TRINITY CHIMES

†WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRINGING IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST

PRELUDE            

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

African American spiritual,
arr. Joel Raney

INTROIT            

Grace Alone

Susan Brooks

*GREETING

Charlie Plunket, Lay Reader

Come, beloved community, and let us give thanks for the gift of learning, growing, and beginning again. 
We give thanks for our children, our teachers, our families, and our schools.
We come with open hearts, ready to listen, encourage, and serve. 
We promise to be a community of care, compassion, and support. 
Today we lift up every student and each person who helps them learn and grow. 
May God give them courage, wisdom, patience, and joy. 
With hope for the year ahead, let us worship God with joyful and open hearts. 
Praise God! 

*OPENING HYMN    

Together We Serve    

TFWS 2175

Together we serve, united by love,
inviting God’s world to the glorious feast.
We work and we pray through sorrow and joy,
extending your love to the last and the least.

We seek to become a beacon of hope,
a lamp for the heart and a light for the feet.
We learn, year by year, to let love shine through
until we see Christ in each person we meet.

We welcome the scarred, the wealthy, the poor,
the busy, the lonely, and all who need care.
We offer a home to those who will come,
our hands quick to help, our hearts ready to dare.

Together, by grace, we witness and work,
remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong.
Together we serve in Spirit and truth,
remembering love is the strength of our song.

*OPENING PRAYER

Gracious God, we give you thanks for bringing us together and for the gift of this new school year. We pray for the children and young people in our community, for teachers and school staff, and for every family. Open our eyes to the needs of our neighbors and our hearts to the ways we can help. May we walk together in the way of Jesus, sharing your love with every person. With one voice, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

FIRST READING    

Matthew 10:40–42

CONGREGATIONAL ANTHEM    

I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me

TFWS 2153

I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!
I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

I’m gonna work so God can use me...

I’m gonna pray so God can use me...

I’m gonna sing so God can use me...

CONGREGATIONS FOR CHILDREN (C4C) INITIATIVE

Cortney Babajtis, Director of Families and Outreach

SECOND READING    

Proverbs 1:2–7

Pat Lee, C4C Volunteer Coordinator

C4C TESTIMONY

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Principal Julietta Ventura,
Jeffreys Grove Magnet Elementary School

BLESSING OF THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES

*THE PEACE

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

OFFERING

C4C TESTIMONY

John Rees, Reading Buddy

OFFERTORY            

Simple Gifts

arr. Glenda Austin

*DOXOLOGY

UMH 95

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*CLOSING HYMN    

The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve

TFWS 2241

The Spirit sends us forth to serve;
we go in Jesus’ name
to bring glad tidings to the poor,
God’s favor to proclaim.

We go to comfort those who mourn
and set the burdened free;
where hope is dim, to share a dream
and help the blind to see.

We go to be the hands of Christ,
to scatter joy like seed
and, all our days, to cherish life,
to do the loving deed.

Then let us go to serve in peace,
the gospel to proclaim.
God’s Spirit has empowered us;
we go in Jesus’ name.

*DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING

*TRINITY CHIMES

*POSTLUDE          

Toccata

Douglas E. Wagner