Doubt is a doorway,

but a doorway to where?

Pastor Ken continues a sermon series lifting up the

virtuous side of doubt.

Order of Worship

5 May 2024

All are invited because no matter who you are or where

you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!

WELCOME TO SHADOW ROCK UCC!

Prelude ~

Shared by Travis Meyers

GATHERING IN THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE

Centering Affirmation: I can trust where doubt will take me!

Welcome and Announcements

Led by Pastor Ken

Opening Words

Led by Pastor Ken

One: Who are we and what are we called to do?

All: We are the sensitive and responsive ones called

to create a world where every person is radically

affirmed and barriers between people become

bridges of inclusion, justice, and spirituality.

Call to Worship

Led by Sue Stuart

(Please stand in body, mind or spirit.)

One: Among us the Spirit of Life and Love conceives new life. All: And we feel the life within us.

One: In our history, Jesus the Sage makes gentle entry.

All: And we see the light before us.

One: Within our dreams the truth of our God is revealed.

All: We await the hope of the world. 

Singing Our Faith

~ The Tree Song

by Ken Medema

I Saw A Tree By The Riverside One Day As I Walked Along, Straight As An Arrow And Pointing To The Sky

Growing Tall And Strong

How Do You Grow So Tall And Strong?

I Said To The Riverside Tree,

This Is The Song That My Tree Friend Sang To Me.

I’ve Got Roots Going Down To The Water,

I’ve Got Leaves Growing Up To The Sunshine,

And The Fruit That I Bear Is A Sign Of Life In Me.

I Am Shade From The Hot Summer Sundown,

I Am Nest For The Birds Of The Heaven,

I’m Becoming What The Lord Of Trees Has Meant Me To Be . . . A Strong, Strong Tree.

I saw a tree in the winter time,

When snow lay on the ground,

Straight as an arrow and pointing to the sky,

And winter winds blew all around.

How do you stay so tall and strong,

I said to the winter – time tree,

This is the song that my tree friend sang to me.

Chorus

I Saw A Tree In The City Street,

Where Buildings Blocked The Sun,

Green And Lovely I Could See,

It Gave Joy To Everyone.

How Do You Grow In The City Streets?

I Said To The Downtown Tree,

This Is The Song That My Tree Friend Sang To Me.

So Let Your Roots Go Down To The Waters

Let Your Hands Lift Praise To Heaven

And The Fruit That You Bear

Be A Sign Of love In You

You’ll Be Light For The Lost And Forsaken

And A Rest For The Weak And The Weary,

You’ll Become What The Lord Our God Has Meant You To Be

. . . A Strong, Strong Tree. 

Celebration Song

Led by Travis Meyers

Celebrate your heart and your spirit,

Celebrate your life while you live it.

Even when it’s hard to do,

Celebrate the best of you.

Celebrate your dreams and your visions,

Celebrate the love you’ve been given.

Cherish all that you’ve been through,

Celebrate the best of you.

Celebrating Community With a Shared Table

Led by Sue Stuart and Pastor Ken

One: At this table we give thanks for inclusion, justice, love, peace and freedom.

All: At this table we give thanks for friends and strangers together in community in this safe place. At this table we welcome old and young.

One: We break the bread for the broken earth, ravaged and plundered for greed.

All: May there be healing of our beautiful blue and green planet.

One: We break this bread for our broken humanity, for the powerful and the powerless trapped by exploitation and oppression.

All: May there be the healing of humanity.

One: We break this bread for those who follow other paths: for those who follow the noble path of the Buddha, the yogic path of the Hindus; the way of the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs; and for the children of Abraham and Sarah and Rachel - the Jews, and the Muslims.

All: May there be healing where there is pain and woundedness.

One: We break this bread for the unhealed hurts and wounds that lie within us all.

All: May we be healed.

One: This is the cup of peace and of new life for all. A sign of love for the community of hope.

All: A reminder of the call to live fully, to love wastefully, and to be all that we can be.

One: To share this bread and cup reminds us of the deeper aspects of human fellowship, for from time immemorial the sharing of bread and wine has been the most universal of all symbols of community.

Sharing the Bread and Cup

Led by Sue Stuart

Everyone is welcome to this table! The baskets near our communion stations are for our communion offering. This month, the communion offering supports One Great Hour of Sharing. Thank you!

Invitation to Give

Shared by Sue Stuart

We are people of all ages who enter this space bringing our joys, our offerings, and concerns. 

Offerings and Offertory ~

Shared by Travis Meyers

Dedication of Our Offerings

Led by Sue Stuart

One: The kin-dom of love is coming because:

All: somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,

somewhere someone shares with another in need, somewhere someone serves another, in love, somewhere someone is calm in a storm,

One: Can that someone be us?



Words For Mission

Led by Sue Stuart

One: As you leave this place, may you be awestruck by the beauty of this world. May you laugh, and may it be contagious. May you overflow with love for those around you. May you be effusive with hope and quick to point out joy.

All: And in all of our living, and breathing, and being, may we find ourselves full to the brim with God’s Spirit of Life and Love, and may it change our lives. One: In the name of the Lover, the Beloved, and Love itself— go in peace, full to the brim. These are the times!

All: We are the people!

One: All of Creation is blessed.

All: May we love all and serve all.

One: May God be with you.

All: And also with you.

One: Amen.

All: Amen.



EMPOWERING AND SENDING

Sending Forth Song ~ Free to Be You and Me

Led by Travis Meyers

1. There’s a land that I see where the children are free. And I say it ain’t far to this land from where we are.

Take my hand, come with me where the children are free. Come with me, take my hand, and we’ll live...

In a land where the river runs free.

In a land through the green country.

In a land to a shining sea.

In a land where the horses run free.

And you and me are free to be, you and me.

2. I see a land, bright and clear and the time’s comin’ near When we’ll live in this land, you and me, hand in hand.

Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song. Come along, take my hand, sing a song...

Chorus

3. Every boy in this land grows to be his own man.

In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman.

Take my hand, come with me, where the children are free. Come with me, take my hand, and we’ll run...

Chorus



Sermon Reboot is ON for today.

This is a time to talk about the message and explore together using the ORID Art Form Conversation methodology. What is ORID? It stands for Observation, Reflection, Interpretation, and Decision. You will get the hang of it.