One: Good morning and welcome to Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ, where no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey . . .

All: You are welcome here!

[We offer you a warm welcome, and as is our practice, we remember that the land on which we meet is, was, and always will be native land. We acknowledge those indigenous tribes to Oklahoma: the Wichitas, Caddos, Plains Apaches, and the Quapaws, as the original custodians of the land in this place. We grieve the violence done to native language, culture, and personhood, and seek to honor the sovereignty and dignity of native peoples.]

We are so glad to worship together!

One: All you who are yearning for connection, craving rest, and looking for compassion, come!

All: God’s wisdom aches to be inherited, God’s peace longs to be practiced, and God’s liberation yearns to be lived.

One: We are not powerless before evil. We are not without hope. We need not be afraid.

All: Today we study, learn, grow, and press on together, so let us sing with one voice!

God the Spirit, Guide and Guardian, Hymn 355
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

One: "May the peace of Christ be with you."
All: "And also with you!"

[Please rise in body or in spirit to enact the ancient practice of passing the peace.]

Finale: Andante from Sonata No. 6
Felix Mendelssohn
Carolyn Sargent

For the joys of this congregation, let the people say: Thanks be to God.

Our Creator, who is in heaven, holy is your name.
Your kingdom come, your 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 you reign in the power that is love, now and always. Amen.

The Garden Hymn
David W. Music
Third Sunday Choir

The Lord into his garden comes,
the spices yield a rich perfume,
the lilies grow and thrive,
the lilies grow and thrive;

refreshing showers of grace divine
from Jesus flow to ev’ry vine,
and make the dead revive
and make the dead revive.

O that this dry and barren ground
in springs of water may abound,
a fruitful soil become,
a fruitful soil become;

a desert blossom as the rose,
when Jesus conquers all his foes,
and makes his people one,
and makes his people one.

Rev. Lori Walke

The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man* said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,* for you have striven with God and with humans,* and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel,* saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Rev. Sheridan Irick

Sheridan, an Oklahoma City native, holds a BA in English Language & Literature and two master’s degrees, including a Master of Divinity from Phillips Theological Seminary. She has pastored Partridge Community Church UCC in rural Kansas since 2018, where she lives with her dog, Roosevelt. In addition to her pastoral work, Sheridan serves on the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference board and the Strategic Impact Committee for the Hutchinson Community Foundation. She enjoys reading, silversmithing, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and cooking for her partner, Emilee. 

Like a Mother Who Has Borne Us, Hymn 583
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

One: May God grant to us the grace to never sell ourselves short, the courage to risk something big for something good, and the wisdom to know that the world is too small for anything but love. Let us go in peace, pray for peace, wage a little peace, and love one another . . .

ALL: Every single other.

What Does the Lord Require?
Jim Strathdee

Part 1: What does the Lord require of you? What does the Lord require of you?
Part 2: Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God. Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God.
Part 3: To do justice, and love kindness and walk humbly with your God. To do justice, and love kindness and walk humbly with your God.

[Sung in a round, Part 1 begins the response, joined the second time by Part 2, then by Part 3, and then a fourth time through. For those in-person, it is our tradition for the congregation to stand and turn towards the center aisle during the benediction response so that we might "send each other forth" to embody what we sing.]