GATHERING
PRELUDE/ENTRANCE/LIFE OF THE CHURCH
*OPENING SONG
"This is My Father’s World" UMH 144
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Liturgist: When we feel abandoned and alone, unable to find a way out of the wilderness that surrounds, we cry out to God. People: And God listens to us.
Liturgist: When we feel discouraged and defeated, unsure we will ever really be able to make ends meet and worried that no matter how hard we work, it will never be enough, we cry out to God. People: And God listens to us.
Liturgist: When we feel lost and forgotten, unable to find the words for the grief, isolation, and despair that we feel, our hearts cry out to God. People: And God pays attention to us.
Liturgist: As we gather in this place and time, remember: You are not alone. God knows where you are, and God listens to the cries of our hearts. ALL: May we also listen to one another as God guides us toward the cool, refreshing waters we need to continue on our journey as the family of God.
Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2025
Opening Prayer
O Lord our God, you are always more ready to bestow your good gifts on us than we are to seek them, and are willing to give more than we desire or deserve. Help us so to seek that we may truly find, so to ask that we may joyfully receive, so to knock that the door of your mercy may be opened to us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. (THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 20TH CENT., ALT.)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
GOD SIGHTINGS AND INTERCESSIONS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
A TIME FOR CHILDREN
SPECIAL MUSIC
EPISTLE LESSON Romans 1b-11
*GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 10:24-39
MESSAGE
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
SONG OF RESPONSE
“How Firm a Foundation" UMH 529
*OFFERING OF OURSELVES
*A Statement of Faith of the United Church of Canada UMH 883
*DOXOLOGY UMH 95
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
SENDING FORTH
*SONG OF DISMISSAL
“It Is Well with My Soul” UMH 377
*BENEDICTION
*PEACE
“God Be with You till We Meet Again” UMH 672
Verse 1
*Please stand as you are able