Prelude — Celtic Grace
Susan Geschke · Ringers on the Square
Introit — Ah, Holy Jesus
arr. Matthew Compton · Ringers on the Square
Hymn of Praise — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Isaac Watts (1707), tune: HAMBURG (Lowell Mason) · HPP, vv. 1, 3, & 4
Isaac Watts published this hymn in 1707, and its opening verse delivers today’s Sacred Circles theme with startling precision: “My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” In the presence of the cross, every human achievement is revealed as loss, and every act of self-emptying becomes the truest gain.
Anthem — I Can Only Imagine
Bart Millard / MercyMe (1999) · Sawyer Kress, solo
Bart Millard wrote this song after the death of his father. For years, he found himself scribbling the phrase “I can only imagine” — not as a lyric, but as a lifeline. When we stand in the presence of the Divine with nothing left to offer — everything lost — what will we do?
Will we dance? Will we be still?
Interlude for Reflection — KELVINGROVE
Traditional Scottish melody · organ
Heard here instrumentally, without the congregation’s voice, this melody becomes a question suspended in air — unanswered, still open. We will return to this tune at the close of worship, but first, let the interlude hold the questions before we attempt any answers.
Sermon Reflection — The Circle Game
Joni Mitchell (1966) · youth singers & piano
Joni Mitchell wrote this song in 1966, and her lyric follows a child through the seasons of life — each verse gaining years while losing the wonder that came before. The youth are still inside the carousel while the rest of us listen from the other side, with the bittersweet wisdom that time’s gifts and time’s thefts are the same turning.
Response — Both Sides Now
Joni Mitchell (1967) · organ
Mitchell wrote “Both Sides Now” in 1967, and the song moves through three subjects — clouds, love, life — and with each, we gain experience but lose certainty. Where “The Circle Game” gave us the fact of time’s turning, “Both Sides Now” gives us the feeling of what that turning costs.
Offertory — Behold the Lamb of God
John L. Bell · choir & organ
The Lamb loses everything so that others might gain everything — the paradox at the center of today’s theme and of the cross we surveyed in our opening hymn. As you bring your offering forward, consider that every genuine act of giving means that something leaves you so that something larger might enter the world.
Closing Hymn — The Summons (KELVINGROVE)
John L. Bell (1987), tune: KELVINGROVE (Traditional Scottish) · HPP #317, vv. 1, 4, & 5
The KELVINGROVE melody returns — but now with your voice. Verses 1, 4, and 5 trace the arc from initial call, through the most demanding surrender — “Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name?” — to a response that gains everything by releasing the need to know where the road leads.
Postlude — Blackbird
Paul McCartney (1968) · piano
McCartney composed “Blackbird” in 1968 during the American Civil Rights Movement, later confirming it as a message of solidarity — “bird” being British slang for “girl,” the song addresses a young Black woman who is waiting for her “moment to arise.” Two weeks from now we will stand together at the foot of the cross. But today, we end our service with arising — a whispered promise that we have a destination.
We are only waiting….