Hampstead Congregational Church
May 17, 2026
Seventh Sunday of Easter
No Matter Who You Are or Where You Are on Life’s
Journey,
You are Welcome Here!
Order of Worship
Prelude Herb Tardiff
Greetings and Announcements
Call to Worship (responsive) David Chin
Loud talkers and silent worriers, glad-handers and lonely wallflowers:
God gathers us together to be the Body of wonder and joy, of hope and healing.
Bystanders with hands shoved into our pockets, fraidy-cats whose feet are frozen in place:
Jesus calls us to carry grace to outsiders, to walk with all those left behind.
Kids who never offer answers in class, bashful folks whose tongues tie in knots:
The Spirit anoints us to speak up for the voiceless, to partner with the poor to discover their gifts.
No matter who we are or where we are on lives journey, we are welcome as we gather to worship!
Invocation (unison) David Chin
Gift-giver, you call us together, with our different gifts, our different ideas,
our different
tastes. You call us together, to
share what makes us special, to build each other up, to serve each other in
love. You call us together,
knowing that we need all parts of the body if we are to be whole.
You call us together, to sing, to pray, to listen, to speak. To be refreshed
so that we can go out and serve. You call us together in the name of the One who shows us the way. Amen.
Passing of the Peace of
Christ
(Feel free to pass the
peace by shaking hands, offering hugs or waves.
Those who would like to share peace without physical contact are invited
to place their hands over their hearts in greeting.)
*Opening Hymn:
Scripture Readings: 1 Corinthians 12:3-13, John 17:1-11 (NRSVUE) David Chin
1 Corinthians 12:3-13
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, 5 and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
John 17:1-11
17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
Children’s Message
Sermon: “Gifted
for God’s Work” Rev. Paige
Besse-Rankin
Special Music
Call for Concerns & Celebrations
(Please write joys and concerns on the papers in the baskets in the pews and pass them to an usher. The Congregational Response is: “Hear Our Prayers”)
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin
The Lord’s Prayer:
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. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Call to Offering
*Doxology: NC #17 To You, O God, All Creatures Sing (vs 1)
To you, O God, all creatures sing,
and all creation, everything sings your praises, Alleluia! Your burning sun with golden beam, your
silver moon with softer gleam Sing your paise, Alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
*Prayer of Dedication Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin
Generous God, we are reminded through scripture of the spiritual gifts that you give. We know that these are not for us to hold onto but are gifts for us to share – gifts from you meant for giving. As we offer our tithes and offerings, prompt us to commit more than dollars, but to see the gifts you have written on our hearts and to share generously of these as well! We pray these words in the name of Jesus, in whose way we follow, for whose love we are eternally grateful. Amen. Generous God, we are reminded through scripture of the spiritual gifts that you give. We know that these are not for us to hold onto but are gifts for us to share – gifts from you meant for giving. As we offer our tithes and offerings, prompt us to commit more than dollars, but to see the gifts you have written on our hearts and to share generously of these as well! We pray these words in the name of Jesus, in whose way we follow, for whose love we are eternally grateful. Amen.
*Hymn of Going Forth: 
*Benediction Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin
Beloved, go now in the blessing of the Triune God to live as diverse members of the one body of Christ, choosing unity over division, cooperation over conformity, and collaboration over exclusion as we work together for the flourishing of all creation. Amen.
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