Crandall United Methodist Church

Worship Guide

November 16, 2025

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World

ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE

Greeting:

Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

People: And also with you!

Special Music “What a Day That Will Be” Charles

Centering Words:

What suffering are we facing in our lives? How do we respond to the turmoil and voice around us? When we are most anxious, most afraid, can we hold onto the promise of God’s new heavens and new earth? Can we let ourselves imagine the grace that may yet come?

*Call to Worship:

Leader:    I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.

People:   Thus says our God, the Holy One.

Leader:    Be glad and rejoice in this new creation.

People:   Celebrate all that is coming to you.

Leader:    For your weeping shall be met with rejoicing.

People:   And our suffering will be overtaken by new life.

Leader:    You shall build homes and live in them;

People:   plant gardens and eat from them.

Leader:    Whenever you call, I will answer.

People:   When you cry out, I will come.

Leader:    Heaven and earth will be filled with my peace.

People:   Everything will become a new creation.

Leader:    Let us pray.

ALL: Loving and Merciful God, we give you thanks. You bring us strength, when we feel weak; courage, when we cannot stand. You fill our hearts with your glory and bless our being with your grace. You protect our lives. In your care, not one hair on our heads shall perish, nor the smallest flutter of peace perish in our souls. Amen.

Hymn: “In Christ Alone”

In Christ alone my hope is found,

he is my light, my strength, my song.

This Cornerstone, this solid ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my all in all,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,

fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

scorned by the ones He came to save.

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

the wrath of God was satisfied;

for every sin on Him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

sin's curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His and He is mine,

bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

this is the power of Christ in me.

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme or plan

can ever pluck me from His hand.

'Till He returns or calls me home

here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD

Words of Assurance

Loving One, you meet our fear with comfort, our anger with grace. Just when we have convinced ourselves that you have forgotten us, we find you turning back, and back, and back to us.

Meet us with your salvation– a gift beyond what we have dared to ask. Redeem our fears and turn them into joy.

Sing through us, O God, that we may have the voice and the peace to sing through you, forever and ever.

Amen and Amen.

*Gospel Reading: Luke 21:5-19

⁵ When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” 

⁷ They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

⁹ “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹ there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ¹³ This will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴ So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; ¹⁵ for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by all because of my name. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Leader:    This is the Word of God for the people of God

People:   Thanks be to God.

WORD AND RESPONSE

Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”

Children’s Message: A New Heaven & Earth

Hymn: “Cares Chorus”

I cast all my cares upon you,

I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,

and anytime that I don't know what to do,

I will cast all my cares upon you.

I cast all my cares upon you,

I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,

and anytime that I don't know what to do,

I will cast all my cares upon you.

Sermon: “Rejoice Forever in Creation”  Isaiah 65:17-25

¹⁷     For I am about to create new heavens

and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered

or come to mind.

¹⁸     But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,

and its people as a delight.

¹⁹     I will rejoice in Jerusalem,

and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,

or the cry of distress.

²⁰     No more shall there be in it

an infant that lives but a few days,

or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

²¹     They shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²     They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

²³     They shall not labor in vain,

or bear children for calamity;

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—

and their descendants as well.

²⁴     Before they call I will answer,

while they are yet speaking I will hear.

²⁵     The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,

the lion shall eat straw like the ox;

but the serpent—its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain,

says the Lord.

RESPONSE TO THE WORD 

Prayers of the People:  Joys and concerns

   Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer     

 THE SACRAMENTS OF

HOLY COMMUNION

Invitation, Prayer of Confession and Pardon:

 Christ our Lord invites to his table

       all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God

and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you

with our whole hearts.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the

cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Glory to God. Amen

The Great Thanksgiving

     The Lord be with you

And also with you. 

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of

heaven and earth.

You formed us in your image and

breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed,

your love remained steadfast.

You delivered us from captivity,

made covenant to be our sovereign God,

and spoke to us through your prophets.

And so, with your people on earth

and all the company of heaven

we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.

Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.

He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. 

When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this all of you;

this is my blood of the new covenant,

poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it

in remembrance of me."

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith 

Christ has died;

Christ is risen;

Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.   Amen

And now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.

Amen

Sharing of the Cup and Loaf

Moment of Prayer and Meditation

Prayer of Thanks 

Eternal God, we give you thanks

for this holy mystery

in which you have given yourself to us. 

Grant that we may go into the world

in the strength of your Spirit,

to give ourselves to others,

in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

SENDING FORTH

Hymn: “Lead Me, Guide Me”

Lead me, guide me, along the way,

for if you lead me, I cannot stray.

Lord, let me walk each day with thee.

Lead me, O Lord, lead me.

Lead me, guide me, along the way,

for if you lead me, I cannot stray.

Lord, let me walk each day with thee.

Lead me, O Lord, lead me.

Benediction

Hymn: “Go Now In Peace”            

Go now in peace, Never be afraid.

God will go with you each hour of ev-ry day.

Go now in faith, stead-fast, strong and true.

Know He will guide you in all you do.

Go now in love, and show you be-lieve.

Reach out to others so all the world can see.

God will be there watching from above.

Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.

    Amen! Amen! Amen