May 16, 2021
“Gratitude is an emotion. Gratitude is an ethical way of life. But ultimately gratitude is a place – perhaps the place – where we find our truest and best selves.”
~ Diana Butler Bass
“The circle is a reminder that each moment is not just the present, but is inclusive of our gratitude to the past and our responsibility to the future.”
~ Kazuaki Tanahashi
“Gratitude amplifies goodness, rescues us from negative emotions, connects us to others in a meaningful ways.”
~ Robert Emmons
“If you are grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody, and that changes this power pyramid under which we live.”
~ Brother David Steindl-Rast
Prelude
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Prelude on an Ascension Hymn”
~ arr. Roger C. Wilson
“Thine Is the Glory”
~ George Frideric Handel, arr. Lani Smith
“Exaltation”
~ Clarence Dickinson
Call to Worship
Sometimes we feel too small and insignificant to be of any notice to Jesus.
Yet the Lord provides a tree for us to climb so that we can see Jesus.
That tree is faithfulness, compassion, love, hope, joy.
We are given the opportunity to witness to the Savior’s presence in our lives.
Lord, help us when we forget how much we are loved by Christ.
Open our hearts to receive his invitation this day.
Let us joyfully and with gratitude worship God!
AMEN.
Hymn
Sue Livingstone & John Palmer
“This is My Song” ~ UMH #437 vs. 1, 3
Time for Kids
Scripture Lesson
Luke 19:1-10
Message
Pastor Kate Conolly
“Circles of Gratitude”
Offering Prayer
God of grace,
it is our delight
to give these gifts to you.
All we are and all we have
are yours.
Accept this offering
as a token of our gratitude:
use it to bring peace, justice
and comfort to all the world, Amen.
Offertory
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Holy God, We Praise Your Name”
~ setting Michael Burkhardt
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn
Sue Livingstone & John Palmer
“Help Us Accept Each Other” ~ UMH #560 vs. 1, 3
Sending Forth
You can heal, Christ has touched you.
You can love, Christ has sought you.
You can give yourself away.
Christ has come walking and called you.
You can break the barriers from which others suffer.
Christ has visited your house.
Christ is in you and around you.
Christ will set you free.
Postlude
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Look, Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious” – tune- “Bryn Calfaria”
~ arr. Paul Manz
“Toccata Exsultate”
~ Ben Logan
“Rise, O Children of Salvation” – tune- “Unser Herscher”
~ Thomas Bliss