Welcome to Worship at the McPherson Church of the Brethren
We invite your active participation in the life of this congregation, as together we continue to grow in grace and seek justice for God's creation.
Sunday, September 20, 2026
The International Day of Peace, September 21, was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly.
Two decades later, in 2001, the UN General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of
nonviolence and cease-fire. International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern,
to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity.
2026 Theme: Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day
Welcome Video
♫Gathering Music | “Peace with God" | Garrett Parker
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Sharing Time – Joys and Concerns | Kevin Jones
♫Centering Music | “Blowin’ in the Wind” | Bob Dylan
Worship Band and Dan Hoffman, guitar
[Verse 1]
How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail, before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly, before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[Verse 2]
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[Verse 3]
Yes, and how many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Opening Responsive Commitment | UN resources for International Day of Peace
ONE: Today, amidst staggering volatility, the search for peace feels overwhelming -
but it has never been more urgent.
ALL: Peace is more than the absence of war; it is the foundation necessary to collectively
tackle humanity’s challenges. It is the lived experience of safety, dignity, opportunities
and cooperation in our daily lives.
ONE: Peace happens when ‘everyday architects’ drive local action, lay groundwork for stability and
build lasting peace from the ground UP!
All: Peace is not just built in conference rooms.
Peace is shaped by everyone, everywhere, every day.
Each of us – all of us - can do our part for peace:
We CAN take one small step for peace every day.
We CAN give our time to help someone else.
We CAN lend our voices to drive positive change.
We CAN use our platform to promote a cause or tell a story of peace and hope.
We WILL – Invest in PEACE!
♫Opening Song | “You are Salt for the Earth” | #226
Message for the Kids | Barbara Wagoner
Invitation to Give
You may Give online or send a check made payable to "McPherson Church of the Brethren,"
200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 67460
♫Offering Music | “Romance” Opus 36 | Camille Saints-Saens
Kyle Hopkins, horn; Ellen Gilbert, piano
Scripture Foci
Jesus teaches about poverty and riches
Matthew 19: 16-24; The rich, young, ruler
6 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good.
If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,
19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 12: 13-21; The rich, fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.
17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.
19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Jesus rights an Inequality
John 8: 2-11; The woman accused of adultery
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.
Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left,
with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said.
Jesus practices non-discrimination
John 5: 1-9a; The invalid is healed
5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a]
and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—
the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,
“Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.
While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
♫Scripture Song | “Strong, Righteous Man of Galilee" | #540
Message | 'everyday architects of peace and justice' | Kathryn Whitacre
the root causes of conflict are poverty, inequality, and discrimination
♫Sending Song | “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”
Please be seated for the Sending Words and Sending Music
Sending Words
♫Sending Music | “What the World Needs Now Is Love” | Burt Bacharach
Combined Worship Band and Choir
Kevin Jones, piano; Kyle Hoplins, Horn
Slideshow by Kevin Jones
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some but for everyone (X2)
Lord, we don't need another mountain. There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross, enough to last until the end of time.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some, but for everyone.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
No, not just for some, oh, but just for every-, every-, everyone.
Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Choir Director: Becky Snell
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre
Chancel Decoration Team: Jill Brax, Colleen Gustafson, Janette Hess, Michele Johnson, Shane Kirchner, Marie Neher & Lara Schoming
