For more than 80 years, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has alleviated the suffering of individuals, families and communities affected by both natural and humanmade disaster.

UMCOR journeys with communities throughout a disaster’s cycle. It focuses on disasters that overwhelm a local community’s ability to respond, such as storms and flooding, earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, war and civil unrest.

Through a strong network of worldwide partners, UMCOR quickly assesses needs in the wake of disaster. UMCOR comes alongside communities at their invitation and encourages their involvement in and ownership of their recovery. UMCOR works collaboratively with local partners to connect survivors to the help they need to rebuild their lives.

From initial relief efforts such as distributing food, water, clothing and hygiene items, to long-term recovery projects like home repair, case management, psychosocial support and restoring livelihoods, UMCOR’s partners select beneficiaries based on need and vulnerability as opposed to other categories such as gender, race or religion.

In 2024 and 2025, UMCOR has provided US relief with the Northwest and Los Angeles wild
fires, hurricanes Helene, Ernesto, Debby, and Beryl, as well as flood and tornado recovery in Missouri and North Georgia. UMCOR has additionally provided disaster relief in the Philippians and Africa.

UMCOR’s ministry would not be possible without the support of those who give generously of their time and resources. Donations to UMCOR allow them to respond quickly and effectively to disasters as they arise. Your gifts this month will help underwrite UMCOR’s administrative and operating costs. This offering allows UMCOR to use 100% of all funds given to humanitarian response and recovery efforts directly to communities in need.

Together, we can alleviate the suffering of those affected by disaster, bringing hope and healing to communities worldwide.

*During March, our Mission collection will be going to UMCOR. We are asking you to go the extra mile and give an additional $12.00. This extra giving will be used to purchase the supplies and pay for shipping for an UMCOR Health Kit.  We will be putting the Health Kits together on Sunday, March 30th. You can also donate on-line. Missions Team will purchase the supplies and have them ready for assembling. There is a tremendous need for Health Kits …from North Carolina to California.

March 16, 2025 9:30 am Worship Service

Gathering

Prelude
Cynthia Hibbetts

Greeting
Rev. David Petty

Crossing the Threshold

Introit
Recollection
Jubilee Bells

Over the Threshold
Rev. David Petty

Leader: Professor of Jewish Mysticism and beloved author, Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel, said this: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… Get up in the
morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is
phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be
amazed.”

Sung: Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Leader: This Lent, we are invited to consider that one of the most important gifts we can give is to be “purveyors of awe.” A purveyor is someone who spreads or promotes a particular idea or who deals in a particular good. Our quest in this season is to promote a state of awe about the lives we’ve been given and revel in the sheer miracles of life that surround us. This is a spiritual journey in the tradition of biblical poets and of mystics. In our modern day, researchers who study wellbeing know that when we cultivate elements that deepen our awe of life, our appreciation for others, our dedication to the good, we live longer, more purposeful and more joyful lives. In a time when we are exposed to the weight of the world by the messages around us, we will spend time on a journey of being exposed to the wonder of the world.

Sung: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you
I want to see you

Leader: The “wide eye of wonder” creates optimal conditions for awe. When we open our
senses to the “extraordinariness of the everyday ordinary,” we have begun the journey
to a deeper existence than what resides at surface-level. Wonder can be an antidote to
anxiety and depression, pulling us instead toward the awe-filled knowledge that there is
more than meets the eye, there are solutions in the midst of problems, possibilities
where we sense only dead-ends. Let us rise in body and/or spirit and pray:

People: Awe-inspiring God, we come together this day because we need to be reminded
to see through the lens of wonder. Too often, we relegate what is always amazing to what is ever familiar, forgetting that there are mysteries and miracles in the ordinariness of our lives.
Open us to perceive anew. Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe. Forgive us when we focus only on what’s wrong rather than allowing the right and good to show us the way forward. Be with us on this journey as we seek again to marvel at your works.

Sung: Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Leader: Be still and know that God is God. Wonders never cease. God forgives us. Jesus embraces us. The Spirit enlivens us. We are whole. With awe, we accept this belovedness. And all God’s people say, “Amen.”

*Greet Your Neighbor – Passing the Peace of Christ

Mystery Box

*Opening Hymn
When Morning Gilds the Skies
v. 1,3,4 UMH #185
WORDS: Katholisches Gesangbuch, ca. 1744;
sts. 1, 2, 4, trans. by Edward Caswall, 1854; st. 3 by Robert S. Bridges, 1899

1. When morning
gilds the skies
my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Alike at work and prayer,
to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

3. Let all the earth around
ring joyous with the sound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

In heaven’s
eternal bliss
the loveliest
strain is this:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

4. Be this,
while life is mine,
my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this
th’eternal song
through all
the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

A Word of Inspiration

Contemporary Reading
CLM Twinkle Gordon

Reader: Our first reading is a contemporary one–an excerpt from Brian McLaren in his book Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart: “…the neocortex of the brain…makes language possible and gives meaning to the word ‘meaning.' It enables me to talk to myself and observe myself. It integrates current awareness with memory of past experiences and with the ability to imagine future
scenarios. It organizes my experience in stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. It helps me think critically, creatively, and independently. Without the meaning committee [in my brain], there would be no Bach or the Beatles, no Galileo or Einstein, nor Moses or Mary or Jesus or the Buddha or Mohammed. It is the most recently evolved part of me, and frankly, it still has a lot of bugs and glitches that haven’t been worked out yet.”

Ancient Reading

Excerpt from Psalm 19
Reader: The ancient poet who wrote Psalm 19 opened themselves to the wisdom and
understanding of the meaning of life through awe at the handiwork of God. Creation
itself declares understanding, without needing words to tell it. Sometimes meaning can
be found simply through a feeling. Hear this poet now:

The heavens herald your glory, O God, and the skies display your handiwork. Day after day they tell their story, and night after night they reveal the depth of their understanding. Without speech, without words, without even an audible voice, their cry echoes through all the world, and their message reaches the ends of the earth… Holding you in awe, YHWH, is purifying; it endures.
Your decrees are steadfast, and all of them just. They are more precious than gold, than the purest of gold, and sweeter than honey, than honey fresh from the comb. In them your faithful people find instruction; there is great reward in keeping them.

Prayer

Approaching an Awesome God
Rev. David Petty

Leader: Holy and Living God, we approach this time of prayer, yearning for meaning for our
lives. With all our senses, we open to you. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love others as you perceive and love us. We imagine in our mind’s eye now the people in our lives, the people of our communities, and the people of our world. Each of them is beloved by you, and this alone creates awe in us. We especially lift up those who need our prayers in this moment…For all these people and those we name in our hearts,

People: Hear our prayer, Awesome God.

Leader: Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love your creation as you perceive and love it. Each butterfly, each shell, each sunset reminds us that symbols of the
meaning of life are everywhere. You are making all things new all around us. Help us to
care for the nature around us. This week, we name…For all these places, creatures, and lifeforms, and those we name in our hearts,

People: Hear our prayer, Awesome God.

Leader: Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love life as you perceive and love the life you have given us. Open us to a more meaningful existence. Help us to know that
our existence itself already has meaning and we are not required to earn it or deserve it,
simply open to it. Slow us down in this season of Lent so that we might savor anew the
gift of life. We pause in this silence, setting intentions of awe for the week ahead.

Silent Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer
   
Our Father
who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name;

Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.

Give us this day
our daily bread,
and forgive us
our trespasses,

as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not
into temptation
but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom,
and the Power
and the Glory forever.
Amen

Prayer for Illumination

Leader: May the words of my mouth,
People: and the meditations of all of our hearts
All: be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our rock and our redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Message
Meaning
Rev. David Petty

Invitation to Offering
CLM Twinkle Gordon

Offertory
Sanctuary Choir

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Rev. David Petty

*Doxology
Praise God from Who All Blessings Flow
UMH #94

Praise God, from whom
all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
 
Praise God, the source
of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts!
 
Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!

*Closing Hymn
How Firm Our Foundation
UMH #529

1. How firm a foundation,
ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith
in his excellent word!

What more can he say
than to you he hath said,
to you who for refuge
to Jesus have fled?

2. “Fear not, I am with thee,
O be not dismayed,
for I am thy God
and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen
and help thee,
and cause thee to stand
upheld by my righteous,
omnipotent hand.

3. “When through
the deep waters
I call thee to go,
the rivers of woe
shall not
thee overflow;

for I will be with thee,
thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee
thy deepest distress.

4. “When through
fiery trials
thy pathways shall lie,
my grace,
all-sufficient,
shall be thy supply;

the flame shall
not hurt thee;
I only design
thy dross to consume,
and thy gold to refine.

5. “The soul that on Jesus
still leans for repose,
I will not, I will not
desert to its foes;

that soul, though all hell
should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never,
no, never forsake.”

*Benediction
Rev. David Petty

Postlude
Cynthia Hibbetts