Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
October 16, 2011
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am
 

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                   "We gather together"                   17
  Announcements
  Prelude                            "Shepherd’s Sunday Song"                         Kreutzer

*Stretching                  "Awake, arise, O sing a new song"                             56

*Responsive Call to Worship                                                                      820

*Hymn                          "I sing the mighty power of God"                              46

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                            1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

  Children’s Story               "The Recess Queen"             by Alexis O’Neill

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

  Hymn                             "I will sing of my Redeemer"                                344

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                Matthew 22:15-22

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                          "How Great the Wisdom"                          M^cIntyre
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                    Isaiah 45:1-7

  Message                              "The Cyrus Song" (mp3)

*Hymn                       "Lord of light, your name outshining"                          410

*Benediction

*Postlude                                "Allegro Moderato"                             De Monti

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Sing to the LORD a new song;
     sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
     proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
     his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
     tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
     he will judge the peoples with equity.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
     let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
     let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
     then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.
They will sing before the LORD, for he comes,
     he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
     and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Hymnal #820
Psalm 96:1-3,9-13
New International Version
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
  

Opening Prayer

A new song, O Lord, you call us to sing. But all around us other messages scream,

“new and improved,”
“buy the latest model,”
“upgrade, upgrade, upgrade,”
“bigger and better,”
“faster and more compact,”
“4G,”
“more miles per gallon,”
“throw out the old and get the new.”
(…pause…)

            Even so, it is your words from long ago which have drawn us to this time and place, O God. This is not an infomercial nor a store. We have gathered together, not to buy into the latest religious fad, but to stand in your presence, O ancient of days. “Be still and know that I am God,” you continue to speak.

(…pause…)

And yet, you invite us to sing a new song, to not be satisfied with the past or, better put, to not worship the old so much that we fail to see that your steadfast love is new every morning, that you are always doing a new thing in your world which surrounds us.

O Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end, thank you! Ground us in what is timeless, but help us to step into this new song you call us to sing. In the name of One who sang your dying and rising song long ago and who sings today, “Behold, I make all things new.” Amen.
  

Children's Story
"The Recess Queen"
by Alexis O’Neill

"Paul, in his opening salutation to the Thessalonians, commends their excellent example, citing their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”, and also notes that he tried to be a good example for them and was pleased when they became “imitators of us and of the Lord.”  Paul knows about the Thessalonians’ good deeds and faith from reports all around the region and commends them for setting a good example.
            "So, too, in The Recess Queen, while Mean Jean has been the “queen” of the playground for as long as anybody can remember, bullying others out of swinging, sliding and fun, when a new student, Katie Sue, comes, she sets a new example.  By asking Mean Jean to play with her she changes the playground back into a place of fun for all and sets a good example for everyone to follow.  Just as the Thessalonians’ deeds were heard about all around the region, this act is the talk of the school and changes everything for the better."

by Sara Anne Berger
from Children’s Literature and the Christian Faith, Lectionary links

            "After reading it, I’d ask “Who in this story was most like Jesus?” then “What makes you say that?” and finally “Could anyone do that?”  and “How would you describe a kid who did something like that?”  Then very briefly note that Paul says the Christians in Thessalonica were a lot like Katie Sue and suggests that we can be too." 

by Carolyn C. Brown
in her blog “Worshiping With Children”
 
see here for other reviews & synopsis of this book
   

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings
(refers to Matthew 22:15-22)

The discussion was about taxes, a thorny topic then as it is now. Those who opposed Jesus laid a trap, hoping to trip him up with his own words. Sound familiar? If he answered one way, the ‘tea party’ of that day would dump him. If he answered the other, he’d be in hot water with the government. So he simply shifted the conversation. Instead of saying “yes” or “no” to taxes, he called into question the whole economic system. It was based, after all, on a coin that held the image of Caesar, an emperor who claimed to be a god. Doesn’t the Torah, the law of Moses, say something about having no graven images, nor other gods? If the coin is in your pocket, maybe you’ve already rendered unto Caesar.

            Of course, that was then and this is now. We don’t have a Roman overlord. Our leaders don’t pretend to be god (tho’ sometimes we may wonder). Our coins say “In God we Trust.” But do we? Really? That’s a good question to ponder as you return your tithe or offering: “Do I trust God through this time of financial uncertainty?” Let your money speak your answer, not by what is engraved upon it, but by what is engraved upon you. Pray with me.

Lord God, we give to you what is yours, that which you originally have given to us. Help us to be grace-filled givers and trust-filled livers. In Christ Jesus. Amen.
 

Benediction

May our God of justice and mercy,
            who forms light and creates darkness,
            who makes weal and creates woe,
                        go before you this week.
As you journey with Jesus,
            remember  to    ask,
                                    seek, and
                                    knock,
                        for the Lord prepares the way
                                    for those who are called by name.
Go in peace.