Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
July 2, 2006
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

      "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Vision of God’s Peaceable Kingdom           Isaiah 11:1-10

*Hymn                           "It came upon a midnight clear"                          195

*Opening Prayer

*Affirming our faith                                                                                  711

  Story of God’s Discernment                      Matthew 25:31-46

  Confessional Hymn        "Brothers and sisters of mine"                            142

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory

*Doxology

*Dedication

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

  Responsive Prayer                                                                                721

  Hymn                                   "Dona nobis pacem"                                  346
                                       (Our younger children leave for Sunday School)

  Jesus’ Challenge                        Luke 6:27-36

  Message                                                                       Illana Naylor Barrett

*Hymn                            "Let there be peace on earth"                  (see insert)

*Benediction

*Postlude


#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

after reading Isaiah 11:1-10

         We usually sing #195, "It came upon a midnight clear," in the cold of December as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, this vision of "peace on earth, good will to all" is not a Christmas relic. Rather, it shines like a beacon for all of life. If you are able, please stand and sing, pushing back the "woes of sin and strife" and the "two thousand years of wrong," with what the "prophet bards (like Isaiah) foretold." Make this a song of praise to the One behind this vision of a peaceable kingdom... Besides, on a hot July day, it’s nice to sing a December carol. Amen?

 

Opening Prayer

         Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, Spirit of counsel and of power, Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:2), come and open our hearts and minds to your vision, your story, your challenge to us this day. We open our doors to you, who stand and knock, waiting to be welcomed in. May our praise be in the attentiveness of our spirits to you, as well as in the words we speak or the songs we sing throughout this service of worship. May we hear the lion roar and the lamb bleat. May we see the hungry who lie at our feet. May we bless those who curse and pray for those who mistreat. May we follow Jesus, simply, peacefully, together. Amen.
   

Affirming our faith

Leader: Jesus taught us to speak of hope as the coming of God's kingdom.

  ALL: We believe that God is at work in our world
                  turning hopeless and evil situations into good.
            We believe that goodness and justice
                  will triumph in the end
                  and that tyranny and oppression cannot last forever.
            One day all tears will be wiped away;
                  the lamb will lie down with the lion,
                  and justice will roll down like a mighty stream.

Leader: True peace and true reconciliation are not only desired,
                  they are assured and guaranteed in Christ.

  ALL: This is our faith.
            This is our hope.

Hymnal, #711, South African creed, 20th c.,
Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace,
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
  

Responsive Prayer

Almighty God,
                    from whom comes each good gift of life,
                    we remember your loving kindness and your uncounted mercies
                             as we join in grateful praise.
           For all your gifts to us and to our human race;
                    for our life and the world in which we live,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the order and constancy of nature;
                    for the beauty and bounty of the world;
                    for day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest;
                    for the varied joys which every season brings,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the work we are enabled to do,
                    and the truth we are permitted to discover;
                    good there has been in our past,
                    and for all the hopes which lead us on toward better things,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For all the joys and comforts of life;
                    for homes and families;
                    for our friends;
                    for the love, sympathy, and goodwill of persons near and far,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For all cultures, wise government and just laws which order our common life;
                    for education and all the treasures of literature, science, and art,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the discipline of life;
                    for the tasks and trials which train us to know ourselves
                    and which bring us to accept one another,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the desire and power to help others;
                    for every opportunity of serving our generation in ways large or small,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the gift of Jesus Christ, and everything which is ours as his disciples;
                    for the presence and inspiration of your Holy Spirit throughout our days,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
          
For the tender ties which bind us to the unseen world;
                    for the faith which dispels the shadows of earth
                    and fills the closing years of life with the light of hope,
                    we give you thanks, O God.
ALL:  God of all grace and love,
                    we have praised you with our lips
                    for all the richness and meaning that life holds for us.
           Now send us into the world to praise you with our lives,
                    through Jesus Christ, our Lord. AMEN

Hymnal #721, from
The Hymnal of the United Church of Christ, ©1974.
United Church Press, 700 Prospect Ave., E.,
Cleveland, OH 44115-1100
   
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

         "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" ...

         Good question!  ...  As you return your offering just now, allow the response of the "Son of Man" speak to your spirit - nudging, encouraging, nagging, perhaps even judging - saying, "whatever you did (or did not do) for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did (or did not do) for me."

Ushers?

 

Dedication

         Lord God, thank you for the ability to hear and see you in "the least of these," and for the wisdom to respond to human need, even when we do not see and hear you. Bless these offerings in Jesus’ name. Amen.
   

Benediction

 

(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)

 

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

"Jesus is all"
commentary on the
International Lesson

Living Web Sunday School Project

 

©2006 Peter L. Haynes
(unless otherwise stated, worship resources were written by him)

 

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