Election Eve Prayer Vigil: Monday, November 2nd 6:30-7:30pm under the sails, downtown Hickory Join Hickory Area Ministers and community faith leaders in a time of nonpartisan prayer for the election process, our country, our leaders and our neighbors. Please consider wearing a mask and practicing appropriate physical distance to keep one another safe and healthy as we gather.

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NPC Officer Nominations for 2021! http://bit.ly/2021OfficerNominations Please click the link above to nominate an elder or deacon. Ruling elders serve a 3 year term on the Session and form the board that governs the polity of our church, and support our ministry, programs and mission. Deacons serve a 3 year term on our Board of Deacons, also called the Diaconate. Deacons serve in the ministry of compassion and congregational care and oversee our deacon neighborhoods. After nominations are received, nominations will be brought to a congregational meeting for a vote towards the end of this calendar year. It is traditional for those who serve as elder or deacon to have been a member of Northminster for at least one year.

Link to sheet music

1 Know that God is good.
Know that God is good.
Know that God is good;
God is good; God is good.

2 Halle, hallelujah.
Halle, hallelujah.
Halle, hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION:

Trusting in God’s goodness, we recognize our faults, our failings and our missed opportunities.  Hungry for God’s mercy, may we tell the truth, confessing these things to God and one another,  first in a moment of silence and then joining in a responsive prayer of confession.  

<SILENCE>

As you hear the words, Gracious God, you are invited to respond, O Lord, hear our prayer.  

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

Holy Beloved God, known to our parents, our ancestors and our spiritual forebears, have mercy on us. 

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

We do not always love as you would have us love.  We do not always do as you would have us do.  In our stubbornness, we turn from you when we should turn toward you.  

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

Hold us, dear One, comfort us when we are grieving, surround us with your peace as we remember the saints who have come before and rest with you and the great cloud of witnesses. 

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

We give you thanks and praise for the grace you shower upon us, for your forgiveness, for the comfort you offer to soothe our fears, our worries and our wounds. 

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

May we meet each day with hope as we trust in your mercy and love. 

Gracious God, O Lord, hear our prayer. 

Amen.  

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ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS:

Family of God, hear the good news!  We have messed up plenty of times trying to follow God’s ways, and while we have often failed, we are still loved beyond measure.  Through our brother Jesus, we are reconciled to God and to one another, joining the great cloud of witnesses in God’s holy family, beloved, forgiven and free.  Thanks be to God for God’s mercy, grace and love.  Amen!

And Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them!"

Psalm 34:1-10

I will bless the Lord at all times, praise for Adoni the Lord will continually be in my mouth.  

My soul will boast in the Lord, let the humble and the oppressed hear it and be glad.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt God’s Name together.  I sought the Lord Adoni, who answered me and freed me from all my fears.  Those who look to the Lord are radiant, and their faces are never covered with shame.  

The poor called out and the Lord heard their cries and saved them from all their troubles.  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who revere God and rescues them.  O taste and see that the Lord is good, happy are those who take refuge in our God.  Holy people of God, revere Adoni the Lord, for those who stand in awe of God lack nothing. The young lion may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.  

This is the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God.

Link to sheet music

1 My life flows on in endless song,
above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the clear, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.

Refrain:
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?

2 Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing? (Refrain)

3 What though my joys and comforts die?
I know my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth. (Refrain)

4 The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing? (Refrain)

Link to sheet music for "Shall We Gather at the River"

1 Shall we gather at the river,
where bright angel feet have trod,
with its crystal tide forever
flowing by the throne of God?

Refrain:
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

2 On the margin of the river,
washing up its silver spray,
we will walk and worship ever,
all the happy golden day. (Refrain)

3 Ere we reach the shining river,
lay we every burden down;
grace our spirits will deliver,
and provide a robe and crown. (Refrain)

4 Soon we’ll reach the shining river;
soon our pilgrimage will cease;
soon our happy hearts will quiver
with the melody of peace. (Refrain)

(Worshippers will be invited to say aloud the names of saints that have gone on to glory any time, not just in the last year.)