July 13th Bulletin
Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church
Old Forge, New York
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Becoming Series: Becoming Creation
July 13, 2025
Link to Join us
PRELUDE
WELCOME
INTROIT: “I Am Becoming Joy”
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader:
When you hear someone complaining and you do not answer back with complaints;
when you are hurt and bear it patiently, without seeking revenge;
then you are laying down your life for your neighbor.
People:
We gather in patience, presence, and peace—
acknowledging God’s work in us, and in all creation.
- Abba Poemen, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
OPENING HYMN: #20 All Things Bright and Beautiful
(You are invited to stand if willing and able)
MEDITATIVE MOMENT
Be Still and Know That I Am God
In this moment of meditation, you are invited to breathe deeply and rest in God’s presence. If at any point you find this time unsettling or need to step away mentally, please feel free to do so. You are loved and held just as you are.
(Moment of silence.)
SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 1:1-13 (Selected & Paraphrased)
1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless void, and darkness covered the face of the deep—
while a wind from God hovered over the waters.
2 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
God separated the light from the darkness—
and evening and morning marked the first day of becoming.
3 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters…”
And so the sky stretched out like breath,
holding the waters above and below.
Evening and morning, the second day.
4 Then God gathered the waters together, and dry land appeared.
And the earth began to grow—
grass, plants bearing seeds, trees bearing fruit—
everything yielding after its kind, each according to its becoming.
And God saw that it was good.
Evening and morning, the third day.
HOMILY: Becoming Creation
REFLECTIVE READING:
“Transformation doesn’t happen by trying to be something we’re not. It happens when we welcome who we are, and allow grace to meet us there.”
— Rev. Nadia Bloz-Weber
PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE
We will continue to pray as your son taught us to pray, saying…
*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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
ANTHEM: “A Joyful Mozart Canon”
Arr but Jean Shafferman
DOXOLOGY: “All Creatures of our God and King” (#15)
(You are invited to stand if willing and able)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
CLOSING HYMN: #14 For the Beauty of the Earth
(You are invited to stand through the extroit, if willing and able)
DISTILLATION
(A brief opportunity for the congregation to shout out a word or phrase that distills their experience with the service.)
BENEDICTION
Go now in the grace of what is real.
Walk in the light of your own becoming.
Speak truth with gentleness,
receive truth with courage,
and embody the love that holds it all.
Amen.
EXTROIT: “Celebrate Love”
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Worship Leader: Lee Vance (he/him)
Choir Director: Judy Barker
Saxophonist: George Smith
* As we come together in prayer, we acknowledge that the Lord’s Prayer has been incorporated in Christian liturgy since the earliest days of the Church and it holds deep familial meaning for many of us. At the same time, its traditional language reflects a patriarchal context and our Niccolls community embraces a more expansive view of the Divine. The language is challenging for some, and so we encourage each individual to interpret and internalize this prayer in a manner that aligns with their understanding and relationship with the Divine.
