CCLI Number: 2880734
September 27, 2026
Homecoming and 70th Anniversary Celebration
Words of Welcome Rev. John Hill
Centering Music
Call to Worship (written by Matt Sevier) Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
It is good to be in the house of the Lord.
It is good to be in the presence of the one who loved us first.
We are a people of memory.
We remember the family and friends that have come before us.
We are a people of hope.
We are eagerly awaiting a new heaven and a new earth.
A time when all creation shall be renewed.
All suffering shall end and God will dwell with us forever.
Today we share in a foretaste of that great future.
We surround ourselves with loved ones and taste the goodness of God.
We give thanks for the past.
We think of loved ones and the stories that have shaped us.
We give thanks for the now.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
We give thanks for the future.
Just as our lives have been shaped by the church, we will do so for future generations.
All this is for the glory of God.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our savior. Amen.
Opening Hymn “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” (UMH #557)
Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
Before our Father’s throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
We share each other’s woes,
our mutual burdens bear;
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
When we asunder part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.
Affirmation of Faith “The Apostles’ Creed” (UMH #881) Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri (UMH #70)
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
Children’s Special Music “We Are the Church” (UMH #558, verses 1, 2, and 4)
I am the church!
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
The church is not a building,
the church is not a steeple,
the church is not a resting place,
the church is a people.
I am the church!
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
We’re many kinds of people,
with many kinds of faces,
all colors and all ages, too,
from all times and places.
I am the church!
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
And when the people gather,
there’s singing and there’s praying,
there’s laughing and there’s crying sometimes,
all of it saying:
I am the church!
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
Children’s Moment Rev. John Hill
Prayer of Confession Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Silent Confession
Words of Assurance Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
Hear the Good News: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. That proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Glory to God. Amen.
Passing the Peace
Hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (UMH #400)
Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
Prayer for Illumination Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.
Scripture Reading (Lamentations 3:21-23) Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Response to the Scripture Reading Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
For the Word of God we hear in scripture, for the Word of God we encounter among us, and for the Word of God at work within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon “God’s Faithfulness Through Crievewood” Rev. John Hill
Musical Reflection
Special Recognitions
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Chelsey Hedglin
The Lord’s Prayer
Invitation to Offer Tithes and Gifts
https://onrealm.org/CrievewoodUMC/Give
Offertory “They Asked, ‘Who’s My Neighbor?’” (written by Jan Wesson) Crievewood Choir
Doxology (UMH #95)
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God, above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Invitation to Discipleship
Closing Hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (UMH #140)
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Benediction Rev. John Hill
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Amen.
Benediction Song “Now We Shall Go” (written by Tom McBryde)
Now we shall go
blessed with his word, his love.
Blessed with hope,
with peace and grace.
And this we know:
His light shall lead us
when again we return to this place.