April 6, 2025 Connection

God is always the center of all that we do and we give Him all the honor and glory.  I would like to share with you some of the things that God is doing at Crossfire.  We continue to grow by 20 to 30 new families each day.  With the grocery prices rising, I do not see the need decreasing, but only rising in the next few years.  22,077 unique individuals received services in 2024.  We just passed the 15,000 families registered in our data base.  In 2024, we distributed 3,692,426 pounds of food, gave away 4860 Bibles.  And $414,528 in credits were used in our Thrift Store.  To help us accomplish all of this, we recorded 106,222 volunteer hours.  We average more than 80 on-site volunteers each day, including grocery service, processing, drivers, warehouse, intake, office, carts, and others.  We have volunteers join us from all walks of life—retired, homeschool groups, youth groups, community service, families.  Our parking lot overflows most days, so we are exploring all options to ease the space problem.  One thing we are currently doing is shuttling our volunteers every 15 minutes from a nearby church parking lot who have so graciously allowed us to use.

We so appreciate all the prayers and support from our churches.  We could not do it without help from the community.  Thank you Saint Paul’s, for loving us here at Crossfire. 

Each communion Sunday thereafter we will have a basket for those who feel called to give above and beyond their pledge. This "second-mile" giving will help fund the pastor's discretionary fund, which helps meet community needs as they arise, such as gas, lodging, clothing, etc. Feel free to bring your spare cash and change to help make a change in the lives of those in need.

9:45a Youth Sunday School5:30p Youth group going to Minecraft MovieMonday
6:30p Jubilee Bell Rehearsal
7:00p Vocal Fusion Rehearsal
7:30p Peak Experience Barbershop Chorus

April 6, 2025 9:30 am Worship Service

Gathering

Prelude
Cynthia Hibbetts

Welcome
Rev. David Petty

Crossing the Threshold

Over the Threshold
Rev. David Petty

Leader: Persian mystic Rumi is one of the most often quoted mystics in our day, transcending religious lines. He said this: “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”

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!

Lent is often considered a solitary journey as we traditionally use it as a time to examine ourselves and engage in practices that bring us closer to God. While this is a part of the spiritual journey, we also know that human beings were made for relationship. This is why it is so vitally important that we experience collective awe. As we continue to explore what it means to be “purveyors of awe,” we learn of the powerful benefits of togetherness. In a time when we have been through one of the most isolating times in human history, we remember and are grateful for a renewed ability to seek connection.

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

Awe is a gateway to connection. As we have experiences that give us a sense of being part of something larger than “just us,” our penchant for self-preservation and obsession with the competitive default-self gives way to a renewed commitment to the greater whole. We need moments of “collective effervescence” that increase hope and joy at being part of the human family. 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 connection. It is too easy to have everything we need without seeking out relationship or connection to another human being. Open us to perceive anew. Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe. Forgive us when we hold back unnecessarily from wholehearted participation and dedication to eradicating loneliness.
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!

God does not sever connection. Ever. 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

Baptism
Rev. David Petty & Rev. Larry Paulson

Elliot Henry Paulson
Coralie Grace Paulson

RESPONSE
People:  We ask that God strengthen our ability to love like Jesus loves so that we will surround all of God’s children with steadfast love. We pray that we can be strengthened and that we would empower our new siblings in Christ in their journey of faith. We raise our voices in joy and celebration for the gifts they will bring to Christ's work. We will do everything in our power to nurture and uphold them. Together, we renew our own vows of baptism, to be siblings and neighbors to one another through the ministry of Jesus Christ and to the honor and glory of God. Amen.

Mystery Box

*Opening Hymn
Gather Us In
TFWS #2236
WORDS: Marty Haugen (Matt. 5:13)
MUSIC: Marty Haugen
© 1982 GIA Publications, Inc.

1. Here in this place
new light is streaming,
now is the darkness
vanished away,

see in this space
our fears and our dreamings,
brought here to You
in the light of this day.

Gather us in
the lost and forsaken,
gather us in
the blind and the lame;

call to us now,
and we shall awaken,
we shall arise
at the sound of our name.

2. We are the young
our lives are a myst’ry,
we are the old
who yearn for Your face,

we have been sung
throughout all of hist’ry,
called to be light
to the whole human race.

Gather us in
the rich and the haughty,
gather us in
the proud and the strong;

give us a heart
so meek and so lowly,
give us the courage
to enter the song.

3. Here we will take
the wine and the water,
here we will take
the bread of new birth,

here You shall call
Your sons and
Your daughters,
call us anew
to be salt for the earth.

Give us to drink
the wine of compassion,
give us to eat
the bread that is You;

nourish us well,
and teach us to fashion
lives that are holy
and hearts that are true.

4. Not in the dark
of buildings confining,
not in some heaven,
light-years away,

but here in this place
the new light is shining,
now is the Kingdom,
now is the day.

Gather us in
and hold us forever,
gather us in
and make us Your own;

gather us in
all peoples together,
fire of love
in our flesh and our bone.

Giving Back

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!

A Word of Inspiration
CLM Twinkle Gordon

Contemporary Reading
Reader: Our first reading is a contemporary one–an excerpt from an article by researcher Brené Brown entitled, “Why Experiencing Joy and Pain in a Group Is So Powerful:"

“Experiences [of collective effervescence] contribute to a life filled with less loneliness and greater meaning, positive emotions, and social connection… Collective assembly meets the primal human yearnings for shared social experiences. A collective assembly can start to heal the wounds of a traumatized community. When we come together to share authentic joy, hope, and pain, we melt the pervasive cynicism that often cloaks our better human nature.”

Ancient Reading
Excerpt from Psalm 149

Reader: As long as we’ve been humans, we have been coming together to experience the collective sensations of togetherness. The ancient poet describes the traditional practices of worship of God in the days of the Psalms.

Alleluia! Sing to YHWH a new song! Sing praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their God. Let them praise God’s Name with festive dance; let them sing praise with timbrel and harp. For YHWH loves the people, and crowns the lowly with salvation.

Approaching an Awesome God
Rev. David Petty

Video

Holy and Living God, we approach this time of prayer with wonder at your world. 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.

Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love your creation as you perceive and love it. Each blossom, each sunrise, each unfurling fern reminds us that new life is possible. 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.

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 the wonders around us–the art-fullness of each encounter, each moment, as a possibility for amazement waiting to happen. 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
Connection
Rev. David Petty

Communion
Rev. David Petty


All are invited to the mystery of this table. It is a place of awe as we not only remember Jesus here, but encounter him anew in the real presence of communion with God and with each other. There is connection here. When we gather at this table, we are reminded of connections to all times and places that people have gathered in the name of Christ.

And so, come, come to this moment of awe. We approach the beauty, wonder, and meaning with curiosity, delight, connection, and self-giving.

Great Thanksgiving
 
Leader: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
 
Leader: It is right, and a good and awe-filled thing, always and everywhere, to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. With wonder, we muse at how you formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets.
 
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we delight in your name and join their unending hymn:

People: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Through him, we find meaning and  purpose for our lives. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
 
When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
 
And so, in remembrance of your wonder-filled acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in self-giving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
 
People: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
 
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, so that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
 
By your Spirit, seal our connection with Christ, our connection with each other, and our connection to all the world through our ministry until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
 
Through your Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever.
 
People: Amen.

Sending Forth

*Closing Hymn
Go Forth for God
v. 1, 2, 4 UMH #670

Go Forth for God
UMH #670
WORDS: John R. Peacey, 1975
By permission of Mildred Peacey

1. Go forth for God,
go to the world in peace;
be of good courage,
armed with heavenly grace,

in God’s good Spirit
daily to increase,
till in the kingdom
we see face to face.
Go forth for God,
go to the world in peace.

2. Go forth for God,
go to the world in love;
strengthen the faint,
give courage to the weak;

help the afflicted;
richly from above
God’s love supplies the
grace and power we seek.
Go forth for God,
go to the world in love.

4. Go forth for God,
go to the world in joy;
to serve God’s people
every day and hour,

and serving Christ,
our every gift employ,
rejoicing in the
Holy Spirit’s power.
Go forth for God,
go to the world in joy.

*Benediction
Rev. David Petty

And now may you go forth
remembering Rumi’s words:

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” Be a purveyor of awe this week. Seek out connection with others whose life and love can be multiplied because you are together to help light up the world. Invite renewed connections to live and breathe new life in you. Be a “purveyor of awe,” curating a life of spiritual depth that inspires others to join you on the journey. May the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Awe, the Holy One-in-Three, be with you now and throughout these days, Amen.

Postlude
Cynthia Hibbetts