Gathering Music
“We Will Rejoice in Love”
Words: David Bjorlin, Music: Mark Miller, OneLicense #A-729109
We will rejoice in love.
Lift up our voice in love,
Make every choice in love,
We will uphold your world in love.
We will delight in love,
Share and delight in love,
Till all unite in love,
We will enfold your world in love.
We will repent in love.
Raise our lament in love,
Dare to dissent in love,
We will uphold your world in love.
We will persist in love,
Choose to resist in love,
And coexist in love,
We will enfold your world in love.
Call to Worship Daniel Faniyan
(adapted from Literature & Liturgy)
Leader: Who among you is seeking the wisdom of God?
People: We long to hear God’s Word spoken to our hearts.
Leader: Who among you is seeking understanding?
People: We long to learn the ways of wisdom and righteousness.
Leader: Who among you is seeking the indwelling of God’s spirit?
People: We long to live lives of meaning.
Leader: We seek together. Come near, people of God! Let us worship.
All: Amen.
Opening Hymn
“God of Love & God of Power” UMH 578
Words: Gerald H. Kennedy, Music: Joachim Neander
- God of love and God of power,
grant us in this burning hour
grace to ask these gifts of thee,
daring hearts and spirits free.
God of love and God of power,
thou hast called us for this hour. - We are not the first to be
banished by our fears from thee;
give us courage, let us hear
heaven’s trumpets ringing clear.
God of love and God of power,
thou hast called us for this hour. - All our lives belong to thee,
thou our final loyalty;
slaves are we whene’er we share
that devotion anywhere.
God of love and God of power,
thou hast called us for this hour. - God of love and God of power,
make us worthy of this hour;
offering lives if it’s thy will,
keeping free our spirits still.
God of love and God of power,
thou hast called us for this hour.
Opening Prayer
María Carolina Alderete
(adapted from enfleshed)
Divine Presence,
Scandalous One,
Versatile God,
You have been called the worst of names,
tossed aside by the hands of tradition,
met with violence and neglect by stranger and kin alike.
And still, you do not conform to the expectations of power
or polite your way into halls of destruction.
You, the ultimate transgressor of norms
that harm or confine,
bear witness to the glory of Strange.
You, Queer One, reveal the gifts of falling outside the lines.
You, Wild One, break open possibilities –
within us and around us –
whispering in our ear,
“See me. Feel me. Desire me.” You help us come alive again.
Beauty is your passion.
Love is your motivation.
Courage is your center.
May your spirit be awakened in every space dull with repressed delight,
that we may choose to live into the riches
of this peculiar life together.
Embrace us, O God,
and lead us in the ways of your love,
so scandalous,
so deviant,
so free.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Acts 28:1-6
Susan Chang Saridakis
28 After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The local people showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it. 3 Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Anthem
“Coming Home,” Mary McDonald
Seminary Choir
Sermon
“Who Gets to Do Theology?”
Rev. Dr. Gary Simpson
Musical Response “The Open Table”
Words & Music: Mark Miller, OneLicense #A-729109
Come, O come to the table.
Gather ‘round, come without fear.
Known by name, here at the table, this table.
Welcome here to the table of love.
Circle round. Let’s join together.
Share your joys and bring your tears.
Strength and hob, found at the table, this table.
Welcome here to the table of love.
God is love. God is creating
something new, right here, right now.
We’re children of God, here at the table, this table.
Welcome here to the table of love.
Holy Communion
Rev. Dr. Gary Simpson
Servers: Rae Guthrie, Hyunjun Jung
Communion Music
“Let us Break Bread Together”
Nego Spiritual
Let us break bread together, on our knees.
Let us break bread together, on our knees.
When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us drink wine together, on our knees.
Let us drink wine together, on our knees.
When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us praise God together, on our knees.
Let us praise God together, on our knees.
When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
“Nearer, My God, to Thee”
Words: Sarah F. Adams, Music: Lowell Mason
- Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
2 Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I’d be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
- There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;
all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;
angels to beckon me
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
Blessing
Rev. Dr. Gary Simpson
Sending Song
“Hope Will Not Fail”
Words: David Bjorlin, Music: Mark Miller, OneLicense #A-729109
Hope will not fail, no, hope will not fail.
Though anguish and apathy seem to prevail,
No, hope will not fail; hope, hope will prevail.
Peace will not fail, no, peace will not fail.
Though vengeance and violence seem to prevail,
no, peace will not fail; peace, peace will prevail.
Believe in the coming, the coming of peace!
Though vengeance and violence seem to prevail,
No, peace will not fail; peace, peace will prevail.
Joy will not fail, no, joy will not fail.
Though mourning and misery seem to prevail,
No, joy will not fail; joy, joy will prevail.
Believe in the blessing, the blessing of joy!
Though mourning and misery seem to prevail,
No, joy will not fail; joy, joy will prevail.
Love will not fail, no, love will not fail.
Though hatred and hopelessness seem to prevail,
No, love will not fail; love, love will prevail.
Believe in the power, the power of love!
Though hatred and hopelessness seem to prevail,
No, love will not fail; love, love will prevail.
Drew Theo Chapel 