ORDER OF WORSHIP - APRIL 26TH, 2026

Union Church
6 days ago
4 min read

ORDER OF WORSHIP

APRIL 26TH, 2026 10:30 AM

FOURTH SUNDAY IN EASTER

**Kindly stand if you are able

**PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR PHONE before Worship

PRELUDE “The Glory of God in Nature” - Ludwig van Beethoven

John Coates, Organ

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP (Adapted from StrengthinPrayer.com)

LEADER: In times when uncertainty clouds my path and doubt fills my heart

PEOPLE: I turn to You, seeking hope and courage

LEADER: Help me find clarity amidst the confusion and faith to trust in Your divine

plan.

PEOPLE: Strengthen my resolve to face the unknown with unwavering

confidence, knowing that Your guiding light will lead me to brighter days.

LEADER: Thank you for your unwavering presence in my life

PEOPLE: For in Your presence, I find the assurance that my uncertainties will give way to hope, and my doubts will be replaced by courage.

INVOCATION

Our Lord said, For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among

them. Please be with us today as we worship and praise you.

**OPENING HYMN “Come, Christians, Join to Sing” Red #108

CALL TO CONFESSION

The sins of the world weigh on us all. We offer them to God and ask for his

forgiveness so that we may one day stand at his side.

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING

Lord, we come to you bent and broken by our sins. We hoard our possessions and we build walls around them to keep others from taking what we call our own. We reject you and lift up idols to worship instead of following your word. Help us to live a better life. Help us to trust your word. Help us to live together with all of your children. Lead us towards salvation.

(A moment for silent personal confession)

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

We no longer have to carry our burdens alone. The Lord will lighten our load if we ask for his help. Know that we are all offered salvation.

**GLORIA PATRI “Glory Be to the Father” Red #805

**HYMN OF PRAISE “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” Red #486

**PASSING OF THE PEACE

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from the Declaration of Faith 1977)

In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God has already demonstrated his judging and saving work. We are warned that rejecting God’s love and not caring for others whom God loves results in eternal separation from him and them. Yet we are also told that God loves the whole world and wills the salvation of all humankind in Christ. We live in tension between God’s warnings and promises. Knowing the righteous judgment of God in Christ, we urge all people to be reconciled to God, not exempting ourselves from the warnings. Constrained by God’s love in Christ, we have good hope for all people, not exempting the most unlikely from the promises. Judgment belongs to God and not to us. We are sure that God’s future for every person will be both merciful and just.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Reading and hearing the scriptures are the pathways to understanding the will of God. Let us hear the Word with open minds and hearts.

SCRIPTURE READINGS

NEW TESTAMENT Acts 2:42-47 Dan Olson

NEW TESTAMENT 1 Peter 2:19-25

GOSPEL John 10:1-10

SERMON MESSAGE Who is the Church? James Philips

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

And Lord we pray for those in our own hearts whose names you already know, for their own healing and comfort, in your name and that of our redeemer Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

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 debts, as we forgive our

debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS

Let us return to God the offerings of our life and the gifts of the earth. May our gifts be a blessing to those who receive them. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

OFFERTORY ”In Heavenly Love Abiding” Red #521

DOXOLOGY Avery & Marsh (Back of the Red hymnal)

PRAYER OF THANKS

We thank you, our Lord for those gifts to us that we send to you for your work and ours in congregation, community, and culture. Guide us in good use as we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

HYMN OF PARTING “Holy is the Lord” Red #831

BENEDICTION

To me, faith is not just a noun, but also a verb.

-Jimmy Carter

POSTLUDE “The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want” Red #330