September 28th, 2025 - The Season After Pentecost

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 you've joined us, whether in person or online. Please take a moment to tell us you are here by using the sign-in button below.

Welcome

One: Good morning and welcome from 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!

Call to Worship

Type your new text here.

Hymn

Thank Our God for Sisters, Brothers, Hymn 397
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

Pass the Peace of Christ

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

Anthem

Crowded Table--instrumental
Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby
arr. Sargent and Stansbury
Carolyn Sargent and Glenda Stansbury

Joys + Concerns

For the joys of this congregation, let the people say: “Thanks be to God!”

The Lord's Prayer

Let us say together the Lord's Prayer, as translated by members of this congregation:

All: 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.

Anthem

Crowded Table
Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby
Third Sunday Choir
with Glenda Stansbury and Zev Stein

Pastoral Prayer

Rev. Sheridan Irick

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Sermon: September 23rd Happens

Rev. Dr. Lori Walke

Hymn

Community of Christ, Hymn 314
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

Announcements

  • Please use the giving link above to support the work and mission of this congregation with your tithes and offerings.
  • 363's blue jeans & more drive continues through next Sunday! We could use more of everything - jeans, packages of cookies, and 32-ounce bottles of Ranch dressing.
  • There are just a few days left in our Nominate Me season, so if you are an active member and have been considering serving on one of our governing boards, please fill that form out now! Starting next week, our nominating committee will start making awkward-but-loving phone calls to ask if you’ll serve. They would love if you would save them the trouble and just nominate yourself. Nominate Me forms can be found here or grab a paper copy in the main hallway and return it to the church office.
  • Next Sunday, October 5th, we begin two services and our times adjust a bit: Morning Prayer at 8:30am and Morning Worship at 10:15am, with Sunday School for all ages at 9:15am. Morning Prayer is a more intimate time of liturgy, music, sacred silence, and prayer, both online and onsite, while Morning Worship continues our familiar order of worship with a communal call to worship, hymns, anthems, and a sermon.
  • Next Sunday, October 5th, is also the Music Board’s annual fundraiser following Morning Worship, so sign up to bring your favorite chili, mac and cheese, or dessert! Then, donate to the cause, and plan to enjoy lunch with the congregation! The Music Board hopes to raise $5,000 to go towards special services, musical guests, and large instrument maintenance projects.
  • At 2pm on Sunday, October 5th, Sheridan and Lori will present What’s in a Name?: Mayflower UCC 101, the story of our church's history, including our Congregationalist roots and membership in the United Church of Christ. Zoom only. Find the link in the app and on the website.
  • October has a variety of opportunities to engage and serve, so be sure to check out the details to be part of our Immigration Response Training, the next Theology Through Fiction classes, VOICE’s 1,000 Conversation Campaign Kick-Off, our Reproductive Justice Period Packing Party, SOLACE’s Food Bank Volunteer Event, and our Trick-or-Eat Potluck Dinner.
  • You can find more details about all of these things in the events tab on our app and on our website.

Benediction

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. So let us go in peace, pray for peace, wage a little peace, and love one another.

ALL: Every single other. Amen.

Benediction Response

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.]