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.
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!
All: You are welcome here!
Call to Worship
One: Some of us arrived early, to settle in with our coffee or to have time to find a pew cushion. Some of us are sliding in sideways, trying to get the bulletin pulled up and willing our heart rate to slow down.
All: All week we have been raising babies, caring for parents, answering emails, paying bills, navigating insurance, and hoping for a break in the weather and the tension.
One: We long to hear a good word: a word that brings us good news, a word that can sustain us, a word that can give us the vision and courage to make it through, a word that tells us God is with us.
All: So we come to share our prayers, sing of a better day, and trust that the Spirit will grant us peace that surpasses all our understanding. Let us build hope together!
All: All week we have been raising babies, caring for parents, answering emails, paying bills, navigating insurance, and hoping for a break in the weather and the tension.
One: We long to hear a good word: a word that brings us good news, a word that can sustain us, a word that can give us the vision and courage to make it through, a word that tells us God is with us.
All: So we come to share our prayers, sing of a better day, and trust that the Spirit will grant us peace that surpasses all our understanding. Let us build hope together!
Hymn
This is a Day of New Beginnings, Hymn 417
New Century Hymnal
[Please rise in body or in spirit.]
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!"
All: "And also with you!"
Anthem
How Can I Keep From Singing
Arranger
Intergenerational Handchime Ensemble
with Clint Williams
Arranger
Intergenerational Handchime Ensemble
with Clint Williams
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.
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
The Church's One Foundation
Arranger
Intergenerational Handchime Ensemble
with Kelly Moore
Arranger
Intergenerational Handchime Ensemble
with Kelly Moore
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
Standing at the Future's Threshold, Hymn 538
New Century Hymnal
[Please rise in body or in spirit.]
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.
- 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.
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.]
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.]