Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
October 11, 2009
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am
 

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude                                        "Andante"                                  Rheinberger

  Call to Worship

*Hymn                           "Sing praise to God who reigns"                               59

*Lord’s Prayer (in unison)                                              (background on this prayer)

  Scripture                                Hebrews 4:12-16

  Confession and Assurance (respond as below when prompted)
            One: Come Savior God,
              All: come and reclaim us.

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Hymn                               "When peace, like a river"                                  336

  Pastoral Prayer

  For Children                      "The invisible man"

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                                 "Offertory in E^b"                                    Dubois
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                     Job 23:1-17

  Message                                   "Heart sink" (mp3)

*Hymn                          "I know that my Redeemer lives"                             277

*Benediction

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

We begin with the first few verses of Psalm 22, words we remember Jesus speaking as he hung upon the cross. This is actually a worship song for which we no longer have the music, a tune which was called “The Deer of the Dawn,” according to the preface… Yes, the words speak out of grief, but the music must have added a different kind of “mourning/morning” – a dawn to the dusk of sadness, the hint of a promised new beginning to a dark ending. Could this be why Jesus sang this song as he died upon the cross? If so, then these words are an appropriate way to begin worship on this resurrection day. Listen to the Psalmist.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame…”   (Psalm 22:1-5)

Confession and Assurance

Let us confess our sins, not like slaves but as children in the presence of the Most Loving Parent.
            Merciful God, look kindly upon your human family, we pray. By your irrepressible grace, mend the brokenness that inevitably follows our sinning.
            If we have been quietly willful or openly rebellious, sending waves of unhappiness among the lives of those around us,
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            If we have become infected by the cheap values and selfish goals of the advertising industry and have found ourselves aping them:
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            If we have allowed our faith to be eroded by the endless chatter of critics who have nothing to offer except their own sour grapes:
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            If we have become so caught up in trivial pursuits that we have little time left for holy wonder and spiritual growth:
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            If we have been wounded by the spite of others, and have turned in on ourselves, nursing our injuries and brooding over revenge:
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            If we have participated in wrongdoing for so long that we no longer feel any regret or desire for repentance;
                        Come Savior God,
                        come and reclaim us.
            God of Jesus, friend of sinners, please never let go of us. Forgive our failings and help us to make amends where we have harmed others. Call us back to the disciplines that flow from faith, that in loving you and one another, we may find that peace and joy for which we were built. Through your love and to the praise of your holy name. Amen!

(slight pause)

It is written that Jesus is our high priest, representing us before God, knowing what it is like to be human and tempted.
And all God’s people say: Amen!

by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia, adapted.
    

For Children
"The invisible man"

Theme: God is invisible, and it is easy to ignore him.  

            It is easy to ignore something you can't see. The proverb "Out of sight, out of mind" has its point. God is perhaps its greatest victim. This sermon is a small play, with one of the characters an invisible man. God's invisibility causes us to treat him with little appreciation, as if he doesn't exist.

Scripture: John 1:18
Device: An empty chair
Goals: To teach respect for God
           To make clear that God wants us to love him
           To help the children experience what it's like to be invisible

            To read the rest you'll need to buy the book, which is still in stock, though out of print, by Bucky Dann, Creating Children's Sermons, ©1981, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, pp. 32-33. (if interested, LGVCOB members can borrow it from me)
  

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

            Do you remember the man who came to Jesus asking about how to inherit eternal life? He was not satisfied with the first answer he received, the commandments of God this man then said he had been keeping all his life. “You lack one thing,” Jesus responded, “go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). This answer satisfied the man even less, and he went away shocked and grieving, scripture says, “for he had many possessions.”

            Maybe we would have reacted the same way as did this man, had we been him. It’s one thing to voluntarily give away all our “stuff.” As you return your offering to God just now, imagine what it would be like to have all your “stuff,” even your loved ones, taken from you – through no fault of your own. That’s the ground upon which another man, named Job, sat. In a few minutes we will join him. For now, please pray with me.

     God, it’s hard to imagine letting go of our “stuff,” let alone having it wrenched from our hands. As we respond to the needs of others through this offering, help us to grow in “giving” rather than “getting,” living with open hands rather than with clenched, grasping fists. Thank you for the hard lessons, and not just the easy ones. In Jesus, we pray. Amen.
  

Benediction

It’s time to start moving back along those separate paths from which we have come.
None of us can predict what this week may bring, but there is one certainty:
the resources of the God who engineered the whole universe, will be there for you.
You may be tested, you may suffer, you may waver and become weary, but you will not finally be overcome. God is your strength and salvation.
Can you affirm that? If so say,
                        God is my strength and salvation!
                        God is my strength and salvation!
The blessing of God all-loving, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you today and evermore. Amen? Amen!

by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia, adapted.