Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
November 22, 2009
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am

Christ the King Sunday

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude                                 "Thanks be to God"                                  Handel

  Call to Worship

*Hymn                              "Rejoice, the Lord is king!"                                  288

*Opening Prayer

  Responsive affirmation of faith                                                                   714

  For Children

  Hymn                             "Now thank we all our God"                                  86

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

*Response                    (vs. 2) "Come, ye thankful people"                              94

*Dedication

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

  Preparation           (vs. 4) "Brethren, we have met to worship"                         8

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                   John 18:33-37

  Message                             "Table of the King" (mp3)

*Hymn                                     "Joy to the world"                                        318

*Responsive Benediction

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship
Psalm 93
(Contemporary English Version)

We enter into worship with a psalm. Listen…

(pause for a moment to indicate the reading is ended)

Now, rise in body or in spirit, and turn to #288 in your hymnal, and let us "Rejoice, the Lord is king!"
  

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.
   

Responsive Affirmation of Faith

(divide the congregation into left and right sides,
and invite them to read the following responsively)

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

            One of the room dividers will be situated in the front of the sanctuary (in front of the organ). Each side will have the title “Thank you, God” pinned at the top. Several persons (mostly youth) will be asked beforehand to help out. The job is simple. The children will be asked, “What are you thankful for?”  Invite those who can write, to write these “thanksgivings” down, each on a different slip of paper. Helpers will guide the pinning of these “thanksgivings” on the divider. The younger children will need someone to write down what they are thankful for. This is an activity where each child is being helped to do their own thanksgiving. At a certain point, the organist will begin playing the next hymn, and the congregation will sing while the children work. The time ends when the song is over. Then the children will return to their seats. After the service, the ushers will take the divider back to the overflow area.

Needed: slips of paper, marking pens, pins, and a 2-sided room divider
 

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

You are invited to continue what our children began, the listing of our thanksgivings. This divider will be taken back to the overflow area. After worship, during our time together over coffee, or after Sunday School as we wait for the specially prepared meal to be ready, think about what you are thankful for. Then write it down and pin it to either side of the divider. Feel free to use as many pieces of paper as you need to do so. Paper, pens and pins will all be on a table there for you. Think of it as an active kind of prayer – counting your blessings and remembering, as you do so, who to thank.

            For now, let’s express our gratitude to God through the giving of our tithes and offerings. Mitchell and John, would you and your team of ushers guide us by receiving what we are returning to the One who has given us all we need?
  

Dedication

            Eternal God, with cheerful voices and thankful hearts, we offer to you these gifts and our lives. May Christ the King rule in our hearts so that we are powerful witnesses to the truth of your kingdom of love, justice and peace. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

by Rev Moira Laidlaw, Uniting Church in Australia. from Liturgies Online.
  

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)
perhaps, even, this prayer.

Benediction

One: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

  All: To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

One: Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

  All: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

One: Go in peace.