Gathering Music

“Love the Lord” – Lincoln Brewster

Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength

Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength

With all your heart, with all your soul
With all your mind, with all your strength
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength

I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength

I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength

With all my heart, with all my soul
With all my mind, with all my strength
I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength

With all my heart, with all my soul
With all my mind, with all my strength （Ｘ２）

I will love You, Lord, with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength （Ｘ２）

Call to Worship

Benin Lopaka

(adapted from Rev. Thom Shuman)

Leader: You are welcome in this place, where God meets us in love.
All: Why are we here? We are here to love God with all that we have and all that we are.
Leader: You are welcome in this place, where God loves us as children.
All: Why are we here? We are here to love ourselves as deeply as God loves us.
Leader: Welcome to this place, where God serves us love and grace.
All: Why are we here? We are here to be sent forth to love others as deeply as we love God and ourselves.

Opening Song

“Jesu, Jesu” – Tom Colvin

[Refrain:] Jesu, Jesu,
fill us with your love, show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you.

1 Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.
(Refrain)

2 Neighbors are rich and poor,
neighbors are black and white,
neighbors are near and far away.
(Refrain)

3 These are the ones we should serve,
these are the ones we should love;
all these are neighbors to us and you.
(Refrain)

4 Loving puts us on our knees,
serving as though we are slaves,
this is the way we should live with you.
(Refrain)

5 Kneel at the feet of our friends,
silently washing their feet,
this is the way we should live with you.
(Refrain)

Prayers of the People

Lerato Pitso

(adapted from Rev. Iain Macdonald)

Leader: Our prayer today is for all who are victims of cruel laws and petty laws,
those who’re subjected to prejudice
denied opportunities, excluded, pushed to margins.
Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for all those who’re betrayed,
who don’t know loyalty, who fear to trust, or to love,
and who don’t realize that they’re already loved by you.
Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for the landless and homeless,
the refugee and evicted,
those who find themselves in foreign places and strange places.
Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for the overworked and the underpaid,
for those in dangerous work and those in compassionate work,
for those who long to work but are denied the opportunity
Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for the Church, for all the branches of the vine
including this one we gather as part of, today:
body of Christ, people of Christ,
for whom Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for the creation gifts,
this earth in all its mighty wonder, yet tender fragility,
the gifts of life and resources to treasure.
Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Leader: Our prayer today is for those who lie close to our hearts
those whom we worry about, those whom we miss,
those who carry disproportionate burdens at this time …

(local intercessions)

Leader: Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.
Leader: Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.
Leader: Our God is one:
All: We will love with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength.

Scripture Reading – Mark 12:28-34

Vincent Yohanna

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ 34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.

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

Sermon

“Love God and Love Your Neighbor”

Dr. Alice Kim

Musical Response

“Only Love” – Martin Luther King Jr., Mark Miller

Darkness cannot drive out darkness.
Hatred cannot drive out hate.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness.
Hatred cannot drive out hate.

Only love, only love.
Only love can do that. Only love.
Only love, only love.
Only love can do that. Only love.

Blessing

Dr. Alice Kim

Sending Song

“They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” – Peter Schlotes

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side;
We will work with each other, we will work side by side;
And we’ll guard human dignity and save human pride.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.