Hampstead Congregational Church
June 7, 2026
Communion Sunday
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) Barry Sargent
Like Abram and Sarai, God calls us to go into the unknown, trusting that God’s promises are true.
Whether we are certain or full of doubts, God blesses us that we may be a blessing.
God sends us into the world to journey by faith, believing that God’s blessings are greater than anything we can imagine.
Whether the path is straight or winding, God blesses us that we may be a blessing.
God gathers us today with trusted companions, those who also follow God’s call, even when it does not make sense to the world around us.
Whether we journey with friends or feel all alone, God blesses us that we may be a blessing.
As we gather to worship, may we remember that we are God’s people, blessed by God to be a blessing to our world that is hurting and desperately in need of good news.
God, form us today as a family of faith, that your blessings might flow out of us and into our world, drawing all people into your promise of abundant life and flourishing. Amen.
Invocation (unison) Barry Sargent
Wonderful God, we delight in your
presence. We find shelter in your abiding and enduring love. You humble us,
Holy Love, by gathering us as a people. Thank you for being our Companion and
Guide on this journey. Receive our songs, prayers, and openness. Nourish us
from the fountain of your word and the hospitality of your table. May we find
hope and inspiration, courage and direction, community and resolve as we
worship you. 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.)
Call to Offering
Scripture Readings: Gen 12: 1-9, Mt 9: 9-13, 18-26 (NRSVUE) Barry Sargent
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
The Call of Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
18 While
he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before
him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and
she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed
him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman
who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was
saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus
turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you
well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When
Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making
a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is
not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But
when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and
the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread
through all of that district.
Children’s Message
Sermon: "Fixer Upper” 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.
*Doxology: NC # 779
Praise God
from whom all blessings flow; Praise
Christ all creatures here below;
Praise
Holy Spirit, Comforter; One God, Triune,
whom we adore. Amen.
*Prayer of Dedication Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin
Holy One, as we worship you through our giving, we dedicate these gifts to the work of your kingdom come and our hope that your will be done in our community and world. Amen.
Communion Hymn: NC #347 Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ
Celebrating Communion
Invitation
Thanks and Praise
Remembering Jesus
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Invitation to the
Table
Sharing
of the Elements—All are welcome to the table always
Sharing
of the Bread (please come forward and eat once you receive)
Sharing
the Cup (served in the pew. Please hold so we can take together.)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Thanks be to God whose name is Love. Thanks be to God who hungers to know us and be known by us. As we leave this table, may we carry with us a taste of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, offering the same to all we meet. Amen.
*Hymn of Going Forth: 
*Benediction Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin
As you go from this gathering,
Find hope in the journey
Cultivate joy in the journey
Give love in the journey
Share peace in the journey
And trust that the God of the journey
Will be with you now and always
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