PRELUDE

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS- Rev. Andy Bachmann

THE LIGHTING OF THE CANDLE, THE RINGING OF THE BELL

OPENING SONG- “All This Joy” 

All this joy, all this sorrow,
All this promise, all this pain,
Such is life, such is being,
Such is spirit, such is love.

Sing of joy, sing of sorrow,
Sing of promise, sing of pain,
Such is life, such is being,
Such is spirit, such is love.

World of joy, world of sorrow,
World of promise, world of pain,
Such is life, such is being,
Such is spirit, such is love.

All is joy, all is sorrow,
All is promise, all is pain,
Such is life, such is being,
Such is spirit, such is love.

CALL TO WORSHIP –  Psalm 126 – Rev. Talia Raymond

When the Lord brings back captive Zion
We shall be like dreamers!
Then will our mouths be filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then will they say among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.

Restore our fortune, O Lord,
Like torrents in the southland.
May those who sow in tears
Reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing,
Will indeed come back with joyful shouts, bearing their sheaves.

SPECIAL MUSIC – “O (Fly On)” by Coldplay. Offered by Phillip Herr- Klepacki.

A TIME OF PRAYER – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
Sung response:
All is joy, all is sorrow,
All is promise, all is pain,
Such is life, such is being,
Such is spirit, such is love.

WORDS OF WISDOM – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan

Birth is a beginning, and Death a destination;
From childhood to maturity and youth to age,
From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing,
From foolishness to discretion and then, perhaps, to Wisdom.
From weakness to strength or strength to weakness, and back again.
From offense to forgiveness, from loneliness to love.
From joy to gratitude, from pain to compassion.
From grief to understanding, from fear to faith.
From defeat to defeat
Until looking backward or ahead, we see that
Victory lies not at some high place along the way,
But in having made the Journey, stage by stage.
-Yom Kippur prayer

What Wisdom will you retain?

“Perhaps the World Ends Here,” by Joy Harjo, Read by Rev. Talia Raymond

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on. We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it. It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers. Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table. This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory. We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here. At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks. Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

 SCRIPTURE- Isaiah 55:12

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

SERMON- “Emergence”- Rev. Andy Bachmann

PRAYER

FINAL SONG, “In the Bulb There Is a Flower”

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter, there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn for every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

BENEDICTION

ALLELUIA