WELCOME TO WORSHIP | sunday | june 15, 2025

a diverse, inclusive church experiencing and reflecting the love, hope and joy of Jesus Christ

to each other and our community.

PRELUDE
A Testament of Hope | arr. Lee Barrow
Handbell Choir

Lee Barrow | © 1990 Hope Publishing Company | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

WELCOME | Pastor Cathy Johns

WAYS TO CONNECT | christchurchfl.org/ways2connect 
Please see below.

* CALL TO WORSHIP | Jeanne Deinken, liturgist 
Come, people of God, for we are called by the one who knows us and loves us still.
God's love is constant and unchanging, a steadfast anchor for our souls.
God's boundless grace embraces us in every moment.
Through grace we are forgiven and made whole.
God has drawn us into this community and given us a purpose.
We are called to serve with compassion, to love without limits, and to reflect God’s boundless grace to all.
Come, let us worship the God who calls, forgives, and empowers us to serve.
With joy and thanksgiving, we worship our loving God!

* GATHERING HYMN

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 57 (verses 1,2,4,5,7)
O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and king, the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious master and my God, assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me.

He speaks, and listening to his voice, new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe.

In Christ, your head, you then shall know, shall feel your sins forgiven;
anticipate your heaven below, and own that love is heaven.

Carl Gotthelf Gläser, Charles Wesley & Lowell Mason | words & music: public domain | CCLI License # 487103

* OPENING PRAYER 
Loving God, we gather today in the shelter of your constant love—a love that formed us, claims us, and will never let us go. From the very beginning, you made us in your image, breathing into us the breath of life, and calling us beloved. When we turned away, you did not abandon us. Instead, you sent Jesus to reconcile the world to yourself, to show us the depths of your grace and the wideness of your mercy. In a world that changes, your love remains. In our weakness, your mercy overflows. In our wandering, your Spirit still calls us home. Inspire us to be vessels of your reconciling love, extending kindness, mercy, and understanding to all we encounter. Amen.

* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH 
A Modern Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, Creator of all things, Giver of life and breath. God is present and walks with us daily through times of joy and sorrow. We believe in Jesus Christ, the word made flesh who lived among us. He was crucified, died, and buried. On the third day, he rose from the dead and lives today, bringing healing and hope to the world. He calls us to love God and all people, welcoming each person as part of God’s family. We believe in the Holy Spirit that came down on the first disciples to empower them, teach them, and lead them into all truth. We believe the same Spirit empowers us today as daughters and sons of God to transform the world with the amazing power of God’s love. We believe that God is moving among us today: still creating, still restoring, and still filling us with power as we live each day for the glory of God.

* GLORIA PATRI
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

Henry W. Greatorex | public domain | CCLI License # 487103

INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS | Lydia Carlson & Marisa Dheere

pastor Members of the household of God, I commend these persons to your love and care. Do all in your power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.

all We give thanks for all that God has already given you, and we welcome you in Christian love. As members together with you in the body of Christ and in this congregation of the United Methodist Church, we renew our covenant to faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 

MUSIC MINISTRY 
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah | arr. Mitchell Eithun
Handbell Choir

John Hughes & Mitchell Eithun   © 2025 Hope Publishing Company   | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

SCRIPTURE 
Psalm 51:10-12, 15-17 | New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.

…

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
¹⁷ The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

These are the words of God for us, the people of God. Thanks be to God

MESSAGE 
The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss | Life is Messy | Pastor Cathy Johns

OFFERING | Pastor Doug Johns
worshiping through the offering of our lives and gifts

·      Place offerings in the plates or wooden boxes

·      Give online at christchurchfl.org/give 

·      Text GIVE to 954.880.3885

·      Mail a check to Christ Church, 4845 NE 25^th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

Connect cards may also be placed with your offering. Christ Church is a congregationally supported ministry. We thank you for your faithfulness as we reflect the love, hope and joy of Jesus to our community.

MUSIC MINISTRY

Mercy Flows | Fay Lopez
Chancel Choir 
New every day, mercy and grace, all that I need you provide. Tender compassion, life everlasting, in you each day to abide. Mercy flows in the morning when I rise, mercy flows. With the dew on the ground, in the quiet there is found, in the morning when I rise, mercy flows. Father, your love reaches high to the heavens, your faithfulness to the sky. Holy and righteous like mighty mountains, Fountain of Life, in you we see light.

Faye Lopez & Patricia Mock | Tune: © 2014 Lorenz Corporation (admin. by Music Services) ASCAP | text: © 2014 Lorenz Corporation (admin. by Music Services) ASCAP   | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

* 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.

Bourgeois & Ken | public domain | CCLI License # 487103

MORNING PRAYER

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 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, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

* HYMN OF COMMITMENT
Grace Greater than our sin | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 365 (verses 1,2,4)
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

(refrain) Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss;

grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross. (refrain)

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see his face, will you this moment his grace receive? (refrain)

Daniel Brink Towner & Julia Harriette Johnston | words & music: public domain

* SENDING FORTH

* RESPONSE
Spirit Song | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 347
O let the Son of God enfold you with his Spirit and his love. 
Let him fill your heart and satisfy your soul. 
O let him have the things that hold you, and his Spirit like a dove 
will descend upon your life and make you whole.

Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs. 
Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.

John Wimber | © 1979 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing Co. | CCLI License # 487103

MUSIC FOR CLOSING
Joyful Recessional | Phil Lehenbauer
Chuck Stanley, organ

Phil Lehenbauer © 2013 Phil Lehenbauer | used by permission

* please stand in body or spirit.

Join us next Sunday, when we continue the series The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss, with the message 
Off We Go, based on Matthew 28:16-20.

For a complete list of all the ways to conect click here