BETHEL COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH
July 7, 2024
Youth Service & Learning

Maisie Brubacher, Lucy Burch, Adah Hodge, Emma Gering, Emerson Gering, Orlando Gonzalez, Adam Oswald, Abram Wall, Mabel Wall. Sponsors: Cliff Dick, Marlene Ewert, Megan Leary, George Leary.

 
Christ Candle Lighting
 
Land Acknowledgement
 
Centering Music—John Mark Koontz, bass; Josh Bergman, trumpet
 
Call to Worship
Leader: Come.  You are welcome here, as everywhere, in the faithful presence of God.  Sit. Listen. Breathe. This presence is a gift.
All: We breathe in the gift of God.
Leader: Bubbling, beautiful joy that bursts from our lips.  Joy in this earth, for the blessed bustle of beings that make this their home. 
All: We breathe the gift of hope.
Leader: Hope for the past, that we can hear true stories.  Hope for today, that we can be people of God’s healing.  Hope for the future, for the world anew where justice and peace shall kiss.
All: We breathe in the gift of love.
Leader: Love that fills and overflows.  Love that will never turn away, even from our darkest places.
All: We breathe in the gift of life.
Leader: Come, into the gift of new life, in the name of the true and living Holy One, who made us for love, who saved us by love, and who loves us still.   Come in the fullness of life!
                                                                                                                                                           
*Hymn—Creation is a Song—VT 181
                                                                                                                                                        
Children’s Conversation                                                                                                                      
 
Worship Music—John Mark Koontz, bass; Josh Bergman, trumpet
 
Scripture Reading—Psalm 130


Readings & Reflections—Broken Covenants and Stolen Land
Confession & Lament (based on Psalm 130)
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear our voice!  We are deep under the weight of sin that piles up generation upon generation.  Pressed into the ground we wait for the Lord, our souls wait, and in God’s word we hope.
All:  Our souls wait for the Lord, more than those who watch for morning. 
*Hymn—Kyrie eleison—VT 147
 
Readings & Reflections—Cultural Assimilation and Intergenerational Trauma
Confession & Lament (based on Psalm 130)
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear our voice!  We are deep under the weight of sin that piles up generation upon generation.  Pressed into the ground we wait for the Lord, our souls wait, and in God’s word we hope.
All:  Our souls wait for the Lord, more than those who watch for morning.
*Hymn—For the Healing of the Nations—VT 705
 
Readings  & Reflections—Ecological Devastation and Neocolonialism
Confession & Lament (based on Psalm 130)
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear our voice!  We are deep under the weight of sin that piles up generation upon generation.  Pressed into the ground we wait for the Lord, our souls wait, and in God’s word we hope.
All:  Our souls wait for the Lord, more than those who watch for morning.
*Hymn—O Healing River—VT 706
 
Readings  & Reflections—Resilience, Survival, and Hope
Leader: O my people, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with God is great power to redeem.  It is God who will redeem us from all our iniquities, who will show us the way of justice and peace.
All:  Our souls wait for the Lord, more than those who watch for morning.
 
Prayers of God’s People
 
*Sung Benediction—Go, My Friends, in Grace—VT 810
 
Postlude— John Mark Koontz, bass; Josh Bergman, trumpet
 

* You are invited to stand
VT–Voices Together
Keyboard- Meghann Rogers
Audio visual—Francis Toews