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November 16, 2025
23rd Sunday After Pentecost
TRADITIONAL Service
Union-Congregational Church

Gathering Music                                 

Welcome and Announcements                    

Sharing the Peace of Christ

Call to Worship                                  
One: Followers of Christ, let us remember the path we have chosen:
All: The way of truth and life.
 

One: The way of love for our neighbors and ourselves.
All: The way of community and connection.
 

One: Followers of Christ, let us not grow weary in care for each other.
All: We will not turn against one another.
 

One: Evil tells stories that harm and isolate, but this we proclaim:
All: We belong to each other.
 

One: May this be our joy and our hope.

Opening Prayer (unison)             
Gracious One, keep us soft in heart toward each other. As struggle multiplies, may we resolve not to isolate ourselves or others. But to move into closer relationship, and into deeper connection. Deeper understanding. Deeper solidarity. We return to the witness of Jesus whose life was shaped by the hope of community, and the courage of compassion. Amen.
 

Opening Hymn: #649 Gather Us In (1,2,4)

Children’s Time

Reading of Scripture                   
Isaiah 65:17-25
17 
For I am about to create new heavens
   and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
   or come to mind.
18 
But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
   and its people as a delight.
19 
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
   and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
   or the cry of distress.
20 
No more shall there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days
   or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
   and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
   they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 
They shall not build and another inhabit;
   they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
   and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 
They shall not labor in vain
   or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
   and their descendants as well.
24 
Before they call I will answer,
   while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
   the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
   but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
           says the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
6 Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother or sister living irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not irresponsible when we were with you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you. 9 This was not because we do not have that right but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

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

Message: What is Right and What is Easy
 

Hymn: #595 They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

Prayers of the People
Time for Silent Prayer
Joys and Concerns 
After each prayer petition, Jacob will say, “God in your mercy”, and the congregation is invited to respond: “Receive our prayer.” 
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer (unison)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

We Offer Our Gifts

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication (unison)
Provider and Protector, when we grow too arrogant, too individualistic, or too full of shame, we return to your teachings. We remember the utter grace of a planet that feeds us. We remember that the earth is not property but kin, alive and aching. We remember that everyone is indebted to others - that every good thing we experience is connected to others. We do this to remember our places - humble and entangled - in the whole of things. To the flourishing of the common good, we offer our gifts. Amen.

Closing Hymn: #393 Blest Be the Tie That Binds (1,2,4)

Benediction
Friends, this is the good news of God: Thrones of power will never be the seat of our salvation Only love, practiced and cultivated in community, can grow the hope we need. Only love, shared and multiplied through struggle and solidarity, can sustain and assure us. Only love, enfleshed in everyday lives near and far, takes the shape of God. Thanks be to our Divine companion. Go in peace and courage.

Sending Music                                 

Today’s liturgy was written by M Kaiser of Enfleshed for Liturgy That Matters.