Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
September 19, 2010
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am
 

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                      "O day of peace"                     408
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship

*Hymn                         "All praise to our redeeming Lord"                              21

*Opening Prayer

*Affirming our Faith                                                                                     710

  Scripture                                  1 Timothy 2:1-7

  For Children                 "All People Everywhere"

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

  Hymn                         "Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all"                             533

  Pastoral Prayer

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

*Hymn                             "We give thee but thine own"                                384

*Dedication

  Scripture                                   Luke 16:1-13

  Message                               "Dear Prudence" (mp3)

*Hymn                           "Heart with loving heart united"                               420

*Benediction

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

1 - Praise the Lord!

2 - Praise, O servants of the Lord;

1 - praise the name of the Lord.

2 - Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and for evermore.

1 - From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.

2 - The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

1 - Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,

2 - who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

1 - He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

2 - to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

1 - He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.

Psalm 113
 

Opening Prayer

God of all life,
      we thank you
            for the signs of your love that surround us,
            for sun and warmth and all that comes to life
                  within creation,
            for all that sleeps within the earth awaiting birth.
We praise you
      for the wisdom of your care,
            water on the earth,
            sunlight on our spirits,
            hands on blinded eyes.

Continue to touch us.
Reach out to us with compassion and forgiveness
      that we may receive your gifts,
      that we may know your love and grace
            and rise to new life in Jesus Christ. AMEN

Hymnal #680, adapted from More Than Words,
by Pat Kozak, C.S.J., and Janet Schaffran, C.D.P.
1st edition ©1986 by the authors;
2nd revised edition ©1988. Crossroad/Continuum Publishing Company.
   

Affirming our faith

Leader: We affirm that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
                 Miriam, Hannah, and Mary is our God.
People: We affirm that God has come to us in our likeness,
                taking the form of a servant in Jesus of Nazareth.
Leader: We believe that god, in Christ, suffered the pain and agony
                of the cross to provide for our salvation.
People: We believe that God demonstrated power over sin and death
                by raising Jesus from the dead
                and declaring that the risen Christ is Lord.
Leader: God has given us new life and freedom
                    in the fullness of the Holy  Spirit,
                who is the guide and power of the community of believers.
ALL:  We believe that in the end, God's rule of peace and justice
               will be fully established
               and that Jesus Christ will reign forever and ever.

Hymnal #710
Adapted from a liturgy of baptism by Assembly Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.,
Baptism and Church Membership, Worship Series 3, ed. James H. Waltner,
copyright © 1979 Faith & Life Press/Mennonite Publishing House.
   

For Children
"All People Everywhere"

                        Theme:    We are asked to pray for all people
                        Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-7
                        Object:    Globe

This morning i brought a globe. It is a model of our world. It shows land shapes and water. The names of countries and bodies of water are printed on the globe. We live here. (Point.) Our place on this globe is tiny compared to all the world's places.

People live all over the world. People of the world are different in many ways. We have different houses, foods, and styles of clothing.

We have different cultures. But we are all the same because we are members of God's worldwide family. God loves all people. God created every person in God's image. God loves each of us.

God asks us to pray for other people in this worldwide family. We pray people will have enough food, safe places to live, and health. We pray they will know God's wonderful love.

Let's spin the globe, and pray for people in different parts of the world. (Spin globe and name area.)

Let's pray-
            Dear God, We pray for people in .... We pray for people in .... We pray for people everywhere. Amen.

by Donna McKee Rhodes,
from Even More Little Stories for Little Children,
©2000, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA, p. 107
  

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

We sometimes use a paraphrase of the Bible called the Laughing Bird version. It comes out of a small Baptist congregation in Melbourne, Australia – created by their pastor, Nathan Littleton, to be used in worship. He writes, "We named (this) after the Kookaburra because she seems to us to be Australia's natural symbol of the Holy Spirit. Why? Well, her call, which is the most unmistakable laugh of the whole bird world, fills the air with good humor, but can at the same time, be a call to humility - a rather sharp reminder of one's own absurdity. Furthermore, this is a bird that does battle with snakes, and usually wins. So, she is a symbol of the Spirit's power to spread joy and laughter, to remind people not to take themselves too seriously, and to confront and overcome forces of evil."

            With this in mind, let's turn our attention to the prophet Amos in the Old Testament. His cry for God in the following passage sounds strangely familiar, as we hear it through this Laughing Bird version. Amid these harsh words of judgment, may we hear the Holy Spirit call us to humility and justice, with a laugh that breaks open sin and paves the way for God. (pause)

            Have we listened? Is the Holy Spirit at work in you? Come, let us ponder the call of this "laughing bird" as we return our tithes and offerings. Ushers?
  

Dedication

            Faithful One, you have entrusted us with so many gifts that are more important than worldly possessions.  You have called us to be stewards of all that you have created.  We strive to fulfill your call to be generous stewards by openly sharing the bounty you have placed under our care.  We know that we visibly demonstrate our commitment to your work in this world by giving these tithes and offerings.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

Copyright © 2010 David S. Bell.
Reprinted with permission from http://www.davidsbell.org
   

Benediction

            Allow me to borrow yet another resource from our Australian, “Laughing Bird” friends, some words of blessing and sending to serve as a Benediction:

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net (adapted)