Sermon: Reaching Out. Changing Lives: God Finds the Lost Rev. Anna Flowers

Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:10-14 

Testimony: Angela Rashba

Benediction: by Rev. Anna FLowers

Though for Reflection: "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." – E.M. Forster

Sermon: Finding Life Rev. Megan Snell

Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:21-28 (Page 802)

Postlude: Jerusalem Parry 

Thought for Reflection:  "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi

Guest Minister: Rev. Megan Snell

Sermon: Reppin' for Jesus: Why Christians Can't Keep Silent Now

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6 (Page 594) Matthew 16:13-20 (Page 798)

Benediction: by Rev. Anna FLowers

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning, new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Postlude: Bringing in the Sheaves Shaw/Minor

Thought for Reflection:  "A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was." - George Washington

Sermon: God Writes Straight With Crooked Lines!  - Tiffany Spigarolo

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 16:1-9, 3:1-6 (Page 522, 510)

Benediction by Tiffany Spigarolo

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning, new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Thought for Reflection: If you walk and talk with God, you will never miss the direction to your divine future. Be bold and offer your heart to be led by God.

— Israelmore Ayivor, Dream Big!: See Your Bigger Picture!

Guest Preacher: Tiffany Spigarolo

Guest Organist: Bob O'Connell

Sermon: #Charlottesville

Opening Prayer:  Prayer of Lament from the UCW National office, prayed in UCC congregations all across the country today, Rev. Anna Flowers

Thought for Reflection:  "Walking on water is safer than sailing in a leaking boat." ― Matshona Dhliwayo

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 14:22-33 Jennifer Owens Lay Reader

Benediction: by Rev Anna Flowers 

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning, new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Guest Organist: Bob O'Connell

Sermon: Bread for the World 

Thought for Reflection: "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." ― Mahatma Gandhi

Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21

Benediction:  by Rev Anna Flowers

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning, new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Postlude Setting of "The Church's One Foundation" Chappell/Stone

 

Sermon: "True Grit"  Reverend  John Lilly

Thought For Reflection: "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." ― Martin Luther

Opening Prayer: Lay Reader, Shannon Lestan

Scripture Reading :Genesis 32:22-31 (Page 26)

Benediction: by Rev. John Lilly

Benediction Response: It Is Well with My Soul

When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,

whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul; with my soul; it is well; it is well with my soul.

Postlude: Guest Organist: Bob O'Connell

Sermon: Wherever You Are, There You Are by Alex Green

Opening Prayer: Lay Reader, John Schoenthaler

Scripture Reading : Psalm 139:1-6; 23-24 (Page 503) Matthew 13:36-43 (Page 795)

Hymn: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father

Benediction:  by Alex Green

Benediction Response: Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Thought For Reflection: Be Well, Do Good Work and Keep in Touch - Garrison Keillor

Sermon: Good Soil Rev. Anna Flowers

Opening Prayer: Lay Reader Monica Murphy

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (Page 794, 799)

Benediction:  by Rev. Anna Flowers

Benediction Response: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian (reprise)

Postlude:Thank You, Lord/Oh Lord, Have Mercy by Alex Green

Thought For Reflection:  Instructions to a Seed

by David Curzon

Don't worry. You're in darkness now,

and very small but you have it in you.

There's nothing to do except grow.

You've got to draw your only nourishment

from whatever surrounds you.

You can't change location.

If you fell among thorns it's too bad.

You'll be stifled or die.

No one will care --

there are so many seeds

that are also in darkness with dispositions.

Just grow.

Sermon: Jonah: In the Depths of Grace – The Underbelly of Grace

Opening Prayer:  Lay Reader, Linda Sheehan

Literature Reading : Jonah's Lament by David Holper

Scripture Reading :  Jonah 4  

Offertory Anthem: God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale Schalk, Karen Maloney, flutist

Benediction: by Rev. Anna Flowers

Benediction Response : It Is Well with My Soul When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul; with my soul; it is well; it is well with my soul.

Postlude: Fugue Clerambault , Alex Green, organist

Jonah's Lament by David Holper

If you ask me about the whale, believe me, I'll run.

Am I a broken record that I should have to go on

re -telling that cursed tale until my tongue trips out?

What a great moral, right? Some rancid tale

of a fool thinking he can flee from God

until a storm nearly swamped the ship —and I got tossed

like a sack of rotten potatoes. Yes,

let's skip all that. After all,

what business of mine was it if

Yahweh wanted to save the souls of the Ninevites?

Cursed three days in the sour gut of the whale,

what choice remained? I dragged my sorry carcass to Nineveh,

Delivered the holy telegram, watched in horror as the whole lot of them

fell on their eager knees, begged God's forgiveness.

It was enough to make you sick.

I fled to high up on the hill overlooking that cesspool.

I threw myself down in the burning sun, fuming, but God wasn't done —is He ever?

He grew a fig tree to shade my angry bones, then withered that, too.

How many tortures can He devise, I wonder,

until I, too, get down in the dust and grovel,

recognizing my hope is failing, and there's nowhere left to run?