28 Sep Worship Bulletin: 10/1/23
Welcome to Worship at the McPherson Church of the Brethren
We invite your active participation in the life of this congregation, as together we continue to grow in grace and seek justice for God’s creation.
Sunday, October 1, 2023 @ 10:15 a.m. – World Communion Sunday
On this day, we remember that we are part of the whole body of believers.
Whether shared in a grand cathedral, a mud hut, outside on a hilltop, in a meetinghouse, or in a storefront, we and other Christians celebrate the communion liturgy in as many
ways as there are congregations
Gathering Music | “Dernier Kyrie” | F. Couperin
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Video Welcome
Sharing Time: Joys & Concerns | Dan Lichty
Centering Music | “God and God Alone” | arr. Lyndell Leatherman
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Opening Scripture | Psalm 78: 1-4, 12-16
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old –
3 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the
praiseworthy deeds of God, God’s power, and the wonders God has done.
12 God did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 God divided the sea and led them through; God made the water stand up like a wall.
14 God guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
15 God split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 God brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers
Opening Song | “What is This Place” | #1
Story for the Children | Barbara Wagoner
Video Invitation to Give
Give online or send a check made payable to “McPherson Church of the Brethren,” 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 67460
Invitation to the Table | “The Whisper” | Craig Courtney
Worship Choir
In the desert, in the wilderness of life, I am searching for the One who searches me.
As I wander, hungry, thirsty, lost, alone, I hear God’s call; I hear the whisper of my name.
“Come to the table, your name is written on My hand. Come to the table, your name is hidden in My heart.
Come to the table, come to the table, come to the table and live.”
At the table, God prepares for me a place. God redeems me, I am pardoned by God’s grace.
God restores me with a rich and lavish love. In God’s call, I hear the whisper of my name.
Unison Words of Invitation to the Table
We affirm our desire to meet God in the world and in the meeting with each other as God’s Children.
Our hearts say yes to the God of grace and glory.
We affirm our desire to admire God’s creation; to nurture it, to protect it..
Our hearts say yes to the God of light and sun.
We affirm our desire to work for bread for ourselves and all humanity.
To give and receive – to share the bread of life.
Our hearts say yes to the God of life and death.
We affirm the surprising mystery and gift of each person and of life in a community of sharing.
Our hearts say yes to the God of hope and love.
Words for Communion
Words for the Bread: We eat this bread – in memory of the Living Bread – who calls us to feed ALL and ANY who are hungry.
Words for the Cup: We drink this cup – in memory of the Living Cup – who calls us to offer drink to ALL and ANY who are thirsty.
Words of Commitment: May we remember! May we answer God’s call!
Partake of Communion
Unison Prayer | Blessing: And the Table Will Be Wide | written by Jan L. Richardson, and posted on The Painted Prayerbook
And the table [is] wide. And the welcome [is] wide.
And the arms [are] open wide to gather us in. And our hearts [are] open wide to receive.
And we will [go forth] as children who trust there is enough. And we will [go out] 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 [share] the feast without shame. And we will turn toward each other without fear.
And we will give up our appetite for despair. And [together] we will taste and know of delight.
And we will [be] bread for a hungering world. And we will [be] drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing. And everywhere will be the feast. [May it be so]
Communion Song | “We Meet as Friends at Table” | text, Brian Wren
We meet as friends at table, to listen, and be heard, united by the Spirit, attentive to the Word.
Through prayer and conversation we tune our varied views to Christ,
whose love has made us the bearers of good news.
With food and drink for sharing the table soon is spread.
The freedom-meal of Jesus is crowned with wine and bread, and all, without exception,
may eat, and speak, and stay, for this is Christ’s own table where none are turned away.
We share our lives and longings, and when the meal is done we pray as friends at table,
and promise to be one.
To Christ, and to each other, we cheerfully belong: apart, our hope is fruitless; together, we are strong.
Fulfilled, and glad to follow wherever Christ may lead, we journey from the table to love
a world in need with patience, truth and kindness, that justice may increase
and all may sit at table in freedom, joy, and peace.
Scripture Focus | Matthew 21: 23-32
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they
asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it
from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the
people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of
righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Message | “We Have Seen” | Jerry Bowen
Sending Song | “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” | #478
Sending Words
Sending Music | “Amazing Grace (with Ash Grove)” | arr. M. Ham
Jean Hendricks, piano
Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Choir Director: Becky Snell
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre
Chancel Decoration Team: Jill Brax, Colleen Gustafson, Michele Johnson, Shane Kirchner & Lara Schoming