These worship elements are an early draft being shared as a preview for the upcoming service. The final version used in worship may be adapted or revised. Pastors and worship leaders are welcome to use and adapt these for your own context.
Welcome
Welcome to worship at McPherson First United Methodist Church, in this room and online. However this week has gone for you, you belong here this morning.
Today we share Holy Communion, and this is World Communion Sunday, so Christians on every continent come to the same table on the same day. If you’re worshiping online, you may want to have bread and juice ready.
We’re near the end of a series called Five Promises, and today we come to service. We’ll stand with the Israelites at the edge of the sea, an army behind them and water ahead, and watch God open a way they then have to walk into.
If you’re looking for a next step, you can find one anytime at mcphersonfirst.org/next or on the Church Center app.
(8:30 only, transition to the Call to Worship) I invite you to join in our responsive call to worship as you see the words on display.
Call to Worship (8:30 only)
Leader: The people stood at the edge of the sea with nowhere left to go.
People: God makes a way where there is no way.
Leader: Moses told them to stand firm and watch God work.
People: We worship the God who fights for us.
Leader: Then they walked in, on dry ground, together.
People: We come ready to go where God opens the way.
Leader: This morning that same God gathers us with Christians on every continent.
People: We worship the God who sets us free. Amen.
Welcome Your Neighbor
Nobody crossed that sea alone. The Israelites went through together, and witness works the same way. We stand beside someone while they cross.
Who in your life is in the middle of their own hard crossing? Do one small thing for them this week, and let them know there’s a place for them here next Sunday.
If you’re worshiping online, you’re part of this greeting too.
Please stand, welcome your neighbor, and then remain standing as we join together in song.
Opening Prayer
With the music still in us, come to God in prayer. Pray with me, using the words on the screen.
All: God who opens the sea, you fight for us when we cannot fight for ourselves. Steady us where we stand, and then send us walking. Meet us at your table this morning, with your people all over the world. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29 (CEB)
(Read by a lay reader, seated. The reader introduces themselves and offers one brief sentence of personal connection to the congregation before reading.)
Today’s scripture comes from the book of Exodus, chapter 14, verses 5 through 7, verses 10 through 14, and verses 21 through 29. I invite you to open your hearts and minds as we hear God’s word for us today.
When Egypt’s king was told that the people had run away, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go free from their slavery to us?” So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them.
As Pharaoh drew closer, the Israelites looked back and saw the Egyptians marching toward them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”
But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God!
Pastoral Prayer
We’re about to pray together. Whether you’re here or joining online, God hears every prayer, spoken aloud or held quietly in your heart. I’ll leave a couple of moments of silence along the way, so use them however you need, to listen, to pray, or simply to rest in God’s presence.
Prayers is one of the promises we make here. To share a prayer request, use the Church Center app anytime, or fill out a prayer request card from the pew back and drop it in the offering plate.
Will you pray with me?
God who opens a way, you stood between your people and the army at their backs, and you did not leave them at the water’s edge. We pause in your presence.
(pause)
We praise you for fighting for people who could not fight for themselves. You heard them cry out while they were still terrified, and you did not wait for calmer words. You split the sea and gave them ground to walk on. You are still that God this morning.
We confess that we would rather manage than trust. We keep hold of what you have already offered to carry. We look back at old captivity and call it safety. We stay on the bank and call our standing still obedience, when it is only fear. We offer our prayers of confession to God in this time of quiet.
(pause)
We pray for people who are trapped this morning with water ahead and an army behind. We pray for those held in places they did not choose, for people crossing borders and oceans with nothing but what they carry, and for everyone in this room waiting on a way through. We pray for your church on every continent, coming to this same table today.
We give thanks for the people who walked in beside us when we were afraid to go alone.
Hear all we have brought you, spoken and unspoken.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who goes ahead of us and meets us at this table. Amen.
(On a Communion Sunday the Lord’s Prayer is prayed within the Great Thanksgiving below, per the UMC communion order, and is not repeated here.)
Invitation to Give and Check-In
Before we receive this morning’s offering, one more gift sits in front of us. Today United Methodists everywhere receive the World Communion Sunday offering, one of our six churchwide special Sundays. Most of it puts students through school. Half funds World Communion Scholarships for students around the world, and more than a third funds scholarships for racial and ethnic students here in the United States. The rest trains leaders who serve communities of color.
The Israelites walked through on ground God opened for them. This offering opens ground for someone else to walk on. Mark your gift on the offering envelope, or designate it online to World Communion Sunday. This is a gift above and beyond your regular giving.
All that we have flows from God’s open hand, and we practice gifts by sending some of it back out. Thank you to those who give month after month, quietly and steadily; you carry this ministry through every season. And if today is your first time giving, thank you, and welcome.
You can give in the offering plate, online at mcphersonfirst.org/give, or through the Church Center app, which is the easiest way to give right from your phone.
As the offering is received, check in through the Church Center app, at mcphersonfirst.org/next, or by signing the attendance pad next to the center aisle and passing it down the row so others have a chance to sign in as well. Checking in is a small act of presence, marking that you were part of the body this morning.
Ushers, please come forward to receive this morning’s offering.
Holy Communion
(On a Communion Sunday this replaces the Prayer of Thanksgiving.)
Invitation, Confession, and Pardon
We come now to the Lord’s table. If you’re worshiping online, please have bread and juice ready. Together we’ll share Christ’s invitation, confess our sins, and receive God’s grace.
God opened a way through the sea and the people walked through on dry ground, together. Nobody earned that passage. Today Christians on every continent come to this table on the same morning, and the way through is still open, still wide, and still not ours to earn. Join me in the prayer of confession, with the words on screen:
This is God’s table, and all are invited. Whether you feel worthy or unworthy, whether you come with confidence or with questions, you belong here.
All: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Take a moment for your own silent prayer.
(All pray in silence)
Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Glory to God. Amen.
The Great Thanksgiving
Forgiven and made new, we come to the Lord’s table.
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.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth.
You made us for freedom, and when we were held in bondage you heard us cry out. You stretched out your hand over the sea, drove back the water, and gave your people ground to walk on. You went with them into the wilderness and you did not turn back. And when the time was right you sent Jesus, who opened a way through death itself and made room at his table for the whole world.
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Through his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, set us free from sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the 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, remembering all you have done for us in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves to you, our praise, our thanks, our lives. United with Christ, we proclaim the mystery of faith:
People: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and juice. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, 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.
With the confidence of children of God, we pray together:
All: 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. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Receiving Holy Communion
Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all share in the one loaf. The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ. These are the gifts of God for the people of God.
Communion servers, please come forward to receive first, then serve our congregation.
Friends, God welcomes you to this table of grace. You don’t have to be a member of this church or even a United Methodist. Come with an open heart to receive God’s love.
I invite you to come forward by the center aisle. There are serving stations on each side of the sanctuary, one for each section of pews. When you arrive, you’ll receive a piece of bread. Hold it carefully and reverently; it represents the body of Christ. Then dip just the bottom third of the bread into the cup of grape juice, and eat. If you would like to kneel and pray at the rail, you are welcome to. When you’re ready, return to your seat by the outside aisle.
Gluten-free bread is on a plate at both stations. If you would rather not dip, or if you need a cup of your own, ask the server and they’ll hand you one, and leave the empty cup at the altar rail. If you need communion brought to you, raise your hand or let an usher know, and we’ll bring it to you.
If you’re worshiping online, receive the bread and cup now, knowing you are part of this body.
This table is open to all. Come forward now to receive, and the ushers will guide you.
Prayer After Holy Communion
We’ve been fed at Christ’s table. Now we’re sent to practice service, to be God’s hands and feet in our community. Will you pray with me?
Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You opened the sea, and you have opened this table, and now you send us walking into the work you are already doing. Send us into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Will you please stand as we sing together?
Benediction
Go now and walk in. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.
God opens the way, Christ goes ahead of you, the Spirit moves your feet. And all God’s people said, Amen.