Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
September 5, 2004
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

"Wake up, and strengthen what remains..."
(Revelation 2a)

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship                                                                                        659

*Hymn                                  "To God be the glory"                                    102

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                               Matthew 28:16-20

  "Go and make disciples" ... commissioning those who teach!

  Hymn                                "O little children, gather"                                   489
                                              (Pre-schoolers leave for playful worship)

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise

  Hymn                                    "God sent his Son"                                       345

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                 Revelation 3:1-6

  Message                  "When the path is too smooth"

*Hymn                                   "Awake, O sleeper"                                 (insert)

*Benediction


#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

 Leader:   Grace unto you and peace from God
                      who was and who is
                      and who is to come,
People:   and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
                      the first born of the dead,
                      ruler above all rulers of the earth.
 
Leader:   In love Jesus Christ suffered death to free us from our sins,
People:   making all who confess Christ as nation of priests
                       set aside for God's service.
       All:    To Jesus Christ be glory and power forever and ever!

Hymnal #659, Revelation 1:4-6, adapted from RSV
by Ruth C. Duck, Bread for the Journey, ed. Ruth C. Duck,
©1981, The Pilgrim Press
   

Opening Prayer

         Awaken us to your glory, O Lord. Lift our eyes from the details of this moment, and the labor of our daily existence, that we might catch a glimpse of your bigger picture. Help us to hear your resurrection promise in Christ, and thus rise to new life even now - today! With the aroma of your love, make us hungry for a taste of your kingdom. Touch us with your Holy Spirit, convicting us of our sin but also empowering us to move beyond it. Yours is, indeed, the power and the glory, and we praise your name for the "great things" you have done, as well as for who you are. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
   

"Go and make disciples" ...
commissioning those who teach!

         Every person who will be (or even anticipates at some point being) involved in our Sunday School program in the coming months, is invited to get up out of their seat at this point and come forward - that we might "act out" Matthew 28:16-20 in a low key way. Using the text as a guide, we'll remember the story and realize our role in "going" (not just sitting in class, then leaving the lessons behind once we exit church, but allowing them to enter our everyday world) and "making disciples" ... "baptizing" ... "teaching." This is our great commission, of which Sunday School is a part. Our teachers will be invited to stand in front of everyone to hear all this, especially the important reminder that Jesus is with us always. But all need to hear and be commissioned, as well. We'll end with a prayer, and sing about "Jesus' school of learning" (#489) as folks return to their seats, and preschoolers head off to their special worship time.
   

Pastoral Prayer

 

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

 

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Read Proverbs 10:11-13

         As you respond to God's goodness with your offering this morning, turn to the back of your bulletin and be refreshed by what is there. These reflections are like "a word fitly spoken." Allow it to guide your giving into an act of worship. The prayer is very appropriate. Feel free to pray it on your own. Now, would the ushers please come forward to serve?


(back of bulletin:)
REFRESH MY HEART IN CHRIST

         When I am feeling dry and depleted, I am tempted to dwell on those things that rob me of time, energy, and enthusiasm. I have learned that it s much more productive to ask myself the following question: If money, time, and people s opinions were of no consequence, what would I do and be?

         Vacations relax me, people impress me, nature inspires me, but in order for my heart to be refreshed in Christ, I need to reconnect with the source of power and passion in my life. Only in Christ do I find purpose that awakens and changes me. Like Paul in his letter to Philemon, I receive joy and encouragement when I perceive the good I can do for Christ; I become partnered with God for that which God has uniquely equipped me to do. The more I seek God s direction for my life, the more I learn about myself and I am able to serve others with a sense of fulfillment.

PRAYER
Loving and Gracious God,
Thank you for blessing me with gifts that serve your kingdom;
I offer you my heart to be refreshed for the work of Christ.
Grant me courage to step into the streams of living water and
to explore the mystery of what you have created me to do and be.
Amen.

by Rosanna Eller McFadden, Goshen, Indiana
Elkhart City Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"

The Letter to Sardis
Revelation 3:1-6 (NRSV)

{1} "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:
             These are the words of him
                        who has the seven spirits of God
                                and the seven stars:
                 "I know your works;
                            you have a name of being alive,
                                                 but you are dead.
{2}                Wake up, and strengthen what remains
                                   and is on the point of death,
                            for I have not found your works perfect
                                         in the sight of my God.
{3}                 Remember then what you received
                                                        and heard;
                                                obey it,
                                          and repent.
                                 If you do not wake up,
                                          I will come like a thief,
                                                    and you will not know at what hour
                                                                 I will come to you.
{4}               Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis
                               who have not soiled their clothes;
                                        they will walk with me,
                                                       dressed in white,
                                                for they are worthy.
{5}        If you conquer,
                 you will be clothed like them in white robes,
                            and I will not blot your name
                                                         out of the book of life;
                                  I will confess your name
                                            before my Father and
                                            before his angels.
{6} Let anyone who has an ear listen
               to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
   

Benediction

 

 

Interested in Sunday School?
Below is a growing list of possible sites to visit. As you discover others, please let us know.

International Lesson thoughts
from the
Mennonite Publishing House

International Lesson
Commentary by
Richard Hughes
(posted on Saturday)

International Lesson
Commentary by
Edwin Elliott

 

©2003 Peter L. Haynes
(unless otherwise stated, worship resources were written by him)

 

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