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We Worship

We Gather

CALL TO WORSHIP (Call and Response)

L:  God of grace, send upon us today your Holy Spirit as you poured out the Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. May your Holy Spirit ignite in us a passionate desire for unity.
P:  We wish to be one, so that the world may believe.
L.  When your church unites people with Christ, in the power of the Spirit and manifests communion in prayer and action; when your church affirms the sanctity of life and proclaims unity, just peace and reconciliation, when your church provides healing and overcomes divisions of race, gender, age and culture, We give thanks and praise, O God.
P:  As we draw closer to Christ, we draw closer to each other.
L:  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.
P:  In Him all nations shall be blessed.
L:  Many people will come from East and West, from North and South, and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven
P:  The nations will walk by in the light of the Lamb.
L:  Because God's purpose is to gather the whole creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ; because the church is to unite people with Christ in the power of the Spirit, to promote life, justice and peace; because the church is a foretaste of the koinonia (community), which God wills.
P:  We give thanks and praise, O God.
L: Let us worship the God who gathers us! Let us pray in his name together:
 

OPENING PRAYER (In Unison)

Thou who art over us,
Thou who are one of us,
Thou who art:
Give us a pure heart, that we may see thee;
A humble heart, that we may hear thee;
A heart of love, that we may serve thee;
A heart of faith, that we may abide in thee.
 
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.


We Proclaim

GLORIA PATRI


PRAISE HYMN: I Am Thine, O Lord (UMH 419)


PASTORAL PRAYER (Joys & Concerns)

(Rev. Val will pray first, then all will pray the Lord's prayer.)

Lord’s Prayer (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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.

 

PEACE HYMN: This Is My Song (UMH 437)


SCRIPTURE READING(s)

Rev. Val will read the scriptures, followed by the congregational response:

  L:  The scriptures of God for the people of God.
  A: Thanks be to God.


MESSAGE: My God, My God

 

We Respond

HYMN: When Our Confidence Is Shaken (Words: UMH 505; HYMN TUNE: UMH 197)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

OFFERTORY PRAYER

DOXOLOGY


We Go Forth

BENEDICTION

 

HYMNS


GLORIA PATRI

(United Methodist Hymnal #70)
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning,
It is now and ever shall be.
World without end,
Amen. Amen.

DOXOLOGY

(United Methodist Hymnal #95)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!
Amen.

I AM THINE, O LORD

(United Methodist Hymnal #419)
V1: I am thine, O Lord, 
I have heard thy voice,
And it told thy love to me;
But I long to rise 
In the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to thee.

Chorus:
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where thou has died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To thy precious bleeding side.

V2: Consecrate me now
To thy service Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up
With a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in thine.

Chorus

V3: O the pure delight
Of a single hour
That before thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer,
And with thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!

Chorus

V4: There are depths of Love
That I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy
That I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with thee.

Chorus


THIS IS MY SONG

(United Methodist Hymnal #437)
V1: This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, he country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

V2: My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

V3: This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth's kingdoms:
Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him,
And hearts united learn to live as one.
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations;
Myself I give thee; let thy will be done.
 


WHEN OUR CONFIDENCE IS SHAKEN

(Words: Fred Pratt Green, 1971, UMH #505; HYMN TUNE JULION, UMH #197)
V1: When our confidence is shaken
In beliefs we though secure,
When the spirit in its sickness
Seeks but cannot find a cure,
God is active in the tensions
Of a faith not yet mature.

V2: Solar systems void of meaning,
Freeze the spirit into stone;
Always  our researches lead us
To the ultimate unknown.
Faith must die, or come full circle
To its source in God alone.

V3: In the discipline of praying,
When it's hardest to believe;
In the drudgery of caring,
When it's not enough to grieve;
Faith maturing, learns acceptance
Of the insights we receive.

V4: God is love, and thus redeems us
In the Christ we crucify;
This is God's eternal answer
To the world's eternal why.
May we in this faith maturing
Be content to live and die.
 

SCRIPTURE READING(S)

Isaiah 49:13-16a (NRSV) - Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.”

Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

Psalm 22 (NRSV) - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me, you have been my God.

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen, you have rescued me. I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you:

You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me but heard when I cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.  Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Mark 15:33-39 (NRSV) - When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

Rev. Pat Whittemore, Tennessee/Holston/Memphis Course of Study Instructor


Instructions for those worshipping with us online: Have bread and juice or an appropriate beverage ready. As we go through the service, one person in your family or gathering should emulate the actions of breaking the bread and lifting the "cup" when Rev. Val does so. While we provide individually prepared portions of the elements for in-person worshippers as a COVID safety protocol, if you are with people in your household, you can use the intinction method (tear off and had each person a bite-sized portion of the bread which they can then dip into one communal cup). As you offer them the bread, say "This is Christ's body broken for you." As you offer them the cup, say "This is Christ's blood poured out for you."
 

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING

L: Lift up your hearts!
P:  We lift them to the Lord!
L: Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, you made us in your image, to love and be loved. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. By the suffering, death, and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ you delivered us from slavery to sin and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
     On the night in which Jesus 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 these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, and on these gifts of bread and wine. 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.
P:  By your Spirit, God, 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 Father, now and forever.
Amen.
L:  The Lord’s table is ready. For those worshipping here in person, please remain seated and I will bring the elements to you. For those worshipping online, you may now share the elements with one another.
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

To access the video of today's service:

Save the Date!

(all times given are in Eastern Time)
  • Sunday, March 27 - Woman, Here Is Your Son
  • Sunday, April 3 - I Am Thirsty (Communion Sunday)
  • Sunday, April 10 - Into Your Hands - Palm Sunday (beginning of Holy Week)
  • Thursday, April 14 - Maundy Thursday - Communion In the Park, 11am-3pm at the Greenbelt Gazebo in Bicentennial Park, Maryville TN (across from the Library)
  • April 15 - Good Friday, 12noon-4pm - Stations of the Cross - Self-paced inside Sanctuary - come early and stay as long as you like 
  • April 17 – Easter Sunday
Our small groups currently meet via Zoom. You don't have to be a member of Union Grove to participate in these groups. They are open to everyone.
Our church now has access to Amplify! Amplify is a multimedia platform that features thousands of videos you can use for study, reflection, worship and inspiration. Amplify has videos can be used in your small groups, Bible studies and, of course, in your own personal faith journey.

You can access all of these videos anytime and on almost any device. To access your Amplify account, just follow these simple steps:
  1. Go to https://my.amplifymedia.com/uniongroveumcfriendsvillefri/welcome
  2. Enter our Access Code ... DFGKSH
  3. You may be prompted to sign up for a user account.  There is NO COST to you to do this.
  4. If you have any questions, I'm here to help. Feel free to get in touch with me at revsehesseesfar@comcast.net and I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions.

For our virtual worshippers: If you are able, please consider making an offering or paying your tithes through our online service at Tithe.ly. It’s safe, it’s free, and your offerings will help us continue ministry at Union Grove and provide resources for mission work in our community. Just visit https://tithe.ly/give?c=4118449, and follow the instruction for making your offering.  You may be prompted to create an account with them. There is no fee for the account or for making your offering through Tithe.ly. 

If you are not comfortable using a debit or credit card online, you can mail your offerings/tithes to:

Union Grove UMC
1151 Lane Drive
Friendsville, TN 37737

Please be sure to make your checks payable to Union Grove UMC!

Pastor: Rev. Val Ohle - 865-924-8339, revsheseesfar@comcast.net
Admin Council Chair: Michael Stinnett
Admin. Council Treasurer: Sue Schmadebeck
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