October 7, 2018 — World Communion Sunday
It is to such as these that the Realm of God belongs.
—Mark 10.14
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE Precious Lord, Take My Hand — Thomas A. Dorsey
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.
On World Communion Sunday we celebrate our unity in Christ
with Christians of all traditions and denominations.
Today we are sharing the Call to Worship, Prayer of Blessing and Benediction prayer
being used at West Acton Baptist and South Acton and Boxborough UCC churches. ]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Creator of all things,
All: we praise!
Of earth and sky, the seas and stars, and all living beings,
we praise!
Loving Mother and Father of all people, nations and races,
we adore!
You whose arms hold Koreans and Bolivians, Rawandans and Inuit,
we adore!
For Baptist and Orthodox, Methodist and Moravian, Congregational and Coptic,
we give thanks!
With all your Beloved we gather at your table to feast with our siblings in Christ,
one in the Body of Christ, one in your love.
We worship, we receive your grace, and we give of ourselves, for the sake of the world.
Alleluia!
* SONG We Are One in Christ Jesus Black hymnal # 2229
____________We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
THE WORD IN SONG Let Us Break Bread Together
Spiritual, arr: Kurt Kaiser (Marie Machacek, Trombone)
PRAYER
God of grace, we gather with all your Beloved, the Body of Christ around the world, one in your Spirit, one in your grace. Fill us with your love, that we may truly cherish and honor our unity in you, serving all, especially the poor and outcast, with humility and joy, in the spirit of Christ. Speak your Word to us, heal our divisions, and make us once again the whole and holy Body of Christ. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT 1 Corinthians 12.12-27
[Paul describes us as the Body of Christ, a single organism in which we are inherently interconnected; no part is inferior or unneeded. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” And honor is given to the “inferior.”]
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body”, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as God chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
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GOSPEL Mark 10.13-16
[Jesus’ disciples try to keep children away from Jesus but he welcomes the children. He says the Reign of God belongs to people who are childlike, and that we receive it “as a little child.”]
People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the realm of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the reign of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
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SERMON To such as these
SONG Make Us One Black hymnal # 2224
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
___________We Share at Christ’s Table _________
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
OFFERING OUR GIFTS- including World Communion Offering
* COMMUNION SONG One Bread, One Body Blue hymnal #620
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
Creator God, you have made the whole universe
from a single batch of dough,
and all humanity from one lump dust,
breathing your one Spirit into us in our many forms,
many colors, many languages.
You continually create us as one, set us free from our divisions,
and walk with us into new life that is not like our captivity.
which we celebrate with this Bread of Liberation, Bread of Unity.
As many grains are made into one loaf,
you make us into one Body in Christ.
We thank you for Jesus, who embodied your loving presence
and called us to our natural unity,
bringing back the outcast, restoring the forgotten.
For challenging our proud divisions
he was crucified by the forces of separation,
but raised by the power of unity and oneness, the power of love.
In his life, death and resurrection we behold your grace, and we give thanks.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
one in your love, one with each other, one in Christ,
and one in ministry to all the world
by the power of your Spirit alive in us. Amen.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL
[Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING Jan Richardson
And the table will be wide.
And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to gather us in.
And our hearts will open wide to receive.
And we will come as children who trust there is enough.
And we will come unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.
And we will open our hands to the feast without shame.
And we will turn toward each other without fear.
And we will give up our appetite for despair.
And we will taste and know of delight.
And we will become bread for a hungering world.
And we will become drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast.
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love Black hymnal #2223
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
On this World Communion Sunday,
we remember that God’s language is love, not English.
And so we use the languages of the world
to call God into this place and time.
God of love, enter into our lives, hearts and worlds,
so that Peace may prevail on earth.
Puisse la paix regner dans le monde.
Que la paz prevalezca en la tierra.
Moge vrede heersen op aarde.
Che la pace regni sulla terra.
Amani na iwepo duniani.
…
Peace may prevail on earth.
May peace prevail on earth. Amen.
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Bourrée G. F. Handel, arr: Rick Parks