Zoom Invitation and Easter Order of Worship for May 16, 2021 
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Dear Friends of Pioneer,

Pastor Ginger Foster is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Pioneer UMC - Sunday Morning Worship
Time: May 16, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting online
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85849977401

Meeting ID: 858 4997 7401

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+16699009128,,85849977401# US (San Jose)

Dial by phone
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 858 4997 7401
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Pioneer United Methodist Church                           May 16, 2021 (10:00 am)                    7th Sunday of Easter    Order of Worship           
                                                            
                    Questions? Call Nancy Marchinek @ (530) 320-7484
                               or Pastor Ginger @ (559) 676-8719.
                     **On May 2nd join the service online with this link
                              https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85849977401
                     Or join by phone. Dial 1-(669)-900-9128 and enter
                                    Meeting ID#: 858 4997 7401

Bells of Easter
Prelude                                                             Qi Qing Thorp, Viola & Pianist            
Words of Welcome                                                          Pastor Ginger Foster
 
Opening Hymn                      “Spirit of God”                 #2117 (black hymnal)
                                                                                                    Vs. 3 & 4
                                                                                                           
Call to Worship                                                           Margaret Platt, Liturgist
      
            To worship and pray,
                        We have gathered this day.
           To remember our stories are part of a much larger story,
           To meditate on God’s teachings,
                       We have gathered this day.
           Gathered as one family of Christ,
                       We gather together in love and hope. 
                             | Seventh Sunday of Easter | Call to Worship
    – Adapted from Mary Scifres | From The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 |
            
Gift of Music                                                                   Nancy Thym, Harpist                             
Offering Our Gifts & Lives to God 
            Mission Moment                  Pastor’s Discretionary Fund
            Invitation to Give  
            Offertory                                                            Qi Qing Thorp, Pianist
   
Offering Our Prayers to God
           Sharing Our Joys and Concerns
                  Concerns:        Lord in Your Mercy       “Hear our Prayer
                  Joys:                In Grateful Praise         “Thanks be to God”
            Time of Personal Prayer                                  Dave Hogge, Guitarist
            Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer                                                                              
Scripture Reading               Ruth 2 - 4                     Margaret Platt, Liturgist
                                      (Selected passages)
 
Hymn of Preparation  “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”    #117 (red hymnal)
                                                                                                      Vs. 1, 3 & 6                
Message/Sermon     “Part of a Much Larger Story”    Pastor Ginger Foster        
Reflection on the Scripture Passage/Questions for private worship at home:
 
      The Book of Ruth falls between Judges and 1 Samuel. Judges is a story about a time when there were no kings in the land. The last verse of the book says “In those days Israel had no King; everyone did as they saw fit.”(Judges 21:25) Next there is the Book of Ruth. It seems like a simple family story. The story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. 1 Samuel, that follows after the Book of Ruth, is a story in which God ushers in the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. So we see that Naomi and Ruth’s story is perfectly positioned as a small story in God’s much larger story about the history of his people.
      In last week’s reading from the Book of Ruth we heard how Naomi’s story was not one she would have chosen. The death of her husband and her two sons left her in despair and full of bitterness. But in our reading for this week we hear how that changes. What was empty has now been made full. What was lost has been renewed and renewed abundantly. And in such an amazing way!
      At the end of the Book of Ruth we find a genealogy (Ruth 4: 18-22) that lets us know that Naomi’s grandson, Obed, (Ruth and Boaz’s son) would become the grandfather of King David, one of the greatest kings in the history of Israel. With this knowledge alone, Naomi’s story is already a part of a much larger story. But God does not stop there.
      As I mentioned last week, if we read Matthew 1: 1-17, we learn of the long line of love that ended in the birth of Jesus. In that genealogy of Jesus we find the names of Boaz, Ruth and Obed. Naomi’s grandson would become an ancestor of Jesus, the Messiah and our Savior. One family’s story, it becomes clear, is part of a much larger one, God’s story of God’s relationship with his own people. A story culminating in Jesus Christ.
      In the same way, YOUR story is a part of a much larger story and it’s time to recognize and take your place in that larger story. “Your story is a part of Jesus’s story. Tucked into the perfect time in history, yours is the gospel story. When you carry a record of sins and mistakes, you carry Jesus’s promise for forgiveness. When you carry a story that is broken and beyond repair, you carry Jesus’s promise for redemption. When you carry the awareness that your days on earth are numbered, you carry Jesus’s promise that your days in eternity with Him are infinite. When you find hope in trusting Jesus to renew your story, you carry that promise into the hearts of others who need to hear it next.” Something to think about….
|Adapted & quoted from “Renewed, Finding Hope When You Don’t Like Your Story” (Lessons From Naomi in the Book of Ruth) | By Heather M. Dixon |
 
Closing Hymn             “I Love to Tell the Story”               #156 (red hymnal)
                                                                                                       Vs. 2 & 4

Benediction                                                               Margaret Platt, Liturgist
           Live in the light,
                        The light of unity and love,
                       The light of faith and hope.
           Live in the light,
                       The light of God for all the world to know.  Amen.
        Second Sunday of Easter | Benediction – Adapted from Mary Scifres|
                              From The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 |
                               
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