Closing Worship &Fixing of AppointmentsSunday, June 21, 2015 | 10 a.m.

Until the Whole World Hears!

Leader:We have encountered the Word, calling us into communion with God and with each other,

All:and calling us into discipleship to carry on Christ’s work in our world.

Leader:So we come together here, joining hands in the great quest:

All:to worship God, to love each other, and to serve the world.

Holy God, we come full of our own personal experiences from the past week to join in common worship and mutual care.

Help us to bear one another’s burdens, prayfor one another’s concerns and see with a new and clear perspective through the lens of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.

Give us faith in your compassion, home in your future and love for all your children. Amen

Christ for the World We Sing

UMH 568. Words: Samuel Wolcott, 1869; Music: Felice de Giardini, 1769 OneLicense.net E-801569. All rights reserved.

Christ for the world we sing,the world to Christ we bring,with loving zeal;

the poor, and them that mourn,the faint and overborne,sin-sick and sorrow-worn,whom Christ doth heal.

Christ for the world we sing,the world to Christ we bring,with fervent prayer;

the wayward and the lost,by restless passions tossed,redeemed at countless cost,from dark despair.

Christ for the world we sing,the world to Christ we bring,with one accord;

with us the work to share,with us reproach to dare,with us the cross to bear,for Christ our Lord.

Christ for the world we sing,the world to Christ we bring,with joyful song;

the new-born souls, whose days,reclaimed from error's ways,inspired with hope and praise,to Christ belong.

Leader:

Our lives are a journey, and the road goes ever on. It’s a road that began with our birth, that winds its way through meadows and mountains, that crosses rivers and canyons.

People: for the bread that has sustained us on our journeys, and for the guides who have led us, we offer thanks and praise, O God.

Leader:

We pray for those whose journeys end mere moments after they have begun.

People: We pray for those who do not have the strength to travel on.

Leader:

We pray for those whose paths seem continually to wind back upon themselves, spiraling through poverty, pain, prison of soul or mind or body,

People: and for those whose paths coil with malice until joy and power and life itself are crushed out.

Leader:

In the landscape of your abounding love, we know there are paths leading into tomorrows yet unfathomed. There are days ahead when all your children shall walk upon a green and fruitful earth,

People: unafraid of war, unbeset by want,

Leader:

untroubled by pain or loneliness, selfishness or uselessness,

People: help us to shape such a world.

Leader:

Let our paths not be narrow and self-preoccupied.

People: Let us build broad highways, where all may walk together in beauty, tending the gardens along the way.

Leader:

As we journey on through pleasure and pain, commitment and betrayal, keep us mindful that we do not walk alone;

People: that you are Presence in our midst;

Leader:

that in Jesus of Nazareth you came and shared our common lot;

People: that you walk beside us and dance ahead of us into the future.

Leader:

Deliver us, we pray, from the mire of grudges and regrets. We yearn to break away from all that, to come running to your open arms, to your arms that are spread wide with mercy and acceptance.

Together:

All these things we pray in the name of Jesus, whose story brings life to a dying world, hope to a despairing people, justice and love to a realm of strife. Amen.

Go live through the anthem and message.

Affirmation of FaithFrom Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated,

page 233, Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi, eds; Pilgrim Press, Clevland, Ohio, 2012.OneLicense.net E-801569. All rights reserved.

Together:

I believe it is a matterof faith to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

I believe it is a matter of faith to recognize equally and love all members of God’s human family whatever their race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, marital status, physical or mental capacity.

I believe God’s creation is good, beautiful, sacred, and therefore to condemn any portion of God’s creation is to condemn a portion of God. This is sin.

I believe Jesus Christ came to us to free all people from sin and to make disciples – people willing to live Christ’s discipline of love and justice for all.

I believe the Holy Spiritis that power within us that gives us courage and stamina to face the truth and to live it, even to die for it, as Jesus died.

I believe in the resurrection, the victory over death, the truth that is life for all in Jesus’ name.

Glory be to God, the One in Three: Creator, Savior, and Holy power of love. Amen.

Doxology© 2001 Kadasha SEJ Praise and Worship Team. OneLicense.net E-801569. All rights reserved.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

praise God, all creatures here below:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise God, the source of all our gifts!

Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts!

Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Commissioning of

2016General and Jurisdictional

Delegates

Bishop:

Let us covenant together that

we shall not rest until God’s reign

of righteousness is realized

on earth as it is in heaven.

Delegates:

We shall not seek the illusory comfort

of easy answers but will do the

hard work of seeking God’s will

with each new decision.

Bishop:

We shall not succumb to the false Gospel

of individualism but shall pursue shalom, the hope of

justice for all God’s people.

Delegates:

We shall not be seduced by the appeal

of tribalism but shall consider

ourselves citizens of an order ruled

by Christ, to whom belongs

all honor and glory, authority and power, world

without end. Amen.

Bishop:

O God, as you anointed leaders and called prophets of

old, lead us to recognize our true representatives and

authentic leaders: men

and women who love your people and can walk with

them, who feel their pain and share their joys, who

dream their dreams and strive to accompany them to

their common goal.

People:

In your fire, with your Spirit,

embolden and commission these

representatives of the Western NC Conference to

transform our

discernment, to serve your people,

and to bring real glory to your name.

Go live through the Fixing of Appointments

Covenant PrayerWorship & Song, 3115. Words: John Wesley; Music: Jay D. Locklear and Adam Seate

Music © 2008 Jay D. Locklear and Adam Seate. OneLicense.net E-801569. All rights reserved

Please join the Junaluska Singers

in singing the refrain

Refrain: This is my prayer, Lord, to you. My promise and my vow, strong and true.And the covenant I make on earth, let it be fulfilled in heaven.

Amen.

Bishop:

All of us are bound together by Christ’s love poured out for us and through us to the world.

(Clergy Stand)

You are called to “a lifetime of servant leadership in specialized ministries among the people of God.”

Clergy, through your ministries,will you interpret “the needs, concerns, and hopes of theworld, and the promise of God for creation?” to the church where you are sent?

Clergy:

We are bound in covenant together before God and one another.

Bishop: The world cries out for justice and mercy.

Deacons:

We go where we are sent to represent the connection between our worship of God and serving in God’s world. We go to the community where God is sending us.

Bishop:

The world needs to hear the Word of God.

Elders, Associate Members, Local Pastors: We go where we are sent to spread the good news in the community where we are sent, to administer the sacraments, to be servants in the church and in the world, and to lead the congregation.

Charge to the Laity

(Laity stand)

Bishop:

“The world is our parish,” John Wesley said.

You are the people of God, living and serving in God’s world. Will you receive these persons, as your leaders, sent to serve Christ, support and lead the Church in ministry to all the world?

Laity: We reaffirm our faith in Christ, and our commitment to serving Him in our daily lives. We receive thesepersons as servants among us, and will support them in our shared ministries.

Bishop:

We are God’s people, called to serve with radical hospitality, to worship passionately, to strengthen our faith intentionally and purposefully, taking risks in mission and service, …

while giving all we possess freely, extravagantly, and generously through God’s grace. God’s saving grace stretches out to new generations everywhere.

God’s grace opens wide the hearts in all cultures through the compassionate giving church:

To welcome diverse people of all languages, ethnicities,

and backgrounds,

To seek and find those who are lost,

To restore the broken through the movement of the Holy Spirit.

To heal the sick with God’s healing power.

And to unite those in need, with a loving, merciful God in salvation.

Bishop: People of God, do you love Jesus enough to take up the cross and follow Him?

People: Yes, we affirm that we love Jesus Christ.

Bishop: Seek the lost, the broken, and the hopeless with the hope of the Gospel.

Bishop: People of God, are you holding the cross ready to follow?

People: Yes, we are holding the cross, ready to follow.

Bishop: Go into all the world, sharing the message of the cross and resurrection.

Bishop: People of God, are you ready to serve?

People:

Yes, We are ready to “follow Jesus, make disciples, and transform the word” serving the present age.

Bishop: People of God, spread forth the message of God’s grace!

People of God, souls are waiting; it is time to live dynamic, Holy Spirit, God-directed lives!

Go forth, serve whole-heartedly, building vibrant, dynamic missional churches for the glory of God!

People:

Amen.

We’ve a Story toTell to the Nations

UMH 569. Words and Music: H. Ernest Nichol, 1896 OneLicense.net E-801569. All rights reserved.

We've a story to tell to the nations

that shall turn their hearts to the right,

a story of truth and mercy,

a story of peace and light,

a story of peace and light.

Chorus:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We've a song to be sung to the nations

that shall lift their hearts to the Lord,

a song that shall conquer evil,

and shatter the spear and sword,

and shatter the spear and sword.

Chorus:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We've a message to give to the nations,

that the Lord who reigneth above

hath sent us His Son to save us,

and show us that God is love,

and show us that God is love.

Chorus:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We've a Savior to show to the nations

who the path of sorrow hath trod,

that all of the world's great peoples

may come to the truth of God,

may come to the truth of God.

Chorus:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.