Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.
This service includes celebration of Holy Communion. In fact, it is World Communion Sunday. If you are worshiping at home, please have bread or another staple food and a beverage at hand for that portion of the service.
Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, October 6, 2024. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily.
Service of Worship October 6, 2024
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor
Rev. Jessicah Nakamura, Guest Pastor
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.
Prelude: Meditation on “Let Us Break Bread Together” Kayleen Yuda
Lighting of the Candles
Ringing of the Bell
Welcome Rev. Eric S. Anderson
* Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 8) Jennifer Tanouye
Leader: How majestic is the name of God in all the earth!
People: The glory of God shines forth beyond the heavens we can see.
Leader: What are human beings that God is mindful of us?
People: Why is it that God cares for us?
Leader: We live and rejoice to have been created just a little lower than God.
People: We celebrate that God has crowned us with glory and honor.
All: Let us worship God!
* Hymn #323: Little Children, Welcome (v. 1-4)
* Invocation (based on Genesis 2:18-24) Jennifer Tanouye
Long ago, O God, you determined that human beings should not live alone, that we should exist in partnership and support. Those who surround us are bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, siblings in a global human family. Feed us today with a unity of nourishment, O God, at the table of Jesus Christ, as we join with our family of faith around the world in a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Amen.
Please be seated
WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem: Oh Ningen Kot IYAA
Time with the Children Rev. Jessicah Nakamura
Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 Jennifer Tanouye
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere,
‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under their feet.’
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,
‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Sermon: All the Children of the World Rev. Jessicah Nakamura
WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric Anderson
Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer
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 and ever. Amen
Call to Offering Jennifer Tanouye
It doesn’t always seem that we are made just a little lower than angels, crowned with glory and honor, but so God has made us. We have the ability to share and support, to encourage and empower. Let us use that ability today as we make our offerings. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.
Offertory: Quebec (Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts) Kayleen Yuda
* Doxology
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
* Offertory Prayer Jennifer Tanouye
Thank you for sanctifying us in Jesus, O God, and for making us your beloved children. Accept these gifts we offer today, so that your glory may be revealed in us. Amen.
* Hymn #343: Jesus Took the Bread (v. 1-4)
SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation
Eric S. Anderson: It was on a Sunday that Jesus Christ was raised from death by the power of God, appearing to several of his followers and friends. Mary Magdalene saw him and Simon Peter. He walked the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples, but they did not recognize him until they joined him at a table where Jesus Christ broke bread.
Jessicah Nakamura: On this World Communion Sunday, come from the four corners of the world to gather about this table. Come brief in days and long in years. Come from your loves and successes and from your losses and sorrows. Come aware that the mountain is holy and the ocean is holy and the growing things are holy and the birds of the air are holy. Come to learn once more that Jesus of Nazareth called his disciples to name as holy the most common food and the most common drink, to remember his life, death, and resurrection.
Consecrating the Bread and Cup
Eric Anderson: On this World Communion Sunday, let us come to God for the breaking of the bread. Let us pray:
People: God of vast creation, God of heaven and earth, we thank you for the bread of life.
Jessicah Nakamura: We recall the time when you preserved the children of Israel by leading them to Egypt, where your prophet Joseph had gathered grain.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is bread baked from wheat to keep us whole and sound.
Eric Anderson: We recall the time when they fled slavery into a barren land, and you fedthem with your manna.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is rice, which nourishes so many hungry people every day.
Jessicah Nakamura: We recall the time your people found a promised land, rejoicing in its plenty.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is banana bread, in which we taste the sweetness of life.
Eric Anderson: We recall the time when Israel received its law from you, a law that extended justice to the stranger and sojourner.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is tortilla, which is the bread of so many newcomers to our nation.
Jessicah Nakamura: We recall the time when Israel was taken into exile, and they sought to worship you in a new land.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is ulu, breadfruit, which has nourished Polynesian peoples wherever they have traveled.
Eric Anderson: We recall that in your wisdom and mercy, O God, you have never left your people hungry when your Spirit might provide.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is poi from taro root, which keeps our bodies rooted in the land.
Jessicah Nakamura: And we recall, O God, that when your people were starved for your Spirit, you sent us Jesus, to fill us and make us whole.
People: There on our Communion table, O God, is an empty bowl, which reminds of the hungry we still yearn to feed, and reminds us of the love of Christ which fills our souls from depth to height.
Eric Anderson: God, bless the meeting of hunger and generosity in all places. Bless the memories of all that is Holy Land, the place of Jesus’ lineage and Passover custom, the land under our feet, all land remembered, all land honored, all land with justice.
Jessicah Nakamura: Bless all that is Communion but especially what we take into body and spirit, so that you can live and walk, sit, roll with us. Fill our bodies and spirits with strength, guidance, inspiration, and love, through this holy meal. Amen.
Eric Anderson: Through the broken bread we participate in the Body of Christ. In Jesus’ name, we give you this bread.
Jessicah Nakamura: Through the cup which we bless we participate in the new life Christ brings. In Jesus’ name, we give you this cup.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Jessicah Nakamura: God, we thank you for refreshing us at your table by granting us the presence of Jesus Christ. Strengthen our faith, increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and in peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.
* Hymn #400: Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation (v. 1-3)
Please be seated
Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Benediction Rev. Jessicah Nakamura
Postlude: National Hymn (God of Our Fathers) Kayleen Yuda
* Please stand if you are able.
Permissions
Meditation on “Let Us Break Bread Together”
John S. Dixon
Tune: © 2022 Lorenz Corporation
(admin. by Music Services)
All Rights Reserved.
ASCAP Text: © 2022 Lorenz Corporation
(admin. by Music Services)
All Rights Reserved.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Little Children, Welcome
Text by Fred Pratt Green, 1973
© 1973 Hope Publishing Company
Tune SAIPAN by Roy Hopp, 1988
© 1990 Selah Publishing Co., Inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Quebec (Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts)
Henry Williams Baker
Tune: © 1968 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
O Ningen Kot
Chuukese lyrics
Tune O STORE GUD
Swedish folk melody
Public Domain
Jesus Took the Bread
Text by Ruth Duck, 1982
Tune NEW HOPE by Ruth Duck, 1982
Arr. by Randall Sensmeier, 1982
Copyright © 1992 G.I.A. Publications, Inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
Text 6th – 8th cent. Latin
Trans. by John Mason Neale, 1851
Tune REGENT SQUARE by Henry T. Smart, 1867
Public Domain
National Hymn (God of Our Fathers)
George William Warren, 1828-1902
Contributors: National Hymn
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Dates to Remember
Today, October 6 – Dedication of Neighbors in Need
Today, October 6 – Trustees Meeting
Pastor Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Guest Pastor Rev. Jessicah Nakamura
Moderator Stefan Tanouye
Lay Reader Jennifer Tanouye
Choir Accompanist Kanako Okita
Choir Director Doug Albertson
Organist Kayleen Yuda
Hand Bell Director Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations Amy Shiroma & Clarice Suzuki
Projected Imagery Sue Smith
Web Master Ruth Niino-DuPonte
Videographers Eric Tanouye, Eli Yamaki
Ruth Niino-DuPonte, Bob Smith
We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.
