5555 Hereford Farm Road, Evans, GA 30809 ~ 706-863-6795 ~ LewisUMC.org
April 18 | 10:00am
Chiming The Hour
Welcome/Call to Worship
Good morning, welcome to the house of our Lord. Today is the third Sunday of Easter and it is also Native American Awareness Sunday. In honor of that, I would like us to celebrate with this call and response:
Every part of this earth is sacred.
(Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy.)
The rocky crest, the meadow, the beasts and all the people, all belong to the same family. Teach your children that the earth is our mother.
(Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth. We are part of the earth, and the earth is a part of us.)
The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst.
(The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the air is precious, for all of us share the same breath.)
The wind that gave our grandparents breath also receives their last sigh.
(The wind gave our children the spirit of life.)
This we know, the earth does not belong to us.
(We belong to the earth.)
This we know, all things are connected.
(Like the blood which unites one family, all things are connected.)
Our God is the same God, whose compassion is equal for all.
(For we did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it.)
Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.
(Let us give thanks for the web and the circle that connects us. Thanks be to God, the God of all.)
Opening Hymn/Processional
“The Gift of Love” / Hymn #408
Though I may speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
And have not love, my words are vain,
As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.
Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be given by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin.
Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole.
Let inward love guide every deed;
By this we worship, and are freed.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
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,
for ever and ever.
Amen
Affirmation of Faith
The Apostles’ Creed – UMH 881
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri – UMH 91
Scripture (Secondary)
Romans 13:8-10 New Revised Standard Version
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Hymn of Praise
“More Love to Thee, O Christ” / Hymn # 453
More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
now thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Let sorrow do its work, come grief and pain;
sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
when they can sing with me:
More love, O Christ, to thee
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise;
this be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
this still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Offertory Prayer
Offertory Hymn
“Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord
And where there is doubt true faith in You
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is despair in life let me bring hope
Where there is darkness only light
And where there’s sadness ever joy
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life
Sermon – The Law of Love
Matthew 22:34-40 New Revised Standard Version
“When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Sending Forth Hymn
“Love the Lord Your God” / Hymn # 2168
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength
With all your heart, with all your soul
With all your mind, with all your strength
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart
With all your soul, with all your mind
And with all your strength
I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength
I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength
With all my heart, with all my soul
With all my mind, with all my strength
I will serve the Lord with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind
And with all my strength
I will love You, sing it out (I will love You)
I will praise You, (I will praise You)
I will serve You, (I will serve You)
I will trust You, (I will trust You)
With all my heart, with all my soul
With all my mind, with all my strength
With all my heart, with all my soul
With all my mind, with all my strength
I will love You, Lord, with all my heart
With all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength
Benediction
