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Stream Audio Worship AboveCovered under ONE LICENSE: #400013-P NOTE: This service was pre-recorded. In the printed prayer requests, we mentioned the Reim family. Marge has since passed away. Please keep her and her family in your prayers as they process this difficult loss. Our love goes out to all who knew and loved her beautiful soul. Miracles
Sunday, December 27, 2020 || First Sunday After Christmas Lay Speaker Galen Schad We invite you to light a candle at 9:30 AM and join us in prayer ONLINE or over the PHONE Audio worship is also available at (978) 990-5000, access code 719365#. Just dial in, enter the access code on your keypad, and you will hear the service begin with music Scripture Reading Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. Sermon - Lay Speaker Galen Schad A couple of years ago at Christmas, my little brother's teacher gave his class a writing prompt. They were supposed to write down what they wanted for Christmas while using descriptive language. While his class was writing 1-2 paragraphs, he only wrote down one sentence. He wrote that he only wanted 10 pounds of food for the hungry. His teacher looked at how short his paper was without closely observing what it said and she sent him back to his desk to add more sentences. He sat at his desk looking at his paper for a couple of minutes when she came over and read what he wrote. She was touched. When she told our parents through email she accidentally put down 100 pounds instead of 10. When my mother saw it she posted his Christmas wish onto Facebook where a member of the United Methodist Women saw it and decided to help. She shared with the entire UMW and they decided to bring the request to church. The UMW are known for getting things done and they were determined to make his Christmas wish come true. So in the end, he delivered 200 pounds of food to the food shelf. A simple wish turned into 200 pounds of food for the hungry in only two weeks. That is a miracle. The scripture today is one of the best-known miracles from Jesus. This miracle is the only miracle that shows up in all four gospels and a minor retelling of this miracle shows up two other times as well. The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand starts with Jesus mourning the death of his cousin John the Baptist. John was a mentor figure for Jesus’s career. Even before they were born, John was affected by Jesus, jumping for joy when Mary entered Elizabeth’s house. John baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. Even though they hadn’t been preaching for long, Jesus and John had been stirring up the political and religious groups by proclaiming the word of God through a message of repentance of sins. John the Baptist managed to upset the Queen, who with her daughter, demanded his head on a platter. When John was murdered, it shook Jesus and helped him realize that his preaching could have dangerous consequences. Jesus went, away from the crowds of the cities by sea to mourn in a quiet area. However, a resourceful mob of people found where he was headed. When he landed, they asked him to heal them. Jesus had a decision to make. He could have compassion on them or he could have pushed them away to mourn alone. He decided to help the hurting even though he himself was hurting. After a long day of healing people, the disciples went to him and asked him about what to do about the people being fed. The disciples urged Jesus to send the people away to go and get food from the closest town. But instead, Jesus said to keep them there for the disciples shall provide the food for the five thousand men. The disciples were probably questioning Jesus, asking among themselves where they could get enough food? All they had was two small fish and 5 loaves of bread, which would be a stretch even for just the 12 disciples and Jesus. This would be impossible to feed five thousand men, not counting women and children. The disciples did as Jesus asked and gave the food to Jesus to bless and then one of the best-known miracles happened. Just think about how many people they fed. Most likely over 10-15 thousand people from 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. All that was needed was the blessing of Jesus, the Son of God, to make what was barely enough for 13 people ample food to feed all of them and 12 baskets to spare, all from 2 small fish and 5 loaves of bread. I mean, if that isn’t a miracle, then what is? It could have been that when the food was distributed, everyone took out a bit of food from the basket and put some of their own in. There were a lot of scraps leftover from whatever they had for lunch, what they had brought from home, or bought from stores. People became inspired by a sense of gratitude that they weren’t focused on how little they had, but on the abundance of God. Another interpretation is that God put some bread and fish into the baskets while it was being passed around so all would be fed, similar to God providing the manna in the wilderness for the escaped Israelite slaves. No matter what the actual cause, the miracle happened when Jesus blessed the food. If Jesus didn’t bless the food, there wouldn’t have been enough to feed everyone, let alone have leftovers. Just think about how long it could feed all of them. Remember, originally they barely had enough food for the thirteen of them, let alone the five thousand men or the countless women and children present. Yet afterward, the disciples had gathered twelve baskets full of food for them to keep for later. Twelve baskets of food, one for each disciple to gather or one representing each of the tribes of Israel, showing that God would provide for all. Just think about this scripture as if you were a person there to be healed. You had just come from the nearest city, following the crowd to see Jesus. You had heard about this teacher who was preaching and healing people. It’s your lucky day because you managed to break your arm and can’t work until it heals. You were hoping he would heal your broken arm. You follow the crowd around the lake and see Jesus getting out of the boat. Jesus takes compassion on the crowd and decides to heal and preach. It is really hot out waiting. After waiting in a long line of people to be healed, it becomes your turn. You go up to him and ask to be healed by the power of God and he blesses you. Your arm no longer hurts and you have the full range of motion once again. Then you shuffle out of the way as others go to him for healing. You stay to witness the healings and to hear Jesus’ teachings. Later when it’s dinnertime, you start to pull out the little amount of bread left from lunch, but you overhear the Disciples ask Jesus about sending the crowds away to go and get food. Instead, he tells them to bring all of the food that they had to him, for him to bless, and then for it to be passed around. As you grab a bit of the bread and fish from Jesus, you slip the remaining crust of bread from your lunch in the basket. In the end, you and the others are astonished because there are twelve baskets full of bread while you and everyone else has had their fill. Nowadays, we could use that miracle in places that don’t have enough food or places that don’t have the privilege of having a food pantry near them. While researching food pantries, I talked to James Stephen about Ruth’s Harvest which is in Leominister. When you donate $1 to Ruth’s Harvest, it manages to get $4 worth of food for the hungry through the Worcester County Food Bank. I would call that a miracle especially since in the United States, 41 million Americans struggle with hunger. Only last year, 75,000 people, with 32% of them children, turned to places like Ruth’s Harvest in the Worcester County Food Bank network. How lucky are we that we have a support network for those who need it the most, especially for the kids. With schools in a mix between hybrid and remote sessions and adults are out of work, we probably need this miracle even more. An example of a feeding miracle is when one of my mother’s friend’s daughters received $85 for her birthday. She decided to give it to her United Methodist Church’s feeding ministry. Her parents were so touched by that act of kindness that they said they would match what she donated and asked for others to do the same. Thankfully the $85 was tripled quickly. That is not to mention, the gift’s buying power would be multiplied by 4 by the food bank. This multiplication of the food bank’s buying power turned the birthday gift into $1k total. This is proof that miracles are still happening. Amen. Benediction/Commission and Blessing And now, may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever God may send you; may God guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm; may God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you; may God bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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Sunday, December 20, 2020 || 4th Sunday of Advent Pastor Christy Wright We invite you to light a candle at 9:30 AM and join us in prayer ONLINE or over the PHONE Audio worship is also available at (978) 990-5000, access code 719365#. Just dial in, enter the access code on your keypad, and you will hear the service begin with music. Lighting of the Love Candle - By Jeanyne Slettom We have lit three candles—for hope, for peace, and for joy. Today we light the fourth candle—the candle of love. With this flame we signify the love of God that surrounds and fills us at all times, and we recognize in a special way this love within the Christmas story. There is no greater power than love. It is stronger than rulers and empires, stronger than grief or despair, stronger even than death. We love, because God loves us. Let us pray: Loving God, we open ourselves to you this Christmas season. As these candles are lit, light our lives with your imagination. Show us the creative power of hope. Teach us the peace that comes from justice. Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained, but must be shared. Magnify your love within us. Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you, that we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen. Scripture Reading Luke 1:39-45 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judaen town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Sermon As summer approached during my second year of seminary, my friends and I all made separate plans: some would return to their home state to work at summer camps, others would travel and take time off, and still others would head overseas to begin training for their military chaplaincy. It was a difficult good-bye in May, but the joy of reunification in September for the new school year sustained us through it all. When the first day of school finally arrived, I remember we made a plan to meet up in the plaza in front of the school’s chapel. As I waited at a park bench, I could feel a sense of anticipation and butterflies in my stomach - we would be reunited once more. And indeed, when we all saw each other, we ran and embraced one another in a big, messy hug full of laughter and joy. We had seen each other through thick and thin; this wasn’t just a group of friends. This was a soul connection. This was love. This morning’s reading comes to us from the Gospel of Luke, where we hear the narrative of Mary and Elizabeth’s great love for one another as they recognized the Divine in their midst. Prior to our reading, we hear that Mary, a young girl, has become pregnant through the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and she decides to travel to see her relative Elizabeth, a much older mentor who is also pregnant, to share the news. But Mary didn’t have to say a word for Elizabeth to know what was happening, for her son, who would later become John the Baptist, leapt within her womb in joy, a divine recognition of the Christ child. Elizabeth blesses Mary through a beautiful prayer of encouragement and wisdom, and Mary responds with what is often referred to as the Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, which is the song we shared together last week. Mary offers praise to God for all God has done, and she sings that her soul magnifies God - a beaming source of love and light, made ever more apparent as the Christ child’s appearance draws closer. The One who is to come comes with mercy and grace, exalting the lowly and encouraging the wealthy to share their resources for the sake of those without. This is the Christ for whom we’ve been waiting. Ultimately, our passage this morning depicts two women mutually encouraging one another in the midst of exciting, unexpected, and perhaps scary blessings. The sheer fact of each of these pregnancies - Mary, who was a young virgin, and Elizabeth, who was advanced in age - is a miracle inofitself. But both benefited from the other’s ministry, expanding the miracle toward connection and community. As one commentary puts it, “God removes [the women’s] isolation and helps them understand themselves more fully as part of something larger than their individual destinies. Together, they are known more fully and begin to see more clearly than they do as individuals.” You see, these two women are not only linked by their shared pregnancies; they are also linked by the ways in which they act as support systems for one another and to the world through the birth of John the Baptist and the child Jesus Christ. As we continue through this pandemic, one thing has become clear: It’s not about me or you individually. It’s about the collective us and the ways in which our love informs our Christian response to this current moment. I’m reminded of the South African philosophy of ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.” It is an understanding in which we recognize our fundamental connections to one another, that we cannot exist isolated from the community. Over the past year, we’ve been present for one another through cards and phone calls, and we’ve been present to the wider community through our gifts and donations. These acts aren’t just good deeds; they’re symbols of God’s great love that we find in Jesus Christ. This Christmas season, we remember that Jesus Christ is Love Personified, for Love was born at Christmas - Love that is personal, human, and sacredly divine; Love that is innately connected to all humanity in precious ways we will never understand; and Love that will always be present, for we know that nothing can ever separate us from the Love of God through Jesus Christ. So may we remember that Jesus came, once for all. May we all find our role in creating a community of love, inspired by Jesus who is Love Personified. And may we share this Love with all whom we encounter. Amen. Hymn of Meditation - Love Came Down at Christmas, UMH 242 *Special thanks to our Music Director Melissa’s daughter, Brianna, for her wonderful Christmas Medley last week! 1. Love came down at Christmas, 2. Worship we the Godhead, 3. Love shall be our token; Love all lovely, Love divine; Love incarnate, Love divine; Love be yours and love be mine; Love was born at Christmas; Worship we our Jesus, Love to God and neighbor, Star and angels gave the sign. But wherewith for sacred sign? Love for plea and gift and sign. Benediction/Commission and Blessing Depart in peace, and take with you the certain knowledge that God is always coming into the world. We will seek God, not in a long ago stable or ancient manger, but in the people we meet and the depths of our own hearts. May the blessing of Christmas make you a blessing to others; may the peace of the season pervade all that you do. We will welcome the challenge of discipleship. We will offer ourselves as God’s ministers. We will go forth in hope, peace, joy, and love. (Jeanyne Slettom) And now, may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever God may send you; may God guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm; may God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you; may God bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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Sunday, December 13, 2020 || 3rd Sunday of Advent Pastor Christy Wright We invite you to light a candle at 9:30 AM and join us in prayer ONLINE or over the PHONE Audio worship is also available at (978) 990-5000, access code 719365#. Just dial in, enter the access code on your keypad, and you will hear the service begin with music. Lighting of the Joy Candle - By Jeanyne Slettom, adapted for our times We have lit the first two candles, one for hope and one for peace. Today we light the third candle, the candle of joy. This should be the easy one in any other year, what with the children, the lights, the music, the gathering together. But this year, everything is different. How are we to experience joy with everything going on? Perhaps the key to joy is knowing that joy isn’t based on circumstances, but rather on the assurance that God has given us everlasting joy through the ever-present Holy Spirit, regardless of what life throws at us. So today, we open ourselves to joy, trusting that God has already planted it in us. All we need to do is give it care and offer it to share. Let us pray: Loving God, we open ourselves to you, trusting that this is how you made us: you created us for joy-filled hearts and lives. Show us the creative power of hope. Teach us the peace that comes from justice. Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained, but must be shared. Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you, that we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen. Scripture Reading Luke 1:46-55 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of God’s servant. Surely from now on, all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God’s name. God’s mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation. God has shown strength with God’s arm; God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. God has helped the servant Israel, in remembrance of God’s mercy, according to the promise God made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever.” Sermon As most of you know, I work another job on Mondays and Fridays in the Metrowest area of Boston. One day on my way to work, I noticed beautiful glittery Christmas decorations in someone’s front lawn that spelled out J-O-Y in large, three-dimensional letters. Except that it didn’t spell “joy.” The J had fallen over, leaving, simply, “OY.” If that doesn’t speak to the year 2020, I don’t know what does! This week as we gather to light our third Advent candle, the candle of joy, it might feel like this candle doesn’t belong in our Advent wreath this year. And it’s okay to feel this way: we’ve been through a lot over the past several months. We’ve lost loved ones, we’ve had to completely change our way of being, and we’re all mourning what could have been. It will take time to heal from what has been a truly difficult year for so many. But at the core of it all, we know that God is still present, still with us, now and always, weeping with us when we weep, rejoicing with us when we rejoice. In this morning’s scripture reading, we hear Mary’s song when she learns that she is pregnant. Mary, a young teenage girl who is with child out of wedlock, is in a very uncertain and precarious situation. Her pregnancy is the greatest scandal of all time, for she could easily have been thrown out of her household and left to live on the streets. But rather than react from a place of fear, she finds joy in knowing that she has been blessed in this very unusual and striking way: she has been called to bear the Son of God, the Messiah. And in response, she sings a song of God’s goodness and the joy she has found, for God is in the business of lifting up those who are lowly, leading generations of disciples, feeding those who are hungry, and keeping promises from ages past. In Mary’s song, we know that we are not alone, and we know that Jesus was sent as Love Personified, as an example of how we ought to live in the mission laid out before us. This might be a bit unorthodox, but I want to offer a different type of sermon this morning. Even though this year has been rough, I want to share 20 wonderful things that happened in 2020 in which we can take great joy, knowing that even when all hope seems absent, even the smallest gesture of love can have surprising results. It is here where God is present.
It has been a year. A wild year that feels like a decade, but through it all, we truly have so much to celebrate. As we close this morning, may we experience the joy of Jesus Christ - not just in this season of Advent, but in everything we do, knowing that we are never alone, and the love of God surpasses all of our current circumstances. May we be found in joy, now and always. Amen. Hymn of Meditation - Christmas Medley We invite you to reflect in joy upon the music this morning and sing along as you hear tunes you recognize! Benediction/Commission and Blessing Rejoice in God always, and again I say, rejoice. For God has created you with the capacity for joy. We will find what makes us joyful, and make that our gift to the world. Trust in God’s good will for all of creation and open yourself to God’s gentle, transforming love. We will welcome new possibilities in our lives. We will offer ourselves to God’s goodness. We will go forth in hope, and peace, and joy. (Jeanyne Slettom) And now, may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever God may send you; may God guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm; may God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you; may God bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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Sunday, December 6, 2020 || 2nd Sunday of Advent Pastor Christy Wright We invite you to light a candle at 9:30 AM and join us in prayer ONLINE or over the PHONE Audio worship is also available at (978) 990-5000, access code 719365#. Just dial in, enter the access code on your keypad, and you will hear the service begin with music. Lighting of the Peace Candle - By Jeanyne Slettom Last Sunday we lit the first candle—the candle of hope. Today we light the second candle, the candle of peace. We light it knowing full well that peace is elusive, and in some parts of the world, it is almost completely absent. Yet in this season of Advent, we trust that God is never absent from us. God is always preparing something new. And even where there is war and discord, whether between countries, within families, or within our own hearts, God is present, gently leading us to new possibilities. Let us pray: Loving God, in this time of preparation and planning, we thank you for the hope and peace you unfailingly offer us. Show us the creative power of hope. Teach us the peace that comes from justice. Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you, that we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen. Scripture Reading Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, O comfort my people, says you God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; says to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep. Sermon I don’t know about you, but recently I’ve been having a lot of dreams about forgetting my mask when I go out into public, not being able to find a sink to wash my hands, and running out of hand sanitizer just as someone coughs on me. But I’m also noticing a change in my dreams: hugging people I love, people I haven’t seen for months or even years simply because they live so far away. In those dreams, I feel at complete peace because I know that in the dreamworld, nothing can ever hurt us, and all things are set right again. It is also evidence of a longing, a longing for normalcy, for something familiar, and for something new to arise from the wilderness in which we find ourselves. As a nation, and as an entire world, we’ve found ourselves in a wilderness that none of us have ever trekked or explored before. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, it was like we were wandering through the woods at night without a map or flashlight, just feeling our way through the dark in the hopes of finding a path that would lead us out again, and quickly. But here we are, after a long, long night: we’ve partnered together drawn up maps of what we think this journey looks like, we’ve enlisted the help of wilderness guides, and we’ve invested in the gear we need to get us out of the woods. And as we continue our journey, we start to see the dark inky sky lighten around the edges, and even though the sun hasn’t risen yet, the hidden light begins to bounce off the clouds in a rainbow of colors. A new dawn is here, and the peace it offers is beyond our wildest dreams. In this morning’s passage, we read of another dawn arising, the good news of what is coming for the people of Israel. In the previous 39 chapters of Isaiah, the people are caught in a very difficult season of calamity and suffering. But, just as the second half of Isaiah opens, there is a light of hope that is shining across the land. God is making all things right and all things new. Just when the people thought all hope was lost, God invites them to reimagine a future where everything just falls into place. God offers an even playing field, that all mountains are brought down, and all valleys are raised. This is a symbolic way of communicating to those who have too little that they will have enough; and those who have too much will find ways to share it with others. This is often referred to as “the great leveling,” where all will have exactly what they need, and the hope and love of God is abundant in all places. What’s interesting about this passage is that we see a dual understanding of God. We witness the might of God, of the Divine power of causing mountains to crash down and the earth-shaking movement of valleys rising. But we also witness the tenderness of God as a gentle shepherd, picking us up in our wilderness and bringing us home to Jerusalem, to the place where we encounter the Messiah in all his glory. “This is no ordinary shepherd.” As we prepare our hearts and homes for Jesus’ arrival, we wait in the darkness, our eyes turned to the east where the light is arising out of love and hope. But hope is elusive and sometimes very difficult to find, especially in times like these. As scholar George Stroup puts it, “hope must live in the tension between [God who] is present and the promise which is not yet, but is coming.” Just as the sun rises each morning, we can find hope in God’s faithfulness, knowing that all will be well again. In the meantime, how can we find peace in the wilderness? How can our hearts be calmed in the midst of all of this uncertainty? I invite you to join me in a spiritual practice this week: each morning as you enjoy breakfast or your morning cup of coffee or tea, jot down three things for which you’re thankful. It can be something as simple as being grateful for your warm slippers, or something as specific as thankfulness for a particular person in our lives. Then offer this simple prayer: Dear God, thank You for all of Your blessings. Grant me peace as I go about my day, and in times of stress or uncertainty, remind me of all of Your great gifts. Amen. By practicing gratitude in a new light, we might be able to find peace in surprising places, and hope where it is most needed. As we close this morning, may we turn our eyes to light on the horizon, knowing that God is here, and God is creating order from chaos. May we recognize that all things are falling into place, and that hope will carry us through. And may we find peace through the power of the Holy Spirit and through Jesus’ example of great love and tenderness. Amen. Hymn of Meditation - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, UMH 203 1. Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son! 3. He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth Hail in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun! Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in his path to birth. He comes to break oppression, to set captives free; Before him, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go, To take away transgression, and rule in equity. And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow. 2. He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong; 4. To him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend; To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong; His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end. To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light, The tide of time shall never his covenant remove; Whose souls, condemned and dying, are precious in his sight. His name shall stand forever, that name to us is love. Benediction/Commission and Blessing Take your encouragement from Christ, that your joy may be complete. We will share in the Spirit; we will find consolation in love. Practice a ministry of humility and compassion for God is at work in you, empowering you. We will welcome Christ into our hearts. We will live lives worthy of the Gospel. We will go forth in hope and in peace. And now, may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever God may send you; may God guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm; may God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you; may God bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. |
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