Gathering Music

“Roll the Rock” Words: Laurie Zelman, Music: Mark Miller

Roll the rock! Roll it back
Dry your tears of grief.

Roll the rock! Roll it back
and stop your unbelief

Live in hope! Love will come
You will find relief

You gotta roll the rock!
Roll it back, The rock of unbelief!

God will do something new
said the ancient prophet

Here we stand telling you
even death can’t stop it

Why do you look for him
in an empty tomb?

You must go wait and pray
in an upper room

Roll the rock! Roll it back
Dry your tears of grief.

Roll the rock! Roll it back
and stop your unbelief

Live in hope! Love will come
You will find relief

You gotta roll the rock!
Roll it back, The rock of unbelief!

God’s new song comes to those
with the ears to hear it

Pray that you’ll open up
to the Holy Spirit

Jesus, our Lord of life
conquers death in glory!

Call to Worship

(adapted from The Abingdon Preaching Annual)

Pyeong Hwa Lim

Leader: Come and sit with me; we shall study the Word.
All: Together we shall read and understand.
Leader: Come and kneel with me; we shall break the bread.
All: Together we shall eat and be satisfied.
Leader: Come and walk with me; we shall part the waters.
All: Together we shall risk, and, behold, we shall be changed.

Opening Song

“Welcome” – Miller/Zelman

Let’s walk together for awhile
and ask where we begin
To build a world where love can grow
And hope can enter in
To be the hands of healing
And to plant the seeds of peace.

Singing welcome, welcome to this place
You’re invited
to come and know God’s grace
All are welcome, the love of God to share
‘cause all of us are welcome here
All are welcome in this place

Let’s dream together of the day
When earth and heaven are one
A city built of love and light
The new Jerusalem
Where our mourning turns to dancing
Every creature lifts its voice!

Crying welcome! Welcome to this place!
You’re invited
to come and know God’s grace
All are welcome, the love of God to share
‘Cause all of us are welcome here
All are welcome in this place

Opening Prayer

(adapted from John van de Laar, Sacredise)

Vincent Yohanna

Leader: How many ways You have cared for us, O God;
How many companions You have given
to share our difficult and joyous journey.
And yet sometimes we forget Your care,
and reject Your messengers.

Forgive us for failing to recognise You
in those who are different from ourselves.
Forgive us for rejecting other people –
children of Yours who are so loved.

Forgive us for believing
that we can do it our way, and we can do it alone.

Silence

Teach us to love as You have loved us,
to embrace and welcome others

as You have welcomed us,
to enjoy and commit to the community
which You have given for our comfort and nurture.
In Jesus Name.
All: Amen.

Scripture Reading – Acts 8:26-40

Jessica Kayembe

26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) 27So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ 30So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ 31He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.’
34The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ 35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Leader: The word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Sermon

“Surprises on the Road”

Dean Edwin Aponte

Seminary Choir

“Home by Another Road” – Words: Lindy Thompson, Music: Mark A. Miller

Sacrament of Holy Communion

God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give God our thanks.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love,
Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
you are creative and self-giving,
generously moving
in all the near and distant corners of the universe.
Nothing exists that does not find its source in you.

Through fear-filled days and aching nights
when the powers of death have done their worst,
your love has never deserted us.
Even when we turn away from you, you are with us;
your presence never fails us,
your gifts of hope and new life transform us.

We praise you for Jesus Christ,
risen to life, eternal as your love.
With the women at the tomb,
we raise the strain of gladness:
Life is stronger than death!
And so we rejoice with all your people of every time and place,
to proclaim the glory of your name:

(Singing)
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!

It is Jesus who joins us together as a community of broken but hopeful believers:
loving what he loved
living what he taught, and
striving to be his faithful servants
in our time and place.
In this meal we remember Jesus,
his promises, what he said, and what he did.

On the night before Jesus died,
he took a loaf of bread,
gave thanks, broke it, and said,
“Take and eat, whenever you do this, remember me.”
After supper, Jesus took the cup, and poured, saying,
“This is the new covenant, remember me.”

We do remember.
We remember his life of love, his friendship, his teaching, his dying, and his rising to life again.

In sharing this meal, we live out 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!

Holy Mystery, God the Spirit,
we call on you to transform these familiar things,
as you continually transform the world around us.

Bless this bread and this cup,
the wheat and the grape,
the farmer and the harvest,
the seed and the sower.
So that in the sharing of these simple elements in community,
we may taste and see your goodness.

Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, God most holy,
now and forever.

(Singing)
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest!

Breaking the Bread, Pouring the Cup
The body of Christ,
the bread of life.
The lifeblood of Christ,
the cup of blessing.
The gifts of God for the people of God,
Thanks be to God!

Blessing

Dean Edwin Aponte

Sending Song

“All My Days” – Miller/Zelman

You know my words before they’re said.
You know my need and I am fed.
You give me life. You know my ways,
my strength, my path, for all my days,
my strength, my path, for all my days.

If I should fly beyond the dawn,
the darkness will not overcome.
If I lie down in deepest night,
still you are there, my Lord, my light,
still you are there, my Lord, my light.

Our every thought, each word we say,
the whole of time, the present day,
are held within your mighty hand,
too wonderful to comprehend,
too wonderful to comprehend!

O mend my heart and free my voice.
From sin released, I will rejoice.
O search me, Lord, my spirit cries,
and let my song of praise arise,
and let my song of praise arise!

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Worship Notes:
Communion Liturgy: Adapted from © 2013 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.