be one, too.

Community Prayer

105 (Sing Book)

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers of Gratitude 

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers of Concern

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers in Silence

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

 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

A Time of Offering

 An Invitation to Share

Here’s the News from Faith Action Network

Guest: Brianna Dilts

Dedication Hymn: What Does the Lord Require

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

  Good Shepherd, you lead us on the path of justice that brings lasting peace. We thank you with humble hearts. Bless these offerings of time, talent, and treasure. May we bring forth the fulfillment of your vision of a just peace within our lives and our communities. Amen

Listening for God

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.2     He makes me lie down in green pastures;he leads me beside still waters;3     he restores my soul.He leads me in right paths    for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,    I fear no evil,for you are with me;    your rod and your staff,    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me    in the presence of my enemies;you anoint my head with oil;    my cup overflows.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me    all the days of my life,and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord    my whole life long.

1 John 3:16-24

16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. 17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

18 Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

 John 10:11-18

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Message:  The Good Shepherd

Silence

Announcements

*Hymn This Pretty Planet

(1) This pretty planet spinning through space, you're a garden, you're a harbor, You're a holy place.

(2) Golden sun going down, gentle blue giant spin us around.

(3) All through the night, safe 'til the morning light.

Benediction 

Communal Blessing

Be Yourself.

Grow in Christ.

Live with Compassion

Sunday Worship Bulletin, April 7 2024

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!”

April 7, 2024

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, AV

Tom Cuilla, AV and Usher

Jerry Brines, Usher

Tom Cuilla, Scripture reader

_________, Candle lighter

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Sue Ferrozzo, Fellowship Set-Up

Naomi Hanvey Fellowship Clean-up

Rev. Genavieve Heywood, Pastor 

10:30am Land Acknowledgement

We worship on the unceded traditional territory of the Spokane, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Coeur d’Alene, and other tribes. We acknowledge the history of indigenous genocide, removal, and erasure that continues to this day.  We recognize the role that Christian communities played in these injustices, and we recommit ourselves to seeking more peaceful, just, and neighborly ways of sharing this land with all who call it home.

10:30am    Worship begins:

God answers ...all the time!  All the time...God answers!

Service and Fellowship Opportunities 

String-A-Lings practice Monday 6pm 

Bible Study Monday at 7pm 

Silent Prayer, Tuesday 9:00 to 9:30am

Sing-A-Lings (a.k.a.Choir) practice Wednesday 6:30pm

 Community giving this month: Coats for Kids

Welcoming the Light of Christ

*Hymn: Seek Ye First 

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness;
And all these things shall be added unto you.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Ask, and it shall be given unto you;
Seek, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

 We shall not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds out from the mouth of God.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Community Prayer

105 (Sing Book)

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers of Gratitude 

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers of Concern

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

Prayers in Silence

Ferry our prayers across the water, kindle our hopes a lighthouse flame. Amazing grace is most amazing, praying for those we cannot name.

 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

A Time of Offering

 An Invitation to Share

Dedication Hymn: What Does the Lord Require

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

Loving God, receive this offering of time, talent, and treasure. May these help our witness in this time and place to thrive. May you be known in our actions and our words.  Amen

Listening for God

Acts 4:32-35 

 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.

John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Message:  Welcoming the Honest Thomas

Silence

Sharing Holy Communion

Hand sanitizer passed around.

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 do for him 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: Loving God, you are with us in questioning and learning.  We thank you with humble hearts. Let your presence be felt among us.  Come, Holy Spirit come.  Bless this bread and this cup and all who have gathered in your Spirit.  Refresh us and renew us as Christ’s body in the world today.  In the name of Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Silence as all who want to receive come forward. We will break bread and share a common cup or you can receive the packaged bread and drink,

Prayer of Thanksgiving

All: We thank you, God, for your presence at all our tables where we remember and experience the presence of Christ.  Help us to live more fully the way of Christ. Strengthen our faith, increase our love for one another, and let us show forth your praise in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Meditation in Music

Hymn: “Bless Be the Tie that Binds” 393 (NCH)

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 

Communal Blessing

Be Yourself.

Grow in Christ.

Live with Compassion

Easter Sunday Bulletin, Mar 31 2024

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 31, 2024 • 10:30 a.m.

Easter

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, AV

Joe McSwain, AV and Usher

Jerry Brines, Usher

Joe McSwain, Scripture reader

Naomi Hanvey, Candle lighter

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

Sue Ferrozzo, Fellowship Set-Up

Naomi Hanvey Fellowship Clean-up

Rev. Genavieve Heywood, Pastor

10:30am Land Acknowledgement

We worship on the unceded traditional territory of the Spokane, Cayuse,

Umatilla, Walla Walla, Coeur d’Alene, and other tribes. We acknowledge

the history of indigenous genocide, removal, and erasure that continues to

this day. We recognize the role that Christian communities played in these

injustices, and we recommit ourselves to seeking more peaceful, just, and

neighborly ways of sharing this land with all who call it home.

Worship Begins

God lives among us . . . all the time!

All the time . . . God lives among us!

Service and Fellowship Opportunities

String-A-Lings practice Monday 6pm

Bible Study Monday at 7pm

Silent Prayer, Tuesday 9:00 to 9:30am

Sing-A-Lings (a.k.a.Choir) practice Wednesday 6:30pm

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Community giving this month: Mardi-Bras

One Great Hour of Sharing – donating to global helping ministries.

Flowering the Cross and Welcoming the Light of Christ

We sing and flower the cross. You are invited to share the blessing of

peace with those around you as you place flowers on the cross.

Hymn: “Christ the Lord, is Risen Today” 233 (NCH)

1. Christ the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Mortal tongues and angels say,

Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, glad heavens, and

earth, reply, Alleluia!

2. Let the Victor’s people sing, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now your sting?

Alleluia! Dying once, Christ lives to save, Alleluia! Where your victory, O grave?

Alleluia!

3. Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won,

Alleluia! Death in vain forbids Christ rise, Alleluia! God has opened paradise,

Alleluia!

4. Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head,

Alleluia! Made like Christ, like Christ we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave,

the skies, Alleluia!

Community Prayer

Taize chant: Where love and caring are there is God. (Repeat)

Prayers of Gratitude

Where love and caring are there is God. (Repeat)

Prayers of Concern

Where love and caring are there is God. (Repeat)

Silent Prayer

Where love and caring are there is God. (Repeat)

A version of The Lord’s Prayer from

The New Zealand Prayer Book

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is

and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is

heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The

way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your

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heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of

peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the

bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one

another, forgive us. In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is

evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now

and forever. Amen.

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

A Time of Offering

An Invitation to Share

Dedication Hymn: “Give Thanks”

Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give

thanks because God’s given Jesus Christ, the son. (Repeat) And now

let the weak say, “I am strong!” Let the poor say, “I am rich because

of what the Lord has done for us!” (repeat)

Give thanks. Give thanks.

Dedication prayer:

Renewer of Life, bless these offerings of our time, talent, and

treasure. May we live as your people overcoming hardship and

rejoicing in new beginnings. Bless all our gifts to Hope House and

Transitions Women’s Hearth. May our gifts signs of our love and

compassion. With gratitude, we pray. Amen

Listening for God

Message with Young Hearts

Scripture Passages

Acts 10:34-43 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that

God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and

practices righteousness] is acceptable to him. You know the message he

sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of

all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the

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baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with

the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing

all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are

witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to

death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and

allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by

God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the

dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is

the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the

prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives

forgiveness of sins through his name.”

John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary

Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed

from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple,

the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord

out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”3 Then

Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two

were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the

tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there,

but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into

the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had

been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a

place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also

went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the

scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to

their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to

look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body

of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They

said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have

taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When

she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but

she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are

you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the

gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where

you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She

turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means

Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet

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ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am

ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 1Mary

Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,”

and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Message: Mary, Why are You Weeping?

Silence

Our Light moves into the World God Loves

Hymn: “ In the Bulb there is a Flower” 433(NCH)

1. In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree; In cocoons, a

hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free! In the cold and snow of winter

there’s a spring that waits to be, Unrevealed until its season, something

God alone can see.

2. There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody; There’s a

dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me. From the past will

come the future; what it holds, a mystery, Unrevealed until its season,

something God alone can see.

3. In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; In our doubt there is

believing; in our life, eternity, In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a

victory, Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Benediction and Blessing

Be Yourself.

Grow in Christ.

Live with Compassion.