april 26, 2026

Guest Preacher: Abigail Hastings

Please use this Order of Service to easily follow the service online.

CLICK HERE FOR HYMNS (or scroll to the bottom)

Prelude           Richard Harper

 Our opening Prelude invites you into a time of quiet reflection.

Chalice Lighting:                  Shining upon the Hearts      by Sangye Hawke

author’s note: “Not one left behind” is an old translation of the Tibetan (phonetic only) “chig kyang ma lu pa,”

the last line of a dedication prayer—part of a phrase that translates as “All Beings, not one left behind.”

With the lighting of this flame

Let us grow the radiance of joy;

With the lighting of this flame, let us spark the brilliance of hope;

With the lighting of this flame, let us shine upon the hearts of all those who suffer,

who yearn, and who crave the joyful noise of community—all Beings, not one left behind.

Opening Hymn:        “For Flowers That Bloom about Our Feet”     SLT 76

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship:         Psalm 130       by Christine Robinson — Psalms for a New World

One:    Out of our depths, O God, we cry to you. Are you there?

All:     We know we’re far from perfect, but if perfection were required,

                who would pass muster?

One:    So, we wait and we hope, like a sentry waits for the morning.

All:     Help us to stay alert, and keep an open heart for whatever comes. Amen.

Prayer of Invocation

Sacred Reading:        Acts 2:42-47   The believers' common life 

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

I Corinthians 13

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Passing of the Peace

Sharing of our Joys and Concerns:  Open to the Congregation

Prayers of the People/Pastoral Prayer

Offering         

Doxology:                   “Tis a Gift to Be Simple”        SLT 16

Reading II:                Once the World Was Perfect by Joy Harjo

Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in that world.

Then we took it for granted.

Discontent began a small rumble in the earthly mind.

Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.

And once Doubt ruptured the web,

All manner of demon thoughts

Jumped through—

We destroyed the world we had been given

For inspiration, for life—

Each stone of jealousy, each stone

Of fear, greed, envy, and hatred, put out the light.

No one was without a stone in his or her hand.

There we were,

Right back where we had started.

We were bumping into each other

In the dark.

And now we had no place to live, since we didn't know

How to live with each other.

Then one of the stumbling ones took pity on another

And shared a blanket.

A spark of kindness made a light.

The light made an opening in the darkness.

Everyone worked together to make a ladder.

A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world,

And then the other clans, the children of those clans, their children,

And their children, all the way through time—

To now, into this morning light to you.

Hymn of Reflection:              “Spirit of Life”           SLT 123

Sermon:                                  Spring Cleaning                    Abigail Hastings

Closing Hymn:                      “Guide My Feet”      SLT 348 

Benediction 

Postlude                     Richard Harper

All Souls Bethlehem Church

An Open and Affirming Congregation

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Boon Lin Ngeo

Ministers: All Members of ASBC

Minister Emeritus: Rev. Bill Nye 

First Time Visitor?  

Please sign our red Guest Book (located near the entrance)

and be our guest at the gathering following the service!

Interested in “Official” Church Membership?  

Please speak with Council President Raquel Irizarry about our next New Member gathering!  

An All-inclusive, Welcoming Community of Faith

born from the traditions of the:

Disciples of Christ - www.Disciples.org

United Church of Christ - www.UCC.org

Unitarian Universalist Association - www.UUA.org 

To Donate