Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
November 25, 2007
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

Reign of Christ Sunday

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

How Majestic in all the Earth

 Responsive Call to Worship                                                                       812
                                               (congregation reads all words in bold)

 Praise                         “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic”                            112

*Opening Prayer

How Wonderful the Grace

*Hymn                              “Wonderful grace of Jesus”                                150

 Scripture                                      Jonah 1:1-3

 For Children               “It's not always a bad thing,
                               being swallowed by a fish”

 Unison Confession                                                                                      694

How Sweet to Trust

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

 Hymn                            “‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”                              340

 Pastoral Prayer

 Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

Proclaim the tidings

 Scripture                                 Matthew 28:16-20

 Message                                 “On a clear day”

*Hymn                         “Proclaim the tidings near and far”                            282

*Benediction

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Responsive Call to Worship
Psalm 8:1, 3-9

O Lord, our Sovereign,
      how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
      the moon and the stars that you have established;
      what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
            mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
      and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
      you have put all things under their feet,

all sheep and oxen,
      and also the beasts of the field,
      the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
            whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
      how majestic is your name in all the earth!

#812, New Revised Standard Version
    

Opening Prayer

O living Christ,
    come to us in the glory of your risen power;
    come to us in the humility of your wondrous love.
Come and reign among us!
Let new life course through our veins,
    new love bind us together,
    and new vision spur us on to follow you forever.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.  AMEN

Hymnal #677, The Iona Community, Scotland,
The New Book of Christian Prayers,
© 1986 Tony Castle. Edited by Tony Castle.
Crossroad/Continuum Publishing Company.
   

For Children
“It's not always a bad thing, being swallowed by a fish”
(to be shared by children's storyteller, Ed Lewis)

         "Does anyone here know the story of Jonah? You know, the story of the man who got swallowed up by a large fish?   Well, this is how the story goes: Jonah was a holy man of God.   God wanted Jonah to go to a town, full of people that Jonah did not like.   He was supposed to carry a message from God, that he cares about them and wants them to be good.   Jonah did not want to do this for God, he did not like these people and he believed that it was not worth his time to do this job.   Jonah tried to run away from God and hide.   While on a ship sleeping, God caused a great storm to happen and the ship was in danger of sinking.   When the men on the ship woke Jonah and told him that God must be angry at them, Jonah told them it was because of him.   He told the men to cast him off the ship.   He was picked up and thrown into the water.   Jonah surely would have drowned, if it were not for the great fish that God had sent to swallow him up.

         "Can you imagine how Jonah must have felt?   One minute he was in trouble, trying to swim in these dangerous waters. The next he saw a giant fish, with its big mouth wide open, swallow him up.   He would have surely drowned in the water, but now he was inside the belly of this fish.   All he could do was pray and think about what he had done.

         "When I would do something bad as a child, I can remember being given a "time out" or sent to my room.   I hated this and it seemed like the end of the world.   I would be angry, but I had to sit and think about what I had done.   Sometimes I would pray, because it didn't seem fair.   Just like Jonah I wanted to do things my way, not the way my parents wanted me to do.   God was saying to Jonah, I do not want you to drown in the sea, I will send a great fish to swallow you and save you from certain death.   Parents are saying to you - when you get punished: 'I do not hate you, but you need to think about what you have done or doing and choose the correct thing, that make you a better person.'

         "God loves you and so do your parents, and when you are doing something bad or not doing what your parents ask you to do, you need to take time to think of how much God and your parents love you.   God loved Jonah so much that he created a giant fish to swallow him up, and your parents love you so much that they need to give you some time to sit and think about what you've done.   By the way the fish spat Jonah up on the shore and that was a lot harder on Jonah than your mom and dad telling you to get up from your "time out" chair and go play."

End with prayer
  

Unison Confession

Forgiving God,
      you do not deal with us according to our sins,
     nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
     so great is your steadfast love toward those who fear you;
  as far as the east is from the west,
     so far you remove our transgressions from us. AMEN

Hymnal #694
Psalm 103:10-12, adapted from New Revised Standard Version
  

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

         Note to worship leader: Read Colossians 1:11-20 aloud, then share a brief personal reflection on it - in your own words, and invite people to respond to this good news with their own offering. Keep it simple, but speak from the heart - your own offering in non-monetary form.
   

Benediction