Hampstead Congregational Church UCC

Hampstead Congregational Church

February 5, 2023

Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany

with Communion

 

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

Passing of the Peace of Christ 

Refrain

“What does the Lord require of you?  What does the Lord require of you?

Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God.”

 

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 112)

 

Leader: Praise God! Happy are those who delight in doing God’s will.

All: They are like light in the darkness.

 

They give generously and lend; they do justice.

They are not cowed by news of evil: their hearts are firm, secure in God.

 

Their spirits are steady; they will not back away,

while the wicked fill themselves with worry and anger.

Praise God, who sustains the weak and the needy!

 

Opening Prayer                                                                                                  Kari Allard

 

Let us pray,

God, speak your word to us, a lamp unto our feet, so we may know your ways.

Shine your light upon us, so we can see your path.

Shine your light within us, so we can know your presence.

Shine your light out through us, so we can help you bring your love into this world. Amen.

 

Opening Hymn                    “For the Fruit of All Creation”                    

 

Verse 1 For the fruit of all creation Thanks be to God For good gifts to every nation Thanks be to God For the plowing sowing reaping Silent growth while we are sleeping Future needs in earth's safekeeping Thanks be to God Verse 2 In the just reward of labor God's will is done In the help we give our neighbor God's will is done In our worldwide task of caring For the hungry and despairing In the harvests we are sharing God's will is done

Verse 3 For the harvests of the Spirit Thanks be to God For the good we all inherit Thanks be to God For the wonders that astound us For the truths that still confound us Most of all that love has found us Thanks be to God

 

Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 58: 1-12    NRSV       

 

Shout out; do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they want God on their side.

“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.
You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

 

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

 

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;  you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

 

Sermon                                                                                             Rev. Kathy Youzwak

 

Special Music    

 

Celebration of Holy Communion

 

Invitation to Communion (Matthew 5:13-20)

Come to this table, shaken like salt; come to this table, tasty like salt –
for you have preserved old stories, and raised the blood pressures
of those who do injustice.

Come to this table with shining; but also come with your tired old batteries –
for you have illuminated joys and sorrows,
and you have been snuffed out, and re-lit again and again.

Come to this table salty like sweat from caring for the world,
and crumpled like a bag of fries.

Come to this table, bright as a halogen headlight,

and fragile as the candle flame on a one-year-old birthday cake.

Come to this table because whoever you are Jesus told parables for you.

Words of Remembering (Isaiah 58:1-12)

We remember that Jesus quoted Isaiah throughout the gospels –

for Christ came to lead followers who feed those who are hungry,

shelter those unhoused, clothe those naked, and comfort those afflicted.

Christ came to lead followers to destroy injustices,
lift up those who are oppressed, break the yokes of those victimized
and, at the same time, stop pointing fingers of blame.

And we remember that Jesus sealed the covenant not in a fast of deprivation,
but a feast of hope, sitting at a seder celebrating escape from oppression,
and claiming that the new Way is bread and fruit and love.

Prayer of Consecration

Spirit of Christ, shake on our lives the seasoning of love, for Bread is Body
and the Cup is poured for all.

Shine on these gifts so here and so now. Shine on our lives today and give us enough for everyone’s tomorrows.  Amen.

Sharing of the Elements—All are welcome to the table, always!

 

Sharing of the Bread

 

For all your paths in the new year, and all the light arising on your way home.
Take this bread and eat.

 

Sharing of the Cup

 

For every meal you share with others, and every sip you need of hope.
Take this cup and drink.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

 

God, now that we are fed, we recognize how many there are who need a lighted lamp lifted so high it may take several hands to hold it, and who always need a taste of tomorrow, and a sip of courage for it.

For this we pray in the words Jesus taught,

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, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.    

 

Call for Concerns & Celebrations

Pastoral Prayer

 

Call to Offering

Prayer of Dedication

God of Heaven and Earth, receive our gifts as a deposit of trust in your faithfulness and a seed of hope for the flourishing of your realm. Amen.