Worship - June 20, 2010

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
June 20, 2010
Worship 10:00 am

Father’s Day

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.” (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5)

Beginning with Praise (9:50 am) "I love thy kingdom, Lord" 308
Announcements
Prelude "For the Beauty of the Earth" Larson

*Call to Worship

*Hymn "Great is thy faithfulness" 327

*Opening Prayer

For Children "Godly Fathers"

Responsive Reading of Psalm 42 816

A prayer to preface our sharing

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

A Unison Father’s Day Prayer (see insert)

Scripture Galatians 3:23-29 (from The Message)

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

Hymn "God, whose giving" 383

Scripture 1 Kings 19:1-15

Message "When the fire gets too hot" (mp3)

*Hymn "Dear Lord and Father of mankind" 523

*Benediction

*Postlude "O Love of God" Beastall

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

One: In a day when so many men are absent, we cherish the love of our fathers.

Women: Thank God for fathers who comfort and encourage.

Men: Thank God for fathers who build character and inspire us to greatness.

Left: Thank God for fathers who teach morality and model decency.

Right: Thank God for fathers who lovingly convince boys to become men.

Youth: Thank God for brave fathers who have the courage to resist being absent.

All: Lord, on this Father's Day, may we encourage more men in our community to pick up the mantle of fatherhood!

by Kwasi Kena, adapted
Copyright General Board of Discipleship.
www.GBOD.org Used by permission

Opening Prayer

Your faithfulness to us, O God, undergirds every promise we ever make. Because you are true to your word, we can take the often risky step of being true to ourselves and others. This sets us free to be what you have created us to become. Granted, we are not there yet. We fall short of your glory and honor. But you love us as we are, Lord, and move us onward toward becoming more, stepping before us in Christ into the future of your desire.
Gracious, loving, empowering, heavenly Father, enfold us in your arms this hour, like Jesus once took the children to himself. Nudge us forward, that we might hear and respond to the challenge of your Son, our Messiah today. This we pray in his name. Amen.

For Children
“Godly Fathers”

Storyteller Mr. Ed will share personally about how great it is to be a dad and how wonderful it is to have a dad, connecting it up with "Our Father who art in heaven."

Responsive Reading of Psalm 42

Psalm 42 and 43 are really part of the same psalm which consists of three stanzas, each ending with the same refrain which you see printed at the top of your bulletin. If asked of us by someone other than ourselves, this question can become oppressive. However, in the context of prayer, the words point toward hope. Please turn to #816 in the back of your hymnal and join me in reading the first 2 stanzas that make up Psalm 42. Yours is the bold print. Before we begin, take a moment to imagine being out in the woods, which is perhaps where some of you fathers might wish to be this morning. Think of a cold and clear mountain stream, and envision a deer, a 5-point buck standing not all that far in front of you. This psalm begins with that image. Hold onto it, even as we speak words of discouragement which lead us toward hope. Let’s listen as we together utter God’s Word. (pause)

As the deer pants for streams of water,
      so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
      while people say to me continually,
      "Where is your God?"
These things I remember as I pour out my soul:
      how I used to go with the multitude,
            leading the procession to the house of God,
            with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
            among the festive throng.
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
      for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
      therefore I will remember you
            from the land of the Jordan,
            the heights of Hermon - from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
      all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
By day the LORD directs his love,
      at night his song is with me -
            a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
      "Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
      oppressed by the enemy?"
My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,
      saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
      for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Hymnal #816
New International Version (NIV)

A prayer to preface our sharing

Living God, like the author of the psalm, there are times when we feel besieged by unbelief; times when we are mocked for our faithfulness and people still cry “where is your God?” So, on this day of celebration, we praise and thank you for giving meaning and shape to our faith in the person of Jesus Christ. You strengthen us with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can affirm our unity in Christ with joy and hope for the future. There are times of testing when doubts creep in, and there are sure to be such times ahead, but we face the future with courage and anticipation, in the knowledge that you have been - that you are - and that you forever will be - our help, our rock, and our God. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

by Moira B Laidlaw from Liturgies Online

A Unison Father’s Day Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
bless the fathers who are on earth;
Those who work hard every day
to light a path and show the way;
Those who forget and don't perceive
the devastation when they leave.

Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come;
thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Help the earthly fathers know
and praise your name in daily flow,
Making no difference between
the holy realm and worldly scene.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And for the dads without a job,
Strengthen their faith in Provider God.
Feed them with the bread of love
The wine of justice
The meat of determination
The fruit of the spirit;
That they will remember how Jesus gave himself for us
Demonstrating that there are many ways for a MAN TO GIVE.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Teach our men the ways of peace
Desiring that all violence shall cease
Whether husband/wife, parents/children
Black on black, nation to nation
Neither tongue, hand, gun, knife
No shock and awe, no fiery towers . . .
Help humanity learn HOW TO FORGIVE.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Guide all daddies to be wise.
Give them strength of soul to seek the prize
Of a world without racism or greed,
A world where no child is left in need,
A world where cheaters cannot win,
Salvation reigns, there is no sin.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever, Amen.

by the Rev. Marilyn E. Thornton
Copyright General Board of Discipleship
www.GBOD.org Used by permission.

Galatians 3:23-29

Turning to the New Testament, listen now to the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the followers of Jesus in Galatia. I’ll be reading from The Message, a paraphrase.

Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.
But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise.
In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Please pray with me.

Every parent longs for their children to grow into maturity. That is the goal of being a family. Thank you, God, for loving us like that, providing your word in living text and in living mentors who have served to shape us in the journey toward adulthood. Through the joy and responsibility of our growing maturity in Christ, we offer these gifts freely as an expression of what you have done and are continuing to do in our lives. In receiving what we have to give, help us to wisely share. In Christ, we pray. Amen.

Ushers?

Benediction

Listen for God to speak this week.
         It probably will not come through the usual suspects,
                  you know – the earth-shattering glitz and glamour
                           we too-easily associate with awe and wonder.

Listen, instead, through the silence
of seemingly unanswered prayer
and your own self-doubt.

The Lord provides nourishment in our everyday wilderness,
         and encourages the faint-hearted
                  to stop running away
                           and start stepping into
                                    the tasks that you are uniquely equipped to take on.

Go with God.