Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
August 21, 2011

      …by the mercies of God, … present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”   (Romans 12:1)

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)         "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah"        582
  Announcements
  Prelude                                       "In Summer"                                    Stebbins

  Call to Worship                            Psalm 138

*Hymn                       "Lord, whose love in humble service"                         369

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                    Isaiah 51:1-6

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

*Gospel                                   Matthew 16:13-20

*Responsive Reading                                                               (back of bulletin)

*Hymn                            "Oh, how shall I receive thee"                               182

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

  Hymn                    (vs.1) "‘Tis not with eyes of flesh we see"                       571

  Pastoral Prayer

  Video                       "the hand that steadies the plate"

  Scripture                                  Romans 12:1-8

  Message                                "Being present" (mp3)

*Hymn                                       "Take My Life"                                          389

*Benediction

*Postlude                                       "Largetto"                                           Rinck

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

1 - I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

2 - before the gods I sing your praise;

1 - I bow down toward your holy temple

2 - and give thanks to your name

1 - for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;

2 - for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.

1 - On the day I called, you answered me,

2 - you increased my strength of soul.

1 - All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,

2 - for they have heard the words of your mouth.

1 - They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

2 - for great is the glory of the Lord.

1 - For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;

2 - but the haughty he perceives from far away.

1 - Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

2 - you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

1 - you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.

2 - The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

1 - your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

2 - Do not forsake the work of your hands.

             (pause briefly to indicate the scripture reading is done)

1- This Psalm speaks of bowing down giving thanks.

2 - It also sings of the ways of the Lord and the greatness of God’s glory.

1 - Therefore, should we begin worship by bowing down before such steadfast love,

2 - Or by rising up to new life which flows from the One who helps us to walk in faith?

1 - Is it possible to get down on our knees

2 - At the same time that we rise up on our feet?

1 - Perhaps we can bend our hearts

2 - as we straighten our legs

1 - and sing out our worship.

2 - #369 in our hymnal.

Psalm 138 from the New Revised Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Opening Prayer

            Grant, O God, that thinking, we may think your thoughts; that speaking, we may speak your word; that singing, we may sing to your praise; that hearing, we may hear your truth; and that willing, we may make your will our own, so that walking forward at the end of our worship, we may walk in your love and your peace, and departing from one another, not depart from you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

adapted from prayer by Roy Pearson, Hear Our Prayer, ©1961 McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York, NT.
Taken from For all who Minister, ©1993, Brethren Pres, Elgin, IL, p.85
   

Scripture Jam

1 - Listen

2 - Listen

1 - Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,

2 - Listen to me, you that seek the Lord.

1 - Look

2 - Look

1 - Look to the rock from which you were hewn,

2 - Look to the quarry from which you were dug.

1 - Look to Abraham your father

2 - Look to Sarah who bore you;

1 - for he was but one solitary man,

2 - she was just one woman,

1 - they were just a couple of old people when I called them,

2 - but I blessed them and made them many.

1 - For the Lord will comfort Zion;

2 - he will comfort all her waste places,

1 - and will make her wilderness like Eden,

2 - her desert like the garden of the Lord;

1 - joy and gladness will be found in her,

2 - thanksgiving and the voice of song.

                    (pause a moment)

1 - Listen

2 - Listen

1 - Listen to me, my people,

2 - and give heed to me, my nation;

1 - for a teaching will go out from me,

2 - and my justice for a light to the peoples.

1 - I will bring near my deliverance swiftly,

2 - my salvation has gone out

1 - and my arms will rule the peoples;

2 - the coastlands wait for me,

1 - and for my arm they hope.

2 - Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

1 - and look at the earth beneath;

2 - for the heavens will vanish like smoke,

1 - the earth will wear out like a garment,

2 - and those who live on it will die like gnats;

1 - but my salvation will be forever,

2 - and my deliverance will never be ended.

Isaiah 51:1-6 (adapted) from the New Revised Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

“Andante” … when a trained musician sees that word, she knows that the tempo or speed she is to play is “at a walking pace.” … A “walking pace” … Did you join one of our walking groups this summer? How often do you take a walk? When shopping, do you park as close as you can, or do you pick a spot a bit further from a store, so as to get some exercise? Do you pay attention to what surrounds you along the way?

            Walking can be a spiritual discipline. At a walking pace, we can look and listen, something we don’t do enough of behind the wheel of a car, or racing from one place to the next. Yes, we look and listen to a television, but are we really paying attention to what is most important?

            Through the prophet Isaiah, God has called us just now to fully look and listen, to purposefully pay attention. Listen to me. Look at your past and present, even gaze toward your future. You are surrounded by God’s creation. What God is about in this world is all around you. Do you see? Are you listening?

            Andante … perhaps “at a walking pace” we can pay attention to what is most important, moving enough to exercise both physically and spiritually, but not so fast that we miss what we need to catch.

            Andante ... In the following moments we will remain seated as we return our offerings, but the music will travel “at a walking pace.” Allow yourself to move with the music. Listen. Look. Pay attention. God is speaking. The Lord is active. Do you hear? Do you see?

Ushers?
 

Responsive Reading

One:     Who do you say that I am?

All:      Is he talking to me? I glance left and then right,
            hoping the question is directed at someone else.

One:     (a little louder) Who do you say that I am?

All:      Yes, he is asking me. With my eyes lowered, I mumble,
            “Teacher? Healer? Prophet? At least that’s what they say.”

One:     But who do you say that I am?

All:      Why does he keep asking me? “Wonderful Counselor?
            Mighty God? Everlasting Father? Prince of Peace?
            At least that's what Isaiah said.”

One:     You are missing the point. Listen again.
            Who do you say that I am'?

All:      I take a chance and look into his eyes. Suddenly the
            answer is clear. The words come with conviction:
            “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

One:     You do know who I am!

All:      Blessed are we if we can answer Christ’s question from
            our hearts and through our lives.

by Marilyn Lerch, coordinator
TRaining In Ministry (TRIM)
Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
   

Pastoral Prayer

 

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

 

Video
"the hand that steadies the plate"

  

Benediction

Go now, strong in the mercies of God.
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,
so that knowing the will of God
your whole lives may become a sacrifice of praise,
holy and acceptable to God.

And may God, the Creator of earth and sky, be your help;
May the Son of the Living God ground you on solid rock;
And may the Holy Spirit equip you with all the gifts and graces of Christ. 

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
 

(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)

 

Interested in Sunday School?
Below is a growing list of possible sites to visit. As you discover others, please let us know.

International Lesson:
Faith and Life Resources

Mennonite Publishing House

International Lesson:
Mennonite Weekly Review

(scroll down on left to "Sunday School lessons)

International Lesson:
Christian Standard
(one week ahead)

International Lesson:
Living Web Sunday School Project

 
International Lesson:
Adult Bible Studies
from The United Methodist Publishing House
(click "supplemental resources" and "current events supplement" under both the "Student" and "Teacher" sections in the left hand column)
  

While one of our adult classes follows the International lesson above (see also), using
A Guide for Biblical Studies,
published quarterly by our denomination,
another class often uses one of the
Good Ground series.

For children and youth, we use the new
Gather Round curriculum
(developed jointly by the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonite Church)

 

©2010 Peter L. Haynes
(unless otherwise stated, worship resources were written by him)

 

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