Worship - February 4, 2006

Oh God,
We come before you today with gratitude
Gratitude for the opportunity to share with each other and give to each other
Gratitude for the example of Jesus, who teaches us
to love our neighbors and serve those around us
Please open our eyes to new visions of service and faithful living
Thank you for the opportunity to expand our hearts, our communities,
and our lives through your grace. Amen

Angie Breidenstine
(Brethren Volunteer Service Unit #190)

Wellness Moment

Our Wellness Team has chosen a focus for each month of the year. On February's theme of Caring for our Heart, Gail Hanna (a cardiac nurse), will share some wellness insights. A challenge for the congregation this month is to collectively "walk" the distance between where Gail and another deacon grew up on the lower eastern shore of Maryland, to the the farm where another deacon grew up in Garrett County on Maryland's far western border. Toward tabulating this figurative walk across our state, pedometers have been made available, and folks are invited to share their distances every week. Exercise builds up the heart, one of the important ways by which we can care for this organ given us by our Creator.

Responsive Prayer
(from Service Sunday resources)

Gracious Lord, Hear our prayers. We live in a world of need: Need of physical strength to accomplish daily tasks, need of spiritual strength to see meaning and purpose. Everyday we are faced by those in search of our help and compassion. If you have ever passed on the opportunity to participate in a service project because you thought �this is not the right type of service for me� or you just didn�t feel like it, please stand.

Pause

We live in a society of ease and consumption. Our streets are littered upon with yesterday�s paper and last night�s fast food container. If you have ever littered or remarked about how dirty an area is but did nothing about it, clench your fists.

Pause

We live in a mindset of independent success and the attitude that if you just work hard enough success will come. If you have not helped someone in need because you assumed someone else would help or you thought �it�s not my problem�, raise your arms.

Pause

We live in the industrial era with bigger than life leaders and huge corporate power. So often we believe we have no voice and it is better to just go along with the crowd than to be left behind. Bow your head if you have ever thought that helping just one person is not enough.

Pause

Lord, we ask for forgiveness for all the opportunities we have missed to serve you and to serve those around us. Help us to be aware of all that we are able to give, and by giving all that we receive. Give us strength to always be accountable and mindful of how we can serve others in our daily lives.

Pause

All too often we believe we must have the answers and we forget to listen to the needs of those around us. The power of our presence often will speak louder than words. If something you have done for someone in the past week has made them smile, please raise your head.

Pause

A simple act of kindness can make anyone�s day whether it be at home, in the office, on a service project site or at the local post office. If you�ve ever held the door for someone, lower your arms.

Pause

Our natural resources are a wonderful gift that we use everyday sometimes without even realizing it. If you are intentional about recycling or pick up trash when you see it, unclench your fists.

Pause

There are so many ways to serve today in our churches, communities and around the world. There are service opportunities for all ages, skill levels, talents, and interests. If you have ever participated in a service project or helped a neighbor, please sit down.

Pause

Dear Lord, thank you for humbling our hearts and opening our minds to service. Continue to make us aware of our gifts and talents and help us to share them with this world in need of your love and forgiveness. Let our service to others transform our faith and open our hearts to your calling for us. Amen

Carolyn Gong (BVS Unit #262)
and Genelle Wine (BVS Unit #244)

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Do any of you who went to National Youth Conference last summer remember seeing that video? How many have already signed up for a work camp? (Show of hands) Do any still plan to sign up? As the video stated, the work camp possibilities for senior high (as well as junior high) youth and young adults have doubled for 2007. This congregation offers scholarships that pay half the cost of the camp itself (though not transportation to and from), because we want to encourage each person to embrace a life of service to God.

Work Camps are just one opportunity. Brethren Volunteer Service is another through which you can give a year or more to some life-changing ministry (remembering that the life that is often changed the most is your own). There is always an open door through which you can step to help folks rebuild after a flood or tornado or something else has ravaged their home. Brethren Disaster Response needs you if you can. On the first Saturday of May is our district�s annual auction to fund this work, to which our ladies contribute a beautiful quilt every year.

In the next month or so comes our district�s meat canning project. Several of us will head to Ephrata, PA to prepare and preserve meat that will be distributed to hungry people around the world, including some right here in Baltimore. Tomorrow morning, several from our church are headed to New Windsor to be put to use as needed in a ministry that markets crafts made by low-income people around the world, a way of helping them help themselves.

On March 3^rd, June 16^th, August 25^th, and December 22^nd, we have scheduled our turns for dishing up a hearty meal to the homeless downtown at Carpenter�s Kitchen - yet another opportunity for service. In December, we celebrate by making it possible for one family torn apart by domestic violence to share Christmas with one another and rebuild their lives. Throughout the year we have special offerings that seek to fund service organizations, like Heifer International or CROP - the later of which some of us put our feet into action, walking several miles trying to comprehend how far some people in this world have to travel every day just to get water to drink or cook.

The point is, service possibilities surround us. Are we willing to follow Jesus into them? As you return your offering just now, remember that the gifts God gives to you are given for a reason. And we discover that purpose as we put these gifts to work in service to others. Would you pray with me?

Prayer
(from Service Sunday resources)

Gracious God, we thank you for the many ways in which you have blessed us. As we look at the world around us, we see many who seem to suffer more than their fair share of hardship. Create in us, O Lord, a desire to use the gifts, the time, and the skills you have generously provided us, in service to others in their hour of need. Let us never forget your goodness as we share your goodness with others. In the beloved name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

prayer by Jane Yount, ERSM, New Windsor, MD.

Ushers?

Sending Litany
(from Service Sunday resources)

One: In a world of pain, fear, and loneliness, we need someone to dream.

All: Call us to hear the voices that challenge.

One: In a world of war, hatred, and intolerance, we need someone to show love.

All: Call us to hear the voices that challenge.

One: In a world of greed, apathy, and individualism, we need someone to serve.

All: Call us to hear the voices that challenge.

One: As you answer the calling to dream, love and serve, you become voices that challenge. May you find peace on the journey, hope in those you meet, and joy in a life lost in the service of God. Amen

Cindy Laprade and Beth Rhodes
(2004 & 2005 Youth Work Camp Coordinators)