Worship Service – March 7, 2021

The Building is Closed and the Church is Open

While we have restricted access to the building, Peace Church is very much open to ministry—working to respond to our own congregation, as well as the needs of our neighbors and community.  Please consider giving either to Peace Church general fund or the Gabriel Fund – which is used to meet the needs in the community.

We recognize that in this time, people’s financial situations may have changed. We ask you to prayerfully consider what you can give.  If you use electronic giving, we thank you for your constancy of support.  If you would like to give through our online form, we would be grateful. For all the contributions from our members and friends—whether financial, time, or prayer—we ask God’s blessings on those gifts that Peace Church may be healing balm in this time when we are living in our own Gilead.

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March 7, 2020  ⁂  10:30am

Liturgists

The People of Peace Church
Karen Sheldon, ASL Interpreter
Jane Schmid, Lay Reader
Jim Pospisil, Music Director
Nathan Holst, Faith Formation Minister
Rev. Greg Briggs, Interim Minister

Prelude   “Spring Winds” by Ron Deters

Announcements and Ringing of the Peace Bells

God is Revealed as We Gather

*Responsive Call to Worship

We come to worship this morning from different places.
O God, do not be far from us.
We come to worship this morning for different reasons.
O God, do not be far from us.
We experience the presence of the Spirit in different ways.
O God, do not be far from us.
We hear Jesus’ words with different ears.
O God, do not be far from us.
“Deny yourselves.”
O God, do not be far from us.
“Take up your cross.”
O God, do not be far from us.
“Follow me.”
O God, we thank you for drawing near to us in this place, in our lives.   Amen.

Opening Hymn   “God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens”   (#556)

Unison Prayer of Confession

Holy One, you give us your commandments so we may have new life, but we continue to make the same old choices.  Your love can anchor us when life threatens to overwhelm us, but we choose to cling to the slippery rocks of fear and bitterness.  Your Word can strengthen us for every moment, but we listen to the foolish promises of the world.

Forgive us, Redeemer of our lives: may every word be shaped
by your Word; may every thought be refined by your grace; may every deed be inspired by your Spirit, so we may tell everyone we meet of your work in us, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Assurance of Pardon

Story for All Ages by Greg Briggs

God is Revealed in the Word

God’s Word in Psalms:   Psalm 19

Sermon by October Allen, introduced by Jackie Falk

Hymn   “Who You Say I Am”   (Words & Music by Ben Fielding & Reuben Morgan)
https://hillsong.com/lyrics/who-you-say-i-am lyrics covered under CCLI license

We Respond to God’s Presence

Sharing Our Prayer Concerns, Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer  by Nathan Holst, Prayer of Our Savior:
      “Jeshua’s Prayer” (Prayer #7 in Praise & Worship Songbook)

Our precious Mother who breathes Everywhere.
Sacred are all your holy names.
Your Kindom flower.
Your pleasure be enjoyed on Earth as in Heaven.
You give us today our daily bread.
You bless us as we bless all others.
You invite us away from temptations
and guide us to green pastures and blue lakes.
For Yours is the Kindom, the power, and the beauty
in all times and places.
Blessed Be.· 

Choral Amen

Sharing our Offerings

Offertory

*The Thanksgiving    (Doxology)

*Prayer of Dedication

Receive these gifts, Holy One, sanctify them by your Spirit.
Drive away any ill motives and accept, we pray, our humble offering.   Amen.

Saying Thanks and Farewell to Toni Kasell

Special Music  “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison

Sharing Communion Together 

Words of Welcome and Remembrance

May God be with you
And also with you.
Lift your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the God we love.
We freely give God thanks and praise.

Unison Prayer of Consecration 

God of love, Here at this Table, we set aside our power, so we can feast on the weakness found in the broken bread; we let go of our wisdom, to drink from the cup of  your foolish grace.
Your Spirit blesses these gifts, as well as all those who share in them, so when we have feasted, we will look at the world with its injustices, oppressions, wars, and fears, saying, ‘take these things out of here! Stop making God’s creation a house of horrors!’
Consecrate these elements in holy love and justice. Amen.

Sharing the Bread and Cup

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Divine one who spans all of time and space, We give thanks for this sacrament that reminds us of your love and connects us when we cannot be physically present together.
We thankfully remember that this meal was first shared by you with imperfect people in a confusing time. So it was then, so it has been through the ages and in communities of faith throughout the world, and so it is now. Thank you for this reminder that your love and grace knows no bounds, and that each home is also called to be a house of faith and a home for your spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song   “In Christ There Is No East or West”   (#394)

Benediction

Postlude