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August 3, 2025
8th Sunday After Pentecost
Communion Service
Union-Congregational Church

Gathering Music                                          

Welcome and Announcements                        

Sharing the Peace of Christ

Call to Worship                    
One: Hallelujah! Give thanks! Give thanks to God!
Many: For the Holy One redeemed us and sustained us through the time of trouble.
 

One: Give thanks to the Holy One, for God is good!
Many: For the Compassionate One heard our cry and sustained us through the time of trouble.
 

One: Give thanks to the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
Many: Hallelujah! Give thanks! Give thanks to God!

Opening Prayer (unison)
Amazing God, we honor and celebrate your presence among us. We rejoice in your goodness and delight in your wonderful works. We lament the suffering of the world and take courage that you are with us. We ask that you make your presence known to us. Speak, O God, for we attune our attention for your guidance. Receive our praise as we glorify your name! Amen.

Opening Song: Ever Present Love by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

Children’s Time

Prayer for Transformation and New Life (unison)
Holy God, too often we seem determined to turn away from you. You, however, continually call us to repentance–to turn–back to you and your way. We pray for fortitude to remain on the path set by Jesus and embody the ministry of Christ in the world. Deliver us from the insignificant concerns that distract us and empower us to do the work you have called us to do. Most of all, grant us grace to be the people you have made us to be.

Words of Grace
Beloved, you have received an inheritance of riches in God. These treasures of hope, strength, encouragement, peace, grace, joy, rest, and love are yours to claim. They are yours to live. Receive them freely and abundantly.
All: We are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

Reading of Scripture
Psalm 107: 1-32, 39-43 
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good, for God's steadfast love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those God redeemed from trouble 3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; 5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and God delivered them from their distress; 7 God led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town. 8 Let them thank the Lord for God's steadfast love, for God's wonderful works to humankind. 9 For God satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry God fills with good things. 10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help. 13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and God saved them from their distress; 14 God brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds apart. 15 Let them thank the Lord for God's steadfast love, for God's wonderful works to humankind. 16 For God shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. 17 Some were sick through their sinful ways and because of their iniquities endured affliction; 18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and God saved them from their distress; 20 God sent out God's word and healed them and delivered them from destruction. 21 Let them thank the Lord for God's steadfast love, for God's wonderful works to humankind. 22 And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices and tell of God's deeds with songs of joy. 23 Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters; 24 they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. 25 For God commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity; 27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and God brought them out from their distress; 29 God made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad because they had quiet, and God brought them to their desired haven. 31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for God's wonderful works to humankind. 32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 39 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, 40 God pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes, 41 but God raises up the needy out of distress and makes their families like flocks. 42 The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness stops its mouth. 43 Let those who are wise pay attention to these things and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

After reading, please say, “Here end the readings for today. May God bless us as we learn from these holy words. Amen.”

Message: That Feeling When… God Picks You Up
 

Hymn #72 Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Prayers of the People
Time for Silent Prayer
Joys and Concerns 
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer (unison)

We Offer Our Gifts

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication (unison)
Holy One, bless these offerings, prosper the work of our hands, and the gifts we bring. We dedicate them to your kindom forever and ever. Amen.

Sung Preparation for Communion: “Come to the Table of Grace” (One License #97461) 
Verse 1: grace
Verse 3: love
Verse 4: joy

Sharing Holy Communion
P: God is with you.
A: And also with you.
 

P: Lift up your hearts.
A: We lift them up to God.
 

P: Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
A: It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.
 

P: We thank you, God, for you create us in your image.
A: You claim us, and you are faithful to us.
 

P: You are abundantly generous to us.
A: You have raised us up to new life in Christ.
 

P: You walk with us toward a new world of mercy and justice.
A: You set us free from all that oppresses, and call us to end all oppressing.
 

P: You offer us true abundance of life—not possessions, but love that cannot be taken from us. 
A: We thank you and with all Creation we sing your praise: 
 

P: Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. 
A: Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God. Hosanna in the highest.
 

P: Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
A: He taught and healed; he fed the hungry and restored the outcast.
 

P: He showed us the wonders of your grace, so, forsaking all others, we might give ourselves to you.
A: He gave himself completely, dying for his stand for mercy and justice. But you raised him from the dead, and still he calls us to life.

Words of Institution
As long as we break this bread and share this cup we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again. Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of our faith: Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life. Christ will come again in glory.

P: Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
A: Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, clothed in the new life, vessels of your love, generous with our lives and rich toward you, for the sake of the wholeness of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

Sharing the Elements

Prayer after communion (unison)
Thank you, God, for nourishing us at the table of your love, and caring for us so deeply. Help us go out into the world, proclaiming your love to all who are lonely, oppressed, and in need. Amen.

Closing Hymn: #14 Now Thank We All Our God

*Reading of Mission and Vision Statements (Unison Commission)
We go now to Love God's Creation, Share in Fellowship, and Live Christ's Example, while seeking God's blessing on our lives and on our communities. Living our Core Values, We the family of Union-Congregational Church seek to deepen our own spirituality with acceptance of all through love and a commitment to Christ.

Benediction
May God’s kingdom come. May God’s will be done. Through us. In us. In our communities. As we go. On earth.

Sending Music                                      

Liturgy by Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay, UCC Worship Ways

Communion liturgy by Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes. https://unfoldinglight.net/2022/05/15/ot-18/