Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
June 3, 2007
Worship 10:00 am

Trinity Sunday

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude                                     "Hymn to Joy"                                  Beethoven

  Call to Worship

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

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                  John 16:12-15

  Unison Prayer of Confession

  Hymn                              (vs. 1-2) "Amazing grace!"                                     143

  Wellness Moment

  Hymn                               (vs. 3,6) "Amazing grace!"                                     143

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                  "As the Dew, from Heaven Distilling"                     Daynes
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

*Doxology                                                                                                 119A

*Dedication

  Scripture                                   Romans 5:1-5

  For Children          "Strong wind, strong branches"
                          (Our younger children, ages 3-7, then leave for Sunday School)

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

  Pastoral Prayer

  Hymn                         "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic"                            112

  Scripture                                        Psalm 8

  Message                            "In ... significance"

*Hymn                              "This is my Father’s world"                                  154

*Benediction

*Postlude                                     "Postludium"                                         Young

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Let us come into the church of God to meet the Spirit of God;
         not to give religion an hour,
                  but to live in the eternal;
         not to maintain a habit,
                  but to bow in the holy place before the Holy One,
         not to judge the words of a preacher,
                  but to draw life from the Word and Truth everlasting;
         not to be moved or soothed by music,
                  but to sing divine praises from the heart;
         not to let our eyes roam over architecture or congregation,
                  but that our soul may look upon God;
         not that our thoughts may escape out into the world,
                  but that they may become focused on the one, true God.

Let us go, and go again, into the house of the Lord,
         and be glad and give thanks, and adore our God.

by Eric Milner-White, Dean of York, (1941-1963)
in My God, My Glory, ©1964 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, England.
Taken from For all who Minister, ©1993, Brethren Pres, Elgin, IL, p.82-83
   

Opening Prayer

         Awesome and majestic God, we praise you for creating the wondrous heights and depths of heaven and earth with wisdom dancing at your side, delighting in the diversity of the whole human race. Your creative power, your glory and holiness astound us, yet you chose to link your life with ours in a most personal way - by sharing our humanity. In Jesus Christ you revealed the human face of your power, your glory and your love. Again astounding us, you equip us for our journey through life and beyond, by breathing new and everlasting life into our very beings, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Holy God - Source, Saviour, and renewing Power of our lives - we worship and adore you . Amen

by Moira B Laidlaw, Liturgies Online
   

Unison Prayer of Confession

         Lord, we confess that we have not always listened to you. We worry about trivial things and crowd out your cry. Lord, we confess that we're not eager to hear what you have to say to us. We think we know a better way to do 'most everything. Lord, we confess that we've ignored your Holy Spirit more than once today. Lord, we confess our faults and ask you to speak to us again. Send your Spirit of Truth and speak to all that is false within us. We will receive your words and follow your ways.

by Kwasi I. Kena, the Director of Evangelism Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, TN,
and a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
Dr. Kena is the author of several books, and he writes resources for the GBOD.
taken from 21st Century Africana Liturgy Resources: "Worship Resources for Trinity Sunday, Year C"
Copyright © 2007 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church,
PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Worship website: www.umcworship.org.
   

Wellness Moment

         Our Wellness Team has chosen a focus for each month of the year. On May's theme is "Home Safety."  Paul Sonczewski  will speak briefly on this topic.
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings 

         Ten thousand years! It’s hard to wrap our minds around a figure like that. The great pyramids in Egypt, after all, are only five thousand years old. Abraham and his descendants don’t even go back that far. How do we comprehend "ten thousand years, bright shining like the sun?" Probably about as well as we can grasp the concept of "Trinity," as in "God in three persons." Oh, we can speak of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but this only scratches the surface. We can say that this triune God is far beyond us, yet also among us, as well as within us. However, even that doesn’t get us more than a few steps down the road. Less than two thousand years ago, when leaders in the early church tried to put into words what they believed about the God of Israel and the Messiah Jesus and the Pentecostal fire of the Spirit, the best they could come up with was "Trinity." We’re still trying to grasp this mystery - a mystery that, instead, grasps us.

         Ten thousand years! "We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun." Did you try those words on when you sang them? How does the oldest person among us today hear that line? How about the youngest? What does it mean for this day? Are we singing God’s praise with the days we have been given? When we open our purse or wallet, when the checkbook or credit card comes out, are we glorifying God? Not just in what we place into the offering plate this morning, but in our everyday song?

         Don’t wait until "heaven" to shine, brothers and sisters. Even if we don’t have this "ten thousand years," or the doctrine of the "Trinity," or even God’s "amazing grace" all figured out, shine anyway ... today.

Ushers?
  

Dedication

         Yes, Lord, all blessings flow from you. That much we understand, and we are thankful. In a "trinity" of ways, grow in us the ability to live out our praise, to wisely care for what you have so richly provided, including "all creatures here below." Help us to do so with our eyes upon more than our own "threescore years and ten." For your world needs more than a selfish vision which cares only for today’s profit. May our living doxology be more like "ten thousand years, bright shining like the sun."

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
   

For Children
"Strong wind, strong branches"
(based upon Romans 5:1-5)

Preparation: Bring in a tree branch–preferably one that has fallen in a storm or been trimmed–to illustrate your talk.

         I brought a tree branch with me this morning. (Hold up branch and let children guess where it came from.) After a big windstorm, you might find a lot of branches scattered around on the ground. Have any of you seen the mess that strong wind can make of leaves and branches? (Kids can share some storm stories.) If the wind is strong enough, it can break a big branch right off the tree–or even blow a whole tree over!....

(to read the rest, buy the book, Scolding the Snakes (Luke/ year C),
by Ruth Gilmore, ©2000, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, p.72-73)
   

Pastoral Prayer

         Loving God, there is nothing better than trusting you. Teach us how to wake up trusting you, go to sleep trusting you, and walk through life trusting you. Teach us to trust you until we're completely at peace with you. When we find that peace in you, help us to notice what else you have in store for us — an audacious hope! We thank you in advance for the hope that suffers and endures. Thank you for the hope that endures and builds character. Thank you for hope that never disappoints. Lord, we came to bow before you today so that we can stand courageously tomorrow. Lord, help us trust. Lord, give us peace. Lord, grant us hope....

by Kwasi I. Kena, the Director of Evangelism Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, TN,
and a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
Dr. Kena is the author of several books, and he writes resources for the GBOD.
taken from 21st Century Africana Liturgy Resources: "Worship Resources for Trinity Sunday, Year C"
Copyright © 2007 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church,
PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Worship website: www.umcworship.org.
   

Benediction

Go now, rejoicing in God
and delighting in all God does.
Stand firm in the grace found in Christ
so that in all things,
you may grow in endurance, character and hope.

And may God crown you with glory and honor;
May Christ Jesus bring you into the mercy of God;
and may the Holy Spirit pour love into your hearts
........and guide you into all truth.

adapted from www.laughingbird.net
©2001 Nathan Nettleton