Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
September 6, 2009
Worship 10:00 am
 

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship

*Hymn                                "Great is thy faithfulness"                                    327

*Opening Prayer

  For Children              "So that we don’t crumble"

  Scripture                                    James 2:1-10

  Responding to God’s invitation                                          (see back of bulletin)

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

  Hymn                                 "If you but trust in God"                                    576

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                   Mark 7: 24-37                Laughing Bird Version

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

  Scripture                                    Isaiah 35:1-7

  Message              "To those who are of a fearful heart" (mp3)

  Hymn                           "Precious Lord, take my hand"                               575

  A promise along the way           Isaiah 35:8-10

*Song                               "Therefore, the Redeemed"                       (see insert)

*Benediction

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Psalm 146

1 - Praise the Lord!

2 - Praise the Lord, O my soul!

1 - I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

2 - I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

1 - Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

2 - When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

1 - Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

2 - whose hope is in the Lord their God,

1 - who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

2 - who keeps faith forever;

1 - who executes justice for the oppressed;

2 - who gives food to the hungry.

1 - The Lord sets the prisoners free;

2 - the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

1 - The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

2 - the Lord loves the righteous.

1 - The Lord watches over the strangers;

2 - he upholds the orphan and the widow,

1 - but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

2 - The Lord will reign forever,

1 - your God, O Zion, for all generations.

2 - Praise the Lord!

            (pause a moment)

text is 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.
  

Opening Prayer

Not one of us is worthy to approach you, O God, Creator of the universe, holy and all-powerful. Yet you have approached us and have shown us the human face of your love in Jesus, your Son, our Savior. He revealed your love and mercy by living as he did - serving others and accepting them as people made in your image and likeness. He pointed us towards a world in which each and every person could realize his or her identity as a precious child of yours. He even gifted us with the Holy Spirit so that the very fabric of our existence is woven with the thread of his life. May this time of worship be a true reflection of our thanksgiving, wonder and praise over such blessings. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

written by Moira B Laidlaw of the Uniting Church in Australia
from Liturgies Online
  

For Children
"So that we don’t crumble"

Based upon Psalm 146:1-3
Needed - some cookies, a paper bag, and a metal canister

Suppose your mother gave you these cookies (show them) to take on a school field trip. You can't carry the cookies in your hands, can you? You need something to hold them. What about this bag? (Put the cookies in the sack.) Now you can carry them easily and you won't lose them.

            But what will happen if you drop the sack of cookies? They might fall out. Or even worse - what if someone sits on the sack while you are on the bus? You'd have cookie crumbs instead of cookies. The sack helps you carry the cookies, but it does not protect them.

            This will help. (Put the sack in the canister.) Now the cookies are well protected. You still have the sack to help you carry the cookies when you take them from the can. The can will protect them from bumps and falls.

            Can you think of yourself as being like these cookies?

            You can also be hurt. You can be hurt by cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Even more than that, you can be hurt by words and actions. You can be sad and lonely.

            You can worry and be afraid. Just as the cookie needs protection, so do you.

The sack can remind you of the people who want to help you. The sack is your parents, your teachers, your friends. I also want to help you. The people who take care of you, who teach you, and who help you all love you. But all of us will let you down at one time or another. We will not always be there when you need us. We will not always know how to help you. Or we will be busy with something else. That's why the psalm warns us by saying, "Don't put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you." Other people love you and want to help you, but they cannot always give you the help you need. They are like the paper sack.

            But listen to what else the psalm says: "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life." God is the one who can help you. He is like this can. People may help you know God. Just as the sack holds the cookies as they go into the can, people who love you can help you know that God loves you even more.

            I hope you can always love other people and let them love you. You can also trust them-but you can trust them only as much as they are able to help you. All people are limited in helping you because they also need help. All humans are limited except one - that one is Jesus. Jesus is God who also became a human being. He became like us to die for us and to give us new life. But he also is God. So he has no limits on his ability to help you.

            Think of the people who help you as being the sack and Jesus as the can. The people help you know Jesus, but he is the only one who protects you.

borrowed from Eldon Weisheit,
pp. 102-103 in The Psalms for Children (year B)
©1984, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis
(out-of-print, limited availability)
original title: "Who Will Protect You?"
  

Responding to God’s invitation

Who Is My Neighbor?

One:        Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.

All:         Yes I will love the Lord, but who is my neighbor?

One:        Unemployed parents seeking jobs, and retirees who are struggling to survive.

All:         We will love them in prayerful support.

One:        Children with autism, and men and women out of prison, on parole.

All:         We will love them in prayerful support.

One:        The women of Rwanda, whose husbands and sons disappeared, or were murdered in the genocide.

All:         We will love them in prayerful support.

One:        The affluent and powerful, who seek to be just and compassionate to those in need.

All:         We will love them in prayerful support.

One:        Brethren congregations that hold on in faith, with very few members and limited resources.

All:         We will love them in prayerful support.

Unison:  Loving, living, and longsuffering God, forgive us for keeping our neighbors at a distance. When we do not love, we imprison ourselves. When we love, we release ourselves. We commit to healing the breach, making the bridge, and extending your love to our neighbors.

by Dennis Webb, pastor
Naperville Church of the Brethren Naperville, Illinois
He will be the Friday evening speaker at NOAC this week.
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
  

Pastoral Prayer

            Lord, you know how great our needs are. In these difficult times when jobs are threatened, homes are being lost, families are experiencing great stress, come and bring your healing love to us. Help us to place our trust in you. Remind us again of how you transform lives, not just with healing, but with a spirit of hope and compassion. Keep us hopeful. Teach us not to give up when things are going wrong. Give us faith that can move mountains. Give us hearts that are ready to be of service to others in all times and in all places. As we have lifted up people and situations which concern us and have asked for your hand of healing, remind us that that same healing hand rests on us also. Enable us to be people of compassion and trust; for we ask these things in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

borrowed from Cokesbury’s Worship Connection
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Pray with me.

Healing One, we are reminded so often in the Bible narration that you are capable of miraculous actions. But your miracles are not limited to these ancient times. People still experience miracles in these ordinary, everyday times. We recall those many miracles that have touched people within our own congregation. We are astounded by those miracles that we witness each day. We are so thankful! Today, we offer you this money as a sacred gesture of our gratitude. All praise and honor be given to you! Amen.

Ushers?

adapted from a prayer written by David S. Bell, copyright 2009.
  

A promise along the way

Isaiah 35:8-10

1 - A highway shall be there,

2 - and it shall be called the Holy Way;

1 - the unclean shall not travel on it,

2 - but it shall be for God’s people;

1 - no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

2 - No lion shall be there,

1 - nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

2 - they shall not be found there,

1 - but the redeemed shall walk there.

2 - And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

1 - and come to Zion with singing;

2 - everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

1 - they shall obtain joy and gladness,

2 - and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

text is 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.
  

Benediction