Bulletin – Sunday, June 2, 2024 – Pride Sunday / Second Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Pride Sunday / Second Sunday after Pentecost
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship
One: God be with you!
All: And also with you!
One: Give thanks to God,
All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
One: God is with us always,
All: We are God’s people. We have gathered to hear God’s Word.
One: Thanks be to God for this time together
All: Amen!
Hymn – “You, Creator God, Have Searched Me” (VU #131)
You, creator God, have search me and you know my ways.
You perfectly understand me. It’s my cause of praise.
I cannot escape your presence in air, land, or sea.
Your arms of love and protection are always with me.
You know me, O God, you have made me.
I am proud I’m the work of your hand.
In my waking and sleeping moments,
With my being I will praise your name.
Your created light and darkness and you love them both.
You bless the womb of my mother, you brought me to birth.
In you image and your likeness wonderfully made.
I will lift my voice to praise you, you are God indeed.
You know me, O God, you have made me.
I am proud I’m the work of your hand.
In my waking and sleeping moments,
With my being I will praise your name.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Holy God, you call us to be your people. You call us to hear your Word and to live it in our lives. We thank you for speaking to us and through us.
Holy God, there are times when we want to listen to our own voices rather than yours. There are times when we turn away from your Word. There are times when we only know your silence.
O God, help us in the tough times. Open our ears and our lives to your Word. Help us stay with you in the silence and in the chaos. Help us to remember that you are always with us. Lead us in your way. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Risen Christ, Amen.
Words of Assurance
One: Hear the Good News! God’s love for us never ends. Even when we have turned away from God, God has never turned away from us. God calls us again and again. We are loved. This is the Good news to share!
All: Thanks be to God!
Sung Response – “Spirit of Life” (VU #381)
Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Scripture Reading: Mark 2:23-3:6
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food, 26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions?” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath, 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They were watching him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “I, the Lord of Sea and Sky” (VU #509)
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in deepest sin my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them;
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them;
My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
Meditation
Anthem – “For all the Children”
God, we gather as Your people to raise our song above,
And we dare to claim the promise of Your love,
Though the day may not yet be here, we trust it soon will be,
When your children will be free.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
Oh, we sing for all the children, that one day they be free;
And we sing for generations yet to be,
That they never have a reason to doubt that they are blest.
May they, in Your love, find rest.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
Oh, we pray for all the young lives cut short by fear and shame
So afraid of who they are and whom they love.
May the message now be banished that Your love is for the few,
May their faith in You renew.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
God, we’re working for the future when children far and wide
Can live their lives with dignity and pride.
As they grow in strength and stature,
May they join us hand in hand,
As against all hate we stand.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
We Respond to God’s Word
Invitation to Share
Offering Response – “We Give You but Your Own (VU #542)
We give you but your own, whate’er the gift may be;
All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully.
Offering Prayer
Prayers of the People
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “All the Colours of the Rainbow”
All the colours of the rainbow live unseen in daily light,
But their splendors find expression when released to human sight;
So the church reveals most beauty where diversity is real:
Breadth of race and class and gender, room for doubt and space to heal.
All the body’s parts are wanted, nor can one despise the rest:
Head and hand must work together, as must eye and ear and chest;
So the church needs all its members for a range of ministries:
Varied gifts with one great mission, “Do this for the least of these.”
Every language gains more music when the words for peace appear:
Pax, Salaam, Eirini, Heiwa, Pace, Santi, Frieden, Mir.
Though our tongues make sounds that vary, all bespeak a common home:
Longing for the end of conflict and a new life in God’s Shalom!
Teach us, God our need of others; through them help us fully live.
Wean us from our selfish habits; let us listen, learn, forgive.
May we see your longed-for image in each human heart and face,
And behold how those around us can be channels of your grace.
Benediction
Response – “One More Step Along the World We Go” (VU #639)
One more step along the world we go,
One more step along the world we go,
From the old things to the new,
Keep us travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old we travel to the new;
Keep us travelling along with you.
