https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cFchkT5ouq7gef6xF7vXkrnW-Xw3Xb5j/view
Above is the internet link to our recording of worship from Sunday 9/28/25 led by Pastor Bill Watson.
To view the recording copy the link and place it into your browser.
Hope to see you for the first Sunday of October which will be led by Pastor CJ King, with Holy Communion as well.
Order of Worship, Grafton Community Church, 09-28-25
Bill Watson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Grafton Community Church Worship
Time: Meeting – 9:45 a.m. September 28, 2025
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*Password: 099540
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Meeting ID: 235 223 715
It helps to download the FREE Zoom app ahead of time.
Please mute your computer or phone microphone! Make sure there is a red slash through the microphone icon in the lower left-hand corner of your screen.
This will make the service more enjoyable for all.
**In the sanctuary, masks and a safe social distance are suggested, especially when singing or responding in prayer!!!
Order of Worship, Grafton Community Church, 09-28-25 – Season of Pentecost
Prelude (Ken Olsson, Music Minister)
(After entering Zoom or the Sanctuary, please use mute or observe silence to allow all to prepare for worship. Thank you & Blessings)
Lift High the Cross (Larry Shackley)
Here I Am, Lord (Jack Schrader)
Piano Sonata No. 20, 1st Movement (Ludwig von Beethoven)
Blessed Assurance (Pepper Choplin)
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Mark Hayes)
Welcome and Announcements (Linda Robertson, Council Chair)
No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!
*Please observe a moment of silence; so we may each offer our prayers and praise to Creator, Christ & Holy Spirit.
*Hymn #16 “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
1 Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.
2 Here I raise to thee an altar; hither by thy help I've come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
3 O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, how I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
* Call to Worship (from “Prayers for the World & Its People,” Iona Abbey Worship Book)
One: Believing that God made and loves the world,
Many: we gather.
One: That it may be reshaped to fulfill God’s purposes,
Many: we pray.
One: To seek a wisdom deeper than our own thinking,
Many: we listen.
One: To honor God who gave us voice,
Many: we worship.
* Unison Prayer
Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit, For the healing of the nations You raised up Your Son on the wood of the cross. In that everlasting symbol, we are confident in Your gift of grace. Grant that all who believe may continually seek to fulfill Your vision of creation on this earth. In your names we pray! Amen!
* Response Hymn #16 Verse 2
Here I raise to thee an altar; hither by thy help I've come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood
Scripture:
Numbers 21: 4-9
[Moses had led the Israelite people out of bondage in Egypt and toward the promised land,] but the people became discouraged on the way.
The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food."
Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."
So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole, and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
John 3: 13-17
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
*Hymn #108 “Lift High the Cross” ©
[Refrain]
Lift high the Cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.
1 Come, Christians, follow this triumphant sign.
The hosts of God in unity combine.
[Refrain]
2 Each newborn servant of the Crucified
bears on the brow the seal of Christ who died.
[Refrain]
3 O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
your death has brought us life eternally.
[Refrain]
4 So shall our song of triumph ever be:
praise to the crucified for victory.
[Refrain]
All lyrics © 1995 Chalice Press
Used by Permission. CCLI License #21383697
Reflection: “ Look Up and Live ” Pastor Bill Watson
Synopsis: In the First Testament the bronze symbol of a serpent, raised on high, becomes a saving grace, offered by God, to protect the Israelite people from venomous serpents. For Christian faithful that symbol of redemption and life is the Cross of Christ Jesus. God offers us grace under that Cross, but asks us to continually look up as we seek a way to an ever closer relationship with Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit.
*Hymn #543 “Blessed Assurance”
1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
[Refrain:]
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
2 Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
[Refrain]
3 Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [
Refrain]
Offerings of the People
You can present your offering for the work of Grafton Community Church, using the “Donate Now” button on our Facebook page at The Grafton Church, or on our web site www.graftoncommunitychurch.org (The button may actually say “Shop Now,” but it has the same function.
Offertory: (Music Minster Ken Olsson)
Peaceful Piano #24 (Mark Hayes)
Response: Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God all creatures here below – Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God above the source of gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts.
Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit – Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Offertory Prayer of Dedication
The Benediction & 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, the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever. Amen.
Postlude: (Music Minister Ken Olsson)
This Little Light of Mine (Mark Hayes)
Please greet your neighbors on Zoom or at a “Safe Social Distance” in the sanctuary, as the postlude ends. On Zoom unmute your mikes, share greetings and the peace of this virtual space.
Masks are optional but suggested in the sanctuary!
Grafton Prayer List:
Our Planet Earth * Immigrants experiencing or facing detention or deportation in their loneliness and fear *Those enduring times of stress *Those with PTSD & their families *Beloved pets of Grafton *Mary Karam, & the Humes family *Arlene & Ron Carey *Gaelle McLoud *The Rowley family *Carol Bason *Arthur Park *Norm Robertson *Robert Johnson (Ken Olsson’s father-in-law) *Nancy Merrill *Dick Warren *Joyce Olsson (Ken’s mom) *Cecile Fisher Smith *Dennis Scharback *Todd Baker (Pastor Watson’s friend) *Linda Preziosi *Paul Nolan (Steve Nolan’s cousin) *Christine Tattersall *Gayle Arbuckle *JoAnn Supple (Sherry Brown’s mother) *Jeremiah Olmas (Mary Feder’s friend’s grandson) *Jim Webb (Angela Moulton’s Father) *Karen Hunt *David Lambert *Sophie Field * Robert Waldron (Sherry Brown’s nephew) *Irene Rice *Max Brown *Dick Desrochers *Patricia Donatelli
Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones
*Irene Rice & family *Family & friends of Liam Parker (Michele Chickering’s son) *Family & friends of Jerry Goldlust (Christine Tattersall’s close friend) *Family & friends of Bob Wright *Family & friends of Barbara Andrews (Meg Gonzalez’ mom) *Family & friends of Bob Haseltine *Family & friends of Donald F.M. Bolton *Family & friends of Denize Schemm *Family & friends of Helen Lanoie (mother of Andre Lanoie) * Family & friends of Bernard “Pete” Haley *Family & friends of Donna Rice *Family & friends of Galen Pinkham *Family & friends of Susan Lathrop *Family & friends of David James Smith (Cecile Smith’s brother in law) *Family & friends of David Fischmann (partner of Katherine Brown) *Family & friends of Estelle Pieth *Family & friends of Dave Robinson *Family & friends of Debbie Wright *Family & friends of Stephan Fitzsimmons (Caidin Domeracki’s grandfather)
Extended Care:
*Dottie Royal, Bromley Manor, 2595 Depot St., Manchester, VT 05255
*Rev. Catherine Cadieux, Sterling House, 33 Atkinson Street, Bellows Falls VT 05101
Grafton Community Church, 55 Main Street, PO Box 158, Grafton, VT, 05146, United States
(802) 843-2346 Graftonchurch@gmail.com
Our Website: www.graftoncommunitychurch.org
On Facebook: The Grafton Church
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at Grafton Community Church