Gathering Music
“Holy Is the Refugee”
Words: Hannah C Brown, Music: Mark Miller
Holy is the refugee, holy is the guest,
Holy, those who wander far from home.
Holy are the bodies seeking safety, warmth and rest;
Beloved, find a welcome as you roam.
Holy are the questioning, holy are the queer,
Holy, those who challenge, dance, and dare.
Holy are the bodies choosing joy instead of fear;
Beloved, claim a freedom all can share.
Singing, holy, holy, holy God who made us in their likeness;
Holy ev’ry body, breath, and soul.
Holy are the dispossessed, holy are the spurned,
Holy are the profiled and patrolled.
Holy are the bodies harmed by hatred taught and learned,
Beloved, now be shielded and consoled.
Singing, holy, holy, holy God who made us in their likeness;
Holy ev’ry body, breath, and soul.
Holy is the enemy, holy is the friend,
Holy, ev’ry spirit as it flames;
Holy is each body, held by love until the end,
Beloved, may we know what God proclaims.
Singing, holy, holy, holy God who made us in their likeness;
Holy ev’ry body, breath, and soul.
Singing, holy, holy, holy God who made us in their likeness;
Holy ev’ry body, breath, and soul.
Breath and soul, every body, breath and soul.
Breath and soul, every body, breath and soul.
Call to Worship
Marcel Okito
Based on Psalm 98:1-5
Leader: O sing to God a new song, for God has done marvelous things.
People: God’s glory is revealed in the sight of the nations.
Leader: God’s love is steadfast. God’s faithfulness is eternal. All the ends of the earth have seen the glory of our God.
People: Make a joyful noise to all the earth.
Leader: Break forth into joyous song and sing praises to our Creator.
All: We lift our voices in praise. Alleluia! Amen.
Opening Song
“Gather Us In”
Words & Music: Marty Haugen
Here in this place new light is streaming
Now is the darkness vanished away
See in this space our fears and our dreamings
Brought here to you in the light of this day
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken
Gather us in, the blind and the lame
Call to us now and we shall awaken
We shall arise at the sound of our name
We are the young, our lives are a mystery
We are the old who yearn for your face
We have been sung throughout all of history
Called to be light to the whole human race
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty
Gather us in, the proud and the strong
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly
Give us the courage to enter the song
Here we will take the wine and the water
Here we will take the bread of new birth
Here you shall call your sons and your daughters
Call us anew to be salt for the earth
Give us to drink the wine of compassion
Give us to eat the bread that is you
Nourish us well and teach us to fashion
Lives that are holy and hearts that are true
Not in the dark of buildings confining
Not in some heaven light years away
But here in this place the new light is shining
Now is the kingdom, now is the day
Gather us in and hold us forever
Gather us in and make us your own
Gather us in, all peoples together
Fire of love in our flesh and our bones
Fire of love in our flesh and our bones
Contemporary Reading
Susan Chang Saridakis
“Your Death Was Nothing Special,” by Avery Arden
your death was
nothing special
it was the death
of uncounted criminals
convicted under Roman law
in fact, two others died with you
on that same hill, on that same day
in that same way: bloody suffocation on a cross
so if you had lived today your death
would have been likewise ordinary
and likewise brutal:
exploded veins in the electric chair
after an unfair trial
or blood gushing out
on a road with a busted street lamp,
an officer’s bullet in your gut,
no trial at all.
Jesus, Jesus
this is why
your death matters.
because it didn’t — not to the ones who killed you,
not to the soldier who thrust a lance in your side
as he had done to so many men
on so many days like this one
not to the men who cast lots for your clothes,
profiting off your pain
your death matters, your death is precious
because it was common, ordinary —
you share the agony
of every tortured spirit who has ever walked this earth
you share every cry
muffled under the boot of one in power.
and so i know that
they with whom you have shared
will also share in your rising.
…i have no words for this.
it is beyond words.
all i have is
thank you.
thank you.
thank you.
Scripture Reading
John 3:13-17
Yongyeon Kim
13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Anthem
“In The Cross of Christ I Glory”
arr. Sean Paul
Seminary Choir
Sermon
Rev. Dr. J. Terry Todd
Musical Response: Honoring the Cross
“When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” UMH 298
Words: Isaac Watts, Music: Lowell Mason
- When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride. - Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood. - See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown? - Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Sacrament of Holy Communion
Rev. Dr. J. Terry Todd
Servers: Susan Chang Saridakis, Elizabeth Monkemeier
The Great Thanksgiving comes from “Enriching Our Worship,” Eucharistic Prayer 2 (Church Publishing Corp.)
The Great Thanksgiving
Presider: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Presider: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Presider: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Presider: We praise you and we bless you, holy and gracious God, source of life abundant. From before time you made ready the creation. Your Spirit moved over the deep and brought all things into being: sun, moon, and stars; earth, winds, and waters; and every living thing.
You made us in your image, and taught us to walk in your ways. But we rebelled against you, and wandered far away; and yet, as a mother cares for her children, you would not forget us. Time and again you called us to live in the fullness of your love. And so this day we join with Saints and Angels in the chorus of praise that rings through eternity, lifting our voices to magnify you as we sing:
Celebrant and People Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Glory and honor and praise to you, holy and living God. To deliver us from the power of sin and death and to reveal the riches of your grace, you looked with favor upon Mary, your willing servant, that she might conceive and bear a son, Jesus the holy child of God. Living among us, Jesus loved us. He broke bread with outcasts and sinners, healed the sick, and proclaimed good news to the poor. He yearned to draw all the world to himself yet we were heedless of his call to walk in love.
Then, the time came for him to complete upon the cross the sacrifice of his life, and to be glorified by you.
On the night before he died for us, Jesus was at table with his friends. He took bread, gave thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to them, and said: “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”
As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine. Again, he gave thanks to you, gave it to them, and said: “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”
Now gathered at your table, O God of all creation, and remembering Christ, crucified and risen, who was and is and is to come, we offer to you our gifts of bread and wine, and ourselves, a living sacrifice. Pour out your Spirit upon these gifts that they may be the Body and Blood of Christ. Breathe your Spirit over the whole earth and make us your new creation, the Body of Christ given for the world you have made.
In the fullness of time bring us, with Blessed Helena and all your saints, from every tribe and language and people and nation, to feast at the banquet prepared from the foundation of the world.
Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to you be honor, glory, and praise, for ever and ever.
All: AMEN.
Invitation to Communion, Sharing in the Bread and Cup
Blessing
Rev. Dr. J. Terry Todd
Sending Song
“Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” v1&5 UMH 359
Words: Isaac Watts & Ralph E. Hudson
- Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?
Refrain:
At the cross, at the cross,
where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away;
it was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day. - But drops of tears can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.
(Refrain)
Drew Theo Chapel 