LOVELY LANE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
JUNE 2, 2024
10:00 A.M.
† Stand as you are able
Organ Prelude
Welcome and Announcements John Strawbridge, Lay Leader
Choral Introit
Call to Worship
Let us come together to worship the One who calls us.
Here we are, ready or not, called by the One who lived, died, and rose to live again among us.
Here we are, ready or not, bringing our everyday selves to praise and pray, seeking the Holy One in the midst of our lives.
Let us worship the One who calls us.
† Opening Hymn “Be Thou My Vision” UMH 451
The First Reading Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 NRSV
O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them — they are more than the sand; I come to the end — I am still with you.
The word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Call to Confession
Let us come before God with humility and honesty. Trusting in God’s mercy and grace, we confess our sins and seek renewal.
Prayer of Confession
How foolish we are to think we can hide our failings from you, Seeing God. We treat our bodies as trash cans for junk food, not as sanctuaries for your Spirit. We get drunk on the seductions of our society, while sparingly sipping at your living water. We doze under the tree of temptation, hoping you won’t see us and expect us to get up and follow Jesus. Forgive us, our heart’s only Hope. Your grace mends our brokenness, making us whole; your compassion removes our sin, making us new; your voice speaks tenderly to us, silencing our pride. Your Love is made human in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, redeeming our lives.
Assurance of Pardon
In front of us, behind us, to our right, to our left: look! God is there! In our past, beside us today, waiting in the future: look! God is there! In the shadows, in the light: look! God is there!
From the top of the mountains to the bottom of the seas; in the morning, in the evening, in every moment: God is with us! Thanks be to God. Amen.
Passing of the Peace
Sharing Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Choral Response “Cares Chorus” TFWS 2215
The Second Reading 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 NRSV
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
The word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Sermon Rev. Levon D. Sutton, Pastor
Invitation to Offering
Offertory “Now the Silence” Schalk
Now the silence, now the peace,
Now the empty hands uplifted;
Now the kneeling, now the plea,
Now the Father’s arms in welcome;
Now the hearing, now the power,
Now the vessel brimmed for pouring;
Now the body, now the blood,
Now the joyful celebration;
Now the wedding, now the songs,
Now the heart forgiven, leaping;
Now the Spirit’s visitation,
Now the Son’s epiphany;
Now the Father’s blessing,
Now, now, now.
Offering Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your boundless generosity. As we give today, open our hearts to mirror your love through our generosity. Bless these offerings to advance your kingdom, and bless us as joyful givers. Amen.
Invitation to Holy Communion UMH 7
The Great Thanksgiving
Lord’s Prayer
† Closing Hymn “Open My Eyes, That I May See” UMH 454
† Benediction
Go now, listening for the voice of the Lord and following wherever it leads. Do not let anything dominate you. Allow no room within yourselves for deceit, but offer yourselves as temples for the Holy Spirit. May God be with you and speak through you; May Christ Jesus be one with you and raise you to life; And may the Holy Spirit dwell within you and make you holy.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
† Choral Benediction
Ringing the Bicentennial Bell
Organ Postlude
