November 2, 2025 Order of Worship
Elegy (George T. Thalben-Ball) – Geoffrey Liu
Welcome – Terry Bolender
For All the Saints – UMH#711 vss. 1, 2 & 4
Opening Prayer – Aaliyah Kohlmeier
Leader: Hear the word of the Lord: Come to me all of you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest!
People: Bring your sorrow and your grief.
Leader: Bring your fear and your pain.
People: Bring your discouragement about how broken the world is,
Leader: How fragmented and fractured our lives can be,
People: How angry and violent the world has become.
Leader: We bring our whole selves, our vulnerability and our real needs, with us to worship this morning, God,
People: Because this is what we have been taught to do.
Leader: We trust you, God, because this is what we have been taught to do.
People: Our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, our mentors in faith, the saints who have gone before us, have shown us the force of hope.
Leader: They have demonstrated the power of love.
People: They have modeled the possibilities of a life lived for you.
Leader: Send your Holy Spirit into our church this morning!
People: Embolden us to love and serve our neighbors and strangers, to heal a hurting and broken world.
Leader: Make us the saints that the world needs now!
All: In Jesus’ name and for his coming kingdom’s sake we pray. Amen!
Time with Young Disciples – Stephanie McIlwain Miller
Scripture Reading – Aaliyah Kohlmeier
Introduction of the Scripture Readings: Today’s scripture readings come from the Gospel of Matthew and two different sections of the Gospel of Luke. These teachings of Jesus build on one another to create a picture of our lives reconciled with neighbors and strangers and even those we call enemies. The power to reconcile in the Bible comes from love and happens at the table. Here’s what Jesus says and does…
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus was passing through Jericho. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So, Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So, Zacchaeus hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to them all, “Today salvation has come to this house, because Zacchaeus, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Matthew 5:43-45
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
Luke 6:27-31 and 37-38
In the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said, “I say to you all of you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you…
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Message – You Prepare a Table – Pastor Jim
In Remembrance of Me – Sanctuary Choir
Offering Our Gifts to God – Nocturne in C# minor, op. posth. (Frederic Chopin) – Geoffrey Liu
Doxology – Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow, UMH #94
Holy Communion
The Great Thanksgiving
Remembering Kent UMC Members Who Have Died This Year
Pastor: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, God we pray that you will strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. Now we lift up to you, Holy God, those members of our church, saints who have finished their course since last year’s All Saints Day. As we read their names, we ring the bells, light a candle of remembrance, and trust them into your care.
Roy Ernest Bollinger
Lois Byers
Bob Cisney
Carol Yoshino Kato
Jim King
Jane Lamka
Pat Marcum
June Oshiro
Benny Lou Pierce
Corinne Spicer
Ingrid Walters
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
Let Us Break Bread Together - UMH #618
Come to the Table of Grace - W&S #3168
Spirit of the Living God - UMH #393
One Bread, One Body - UMH #620
Lighting Candles of Remembrance
After receiving the communion elements, you are invited to light a candle in remembrance of your beloveds.
I Sing a Song of the Saints of God – UMH#712
Blessing – Pastor Jim
Toccata on "How Firm a Foundation" (setting by Claude Murphree) – Geoffrey Liu
Resources for Worship
Opening Prayer is by Jim Head-Corliss, November 2, 2025 for worship at Kent UMC.