Worship Order for
Sunday
Call to
Worship
Jesus promised,
"where
two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Jesus promised,
"I am
with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew
18:20, 28:20)
We are called together by his promise, empowered by the
Holy Spirit.
Come, sisters and brothers, open yourselves to the Lord.
In the quiet of
this moment, still seated, let’s sing the first verse of #26,
then pause in silence, anticipating the Word of God.
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Prayer
Great God, we hope in your steadfast love. May what we say and do
this day, what we ponder in our hearts this hour, even what we
feel in these very moments reveal this hope. For we trust not in
the wisdom of our words, the power of our actions, the truth of
our reflections, or even the grace of our emotions. We hope,
instead, in your steadfast love alone, O Lord. This we pray in
name of the One who embodied this love all the way to the cross.
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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For Children
"A great strength"
Theme - With God in Our Lives, We Are Strong
Scripture - Isaiah 40:31
Object - Piece of string and braided yarn
(Ahead of time, braid
three pieces of yarn into a length of about ten inches.
Bring a string of the same length.) |
I need a volunteer who has really strong muscles. Do you think
you can break this string? (Volunteers are eager
to try! Pick one person.)
You do? Let s see. Wow! You were able to break the string! That
didn t look hard at all. That string was easy to break.
Now I need another strong volunteer. This job is harder. Do you
think you can break this braided yarn? Do you want to try? It will
be hard. Can t do it? What if you hold one end and I pull on the
other? We still can t do it. This yarn is stronger because it s
braided and woven together.
A verse in the Bible says, "Those who wait on the Lord
shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like
eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not
faint."
If we don t let God into our lives, we re like the string that
s easily broken. But when we let God in our lives, we re strong
like the braided yarn. God weaves strength into our lives.
Talking to God through prayer, learning about God through
reading and listening to Bible stories, and coming to church are
things that help us to know more about God so we can be strong in
our lives.
Even though God is in our lives, there will still be times when
we feel hurt or sad. But because God is with us, we can be strong
like the braided yarn. God gives us strength for our lives. If we
begin to feel weak, we can always build that strength as we pray
to and trust in God.
Let s pray:
Dear God, thank you for your great strength! Thank you for the
strength you put in our lives! Help us to always trust in you.
Amen.
by Donna McKee Rhodes
from More
Little Stories for Little Children
©1997, Herald Press, pp. 51-52
(a great resource! buy it!)
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Responding
with our Tithes and Offerings
None of us
walk by faith alone. Our strength comes from the Lord, who helps
us to "mount up with wings like eagles ... run and not be
weary ... walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) Furthermore,
God gives us one another, that we might walk by faith together.
Please turn to
#332 in your hymnal, a song very familiar to many of us. The words
are personal - "Jesus is mine ... this is my
story, this is my song." We don’t, however, sing
them alone. When the time comes, I invite you to sing this hymn
antiphonally. On each verse, the right (your right, not mine) or
organ side will sing the first phrase:
"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!"
The left or piano
side will respond with the second phrase:
"Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!"
Followed by the
right side singing:
"Heir of salvation, purchase of God."
And the left
answering:
"born of his Spirit, washed in his blood."
Both sides will
then unite and sing the refrain together. If in doubt, just sing.
For now,
remembering what we have already received from the Lord, let’s
respond with our tithes and offerings. Will the ushers now come
forward to serve.
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Prayer
"They
that wait upon the Lord" ... "watching and waiting,
looking above" ... "shall renew their strength."
Thank you, God. Help us to wisely use what we have already
received, and to eagerly anticipate your promises which have yet
to be fulfilled. In Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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