August 3rd, 2025 Bulletin
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Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church
Old Forge, New York
Becoming Series: Becoming Heaven, Here
August 3, 2025
PRELUDE
WELCOME
INTROIT: Come Into God’s Presence (#413)
CALL TO WORSHIP:
(Adapted from the Lakota Prayer by Chief Yellow Lark, 1887)
Leader:
Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world—hear me.
People:
We come as those who are small and in need of your strength.
Leader:
Let us walk in beauty;
open our eyes to behold the red and purple sunset.
People:
Let our hands respect what you have made.
Let our ears be sharp to hear your voice.
Leader:
Make us wise so that we may understand the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and every rock.
People:
May we walk gently, learning from the earth beneath our feet.
May our spirits return to you without shame.
Amen.
OPENING HYMN: God Is Calling through the Whisper (#410)
(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: Luke 17: 20-21
HOMILY: Becoming Heaven, Here
HOLY COMMUNION:
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
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: Christ is With Us
DOXOLOGY: “Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow” (#607)
(You are invited to stand if willing and able)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
CLOSING HYMN: God, Be the Love to Search and Keep Me (#543)
(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 and do not look for the extraordinary
Or you will look past the Holy.
Look in the wounds, the wonder, and the laundry,
Christ is becoming now.
EXTROIT: Hold Us In Your Grace O Lord.
Hold us in your grace O Lord. Hold us in your Grace.
Hold us. Hold us. Hold us in your Grace.
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Worship Leader: Lee Vance (he/him)
Liturgist: Kathryn Godley
Choir Director: Judy Barker
* 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.
