Sunday November 23rd Worship Service

(Image: “Saying Grace” Began, Cornelius Pieterz, 1663 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam Netherlands)

©Order of Worship for Sunday November 23, 2025

Reign of Christ Sunday

For the Avent Ferry UMC Worship Video Click Here (Link opens in a new window)

The worship video will be available live at 11:00 am

Prelude……“Now Thank We All Our God”……………..Greg D.
Words: Martin Rinkart, 1663, Music: Johann Crüger, 1647
 
Coming of the Light:
 
Greetings:………………………………………………….Lorri B.
 
Announcements:……………………………………….Lorri B.
 
Call to Worship:………..Psalm 100…………….Elizabeth B.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
    serve the Lord with Gladness;
    come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever
    and his faithfulness to all generations.
 
Opening Prayer:…………………………………………..Elizabeth B.
Holy God, our refuge and strength,
you have redeemed your scattered children,
gathering them from all the corners of the earth
through your firstborn, the Christ,
in whom all things are held together.
Make of us a just and righteous people,
worthy by grace to inherit with him
the kingdom of light and peace
where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen. (RCL)
 
Opening Hymns:.“Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” #694 UMH
Words: Henry Alford, 1844 Music: George J. Elvey, 1858
 
1. Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of
harvest home; all is safely gathered in, ere the
winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide
for our wants to be supplied; come to God’s own
temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.
 
2. All the world is God’s own field, fruit as praise to
God we yield; wheat and tares together sown are to
joy or sorrow grown; first the blade and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest,
grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.
 
3. For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take the
harvest home; from the field shall in that day all
offenses purge away, giving angels charge at last
in the fire the tares to cast; but the fruitful
ears to store in the garner evermore.
 
4. Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring thy final
harvest home; gather thou thy people in, free from
sorrow, free from sin, there, forever purified,
in thy presence to abide; come, with all thine
angels, come, raise the glorious harvest home.
 
“O God Beyond All Praising” #2009 TFWS
Words by Michael Perry (Hebrews 13:15) © 1982, 1987Jubilate Hymns, admin by Hope Publishing Co.
Music by Gustav T. Holst
 
1. O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
We lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.
 
2. Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we’ll triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
To marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.”
 
Passing of the Peace:……………………………..Elizabeth B.
Let us offer signs of reconciliation and peace to one another.
 
Gloria Patri:…….“Glory Be to the Father”…….#71 UMH
Words: Lesser Doxology, 3rd-4th century
Music: Henry W. Greatorex, 1851
 
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, to
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
 
Epistle Lesson:……..Colossians 1:11-20………..…..Phillip J.
A hymn to Christ, firstborn of all creation
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers–all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Giving of our tithes and offerings………………..Phillip J.
AFUMC Giving Link: https://afumc.com/give/
AFUMC 2026 Pledge Link:  2026 Pledge Form

Offertory:.. “All Creatures of Our God and King”….Handbells
 Arr. James D. Kimball ASCAP © 1993
 
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” (The Doxology) #94 UMH
Adapted © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House
Words by Thomas Ken, 1674, adapted by Gilbert Vieira, 1978
Music: Geistliche Kirchengesänge, 1623; harmony by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906
 
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!
 
Prayer After Receiving:……………………………….Phillip J.
 
The Prayers of the People:…………………………..Phillip J.
The Lord’s Prayer:
 
Anthem: “We Gather Together”/“For the Beauty of
 the Earth”………………………………………………Handbell Choir
Arr. Frances L. Callahan/James D. Kimball
 
Gospel Lesson: ……………Luke 23:33-43…………….Beverly B.
Jesus crucified with two thieves
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Hymn of Preparation:“Jesus, Remember Me” #488 UMH
Words: Luke 23:42  Music: Jacques Berthier and the
Community of Taizé Music © 1981 Les Presses Taizé,
by permission of G.I.A. Publications, Inc.
 
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
 
Message: ……………………………Rev. Debbie Morgan
 
Response to the Word:
 
Closing Hymn: “Let All Things Now Living” #2008 TWS
Words by Katherine K. Davis with a traditional Welsh melody
Words © 1938, 1966 E.C.Schirmer
 
1. Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving to God the Creator triumphantly raise, who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us, who guides us and leads to the end of our days.
 
God’s banners fly o’er us; God’s light goes before us, a pillar of fire shining forth in the night, till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished, as forward we travel from light into light.
 
2. The law God enforces, the stars in their courses and sun in its orbit obediently shine; the hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains, the depths of the ocean proclaim the Divine.
 
We, too, should be voicing our love and rejoicing; with glad adoration a song let us raise, till all things now living unite in thanksgiving: To God in the highest hosanna and praise!
 
Dismissal with Blessing:……………………..Rev. Debbie Morgan
 
Postlude:…………………………………………………..Greg D.
 

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The 2026 Avent Ferry Pledge Forms are available.  This will be a time to update your contact information with us, Join a Ministry Team and Pledge for 2026!  Click here for 2026 Pledge Forms

Avent Ferry’s scheduled build day will be Saturday December 13th. See Phillip Jefferson to volunteer or help provide lunch that day.

Link to register online: Registration Link