Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
February 15, 2009
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am
 

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude                    "Preludium" (based on a chorale melody)             Christopher

*Litany of Prayer                                                                    (back of bulletin)

*Hymn                           "Praise, I will praise you, Lord"                               76

  With All Your Heart

  For Children                 "Healing  Boo-Boo's"

  Scripture                                   2 Kings 5:1-14

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Hymn                               "When peace, like a river"                                 336

  Pastoral Prayer

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                                        "Prayer"                                      Guilmant
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Hymn                               "There is a balm in Gilead"                                627

  Scripture                                   Mark 1:40-45

  Message                    "Touching the Untouchable" (mp3)

*Hymn                                 "Healer of our every ill"                                   377

*Benediction

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Litany of Prayer
(based on Psalm 30)

One:     We celebrate God's saving presence.
             God lets no one consume us.

People: O Lord, our God, we cry to you for help and you heal us.
             You restore us to life from among those lost and forlorn.

One:     Sing praises to the Lord, O you faithful ones.
             Give thanks to God's holy name.

People: God's dark shadow passes in a moment,
                   Leaving the tears of night behind.
             God's favor is for a lifetime,
                   renewing joy every morning.

One:     God restores us that we may live
                   in praise and thanksgiving.

People: Gracious God, continue as our helpmate and keeper.

One:     God turns mourning into dancing,
                   exchanging the shroud of sorrow for garments of joy.

People: Our very souls praise you.
             May our tongues never be silenced.

One:     O Lord, our God, we give thanks to you forever!

Nancy Fitzgerald, pastor of congregational life
Manassas, Virginia Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
  

With all your heart

Let us read together these words from the book of Matthew:

(On screen, Powerpoint presentation)

Jesus said,

"You shall love the Lord your God
With all your heart, and with all your soul,
And with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(Matthew 22: 37-39)

"...with all your heart"  --What does that mean? Where is your heart?

(Picture of heart model)

Just now, place the palm of your right hand over your physical heart.  Do you feel it beating?     Good! In this month during which we give special attention to hearts -- the red lacy ones and the chocolate ones -- have we done our best to be pro-active in caring for our physical heart? Without it, we are "out of business" so to speak.We need to care for the other parts of our body, as well.  Even when physical difficulties cannot be solved or resolved, wellness can be found. Because your heart is so important to your living, we sometimes use the word "heart" to mean "enthusiasm", "gusto" or "zeal" - as "with all my heart" as we sang a few minutes ago. We are reminded of the passage in Isaiah 40. Let's read that together:

 (On screen with picture of flying eagle)

"Make our hearts strong -
so that we can spread our wings
and soar like eagles!"
(Isaiah 40:31, The Message)

Attention to wellness also helps us to care for our minds - that part of us that chooses what and how we think and determines our actions. One example is figuring out how to show our love for God. Words that I read some years ago have remained in my mind:   

"The greatest thing a man can do for his Heavenly Father is to be kind to His other children."  (Henry Drummond)

With all your heart?

(Picture of two hands forming a heart shape)

Healthy living makes it possible to care for the bodies God has given us, in which dwells His Spirit.  The Spirit of the Living God lives in each of us. Wellness encourages us to work toward healthy living a way that recognized God's Spirit and care even through illness and the end of life.

(Picture of person with lifted hands inside of heart shape)

Have you cared for the body, mind and spirit that God has given to you?  Have you cared for it "with all your heart"?  Could you do it in a better way? As we listen, again, to the music of the hymn we just sang, take time to quietly assess your progress in your own caregiving.

(Listen to melody of
"Praise, I will praise you Lord, with all my Heart.
in you I will find the source of all my joy, Alleluia!" )

Please pray with me as we are guided by the words before you.

(On screen)

Everlasting God,
Enrich our lives by the power of your Spirit.
Give strength to our hearts
so that we can soar like eagles.
Help us to joyfully live for you
so that we can be your witnesses in this world.
We pray in Jesus' name.     Amen.

(Picture of flying eagle repeated)

written and led by Teresa Albright
  

For Children
"Healing  Boo-Boo's"

Our resident children's storyteller, Ed Lewis, will share with our little ones. He writes:

Scripture
2 Kings 5:1-14

1- We turn now to the second book of Kings, to the story of an encounter between the prophet Elisha and a Syrian military officer, who suffers from a contagious disease. Later in this worship service, we will hear the story of another healing encounter involving a man with the same affliction. For now, listen to these ancient words from God.

(pause)

1 - Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.

2 - Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress,

1 - "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

2 - So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

1 - And the king of Aram said,

2 - "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."

1 - He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read,

2 - "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy."

1 - When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said,

2 - "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me."

1 - But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king,

2 - "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel."

1 - So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,

2 - "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean."

1 - But Naaman became angry and went away, saying,

2 - "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?"

1 - He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him,

2 - "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean'?"

1 - So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

from the New Revised Standard Version,
copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

            Take a moment to look at the picture on the front of your bulletin. The photograph captures a moment in time. We have no way of knowing what is really happening with the woman seated in the lower right corner. She could be talking on a cell, or catching her breath, or rubbing an aching neck. She might just be tired, or lost, or frustrated, or afraid, or praying. We don't know, just like we don't really know all that much about the persons seated around us.

            Imagine another picture, one taken of this moment in time, as pass the plates for an offering. Like that bulletin cover photo, there is much we don't know, like where this money will go once it leaves our hands. Yes, we do know that folks here will count it, deposit it, and our treasurer will disperse it as we have decided. But will it touch such persons like the woman on the bulletin cover, whatever her situation? The better question might be, does it touch us?

Benediction