Worship - January 13, 2008

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
January 13, 2008
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

Morning Praise (9:45 am)
Announcements
Prelude

Opening Prayer

Song "You are my King" (see insert and overhead)

The Voice of the Lord Isaiah 42:1-10a (from The Message)

*Song "Blessed be your name" (see insert and overhead)
end with "Doxology" (119)

*Responsive Affirmation of Faith 714

The Voice of the Lord Matthew 3:13-17

For Children "In the Eder river"

Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
(Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

Hymn "Jesus, the very thought of thee" 588

Pastoral Prayer

The Voice of the Lord Acts 10:34-43

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Special Music "Sweetly Broken" Riddle

The Voice of the Lord Psalm 29

Message "Can you hear me now?"

*Hymn "I heard the voice of Jesus say" 493

*Benediction

*Postlude

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Opening Prayer

            Speak to us this day, O God. We want to hear your voice above all others. May your Holy Spirit be our hearing aid, opening us to the wonder of your Word. Forgive us for turning up the volume of the world around us, and trying to mute the sound to which we most need to pay attention.
            Come, Lord Jesus, lead us. We want to follow you. Today. Amen.

Isaiah 42:1-10a
(from The Message for Worship Leader - WL, and 3 other voices)

WL – The Voice of the Lord speaks through the first of four “Servant Songs” from the prophet Isaiah. Listen:

1 - Take a good look at my servant. I'm backing him to the hilt.
2 - He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him.
3 - I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life.
1 - He'll set everything right among the nations.
2 - He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
3 - He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt
1 - and he won't disregard the small and insignificant,
2 - but he'll steadily and firmly set things right.
3 - He won't tire out and quit.
1 - He won't be stopped until he's finished his work
2 - to set things right on earth.
3 - Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching.

WL - God's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life:

1 - "I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
2 - I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
3 - I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
1 - To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
2 - opening blind eyes,
3 - releasing prisoners from dungeons,
1 - emptying the dark prisons.

(intro to next song begins softly in the background)

2 - I am God. That's my name.
3 - I don't franchise my glory,
1 - I don't endorse the no-god idols.
2 - Take note:
3 - The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled.
1 - I'm announcing the new salvation work.
2 - Before it bursts on the scene,
3 - I'm telling you all about it.

WL - Sing to God a brand-new song, sing his praises all over the world!

(motion for congregation to stand)

Responsive Affirmation of Faith
(left side – regular print, right side – bold print)

He was the Son of God.
         He was the Son of Man.
He came down from heaven.
         He was born in a stable.
Kings came to his cradle.
         His first home was a cave.
He was born to be a king.
         He was a child of Mary.
He was the greatest among rulers.
         He was the least among servants.
He was loved and honored.
         He was despised and rejected.
He was gentle and loving.
         He made many enemies.
He counseled perfection.
         He was a friend of sinners.
He was a joyful companion.
         He was a man of sorrows.
He said, "Rejoice."
         He said, "Repent."
"Love God with all your heart."
         "Love your neighbor as yourself."
"Don't be anxious."
         "Count the cost."
"Deny yourself."
         "Ask and receive."
In him was life.
         He died on a cross.
He was a historic person.
         He lives today.
He was Jesus of Nazareth.
         He is Christ the Lord.

Hymnal #714
adapted from We Gather Together, Kenneth I. Morse,
©1979 Brethren Press.

For Children
“In the Eder river”

Something very important in the Church of the Brethren happened 300 years ago. To help us learn about it, I would like to use a picture painted over fifty years ago. It’s part of a series of pictures, called murals that are now located in a meeting hall at Camp Alexander Mack in Indiana. I once was a camp counselor there, and I remember taking my campers to that auditorium and together looking at the history of the Church of the Brethren in all those paintings. This is the very first one. It was painted by a man named Medford Neher.

Let’s look at it. There are 3 scenes on it, can you see them? There is one with 8 people gathered around a table. There is one with 8 people standing in or beside a river. And there is one with a group of people at the seashore looking at a sailing ship. Let’s look at each one more closely.

Here is the first one. I’ve made it bigger. It shows 8 people and they are studying the Bible (can you see the Bible?) and praying. Their names were Alexander and Magaretha Kling Mack (they were married, like the next 2 couples), Andrew and Johann Nöthinger Bohni, Johann and Johanna Kipping, Georg Grebe, and Lukas Vetter. Now, I don’t know who is who in this picture, except for the man in the middle. He was sort of the leader of this group – Alexander Mack. That camp in Indiana was named after him. The woman beside him is probably his wife, Magaretha.

All these people met in Alexander and Magaretha’s home to study the Bible. After lots and lots of study and prayer, they decided to do something that was illegal. It was against the law in Germany 300 years ago to baptize adults who had been baptized as babies. They wanted to be like Jesus, who was himself baptized as a man by John the Baptist.

      “As Christ, our head and keeper, had lowered Himself into the water,” they wrote in a letter to their friends, “so must we of necessity, as His members, be immersed with him.”
                               (Fruit of the Vine: A History of the Brethren 1708-1995,
                                     by Donald Durnbaugh, Brethren Brethren, ©1997, p. 28)

The second scene is of that baptism. It happened in the Eder river in the town of Schwarzenau (can you say that?), where they were living at the time. We don’t know the exact date. They didn’t write it down. It was, after all, against the law to re-baptize someone, which is what the word “Anabaptist” means. People who practiced adult baptism were called “Anabaptists.” Notice that frowning person in the background? He didn’t approve.

All we know was that this happened sometime during the summer of 1708. That was 300 years ago this summer. This year, 2008, is the 300^th anniversary of the beginning of our church, starting with that baptism in the Eder river. We don’t know who baptized Alexander Mack, they kept that secret, too; but he baptized everyone else. Notice the Bible. That was very important. Notice also that they are praying. Prayer is important. Through reading the Bible and praying, they listened to God, and tried to do what they heard God saying.

The last scene in this mural is of them later leaving Germany for America. It was hard for them to live what they believed in Europe. They started a brand new life in Pennsylvania, with another baptism on Christmas in 1723, but that’s whole other story.

Do you like these pictures? I hope so, because I’d like to use more of these murals this year to tell you the story of our church. Would you help me pray right now by holding hands and closing your eyes?

Dear God, thank you for Alexander, Magaret, Andrew, Jo-ann, John, Jo-anna, George, and Luke. They listened to you long ago and started a brand new story. We are part of that story, the story of the Church of the Brethren. Help us to listen like they did, and follow where you lead. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

According to the book of Acts, Peter spoke those words after he had been led to the home of Cornelius, a Roman soldier and, of more significance, a gentile – that is: an outsider to the covenant between God and the children of Israel. Cornelius had an amazing story to tell about meeting the Lord. Apparently God was no longer speaking only to a particular people, and Peter recognized the voice. Reading a little further in this chapter, we hear that the Holy Spirit started working on Cornelius and his household. It wasn’t long until they stepped into the waters of baptism.
As you return your offering just now, remember Peter and Cornelius, and think about meeting the Lord.

Ushers?

Benediction