MCCC Sanctuary Worship Order 2024
May 26, 2024
Camp Christian Sunday
Good Morning! Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian live stream worship service. We’re so glad you’ve joined us today and we hope you come back and join us soon. This week is our Camp Christian Sunday as we worship in a camp-style, sing some fun songs, and consider Jesus’ words about the beloved community. Welcome to worship!
Prelude “Jesus, Rose of Sharon” Sarah Park
[By C. H. Gabriel]
Welcome Rev. Chad Delaney
Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
Good Morning!
Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms.
Today is our Camp Christian Sunday! Camp Christian is a ministry of the Christian Church in Ohio. Camp hosts summer programs for kids and adults and is available during the year for retreats and events. Our Regional Church Office is stationed there and has been a part of our church life since the 1950s.
If you have been to Camp in one way or another, please raise your hand!
The service today will be a little different. You’ll experience some traditions and songs from Camp and we are using the Chi-Rho Evening Prayer service to guide us. We hope all of them help bring you closer to God. Thanks much to Ally Hurd who proposed the idea and is one of the Directors at Camp this summer.
Thank you for joining us here in the house and online. Welcome to everyone!
- ANNOUNCEMENTS (Announcements, announcements, announcements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
- Camp Sunday!
Welcoming Song Sanctuary
Lord prepare me, to be a Sanctuary
Pure and Holy, Tried and True
With Thanksgiving,
I’ll be a Living
Sanctuary for you
Call to Worship Christina Brant ONE: We have come to this special place which has been set apart from
the rest of the world for the worship of God.
ALL: Here in the midst of all God has made, let us turn our
minds from other things and think about the presence of
God in this place.
ONE: To help us to do this, the symbol of God being present with us will
now be placed on the altar.
ALL: O Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before
the Lord, our Maker, for the Lord is our God.
The Lighting of the Altar Candles
Song of Invocation Seek Ye First #354, v.1
(Sung while the candles are lit)
1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And God’s righteousness;
And all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, Alleluia
Invocational Response
ONE: The candles on the altar are a symbol of God’s presence and our
worship of God. Let us pray: O God, who loves us more than we
can ever know, help us to worship you with our whole hearts.
ALL: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and
my Redeemer. (Ps 19:14)
*Opening Song We are One in the Spirit #494, vs. 1-3
1 We are One in The Spirit, We are One in The Lord. 2x
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
[Chorus]
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our Love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.
2 We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand. 2x
And together we'll spread the News that God is in our land. [Chorus]
3 We will work with each other, We will work side by side. 2x
And we'll guard each one’s dignity And save each one’s pride. [Chorus]
Invitation to Generosity
Invitation Christina Brant
Offertory
Music: “Joys are Flowing Like a River ” Sarah Park
[Arr. by J. M. Kirk]
*Response Accept, O God, The Gifts We Bring #379, 2 lines
Accept, O God, the gifts we bring of spirit and of clay,
transform them into blessings on those we serve today.
Offering Prayer Christina Brant
Children’s Moment Ally Bozeka
- Camp Songs Mash-up?!
Camp Songs
- Alelu, Alelu
- Peace Like a River
- Hippopatamus
THE MESSAGE FROM GOD
In Music “Holy Spirit, Come” MCCC Choir
[by Lloyd Larson]
MORNING PRAYERS
Song Lord, Listen to your children praying
Lord, listen to your children praying….
Lord, send your spirit in this place
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace…
Pastoral Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
John Van de Laar prayer on the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is at hand – You proclaimed it, Jesus; But, it often feels like it’s a million miles away. You demonstrated its grace and showed its power, but the signs often appear faded or absent in our world.
We need Your Kingdom to come, O God, in all its fullness, in all its glory; This waiting, this “now and not yet” experience of Your reign is hard and frustrating. And so we pray for Your Kingdom to be revealed in our lives, turning our sickness and sin, our brokenness and fear into friendship and compassion, wholeness and joy. May Your Kingdom come to us now.
We pray for Your Kingdom to be revealed in our neighborhoods, turning our division and suspicion, our judgment and our competition into fellowship and care, compassion and service.May Your Kingdom come to us now.
We pray for Your Kingdom to be revealed in our world, turning our war and our disparities, our consumption and our self-interest into peace and collaboration, stewardship and reverence. May Your Kingdom come to us now.
Your Kingdom is here, and it is coming, O God. Make us faithful heralds of its message and tireless practitioners of its ways.
Each of us come today with joys and concerns in our hearts. This weekend we are mindful of the men and women who served our nation and gave their lives. Help us to remember them as we enjoy our family and friends. Help us to work for peace in our nation and world so that no other young women and men go to a soldier’s grave. We pray for those facing natural disaster and struggling with rebuilding. We pray for those walking up the mountain of mental health and finding a way to move forward. We pray that your beloved community might be nurtured and deeply felt at Camp Christian this summer as the staff, directors, counselors, and campers get ready to come. May the power of your Holy Spirit change lives in powerful ways.
We thank you Lord for your presence with us and lift up the joys and concerns on our hearts today to you in silent prayer….
O Lord, help us to grow more in faith and become better disciples of Christ. Hear us as we pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, saying…
Prayer Response
Spirit, I adore you,
Lay my life before you
How I love you
Litany of Preparation
ONE: The word of the Lord abides forever. (1 Peter 1:25)
ALL: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
(Ps 119:105)
ONE: Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things out of
your word (Ps 119:18)
ALL: Make me understand the way of Your teachings
(Ps 119:27)
MESSAGE of GOD THROUGH THE STORY
Scripture Luke 17:20-21
20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’
Sermon “Experiencing the Beloved Community”
Our scripture today in Luke reminded me of a conversation I had with youth years ago at CYF camp. I was talking with some of the kids about inviting more of their friends to camp. I wanted to tell them that really the only way Camp is going to grow and stay here is if they invite their friends to come and experience it. Invitations from the “Christian Church in Ohio” were going to mean very much.
They did agree, but said that Camp was hard to explain.
What do you mean?
They then explained how the conversation usually goes with their friends.
“So, hey friend, why don’t you come to Camp Christian with me this summer? It is the best week ever!”
Maybe…What kind of stuff do you do there? What’s a day like?
“Well…
- We get up and go have breakfast
- Then we have classes on the bible and stuff.
- Then there’s a workshop after lunch and a few hours of free time.
- The food’s pretty good and we sing silly songs after the meals
- Every evening we have a worship service and a fun activity.
What time you have to get up? 7:00am? Oh Ok….Ummm. Sounds good…
No…but you don’t understand…it is the best week ever and will change your life. It's like a home away from home and everybody is cool there. It's different there.
Yeah…I guess I’ll think about it.
In other words…the youth were having a hard time putting to words what is so special about Camp, that time, the atmosphere created by such a beautiful place and the amazing people who come. There is something intangible, fleeting, magical, mysterious, grace-saturated, about what happens there..
I will admit that tangible is much more marketable, sexier and flashier. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little more of that at camp and they are making plans to do so. But what can never change is the relentless pursuit of building the beloved community. People are a little kinder. A little more open. Let their guard down a little more. More forgiving. Less self-conscious. Less judgmental. Will be more free and silly. Will act more like themselves. And not glued to a screen the entire time. You’re completely free to open yourself to the presence of God and to the people around you. And you kind of have to experience it to understand.
And it takes everyone to do it. The adults leaders who are there, the staff, the children and youth…all trying to build the beloved community together. To hold each other more closely. Forgive one another more readily. Connect more deeply. Love more generously. To let our guard down and let God in.
Henri Nouwen said it this way, “"Community is where humility and glory touch."
Jesus told the Pharisees, the Disciples, the crowd (basically anyone who would listen), “‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’
Y’all are going to look for the tangible things -- your miracles, your beautiful buildings, the obvious stuff. But the kingdom is among you.
There’s a wonderful little children’s book called “God In Between” by Sandra Eisenberg Sasso that gets to the heart of this truth. The book tells the story of a town where the people are searching for God. The townsfolk look for God in the usual places—up in the sky, in grand buildings—but they cannot find God. Finally, two villagers, Jacob and Rachel, figure out that God is not in the places they had expected. Instead, they realize that God is found in the spaces between them, in the connections and relationships they share with one another.
The power of Camp--and yes, the power of this place--is found in the spaces in between. In conversation, in new relationships, in moments of vulnerability. In moments of worship…all ensconced in love. We can have a beautiful, historical (and renovated) building. We can hold worship services and do charity work. But the power of this place -- is in the indescribable, the intangible feeling of warmth, love, and connection that binds us together, that is nurtured and expressed every time we gather. That is felt when people seek to live and love more like Jesus. Each of us has a part in that.
I thank God for places like Camp Christian and Mantua Center…places that earnestly seek to bring God’s beloved community to life. May we continue to nurture and be a part of that gift…and for heaven and earth’s sake….may we each find ways to invite people to come along. Because this intangible, inspiring, healing goodness…needs to be shared.
COMMUNION
Meditation Ruth Anne Ruehr
Communion Hymn Let us Break Bread Together #425, vs. 1-3
1 Let us break bread together on our knees; (on our knees)
let us break bread together on our knees. (on our knees)
[Refrain:]
When I fall on my knees,
with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me. (on me)
2 Let us drink wine together on our knees; (on our knees)
let us drink wine together on our knees. (on our knees) [Refrain]
3 Let us praise God together on our knees; (on our knees)
let us praise God together on our knees. (on our knees) [Refrain]
Prayer Roger Cram
Words of Institution Roger Cram
Music: “Alas! And did my Saviour Bleed?” Sarah Park
[by R. E. Hudson]
*Closing Song Pass it On #477, v. 1-3
1 It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
And soon all those around, can warm up in glowing.
That's how it is with God's love,Once you've experienced it,
You spread God’s love to everyone; You want to pass it on.
2 What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding;
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That's how it is with God's love; Once you've experienced it,
You want to sing "It's fresh like spring"; you want to pass it on.
3 I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I've found.
You can depend on God, it matters not where you're bound.
I'll shout it from the mountain top - HEY WORLD!
I want the world to know; the Lord of love has come to me,
I want to pass it on.
Benediction Rev. Chad Delaney
- In Christ we are made whole. In Christ we are sent forth in love.
- Come downstairs for Klondikes and Look at Pics (Avery’s UN Seminar)
- Please have some coffee and join for conversation in our wonderful classes led by Nancy Humes, Jon Secaur, and Carol Buzbee
My God and I go in the fields together,
We walk and talk as good friends should and do;
We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter,
My God and I walk through the meadow's hue.
Postlude “Tis So Sweet to Walk with Jesus” Sarah Park
[by A. B. Simpson]