august 30,2026
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Guest Preacher: Rev. John Magisano
Please use this Order of Service to easily follow the service online.
CLICK HERE FOR HYMNS (or scroll to the bottom)
Prelude: Richard Harper
Chalice Lighting: A Beacon in Chaotic Times - By Steven Winters-Bona
We light this chalice during chaotic times.I invite you to allow its light to guide you—to bring you to a place where you feel balanced and present.Let it remind you to feel your breath,to surround yourself with the things you cherish,lead you to remember one of your happy places.Let it help you release the things you cannot control,and remember that you are not alone—that we are all connected,and all working to be a beacon of light in this chaotic time.
Carry this light with you—not in your hands, but in your words,in your invitations,in your willingness to begin.
Opening Hymn: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less – NCH 403
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship: A Tapestry of Shades and Shapes – Shari Woodbury
Leader: Like wildflowers in a field, we mingle herein a tapestry of human shades and shapes.
All: Today is for celebrating diverse community.
Leader: Each one brings unique beautyto our human bouquet.
All: Together, we mimic the medley of color, scent and texture found in abundant nature.
Leader: Together, we witness that difference is delightful—something not to be feared,
All: but to be treasured.
Prayer of Invocation
First Sacred Reading: Exodus 3:1-15
Moses and the Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
Passing of the Peace
Sharing of Our Joys & Concerns/Pastoral Prayer
Offering & Doxology:
Second Sacred Reading: Matthew 16:21-28
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Hymn of Reflection: When Israel Was in Egypt's Land – NCH 572
Sermon: Here I Am – Rev. John Magisano
Closing Hymn: Guide Me, O My Great Redeemer – NCH 18
Benediction: Rev. John Magisano
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
MUSIC