June 21, 2026
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 21, 2026 Livestream Worship Online Bulletin
Bringing in the Light of Christ
Chiming of the Trinity
Prelude
Festivity on “Westminster Chimes” arr. Ellen Jane Lorenz
Handbell Choir
Welcome
Call to Worship
Come, all who seek the living Christ.
Come, all who have known welcome and all who have longed for it.
We come to worship the One who calls us by name and claims us as beloved.
Jesus said, "Do not be afraid."
When fear would silence us, Christ speaks courage.
When the world demands conformity, Christ calls us to faithfulness.
We come to follow the One who leads us from fear into freedom.
Through the waters of baptism, we have died to old ways of living and risen to new life.
We are a resurrection people, renewed by grace and sustained by hope.
God's love is stronger than rejection.
God's mercy is deeper than our wounds.
God's call is never withdrawn.
We trust the God who makes all things new.
Today we gather as one body, rejoicing in God's faithfulness across generations and seasons of life.
With grateful hearts, we worship the God who welcomes, restores, and sends us forth in love. Let us worship God!
Hymn
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing UMH#57
Please sing stanzas 1, 2, 3, 7
New Testament Reading
First Letter to the Corinthians 13:1-13
Psalm of Response
Psalm 35:5-10 UMH pp. 771
Please sing the response
Duet
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God Jerry Cauley
Jane Patterson and Scott Sprinkle
A Reading from the Poetry of of Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī (1207–1273)
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense.
— Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
Reader: May we hear wisdom wherever it is found.
All: Thanks be to God.
Readings from the Gosepel
Matthew 21:23-32
Sermon
Questioning the Questioner Rev. Lauren Scruggs
Joys and Concerns with the Lord’s Prayer
Share your joys and concerns online
Our Creator, who dwells among us and beyond us,
holy is your name.
May your way of justice, mercy, and peace
take root in our hearts and in this world.
Give us today the courage and nourishment we need for this journey.
When we struggle with doubt, hold us gently.
When we carry grief, stay near to us.
When fear closes our hearts, lead us back toward love.
Forgive us for the ways we have wounded one another,
and free us to offer grace where harm has been done.
Help us resist the temptation
to cling to certainty more than compassion,
to choose fear over understanding,
or exclusion over belonging.
Guide us through the hard questions of life and faith,
and remind us that nothing can separate us from your love.
For the hope we seek, the courage we need,
and the love that sustains us are found in you. Amen.
Blessing of the Tithes and Offerings
Doxology UMH#94
Hymn
This Little Light of Mine UMH#585
Blessing and Sharing of Christ’s Light
Postlude
It Is Well with My Soul arr. James Koerts
Today’s worship participants
Our Pastor: Rev. Kelly Dotson
Music Director: Dr. Joel Reed
Worship Arts Associate: Patty Higgins
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