Sunday Worship Bulletin, Oct 8 2023

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, October 8, 2023 • 10:30 a.m.

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, AV

Joe McSwain, AV and Usher

Jerry Brines, Usher

___________, Scripture Reader

_________, Candle Lighter

Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor

________, Fellowship Set-Up

Charli Salt, 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 sees . . . all the time!

All the time . . . God sees!

*Welcoming the Light of Christ:

* Hymn: “Holy, Holy, Holy” 277 (NCH) Public Domain

1 Holy, holy, holy! God the Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed trinity!

2 Holy, holy, holy! Saints adore you truly, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; cherubim and seraphim bow before you only, From the beginning God eternally.

3 Holy, holy, holy! Though we know but dimly, though the eye of human kind your glory may not see, you alone are holy holy; you alone are worthy, perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

4 Holy, holy, holy! God the Almighty! All your works shall praise your name, in earth, and sky, and sea. Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed trinity!

Community Prayer

Refrain: I cast all my cares upon you. I lay all my burdens down at your feet; and anytime that I don’t know what to do, I will cast my cares upon you.

Prayers of Gratitude

Refrain

Prayers of Concern

Refrain

Silent Prayer

Refrain

The Lord’s Prayer use the translation which is meaningful to you or

Our Father (Creator) 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Response 812 (NCH)

Amen, amen, amen.

A Time of Offering

An Invitation to Share

*Dedication Hymn 759 (NCH):

Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit three in one; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

*Dedication Prayer:

Loving God, we give in gratitude that your way is everlasting. Bless our gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Help us fulfill your vision for this embassy of your compassion and justice. Amen

Listening for God

Message to Young Hearts

Isaiah 5:1-7

I will sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones

and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

he expected it to yield grapes,

but it yielded rotten grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem

and people of Judah,

judge between me

and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard

that I have not done in it?

When I expected it to yield grapes,

why did it yield rotten grapes?

And now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge,

and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a wasteland;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;

I will also command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts

is the house of Israel,

and the people of Judah

are his cherished garden;

he expected justice

but saw bloodshed;

righteousness

but heard a cry!

Matthew 21:33-46

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”[b]

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Message: “God Planted a Vineyard”

Announcements

Our Light moves into the World God Loves

* Hymn: “You are the Seed” 528(NCH)

You are the Seed that will grow a new sprout; you’re a star that will shine through the day; You are the yeast and a small grain of salt, a beacon to glow in the night.

You are the dawn that will bring a new day; you’re the wheat that will bear golden grain. You are a sting and a soft, gentle touch, my witnesses where’er you go.

Refrain: Go, my friends, go to the world proclaiming love to all, messengers of my forgiving peace, eternal love. Be, my friends, a loyal witness, from the dead I arose; “Lo, I’ll be with you forever, ’til the end of the world”

You are the flame that will brighten the way, sending sparkles of hope, faith, and love; You are the shepherds to lead the whole world through valleys and pastures of peace.

You are the friends that I chose for myself, the word that I want to proclaim. You are the city that’s built on a rock where justice and truth always reign. (Refrain)

You are life that will nurture the plant; you’re the waves in a turbulent sea; yesterday’s yeast is beginning to rise, a new loaf of bread it will yield.

There is no place for a city to hide, nor a mountain can cover it’s might; may your good deeds show a world in despair a path that will lead all to God. (Refrain)

Benediction and Silent Meditation with Postlude

Be Yourself.

Grow in Christ.

Live with Compassion.

Sunday Worship Bulletin, Oct 1 2023

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!”

October 1, 2023

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

10:20 Gathering and Prelude

Wayne Shull, Music Director

Charlie Salt, AV

Joe McSwain, AV and Usher

Jerry Brines, Usher

___________, Scripture Reader

Sue Ferrozzo, 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 is good...all the time! All the time... God is good!

Welcoming the Light of Christ and Gathering of Prayers

*Hymn: “Morning has broken”

Words: Eleanor Farjeon, Music: Traditional Gaelic

1. Morning has broken like the first morning; Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!

Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

2. Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven, like the first dewfall on the first grass. Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

3. Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning. Born of the one light Eden saw play! Praise with elation; praise ev'ry morning, God's recreation of the new day!

Community Prayer

Hymn: “Amazing Grace” 547 (NCH)

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.

Prayers of Gratitude

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.

Prayers of Concern

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

Silent prayer

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

Lord’s Prayer

Response: 812 (NCH)

Amen. Amen. Amen.

A Time of Offering

Dedication 780 (NCH)

Praise God from whom all blessing flow. Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen

Dedication prayer: From Saint Francis

God, all powerful, most holy sublime ruler of all, you alone are good - supremely, fully, completely good, may we render to you all praise, all honor, and all blessing: may we always ascribe to you alone everything that is good! Amen

Listening for God

Philippians 2:1-13 If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,

who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Matthew 21:23-32 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him.

Message: Gathering in the Kingdom of God

Holy Communion

Pastor On this World Communion Sunday, we celebrate that our unity in in sharing this sacred moment that crosses all languages, boarders, and barriers. We are grateful and we remember. Of all the teachings Jesus gave to our ancestors, there was one thing he asked them and us to do for him. He asked us to remember.

When Jesus and his friends sat together at a Passover meal, Jesus took bread; ... Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me." Let us pray.

All: Loving God, you are everywhere. People around the world feel your presence and celebrate your love. May we feel your presence here today as we share in this Holy Communion. Come, Holy Spirit come. Bless this bread and this cup and all who have gathered here. Refresh us and renew us as Christ’s body in the world today. We remember Jesus as we pray. Amen

Sharing Communion

Sung as we receive Hymn # 283 (NCH)

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me; Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Blessing of the Animals

We form a circle, each pet is anointed with water and a blessing is said. After all have been blessed, we pray

Beloved Creator, you have made all creatures beautiful in your sight. Brother Francis recognized every animal as a true brother or sister. We thank you with humble hearts. By the power of your love, help each of these pets to live as companions and friends. Help us who love them to show your kindness and compassion to them all the days of their lives. We pray in the power of your Spirit. Amen

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Pastor:: Let us pray. We thank you, God, for this circle of love and community. As we share in this meal and these blessings, we are awed that you are everywhere and in all creation. Bless us now to more fully live as your people in respect and love for all your creation through Jesus Christ whose way we follow. Amen.

Announcements

Our Light moves into the World God Loves

*Departing Hymn: “All Things Bright and Beautiful”

Refrain: All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful: Our dear God made them all.

Each little flow’r that opens, each little bird that sings, God made their glowing colors, and made their tiny wings. Refrain

The purple-headed mountains, the river running by, the sunset and the morning that brightens up the sky.

Refrain

The cold wind in the winter, the pleasant summer sun, the ripe fruits in the garden, God made them every one. Refrain

Benediction and Silent Meditation with Postlude

Be Yourself.

Grow in Christ.

Live with Compassion.

Sunday Worship Bulletin Sep 24, 2023

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!” September 24, 2023 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 10:20 Gathering and Prelude Wayne Shull, Music Director Charlie Salt, AV Joe McSwain, AV and Usher Jerry Brines, Usher Naomi Hanvey, Worship leader and Scripture reader _____, Candle lighter Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor Gregg Glisson, Fellowship Set-Up _________, 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 is generous...all the time! All the time... God is generous! Welcoming the Light of Christ Hymn: “Be Now My Vision” 451(NCH) Be now my vision, O God of my heart; nothing surpasses the love you impart - you my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, your presence my light. Be now my wisdom, and be my true word; ever within me, my soul is assured; Mother and Father, you are both to me, now and forever, your child I will be. Riches I need not, nor life’s empty praise, you, my inheritance, now and always. You and you only are first in my heart, great God, my treasure, may we never part. Sovereign of Heaven, my victory won, may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O Ruler of All. Community Prayer Hymn: “Amazing Grace” 547 (NCH) 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. Prayers of Gratitude 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. Prayers of Concern Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. Silent prayer My God has promised good to me, whose word my hope secures; God will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. Lord’s Prayer Response: 812 (NCH) Amen. Amen. Amen. A Time of Offering Dedication 780 (NCH) Praise God from whom all blessing flow. Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen Dedication Prayer Creator of all that is seen and unseen, we give this offering with gratitude and hope. Multiply all that we are so that this little community may justly and compassionately. Amen Listening for God Message with Young Hearts Being fair: what are ways that keep us fair with each other and ourselves. Philippians 1:21-30 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 2so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me. Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. Matthew 20:1-16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Message: The Kingdom of Heaven is like… Silence Announcements Our light Goes into the World *Hymn: “In the Midst of New Dimensions” 391 (NCH) In the midst of new dimensions, in the face of changing ways, who will lead the pilgrim peoples wandering in their separate ways? [Refrain] God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar, We your people, ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and ever more. Through the flood of starving people, warring factions and despair, who will lift the olive branches? Who will light the flame of care? [Refrain] As we stand a world divided by our own self seeking schemes, grant that we, your global village might envision wider dreams. [Refrain] We are man and we are woman, all persuasions, old and young, each a gift in your creation, each a love song to be sung. [Refrain] Should the threats of dire predictions cause us to withdraw in pain, may your blazing phoenix spirit, resurrect the church again. [Refrain] Benediction and Silent Meditation with Postlude Be Yourself. Grow in Christ. Live with Compassion.