I will strengthen the weak.

or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,

Quote for Reflection: How much longer can you do this? and did not attend to you?’
A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or How will it end? How do you know? “Then he will answer them, saying,
Mahatma Gandhi to come back — but they are gone. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. ‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did not do it
We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,
Marian Wright Edelman neither did you do it to me.’
“And these will go to the chastening of that Age,
-We Listen for God’s Word- but the just to the life of that Age.” David Bentley Hart

-We Gather as God’s People- GOSPEL Matthew 25:31-46 POEM Theresa of Avila
“And when the Son of Man comes in his glory, Christ has no body now but yours

HYMN O Sing a Song of Bethlehem UMH 179
and all the angels with him, No hands, no feet on earth but yours

then he will sit on his throne of glory; Yours are the eyes through which he looks
CALL TO WORSHIP . And all the nations will be assembled before him, compassion on the world

Looking for the king, Christ lives in the prisoner. and he will separate them from one another,
as the shepherd separates the sheep from the kid goats, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good

Whenever we see the captive & the lost, We see Christ. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
And will set the sheep to his right, but the kid goats to the left.
Serving in the palace, Christ lives in the homeless. Yours are the hands. Yours are the feet

Whenever we touch the last & the least, We touch Christ. “Then the King will say to those to his right,
‘Come, you blessed by my Father, Yours are the eyes. You are his body.
Listening for the powerful, Christ lives in the vulnerable.
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you
Whenever to hear the frail & the lonely, We hear Christ. from the foundation of the cosmos.
-We Respond to God’s Word-
SPIRITUAL Soon and Very Soon UMH 706 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink, REFLECTION When the House Lights Come Up
I was a stranger and you gave me hospitality,
PRAISE Bring Forth the Kingdom FWS 2190 Naked and you clothed me,
HYMN Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence UMH 626
I was ill and you looked after me,
PASSING THE PEACE I was in prison and you came to me.’
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER
“Then the just will answer him, saying,
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE
‘When did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink? OFFERING & DOXOLOGY UMH 94
TAIZÉ Confitemini Domino FWS 2157 And when did we see you a stranger and give you hospitality,
or naked and clothe you? COMMUNION FWS 2257b-d
OPENING TO GOD Steve Garnaas-Holmes And when did we see you ill or in prison and come to you?’
The diagnosis, the procedure,
the boss' memo, the suicide, the lonely corridor. “And in reply the King will say to them,
‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did it -We Are Sent Into God’s World-
I will shepherd you. to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,
The God who vanished into a question, you did it to me.’ ANNOUNCEMENTS
the way you can't find, "Then he will say to those to the left,
the path through the tangled thorns. ‘Go from me, you execrable ones, BENEDICTION
I will seek the lost. into the fire of the Age prepared for the Slanderer and his RESPONSE What Wondrous Love UMH 292, v. 4

j
Addicted, shamed, incarcerated,
 angels.
unforgiven, violent, over-busy, despairing.
 “For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat,
I will bring back the strayed.
 I was thirsty and you did not give me drink, Birthdays
Memory of abuse, ache of loss,
 I was a stranger and you did not give me hospitality,
heart a cracked empty jar, forty pound bag of fear.
 naked and you did not clothe me, April 10: Donna Holmes
ill and in prison and you did not look after me.’
I will bind up the injured.

The difficult meeting, the ones who wound,
 “Then they too will answer, saying, Essex Eats Out Schedule
your daughter's treatment. ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty Apr 12 - Holy Family Apr 19 - St James Apr 26 - EUMC
 Announcements Below are people, places, & concerns that folk have lifted up.
Please keep them in your prayers at home.
COTS request from Mission Committee: Biggest need is new Please call or email the church office to add to the prayer list.
linens, necessary toiletries, baby wipes and warm mittens (they
have enough hats). Red Tub in Fellowship Hall is open-- full list Ongoing Prayers Lifted Up Last Sunday
is beside it. **Paula Pickerimg is forming a COTS Walk Arlitha Leif: prayers for Gerard and Luna

Parable of the
Team** Callie Donna: continued healing for Ken Yates
Anne Kennison David Jones: continued healing for Mike
JUMP has requested donated items, needed by early April. Ahearn
Mary Willard

Sheep and Goats

Please bring any items you are able to donate to church and
leave in box labeled JUMP in fellowship hall. Please collect only Norma Strickland Christine: Help for Chris with bad family
the items on our list! Thank you for supporting JUMP and Judy & Diezela situation
helping our low-income neighbors! Matthew C. Traveling mercies for Barb, dealing with
Elissa & Leif family health and emotional issues
Calendar Greg Mitch: Prayers for UMC as we are untied
Paula DeMichele . let us do your will
Tuesdays: Pastor Is In @ Nest Coffee Shop 10 am - 11 am
Jericho Clergy Group 11:30-12:30 Don Strickland Jeanette for her father Joseph
Church Office 1 pm- 2 pm Ellie Uckele
Mt Mansfield Bible Study 2 pm Cole
Thursdays: Church Office 10:00 am- noon Harley

j Gordon Mitchinson
Mon, 8 Apr: Monday Companions at Eve’s home. Continued Susan
Wesley Discussion. Tim
Lenore
Tue, 9Apr: Administrative Board, 7 pm
Michael Parker
Wed, 10 Apr: Lenten Taizé & Lectio Divina Service, 7 pm

j
Thu 11 Apr: Faith on Tap, McGillicuddy’s, 6-8 pm

Sun, 14 Apr: Adult Sunday School: Wesley pt 5 8:45 am.

Palm Sunday, 10 am

Mon, 15 Apr: Living the Questions 7:00 pm Subject: Trinity Essex Center United Methodist Church
Reading The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr essex_umc@comcast.net tel. 878-8304
www.essexumc.com
Tue, 16Apr: Trustee Board, 7 pm
Ministers: the entire congregation Lay Leader: Joshua Knox
Equipping Pastor: Rev. V. Mitchell Hay
Wed, 17 Apr: Lenten Taizé & Lectio Divina Service, 7 pm
cell tel. 881-3268 (feel free to call) mitchellhay@comcast.net
Thu, 18 Apr: Maundy Thursday Dinner Church 5:30 pm Office Manager: Elissa Johnsen
Sunday School Coordinator: Krista Rochefort
Fri, 19 Apr: Good Friday Tenebrae 7 pm Organ: Kathryn Parker
Song Leader: Dana LaClair
Piano: June Packard
Projection: Sam Evans
Essex Center
Sat, 20 Apr: Holy Saturday Prayer Vigil
Ushers: Dawn HF, Donna H Greeter: Nancy N
Un-Tied Methodist Church
Sun, 21 Apr: Sunrise Service, Bixby Hill, 6:00 am Nursery Helper: Barb L Sun. Sch. Helper: Maria D 5th Sunday of Lent 7 April 2019
Resurrection Service, 10:00 am Shoveling: Kevin H
May the God of the prophets be with you.
May the God of the poets be with you.
Lift up your hearts, all you who wait for God.
We open them,
that God might fill them with righteousness.
Join in the glad chorus of all who sing to our God.
Our songs will be of justice and hope for all people.
God of justice in community,
from the beginning you are faithful and true.
Your word in every age
calls your people to turn from hatred and abuse,
cruelty and oppression,
to reconciliation with one another and with you.
As we gather for this holy meal,
we rejoice in your love,
which embraces all people.
And so we praise you, as we sing:
Holy, holy, holy Lord . .
Your kingdom is as unpredictable
as you, God who comes to us.
You could have closed up
all your hope, but you sent Jesus
so we might see it face to face.
You could have kept your dreams
locked away in your heart,
but you sent Jesus so we
might hear them for ourselves.
You could have withheld salvation
from those who had no hope,
but you sent Jesus, so it might
sweep away death's grasp as
it flooded out of the empty tomb.
As we work and pray for the signs of your Kingdom
as we seek to live as those with hope,
we proclaim that mystery called faith:
Christ died . . . t
“Friends, on the night that Jesus was betrayed and Come quickly, Holy Spirit, , and grace
arrested, the bread, the cup, and all who gather here.
he first met with his disciples, those closest to him,
people who’d journeyed with him for 3 years, Feed us with the Bread which,
walking all over that country, though broken, can make us whole,
witnessing him heal all sorts of people, strong enough to lift up
and teaching them how to love deeply the poor and the needy.
and share extravagantly.
When our sense of justice
He shared a meal with them. is so parched we cannot speak
He took some bread and he raised it, thanked God, for the oppressed and voiceless,
and then he broke that bread saying – may the Cup of righteousness
“Take. Eat. This is my body, broken for you!’ flood through our lives into our world,
bringing hope and new life to all.
He then took the cup and gave thanks.
And this too he shared with them saying, And when the King comes
“This is my blood, my life force, my very essence, to gather us all before him,
poured out for you. we will join our sisters and brothers
It’s the wine of a new covenant, for you and for many. in recognizing you
It’s how much I really love you!’ in the least, the last, and the lost,
in our neighbor, and in ourselves,
Sisters and brothers, God in Community, Holy in One.
let us now serve each other in this great love.
Let’s tap into the spirit and energy, Amen
the love and justice of the Christ
that surrounds us and connects us,
and tend to each other in gentleness and mercy.
This sacrament symbolizes how God
turns brokenness into wholeness,
and how we are to care for everyone
out in the world all the time.
All of our lives are called to be a sacrament.
All of life is holy,
Not just these few minutes at church.
May we be reminded of this deeply as we commune with
each other now…”