November 3, 2024 Order of Worship
For All the Saints (Sine Nomine) (Ralph Vaughan Williams, arr. Phil Lehenbauer) – Geoffrey Liu
Welcome – Stephanie McIlwain Miller
For All the Saints – UMH #711, vss. 1, 2 & 4
Opening Prayer – Aaliyah Kohlmeier
Leader: For those who walked with us and showed us the way of following Jesus, this is a prayer.
People: Thank you, God!
Leader: For those who have gone ahead, showing us courage and inspiring us, this is a commitment to do the same for others.
People: Thank you, God!
Leader: For those who touched and tended us, who taught and mentored us while they lived, this is a thanksgiving.
People: Thank you, God!
Leader: For those who journey still with us in the shadows of awareness, in the crevices of memory, in the landscape of our dreams, this is our promise to be faithful like they were, a lived benediction.
People: Thank you, God!
Leader: Lord make us faithful in our time that we might grow in your power, your mercy, and your love and give ourselves away as your gift to the world. Make us your saints today. In Jesus’ name and way we pray.
All: Amen!
Time with Young Disciples – Stephanie McIlwain Miller
In Remembrance of Me (Buryl Red) – Sanctuary Choir
Scripture Reading – Aaliyah Kohlmeier
Introduction of the Scripture: The Gospel of John is built on the power of the incarnation. John says that Jesus is the Word of God in flesh, in real human form, here among us with power. According to John, Jesus not only speaks God’s words and does God’s work in the world, but he is also God’s powerful Word in the world bringing light and life wherever he goes. Hear now our All-Saints Day Bible story from John 11…
John 11:32-44
Jesus’ good friend Lazarus died while Jesus was away. So, Mary found Jesus, knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Message – Unbind Them! – Pastor Jim
Offering Our Gifts to God – Nimrod from “Enigma Variations" (E. Elgar, arr. R. Gower) – Geoffrey Liu
Doxology – Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow, UMH #94
Holy Communion
The Great Thanksgiving
Remembering Members Who Have Died This Year
Pastor: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, God 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.
Nancy Acheson Bob Ames
Margie Bowman Pat Cummins
Patti Fluke Dorothy Funk
Jesse Hatfield Bill Huseby
Pat James Eric Lundeen
Rod Oldenburg Pat Orme
Kay Payne Linda Roser
Jim Rothwell Dave Sherman
Larry Speicher Roger Steeds
John Stuart Imogene Sullens
Lori Tang-Nord Gene Trotter
Betty Van Slyke Gayle Woods
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
Festival Voluntary (Flor Peeters) – Geoffrey Liu
Resources for Worship
Opening Prayer is by Jim Head-Corliss, November 3, 2024, based on a prayer by Jan L. Richardson on her website The Painted Prayer Book in an entry titled “For Those Who Walked with Us,” October 29, 2013 (https://paintedprayerbook.com/2013/10/29/for-those-who-walked-with-us/#.UnEzihZD1UM).