Gathering Music - “I Walk With God This Day” [Tom Birchwood] - Jan Green
Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
- We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
- We want to welcome everyone who is in the house today and everyone online. We are grateful for all the many ways you can join us for worship on this Lord’s Day.
- Announcements will be on one sheet at the back of the sanctuary.
- Children’s Coloring Sheet
- The Stewardship & Finance Committee have been meeting and planning our Stewardship Campaign and a letter will be going out in the coming weeks.
- Stay after for our wonderful study with Nancy Humes...
- In worship today…we will consider the walls between us. What is dividing us and how might we begin to take those walls down? In what do we find our unity?
- Let’s prepare our hearts and minds for worship with our Opening Scripture Reading...
Opening Scripture - John 17:20-21
20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
*Response - Weave
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship
ONE: We come to God this day, the One who names each of us as a beloved child.
ALL: Here in these moments together, we would recognize God dwelling in us.
ONE: We come to Christ this day, the One whose love is the bedrock of our lives.
ALL: Here in this place of glory and grace, we would understand the One who calls us to faith.
ONE: We come to the Spirit this day, the One who would calm our fears with peace and hope.
ALL: Here in unity with those who are our sisters and brothers, we would seize the opportunities to serve.
~ written by Thom Shuman
*Opening Hymn - In Christ there is No East or West #687, 1&3
1 In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one community of love
throughout the whole wide earth.
3 Join hands, disciples of the faith,
whate'er your race may be;
all children of the living God
are surely kin to me.
Stewardship Moment - Liz Meeker
Children’s Moment - Rev. Chad Delaney
I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we're the church together!
1. The church is not a building;
the church is not a steeple;
the church is not a resting place;
the church is a people.
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Chad Delaney
God of Strength...Break down the walls between us
God of Life and Love...together we lift our voices to you for a blessing on our lives, our families, our church, and our world.
We pray for the Church, the Body of Christ, that we might truly live the unity we receive through the Holy Spirit. For the leaders of our churches that they may be faithful to the unity to which all Christians are called.
God of Strength...Break down the walls between us
God of Courage and Persistence, we pray for the nations of the world, that they may live in peace with one another and promote justice for all. We pray that all people may be good stewards of the earth, to care for our environments, ecosystems, and habitats. Remembering we share this space on this place we call Earth.
God of Strength...Break down the walls between us
God of Unity, we pray for the people of our society, that we may be transformed to live as caring neighbours to each other. Among us are many divisions and barriers created by politics, religion, ethnicity, geography, and history. Give us courage to face these difficulties and not ignore them. Give us courage to acknowledge the pain of those pressed down by injustice. Help us to listen to one another.
God of Strength...Break down the walls between us
Healing God, we pray for the sick and suffering, that they may be transformed by your healing presence. For all families and households, that their struggles and joys may find their fulfilment in your love. We pray for the dying, that they may be comforted by your presence. Here our prayers now for your presence and healing in our lives…
God of Strength...Break down the walls between us
In the name of Jesus, we pray! Amen.
Communion
Meditation - Beth Schabel
Communion Hymn - One Bread, One Body #393
Refrain:
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
- Gentile or Jew,
servant or free,
woman or man no more.
Refrain:
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
Words of Institution
Distribution of Communion
Scripture Reading - Ephesians 2:11-22
11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.
Sermon - “The Wall” Drama by Thomas H Troeger, Performed by Rick Painley, Chad Delaney, and Laura Parker
Closing Hymn - We are One in the Spirit #494
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.
*Benediction Rev. Chad Delaney
Let us leave this place no longer strangers,
but members of God’s own family.
Inspired and determined to tear down the walls between us.
Together, being built into a holy dwelling place
where God lives--the church together!
In unity then let us go out with joy and confidence
to love and serve the world,
for we do not go alone.
Departing Music - “Joy in the Morning” [Tom Birchwood] - Jan Green