Encounter. Gather FIRST WEEK (OPTION 1) Song of Praise. Call to Confession. Prayer of Confession

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2 FIRST WEEK (OPTION 1) For some students, this will be their first week away from home. They will feel the anxiety of leaving home for the first time and the excitement of something new. For others, it will be the first week of their return to school. This service is designed to give a sense of place in the midst of change. Playlist Come, Now Is the Time to Worship, Brian Doerksen, CCLI # How Great Is Our God, Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves, CCLI # You Are Holy, Marc Imboden, Tammi Rhoton, CCLI # The House of God Forever, Jon Foreman, CCLI # ,000 Reasons, Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, CCLI # The Kingdom, Bethany Dillon, So Far: The Acoustic Sessions Not with Haste, Mumford and Sons, Babel Where We Belong, Josh Blakesley, Free No One Like You, David Crowder, Jack Parker, Jason Solley, Jeremy Bush, Mike Dodson, Mike Hogan, CCLI # Gather Call to Worship (Psalm 84:2 4) (Year 3, Week 11) Leader: I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. People: With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. Leader: Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Hosts, my ruler and my God! People: What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Opening Prayer Giver of hope and new beginnings, we give you thanks for gathering us here today. We come to worship bringing our excitement, our worries, our fears, and our joys. Loving God, help us remember that we ve come to sing your praises and not our own. May we find our way and our place as we settle into life at school and away from home. Remind us that we are never alone. In Christ s name, we pray. Amen. of Praise Call to Confession Prayer of Confession Assurance of Forgiveness Encounter Considerations: This is intended to be two Scripture readings and two short meditations followed by silence, but you may also choose to use just one passage and meditation. Prayer of Illumination Scripture Genesis 12:1 9 (Year 1, Week 2) Reflection Considerations: Reflect upon the following points. Or create questions from the points to form a call-and-response-style sermon. Additionally, you might consider having a student use the points as a springboard to his/her own reflection. Just as Abram was called from the land of his parents, students are being called forth to establish themselves in the new space of college. This applies for those moving far away, those moving down the road, and commuters who are forming a new community as well. Abram was called from his homeland. Calling wasn t just something that happened thousands of years ago. College is a time that God can use to mold and shape students, using them now in spreading the good news and preparing them for where they will be led following graduation. How might students be attentive to God in the bustle of college life to be ready to heed God s call? Abram builds an altar in his new home place (and then in the next one too). How might students be intentional about claiming a place for God in their college homeland? What might that look like physically and spiritually? Silent Reflection 50

3 Scripture John 15:5 17 (Year 1, Week 20) Reflection Considerations: For the meditation, you may want to consider reflecting on the following points. Or create questions from the points to form a call-and-response-style sermon. Additionally, you might consider acting out this story from John first and then having a student(s) use the points as a springboard to his/her own reflection. What does it mean for a student s daily life that Jesus is the true vine and they are the branches? What does it look like to remain in God and God s Word as a college student away from home and from their parents faith (or lack thereof)? What does one make of Jesus saying, If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can t do anything (v. 5b)? How is this conditional statement applicable for a student experiencing a new beginning/new choices? Are Jesus words comforting or threatening? Why? How do college students remain in God s love and also love one another? What are some ways to show God s love and to have God s joy be made complete in you? How can students explore things on campus and yet still remain attached to Christ, the true vine? What do you make of Jesus statement You didn t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last (v. 16)? How does one produce kingdom fruit that lasts on a college campus? Silent Reflection Considerations: Offer a prompt for silent reflection which leads into the offering. The first week of the school year is a New Year s Eve of sorts, a prime opportunity for a new start and a recommitment. How might students be attentive to God s calling this new school year? How might college be a time of preparation for living into God s dreams for us and for the world? How might students carve out sacred space for encounters with God amidst the busyness of college? Respond Affirmation of Faith (from A Brief Statement of Faith) In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve. Prayers of the People Offering Considerations: Provide students with a marker of your college/university. Maybe your school has a lake or pond where you can gather stones. Maybe you can get clippings from the hedges which surround the football stadium. Note cards with the college logo will work as well. Have students write on the object (or on a ribbon or piece of paper attached to the object) how they will offer themselves in a new way to God this school year. They can present the object, paper, ribbon, and so forth by bringing it forward during the offering. Or they may take a portion of it home to remind themselves of their commitment. Communion Invitation to the Table Prayer of Great Thanksgiving Considerations: This is a good opportunity to tie into the language from the John reading by giving thanks for the fruit of the vine, which will be part of the sacrament in the sharing of the cup. May the taste of the fruits of God s provision and presence strengthen students for bearing fruit in this coming year. Words of Institution Prayer after Communion 51

4 Bless Closing Prayer God of all places, we gather at a new beginning. Some of us have been here before, but we come today with new challenges, new hopes, new possibilities. Some of us are creating a whole new home for ourselves, looking at a blank slate ready to be filled with new friendships, crisp clean textbooks, and bedrooms freshly decorated. We ask your blessing on the year before us. May we find home in this place. May we be attentive to the ways you call us to embrace you above all that comes with being a college student. Help us to set aside time to remember who we are in light of who we know you to be. Mold us that we may not just grow smarter but may grow in ways that prepare us to heed your claim on our lives. In Christ s name we pray. Amen. Charge As we leave this place of worship to go out and face our new beginnings this school year, may we remember that we are never alone. God is always with us. Our Prince of Peace will never forsake us. May we live in hope that we are connected to God and God to us: living our lives to bear the fullest, lushest fruit. May we never forget how many of us have experienced loneliness, fear, and new adventures. And may we share God s love as we reach out to others, especially when it is difficult and we feel as if we have no time. Benediction And now may the love of God, the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the friendship and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all forevermore world without end. Amen. 52

5 UKirk.org