Gathering Music
“Welcome” – W&S 3152
“This Is the Day” – UMH 657
Welcome from Our Associate Deans
Dean Tanya Linn Bennett
Dean Robert Seesengood
Call to Worship
Aung Lin
(adapted from enfleshed)
Leader: Through prayer and practice, we pursue what is just, what is true, what is kind.
All: With each new day, we hope for Love to lead us.
Leader: With discernment, we wade bravely into the struggles of life together.
All: We yearn for wisdom that satisfies.
Leader: Persistently, faithfully, relentlessly, we keep our gaze set upon righteousness.
All: Determined in hope, may the Holy be our firm foundation.
Opening Song
“My Hope Is Built” – Edward Mote
- My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand. - When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
(Refrain) - His oath, his covenant, his blood
supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
(Refrain)
Scripture Readings – Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Carine Ngoy
34Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and God showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. 4God said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’ 5Then Moses, God’s servant, died there in the land of Moab, at God’s command. 6He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. 7Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. 8The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
9 Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as God had commanded Moses.
10 Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom God knew face to face. 11He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that God sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, 12and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Matthew 22:15-22
Conway Gittens
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Seminary Choir
“I Believe” – Mark A. Miller
Sermon
“Truth. Social.”
Dr. Melanie Johnson-Debaufre
Musical Response
“We Resist” – Mark A. Miller
Sacrament of Holy Communion
Dr. Althea Spencer-Miller
Communion Servers: Brigid Dwyer, Jacqualine Chipongo
(adapted from Alydia Smith, United Church of Canada)
Leader: God is with us!
All: We are not alone!
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to God.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love,
you are beyond complete knowledge,
above perfect description.
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.
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,
eternal as your love, our bond to one another.
We rejoice with all your people of every time and place,
to proclaim the glory of your name:
All: Holy, holy, holy are you.
Holy, holy, blessed are you.
Leader: It is Jesus, God incarnate, the Risen Christ,
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,
and the consequences of who he was, 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:
All: Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come to us again.
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,
so that we might catch a glimpse of what it is to be in communion with you and with one another.
Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, God most holy,
now and forever.
All: Amen.
Breaking the Bread, Pouring the Cup:
Leader: 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.
All: Thanks be to God!
Leader: Come, let us share in this holy meal.
Prayer after Communion:
Leader: Let us pray.
All: Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life. We are fed by your love; we are strengthened by your life. We are sent forth into this world to live into the visions God has laid on our hearts. We are now commissioned to: feed as we have been fed, forgive as we have been forgiven, love as we have been loved. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Blessing
Dr. Melanie Johnson-Debaufre
Sending Song
En la lucha hay vida
(In the struggle there is life)
En la lucha esperanza
(In the struggle there is hope)
En la lucha hay vida
(In the struggle there is life)
Siempre hay siempre hay esperanza
(There is always hope)
Cantamos en la lucha
(We sing in the struggle)
Cantamos por la justicia
(We sing for justice)
Cantamos por nuestras vidas
(We sing for our lives)
Siempre hay siempre hay esperanza
(There is always hope)
Drew Theo Chapel 