Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
March 4, 2007
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

The Second Sunday of Lent

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship 

*Hymn                                  "To God be the glory"                                102

*Opening Prayer

  Affirmation of Faith                                                                                716

  Scripture                                  Luke 13:31-35

  For Children               "God is like a Mother Hen
                               and Much, Much More"
                                           by Carolyn Stahl Bohler

  Wellness Moment

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise

  Hymn                             "In the bulb there is a flower"                            614
                          (Our younger children leave for bell practice & Sunday School)

  Pastoral Prayer

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

  Song                                       "I am a Servant"

  Scripture                               Philippians 3:17-4:1

  Message                     "Accountable Citizenship"

*Hymn                         "How clear is our vocation, Lord"                         541

*Benediction

*Postlude

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship
Colossians 3:12-17 (NRSV)

1 - As God's chosen ones,
2 - holy and beloved,
1 - clothe yourselves with compassion,
2 - kindness,
1 - humility,
2 - meekness,
1 - and patience.
2 - Bear with one another
1 - and, if anyone has a complaint against another,
2 - forgive each other;
1 - just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
2 - Above all, clothe yourselves with love,
1 - which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
2 - And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
1 - the peace to which indeed you were called in the one body.
2 - And be thankful.
1 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;
2 - teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;
1 - and with gratitude in your hearts
2 - sing psalms,
1 - hymns,
2 - and spiritual songs to God.
1 - And whatever you do,
2 - in word or deed,
1 - do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
2 - giving thanks to God the Father through him.
  

Opening Prayer

         We come as we are, O God our Father, in the light provided by Christ our Savior, empowered by Holy Spirit to give you glory through our words and our actions. Forgive the ways in which we have not lived up to your calling this past week, how we have fallen and sinned. We desire your peace to rule in our hearts. We want to be wrapped with your love which ties us together. We long for gratitude to be at the heart of all that we are and all that we do. Bless these moments of worship that through them we might be motivated by you to fully and abundantly live out your blessing in the week that lies ahead of us. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
   

Affirmation of Faith

No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid,
         which is Jesus Christ.
In Christ the whole building is joined together 
         and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in Christ we too are being built together
         to become a dwelling in which God lives by the Spirit.
As we come to Christ, the living Stone -
         rejected by builders but chosen by God -
         we also, like living stones,
         are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
         offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
So then we are no longer foreigners and aliens,
         but citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
         built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
         with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.

Hymnal #716, ©1992 The Hymnal Project,
based on 1 Corinthians 3:111, 1 Peter 2:4-5,
and Ephesians 2:19-22, New Revised Standard Version
      

Wellness Moment

         Our Wellness Team has chosen a focus for each month of the year. March's theme is "Women's Health." On this first Sunday of the month, Robyn Boettner will connect this to last month's theme of "Caring for our Heart" by speaking simply about stress reduction. By the way, we far surpassed the February congregational challenge of collectively "walking" the distance between where two of our deacons 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. We nearly blew past that after the second Sunday. Our revised goal became Cleveland, OH where our denomination's Annual Conference will take place this summer. After zooming past that we shifted our sights to Elgin, IL where our denomination is headquartered. After catching the mileage for the last few days of February on this Sunday, we may have overshot this goal also. The challenge now becomes keeping up the walking. As our church sign has stated for the past week or so: "Exercise Daily ... Walk with the Lord." Toward tabulating this figurative walk across our state, pedometers have been made available, and folks are invited to share their distances every week. Walking, by the way, is a good stress reducer. But there are other ways, as Robyn will briefly point out.
     

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

         Have you ever noticed sometimes it says in the bulletin that we are "returning" our tithes and offerings, while on other occasions we are "responding with" them? The difference often has to do with where this action happens in the order of worship. If it takes place before the message, it is part of our "turning" once again (that is: our "re"-"turning") toward God. Like the prodigal son in the story Jesus told long ago, we turn toward home and the One who faithfully waits for us with open arms, ready to welcome and celebrate. What we bring with us is important, but it’s just one dish in the huge pot luck feast that awaits.
         Now, when our offering time happens after the proclamation of the good news, we often speak of it as our "response." To re-spond is also to re-turn, but it is a re-turning with a difference. We re-turn with a promise. Our promise is an answer to God’s promise, our "yes" to God’s "yes" to us. God’s "amen" to us echoes throughout heaven long before we ever return our own amen. It is the Lord who empowers us, God who gives us the ability to "re-spond," to fulfill our own vows, with these gifts. This, then, is our "response-ability," something we live out each and every day and not only at this brief moment of worship.
         Ponder all this in your heart as you return or respond with your tithes and other offerings. Pray your own simple prayer the plates are passed. Ushers, would you help us?
    

Benediction