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 16, 2023
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10:20 Gathering and Prelude
Wayne Shull, Music Director
Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV
Joe McSwain, AV and Usher
Jerry Brines, Usher
Naomi Hanvey, Scripture Reader
Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor
Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor
10:30am Worship begins:
God is with us ...all the time! All the time...God is with us!
Welcoming the Light of Christ
*Hymn: Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the kingdom of GodAnd 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 wordThat proceeds out from the mouth of God.Hallelu, Hallelujah!
Community Prayer
Prayers of Gratitude
Prayers of Concern
Silent prayer
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
CCLI license #11038266
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
Infinite Source of All, we make this offering of time, talent, and treasure to the work of this congregation. May our gifts and our practice of faith be pleasing in your sight. Amen
Message With Young Hearts
Name some things that belong together and why.
Rite of Membership
About Veradale UCC
*You don’t have to be a member to participate in the life of the church
*Membership - belonging. It is a covenantal relationship where we stand with the community gathered in this time and place.
*Our members determine the direction of our church, care for the ministries we do together, the rules we live by are ones we choose through the determination of our congregation.
*As an autonomous church, we are free to determine what God calls us to be in this time and place. Our covenantal relationships with the Conference and National Church gives us guidance and offers us possibilities.
Invitation I invite Lillian Rae McGaugh, Terrio Turntine, and Michael James Weissenfels to come forward, affirm their baptism, and unite with us in this household of faith.
Sentences: Friends in Christ, we were all received into the global church through the sacrament of baptism. Today, the journey of these, our siblings in Christ, has brought to claim us as their community where they will grow in their relationship with God and all God’s creation. Also, we claim them as our companions in this practice of the way of Jesus.
Having prayerfully considered the commitment they are about to make, they will affirm again their baptismal pledges. May we listen with love and support and may we be reminded of our promises made in baptism and membership.
(to the Candidate/s): You are no longer strangers or sojourners. You are equal citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone. You are part of that holy temple, the body of Christ. You are built as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Questions of the Candidate:
Pastor: Do you desire to affirm your baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?
Response: I do.
Pastor: Do you profess Jesus Christ as the one who governs your life, and the one who sets you free?
Response: I do.
Pastor: Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of Jesus, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able?
Response: I promise, with the help of God.
Pastor: Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful participant in the community of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s vision of compassion and justice in all the world?
Response: I promise, with the help of God.
Address:
Pastor: By your baptism, you were made one with us in the body of Christ, the church. Today, we rejoice that your journey of faith has brought you to be with us in this time and place. We give thanks for every community of faith that has been your spiritual home and we celebrate your presence in this household of faith.
Question about Participation:
Pastor: Do you promise to participate in the life and mission of this family of God’s people, sharing regularly in the worship of God and enlisting in the work of this local church as it serves this community and the world.
Candidate/s: I promise, with the help of God.
Welcome and Reception:
Moderator: Let us, the members of the Veradale United Church of Christ, express our welcome and affirm our mutual ministry in Christ.
All: We welcome you with joy in the common life of this church. We promise you our friendship and prayers as we share the hopes and labors of this church of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit may we continue to grow together in God’s knowledge and love and be witnesses of our risen Savior.
Greeting of Christian Love:
Moderator: In the name of Jesus Christ, and on behalf of the Veradale United Church of Christ, we extend our hearts in Christian love, welcoming you into the company of this local church.
Prayer:
All: O God, we praise you for calling us to faith and for gathering us into this church, the body of Christ. We thank you for your people gathered in this Veradale United Church of Christ and rejoice that you have increased our community of faith. Together may we live in the Spirit, building one another up in love, sharing in the life and worship of the church, and serving the world for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Listening for God
Acts 2:14a, 22-32 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
“Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover, my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’ “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.
John 20:19-31, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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 continueto believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Message: Blessed are Believers who have not Seen
Silence
Announcements
Sending the Light out to the World
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 and Silent Meditation with Postlude