Worship - July 20, 2014

Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
July 20, 2014
Worship 10:00 am Summer in Spirit 11:10am

“Jacob reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. He dreamed and saw…” (Genesis 28:11-12a)

Beginning with Praise (9:50 am) “God is here among us” 16
Announcements
Prelude

*Call to Worship

*Hymn “Praise, I will praise you, Lord” 76

*Opening Prayer

Scripture Psalm 86:11-17

For Children “Seed by seed”

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

Scripture Romans 8:12-25

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

Hymn “Blessed assurance” 332

Pastoral Prayer

Scripture Genesis 28:10-19a

Message “Schemes and dreams” (mp3)

*Hymn “Jacob’s Ladder” (insert)

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship
“Saint Patrick’s Breastplate”

Christ with me
(hug yourself)

Christ before me
(both palms up in front of you)

Christ behind me
(arms behind you)

Christ in me
(hands over heart)

Christ beneath me
(spread legs and firm your stance)

Christ above me
(hands over head)

Christ on my right
(hand out to right)

Christ on my left
(hand out to left)

Christ when I lie down
(make a pillow with your hands and lay your head in it)

Christ when I sit down
(sit down)

Christ when I arise
(stand up)

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me
(point to head)

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
(point to mouth)

Christ in every eye that sees me
(point to eyes)

Christ in every ear that hears me
(point to ears)

as adapted by Carolyn Brown in her blog, Worshiping With Children

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

adapted from Gregorian Sacramentary, 7th century
taken from For all who Minister,
©1993, Brethren Pres, Elgin, IL, p.86

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Last week we heard a Jesus story about a sower who cast his seed far and wide: along a path, on rocky ground, amid thorns, and in good soil. We wondered, if the seed is God’s good news tossed in our direction, what sort of soil are we? Thank heaven that in the end, it’s God who makes it grow. Today’s parable of Jesus immediately follows that one in Matthew’s gospel. Our Lord is still speaking to the crowd from a boat. I’ll be reading from the Laughing Bird Version, so pretend I’m speaking with an Australian accent. Let’s listen to Jesus.

“Here is a good illustration of the kingdom of heaven. A farmer planted his fields with good quality seed. But that night, while all the workers were asleep, some mongrel came and dumped a load of weed seeds on the field, and then cleared off before anybody saw what had happened. So when the crop came up and the grain began to form, there were weeds coming up everywhere among it. The farmer’s workers came to him and said, ‘That was clean seed you sowed, wasn’t it, Boss? How come we’ve now got weeds all through the crop?’

The farmer replied, ‘Some mongrel has tried to sabotage it!’

The workers asked, ‘Do you want us to get stuck in and pull the weeds out?’

But the farmer replied, ‘No, it’s not worth the risk. You’ll uproot half the wheat crop trying to get them out. Just let them both grow together until harvest time, and then I’ll tell the harvesters to pull the weeds out first and bundle them up for burning. The good wheat can then be harvested and stored in my silo.’”

Chew on that story as you return your offering.
Would you pray with me?

God of Salvation, we seek to be children of your heavenly kingdom. Yet, our self-deceiving ways cause us to believe that we will be more generous givers once we have satisfied our own personal, material desires. Change our thinking. Help us to be faithful disciples who recognize that everything we have in life is a gift from you. Inspire us to share our resources as a response to your unconditional love. Amen.

Ushers?

Pastoral Prayer

God-who-keeps-promises:
every word you have spoken
of hope found in the depths of life,
of healing surprising our pain,
of grace jumping rope with children,
will all come true -
even when our stubbornness
deafens us to your whispers.

Jesus-who-sows-seeds:
every hope you have for us
of kindness never ending,
of persistent patience,
of sacrificial service,
can be found -
even when others cannot
see them in us.

Spirit-who-leads-us-into-life:
every dream you have
of peace becoming our best friend,
of joy bubbling from our hearts,
of strangers welcomed as kin,
will happen -
even when we insist on
living out our fantasies.

Behind us, under us, beside us, over us,
you are ever and always with us,
God in Community, Holy in One,
and so in these moments of silence
we each choose one or two persons or concerns
that were mentioned in our sharing,
or have rested on our hearts, not yet spoken,
and we lift them up to you,
asking you to bless and keep them.

(quiet)

And now we pray those familiar words Jesus has taught,
joining our voices in unison, saying,
Our Father, who art in heaven….

adapted from a prayer written by
Thom M. Shuman (Presbyterian Church)
from Lectionary Liturgies

Benediction
“Saint Patrick’s Breastplate”