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May 17, 2026
6th Sunday of Easter
TRADITIONAL Service
Union-Congregational Church

Gathering Music                         

Welcome and Announcements                

Before the call to worship, please read the following:
Today in our ongoing series on prayer, we continue by considering the role that forgiveness plays in our spiritual life and practices.  Jesus included a line about forgiveness in the prayer he taught his disciples because getting right with each other is essential for our personal and communal wellbeing. Right relationship involves real honesty with God and with each other. “Pardon” is our focus about prayer today. How are we being invited to let go and find new ways with one another?

Call to Worship
One: We arrive fully into this moment, Holy One. We open to sense your presence among us. We hear you say,
ALL: “Grace is always embracing you.”
One: We need you, Jesus, to help us. We come to you as your first disciples did. We hear you say,
ALL: “Grace is always embracing you” 
One: Spirit of Divine Love, come to us with your healing waters. We hear you say,
ALL: “Grace is always embracing you.”

Opening Prayer (unison)
Holy One, we come this day knowing we sometimes fall short of your expectations for us, and short of the kindness we are called to share with others. Forgive us, and help us use each day as a new opportunity to be in right relationship with each other. Amen.

Opening Hymn: #354 Just as I Am (1,3,4)

Reading of Scripture
Before reading, please say:
Our first reading is from the letter to the Colossians, chapter 3, verses 12-14. Here the author of the letter to the early Christian community at Colossae follows the amazing vision of a community that brings together and heals divides with the encouragement to bear with one another and forgive each other. We need to forgive each other, and ourselves, in order to be a community that tells the truth about real differences.

Colossians 3: 12-14
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Then, please say: Our second reading from Mark 11:25 invites us to make forgiveness a part of every prayer we pray.
 

Mark 11:25
25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

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

Message: Forgiveness and Deeper Connection
 

Song: “When I Lose Myself” by Bryan Sirchio (Jacob leads)
Used by license with Convergence Music Project

When I lose myself and wander far away
When I find myself inside a mess I’ve made
When I wish that I could just undo it all
Well then that’s when I recall, that…

There’s a Love that’s waiting for me to come home
This Love is waiting for me to come home
And there’s nothing I can do, and nothing I have done
That can take away this Love. I can never lose this Love.
2nd Chorus final phrase: “WE can never lose this 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)
Gracious God, we give thanks for the chance to be together and remember the power of reconciliation. May the gifts we give back to you give us the opportunity to provide hope and liberation to others in need, no matter who they are, what they’ve done, or what they wish to change about themselves. Amen.

Closing Hymn: #372 I Then Shall Live

Benediction

Sending Music