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SUNDAY
November 22, 2020
Thanksgiving
PRELUDE “We Gather Together” Netherlands Folk Hymn
Arr. Fred Bock
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
RESPONSIVE CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Let us gather together in thanksgiving to God.
People: For God has made us and this earth which gives us nurture.
One: Let us gather together in gratitude for one another.
People: For we are the bearers of God’s blessing and love for the earth and its people.
All: Let us praise God: joining our voices together, reaching out in care and courage so that the goodness of life may be for all of God’s children. Amen.
OPENING HYMN #367 “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” Vs. 1, 2
Come, ye thankful people, come; raise the song of harvest home.
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker, doth provide for our wants to be supplied.
Come to God’s own temple come; raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field, fruit in thankful praise to yield,
Wheat and tares together sown, unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.
UNISON PRAYER CONFESSING OUR NEED FOR GOD’S GRACE
God of remembrance, remind us of your desire for us to share the fullness of life with all your children. Help us remember those who deserve our gratitude. Encourage us to be grateful for our friends and to reach out in kindness and thanks. Help us to be generous with all that has been given us. Restore us to the joy of life in you. Inspire us that we may rightly remember the past by creating a pathway of hope for those who follow.
(moment of silence)
SONG OF RENEWAL #647 “Give Thanks”
Give Thanks with a grateful heart; give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because we’re given Jesus Christ, the Son. (2Xs)
And now let the weak say “we are strong”; let the poor say, “We are rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us!” (2Xs)
Give thanks, Give thanks.
CELEBRATION OF GOD’S GRACE
There is no chasm that cannot be bridged, no loss that cannot be recovered, no mistake that cannot be forgiven, no life that cannot be redeemed – by the grace of God! All you who reject vain desires and put away unwarranted fears and who put your confidence in God’s grace may assuredly know that you are set free and the ability to begin again is yours, this day and every day. Glory be to the Holy One who can make all things new! Alleluia! Amen.
SPECIAL MUSIC “God Thou Art Love” Craig Courtney
Peter Cloven, David Huff,
Scott Lewis, Lyle Swallow
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Leader: God in your grace
People: Hear our prayer.
PASTORAL PRAYER
LORD’S PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 6:1-8
Matthew 25:14-30
RESPONSE
Reader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION, from Psalm 19 - responsively
Pastor: May the words of my mouth
People: And the meditations of our hearts
All: Be acceptable in your sight, O Lord,
Our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
SERMON “To Those Who Have, More will be Given and to Those Who Have Not…”
Pastor Barbara Barkley
Time of Silent Reflection
MOMENT OF THANKS
Prayer for acceptance of Pledges
CELEBRATION OF NEW MEMBERS:
People: With joy and thanksgiving we welcome you to share with us in the ministry of God, for we are all one in Christ.
HYMN #14 “For the Beauty of the Earth” Vs. 1,2,4, 5
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Refrain: Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light. (Refrain)
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild. (Refrain)
For Thyself, best Gift Divine.
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in Heaven. (Refrain)
OFFERING OF OURSELVES IN PRAYER
UNISON PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Lord God, we give you thanks for all your gifts to us—for daily food, for health, for each breath we take, for freedoms to make choices, and for the gifts of your word, your grace and your love. Our hearts are truly overwhelmed, O God, when we consider how you have entrusted so much to us. May we be worthy of that trust. May we be a people who are unafraid to live as fully and as richly as you want us to live. Help us to give with grace and generosity.
CLOSING HYMN #37 “Let All Things Now Living”
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
By guiding us on to the end of our days.
God’s banners are o'er us, pure light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished, all fearfulness banished
As forward we travel from light into light.
By law God enforces, the stars in their courses
the sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The depths of the ocean proclaim God divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Postlude on M. C. Whitney
“Now Thank We All Our God”