Hampstead Congregational Church
May 3, 2026
Fifth 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) Fred Malcolm
Come! Let us love one another, for love is from God.
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
As God loves us so should we love one another.
God’s love calls us to recognize, to see Christ in each other.
God’s perfect love casts out all fear.
Come, let us worship our God,
who is Love.
Come, let us worship in one spirit
as the family of God.
Invocation (unison) Fred Malcolm
God, you are the source of our life.
Gather us together, we pray.
Form us into a holy community
molded by the breath of your Spirit,
Reveal in this company
the face of your anointed Christ.
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 Peter 2:2-10 (NRSVUE) Fred Malcolm
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:
“See,
I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 This honor, then, is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The
stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”
8 and
“A
stone that makes them stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.
“Sermon: "God’s Own People” Rev. Cordelia Burpee
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. Cordelia Burpee
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. Cordelia Burpee
Prayer of Dedication
We see God in the love we share.
We grow with God in the mercy we
give.
We give our gifts of love and
mercy.
O God, let these gifts grow
to reach the whole world with love
Amen
Communion Hymn
Communion
Invitation
As many threads are made one in cloth,
as many grains are made one in bread,
as many grapes are made one in the wine,
so we who are many are made one
when we gather at this table.
whatever your questions, whatever your struggles,
Whoever you are, wherever you have been.
You are welcome at this table
Communion Prayer
Creating God, Source of Life, we offer our thanks for
The sound of birds busily networking in the trees around us,
the new growth bursting forth,
For all gifts simple and profound.
We give thanks.
We give thanks for all who have taught us
And helped us to listen and to trust.
Especially we give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth,
we recall the words he spoke to call forth in us
love, care and respect for one another:
And we believe the same Spirit of God
that was made visible in Jesus
yearns for visible expression in us.
Words of institution
We gather and remember how long ago, on the night of his
arrest,
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it:
'This bread is broken, as my body will be'.
And he handed it to his friends, inviting them to eat:
'Remember all that I have been to you'.
Long ago, on that same night,
Jesus poured a cup of wine, offered thanks for it,
and gave it to his friends:
'This wine is poured out, as my life will be.
Remember me and give thanks for all I have given'.
So we take this bread and this fruit of the vine…
Bread broken…
Cup poured out… for the life of the world.
Come for all things are ready.
Distribution
of the Elements
(Please come forward for the bread and
eat once you receive.)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the bread and the cup,
the fellowship and the remembering,
be a blessing on us all.
*Benediction Rev. Cordelia Burpee
As we go out into the day,
God is creating
new paths,
Christ is freeing us with newfound love and grace,
The Spirit is
revealing new dreams to guide us.
Take courage. God goes with us.
All things are
possible.
Thanks be to God.
Music Usage permitted through OneLicense HCC License # A-730412 and CCLI License Number 2927783. All rights reserved.
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Welcome The Rev. Cordelia Burpee
This morning we are pleased to welcome to our pulpit The Rev. Cordelia Burpee.
She recently retired after serving the Congregational Church of South Hero UCC
in South Hero, Vermont. She was a member of a church in Mount Vernon, Ohio
for twenty years and
attended seminary while on the staff of the local public library.
Rev. Burpee moved to Manchester, NH to be close to family and to live with her
cousin whose husband
recently died. She has one hyper vocal calico cat,
a passion for sci-fi, and plans for
the best vegetable garden ever.
