2 February 2023 – Chapel – Drew Theo Chapel

Gathering Music

“What Does the Lord Require of You” – Mark A. Miller

Call to Worship

Takundashe Chinogwenya

Welcome to worship beloved of God, and beloved disciples seeking to learn.
We come desperately seeking a steady place to stand.
Whatever winds may blow in your life, God remains steadfast.
We come desperately seeking hope for the future, and to learn how we become part of that future.
God’s work for a just and whole world never stops.
We come with our fears and our sadness, our dismay and our distress.
God is with us, ready and able to receive all that we bring.
God is our rock, our refuge, and our salvation.

Opening Song

“The Lord is My Light,” Lillian Bouknight

Opening Prayer

Daekyung Ko

O God, Our Rock and Our Refuge, throughout all time you have remained steadfast as
power structures rise and fall, as violence is used to gain and hold power so many times.
Throughout history, you have worked for the wellbeing of the whole, sought the common good, decried injustice through your prophets, and subverted structures that harm your beloveds. Guide your people, O God, to move hearts toward peace, leaders toward wisdom, structures towards justice, and all people towards your kingdom. In the name of our Wonderful Counselor, our Prince of Peace, our Emmanuel, the Holy One, we pray…Amen.

Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 41-51

Daekyung Ko

41 Now every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents[ saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[ 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Choir

“The Handiwork of God,” Mark A. Miller

Seminary Choir

Sermon

“Stories of a Young Teacher”

Jack Tironi

Installation of Student Leaders

Dean Aponte

Leader: Dear friends, you have been called by God and chosen by the people of God for new or continued leadership in Drew Theological School. This is a blessing and a serious responsibility. It recognizes your special gifts and calls you to work among us and for us. In love we thank you for accepting your obligation and challenge you to offer your best to the Lord, to this people, and to our work in the world, and above all else, to live a life in Christ and make him known in your witness and your work.

And so leaders, we ask you as a community dedicated to love and peace, do you this day acknowledge yourself as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ?
Response: I do.
Leader: Will you devote yourself to the service of God in the world?
Response: I will.
Leader: Will you give your best effort to serve your fellow students in this school in your designated roles and to lead them and guide them to be the best they can be for the transformation of the world?
Response: I will.
Leader: Will you now and always advocate for this community and continue to provide a welcoming atmosphere of hope, love, peace, and joy for all God’s people of all ages, nations, and races?
Response: I will.
Leader: Let us pray.
Most Gracious and loving God, we thank you for invigorating the hearts and minds of these wonderful student leaders to serve their community. Bless them and our entire community as we go from here out to dedicate our mission, our learning, our service, and our witness to You in all that we do. Grant us all these Fruits of Your Holy Spirit that we live in the light, remember that we are always united in faith, and share the good news all the days of our lives. In the name of our Wonderful Teacher, the Lord of Life and Lord of all, we pray…Amen.

Sacrament of Holy Communion

Leader: May God be with you!
All: And also with you
Leader: Lift up your hearts
All: We lift them to our Creator
Leader: Let us give thanks to God, the maker of heaven and earth

Loving one, close to us as breathing yet reaching into eternity, we give you thanks. Your outpouring of radical love has brought forth life among us. You have shown yourself to us as parent, creator, lover, and friend. In whatever image brings us healing, you come to us.

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with all of creation, all of heaven and earth who forever sing this hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes, in the name of the Lord,
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are you and blessed is your child, Jesus. Turning society’s norms upside down, he showed us the ways of justice and mercy. He welcomed and empowered the marginalized and stood in resistance to the powers of evil.

Jesus chose to embody your truth and challenge oppression, thereby putting himself at risk. And yet, on the night in which death, hatred, and betrayal would seek to have the last word, Jesus remained centered in radical peace, washing the feet of his beloveds and serving them at your table.

There, he took the bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread saying “take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, and said “drink from this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so in remembrance of these, your mighty acts of love in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves – and all of who we are – in union with Christ’s offering as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Singing: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the Body of Christ, so that we might become with each other as members of Christ’s body, reflecting the beauty and diversity in the world you have created.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in each other’s struggles, until we feast at your heavenly banquet. Through your beloved Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, in your church- all love and devotion are yours, O God, now and forever.

Singing: Amen, Amen, Amen.

Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.

Songs During Communion

“One Bread, One Body”

One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.

Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.

Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one for all.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.

“Waymaker”

Announcements

Sam Smith, TSA Communications

Blessing

Sending Song

“This Little Light of Mine”

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!