Order of Service
May 12th, 2024, 10:00 a.m.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
A Time for Centering: We use this time to make the transition between “getting here” and “being here.” Take these few minutes of quiet time to get in touch with the calm places, the still, deep places in you; the spirit. Relax your body, quiet the inner dialogue of your mind. Focus on feeling, on being. Be receptive to your center—your reservoir of inner peace, strength, love. Be aware of being with others. Feel the spirit of community.
PRELUDE Rorate Caeli Jeanne Demesseuix
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTROIT Of Women’s Hopes We Sing S.W. Murray
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God has searched us and known us. God has knit us in our mother’s wombs and read the book of our lives before our days began.
All: We come to worship God, who understands us completely.
Leader: God seeks us when we flee—whether we take the wings of the morning or make our bed in the earth, God’s hands hold us tenderly.
All: We come to worship God, who understands us completely.
Leader: God’s thoughts are more than the sand of the sea, yet God knows every word that falters on our tongues and every stumbling path we wander.
All: We come to worship God, who loves us until we find ourselves at home.
*HYMN 595 Be Thou My Vision
*OPENING PRAYER
God our mother,
in whose arms we are held,
and by whose passion we are known:
help us to receive your tenderness
and respond to your challenge
that others may draw life from us.
In your name we pray. Amen.
*THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our 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 and ever. Amen.
*GLORIA PATRI
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
After the Children’s Message, children may leave for Church School.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS Ruth 1:15-18
So Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you,
to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die,
and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Philippians 1:3-4
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.
All scripture lessons from the New Revised Standard Version
SERMON Trusting in the Power of Love The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann
*HYMN OF THE MONTH
The soloists will sing it through once, and then the congregation is invited to sing it twice more.
INVITATION TO OFFERING There are three ways to give an offering:
In-person: Offering plates will be passed throughout the congregation at this time.
Website: Click on the Donate button at the top right corner of the homepage.
Mail: write a check to RHCC, mail to 395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, 06831
OFFERTORY ANTHEM Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth Carol Jennings
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*DOXOLOGY
*HYMN O Beautiful for Spacious Skies
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain
majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
PASTORAL PRAYER
CHURCH PRAYER
Our Heavenly Father, shed forth thy blessed spirit upon all our lives. Make each one of us an instrument in thy hands for good. Purify our hearts, strengthen our minds and bodies, fill us with Christian love. Let no pride, no self-conceit, no rivalry, no ill will ever spring up among us. Make us earnest and true, wise and prudent, giving no just cause for offense; and may thy holy peace rest upon us this day and every day throughout the coming week, sweetening our trials, cheering us in our work, and keeping us faithful to the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*HYMN 490 Sister, Let Me Be Your Servant
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Molto Perpetuo Rachel Laurin
§
THANK YOU
to Heather Sandifer for hosting Coffee Hour this morning. Please join us in the parlor following worship. If you want to host a Coffee Hour, please sign up in the parlor.
to Nancy Mazzoli and Gail Parker for arranging the flowers.
NEW AND UPCOMING EVENTS
5/26 SPECIAL COMMUNION SERVICE We will celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion in the Parlor at 10:00 a.m. Our gathering will give us an opportunity to experience the meal-time atmosphere that would have distinguished first-century gatherings. With table prayers, scripture readings, songs, and delicious breakfast foods (including gluten-free and vegan options), we will celebrate the presence of Christ within us and among us in the breaking of the bread.
LES BEAUX ARTS GALLERY is privileged to showcase Hazel Jarvis’ artworks in a new exhibition, Seaside Garden. Hazel will donate 10% of her art sales to RHCC.
6/2 BIBLE STUDY Please join us in the Meeting Room following Coffee Hour.
WHAT MATTERS MOST:
A YEAR-LONG OPPORTUNITY FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The first words that Jesus used to describe his purpose made it clear what mattered most to him. “Seek first the kingdom of God.”
Throughout the year, we will continue to focus our attention at Round Hill Community Church on “what matters most” for love, compassion, and justice to thrive and flourish in our own lives and beyond. We will demonstrate our commitment to that kind of faith by delving deeply into twelve values that we cherish and plan to teach to the generations that will follow us. Values like imagination, love, justice, and humility. We will take one month to explore each value and will use our preaching, teaching, podcast, music, and online resources to help us make this exploration come alive. Please visit roundhillcommunitychurch.org for more information on the theme.
—The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann
During the month of May, we are exploring the theme of Teamwork.
The power to bring people into meaningful relationships in the context of God’s love is at the root of every congregation’s strengths. A congregation that finds ways to love each other will have no boundaries for that love. If of God, it will overflow into the community onto anyone who needs the love or anything that can be delivered through love, be it food, assistance, or simply accompaniment. This power to accompany is not a limited resource unless it is conserved and turned inward, like trying to store up wind by putting it in a bottle.
—Gary Gunderson, Deeply Woven Roots
Despite overwhelming pressure to conform to the culture of lovelessness, we still seek to know love...My belief that God is love—that love is everything, our true destiny—sustains me. I affirm these beliefs through daily meditation and prayer, through contemplation and service, through worship and loving kindness.
—bell hooks, all about love: NEW VISIONS