Sep 8, 20237 min read

8/27/23 Bulletin

UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HANCOCK We respect tradition — and we welcome inclusive language about people and expansive language about God.Please pray using words most meaningful to you. Open and Affirming of ALL God’s Children

August 27, 2023 – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost This service will be in-person and on Facebook Live at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) (Posted for later viewing on Facebook and YouTube) The first pew in front of the pulpit has books and quiet activities for people of all ages. Please find something that suits you, take it to your pew, and return it after the service.

Silent Prayer Mysterious One, we hope to hold with care the tensions of our traditions. Help us to honor the best of what we have inherited. And to release what conforms to harm and destruction. So few of us have felt the freedom to question what we are taught. So few of us have been encouraged to respect our own thoughts, intuition, or experiences. Bless our searching and our seeking that we may exercise our own muscles of faith. Amen

* Indicates points in the service when we stand in body or spirit Announcements Prelude Air from Water Music G.F. Handel Welcome *Introit Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (v.1) B. #43 Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven on earth be found, Fix in us a humble dwelling, all your faithful mercies crown; Jesus, you are all compassion; pure, unbounded love impart. Visit us with your salvation, enter every trembling heart. *Call to Worship One: Believers, Skeptics, Heretics, and Seekers All: We gather together with questions and convictions One: Tussling and wrestling with the mysteries of faith All: The Spirit delights in our discernment of Wisdom One: God has given us agency, creativity, and imagination All: We are set free to pursue a multitude of truths. Let us discover what it is we believe. *Passing of the Peace (ASL) and lighting Peace & Justice Candle *Hymn We Gather Together R. #23 We gather together to ask for your blessing, you chasten and hasten your will to make known; the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing. We praise your name, O God; forget not your own. Beside us to guide us, O God, with us joining, ordaining, maintaining redeeming our world; so from the beginning the fight we were winning; Lord, you were at our side; we trust in your word. We all do extol you, our leader triumphant, and pray that you still our defender will be. Let your congregation escape tribulation. Your name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free! *Invocation (in unison) God of revelation, mere flesh and blood cannot reveal divine truth; only your Spirit can give that gift. Be in my breath and voice, be in our ears and understanding, that through these words your Word may be known. Amen Children’s Message “In God’s Name” Written by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso Hebrew Scripture Isaiah 51:1-6 Christian Scripture Matthew 16:13-20 Special Music Peaceful Interlude Charles Callahan Message Rev. TJ Mack United Church of Christ Statement of Faith in the form of a doxology

We believe in you, O God, Eternal Spirit, God of our Savior Jesus Christ and our God, and to your deeds we testify:

You call the worlds into being, create persons in your own image, and set before each one the ways of life and death.

You seek in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.

You judge people and nations by your righteous will declared through prophets and apostles. In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Savior, you have come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to yourself.

You bestow upon us your Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

You call us into your church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be your servants in the service of others, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.

You promise to all who trust you forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, your presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in your realm which has no end.

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto you. Amen

*Hymn Be Still, My Soul R. #95 Be still, my soul: for God is on your side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Trust in your God, your savior and your guide, Who through all changes faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend through thorny ways leads to a peaceful end. Be still, my soul; for God will undertake to guide the future surely as the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know the voice that calmed them in this world below. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on when we shall dwell with God forevermore, when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Prayer for Transformation and New Life Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Confident in this ever-gracious, never-failing help, we come before the Lord, confessing our sin and seeking forgiveness. Forgiving God, we confess that we are conformed to this world. We conform to this world’s frantic pace, too hectic to notice all the blessings you provide. We conform to this world’s reckless waste, exploiting what you entrust to our care. We conform to this world’s shallow values, oblivious to the giftedness of people different from us. We conform to this world’s impatient attitudes, preferring the latest instead of the lasting. Forgive our conformity and transform us, O God. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen Words of Grace If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, we would now be lost causes. But the Lord is on our side. And so we are forgiven. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen Prayers of the People – Sharing Joys & Concerns Our Father (Creator, Mother) 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou Lord, thou Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety. Invitation to Offering – As an act of worship, let us now return to God our offering. Offertory Land of Rest Appalachian tune Wilbur Held *The Doxology Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen *Prayer of Dedication (spoken in unison) Almighty god, Take our offerings and use them for your people in this land and throughout your world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen *Hymn Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound R. #401 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved and set me free! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed! Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come; 'tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. My God has promised good to me, whose word my hope secures; God will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. When we've been here ten thousand years, bright, shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we’d first begun. *Sung Blessing Go With Us, Lord R #336 Go with us, Lord, and guide the way through this and every coming day, That in your Spirit strong and true our lives may be our gift to you. *Benediction Postlude Let Us With a Gladsome Mind Monkland Arr. Robert Powell (Please remain seated for the Postlude) Support our Church Financially Please visit Hancock (Maine) UCC on Facebook or our new webpage www.hancockucc.com or visit this link to our PayPal account: paypal.me/hancockucc or mail offerings to: Union Congregational Church, PO Box 443, Hancock, ME 04640 (Attention: Treasurer) Contact Us hancockmaineucc@gmail.com treasurer@hancockucc.com revtjmack@gmail.com 207.422.3100 207.323.6743 Many thanks to those who make this service possible – in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Music Minister – Debbie Riley Deacons – Robin Long & Pat Summerer Liturgist – Tamara Crowley Audio-Video Support – Ron Schwizer Office Secretary – Vicky Espling Settled Minister – Rev. TJ Mack The Body of Christ – You Resources enfleshed: liturgy that matters and Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion Cover Art - Third Eye Digital Art by Esoterick Art / Pixels "Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-738532. All rights reserved.

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Contributors: Charles Wesley, Sid Davis

We Gather Together

Contributors: Nederlandtsch Gedenckclanck, Netherlands Folk Hymn, Eduard Kremser

Be Still, My Soul

Contributors: Katharina von Schlegel, Jane L. Borthwick, Jean Sibelius

Amazing Grace

Go with Us, Lord

Rev. Teresa (TJ) Mack

8/27/23 Bulletin

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