Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
January 15, 2012
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am
 

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                   "Come, thou fount"                   521
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship                         Psalm 139:1-6

*Hymn                           "Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee"                               71

*Opening Prayer (in unison)                                                                       739

  Scripture                                  1 Samuel 3:1-10
                                                     (congregation, when prompted:)
      Left side:    “Samuel! Samuel!”                               (all 4 times)
      Right side:   “Here I am, for you called me.”           (1^st 3 times)
                        “Speak, for your servant is listening.”       (4^th time)

  For Children                   "A Difficult Message"

  Response                           (refrain only) "Here I am, Lord"                            395

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

  Unison Reading                       Psalm 139:13-18                    (pew Bible, p. 542)

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                             1 Corinthians 6:12-20          (Laughing Bird Version)

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

  Hymn                                      "Come and see"           20

  Scripture                                    John 1:43-51

  Message                                "You know me"  (mp3)

*Hymn                                    "Be thou my vision"       545

*Benediction

*Postlude  

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

  One: O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

   Left:  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

 Right:   you discern my thoughts from far away.

   Left:  You search out my path and my lying down,

 Right:   and are acquainted with all my ways.

  One:  Even before a word is on my tongue,

    All:  O Lord, you know it completely.

   Left:  You hem me in, behind and before,

 Right:   and lay your hand upon me.

    All:  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

  One:  it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:1-6 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

Almighty God,
      to you all hearts are open,
      all desires are known,
      and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
      by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit
      that we may perfectly love you
      and worthily magnify your holy name,
      through Christ, our Lord. AMEN

Hymnal #739
Leonine missal, 7th c.
   

Scripture
1 Samuel 3:1-10 

We will actively listen to our second Old Testament reading this morning by all of us being ready to speak, when prompted, the words that are printed in your bulletin. When I raise my right arm in your direction, would those of you on the left (or piano) side of the sanctuary call out: “Samuel! Samuel!” Let’s practice this… Once more…
     Now, those of you on the right (or organ) side of the sanctuary, when I raise my left hand in your direction, please say: “Here I am, for you called me.” Let’s practice… Again… You on the right side will need to count, for you only say those words 3 times. The fourth time you will say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Let’s practice that line. Please feel free to count with your fingers. Just to warn you, I’ll be calling on you to do the same during the children’s story. You on the right side will speak the first response, not the second.
     As we proceed, make sure you pay attention to this key story about a boy after whom this book in the Bible is named. Are you ready? Listen.

  
(arrange ahead of time for one person to read the words spoken by Eli,
from any spot in the sanctuary, using a microphone)

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.
      The word of the Lord was rare in those days;
            visions were not widespread.
At that time Eli,
      whose eyesight had begun to grow dim
            so that he could not see,
                  was lying down in his room;
      the lamp of God had not yet gone out,
            and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord,
                  where the ark of God was.

Then the Lord called,
                                   (motion to the right)
            Left side: “Samuel! Samuel!”
and he ran to Eli, and said,
                                   (motion to the left)
            Right side: “Here I am, for you called me.”
But Eli said,
            Eli: “I did not call; lie down again.”
So he went and lay down.

The Lord called again,
                                   (motion to the right)
            Left side: “Samuel! Samuel!”
Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said,
                                   (motion to the left)
            Right side: “Here I am, for you called me.”
But Eli said,
            Eli: “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
      and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

The Lord called Samuel again, a third time.
                                   (motion to the right)
            Left side: “Samuel! Samuel!”
And he got up and went to Eli, and said,
                                   (motion to the left)
            Right side: “Here I am, for you called me.”
Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
Therefore Eli said to Samuel,
            Eli: “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say,
                       ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before,
                                   (motion to the right)
            Left side: “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel said,
                                   (motion to the left)
            Right side: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

text (slightly amended) 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.
  

For Children
"A Difficult Message"
(1 Samuel 3:1-20)

I hope you were paying attention to the Bible story we just read. There aren’t that many Bible stories that directly involve children, and this is one of them. Quickly, what do you remember hearing in this story, what happened? (get from the children the story as they received it)

Well, there is more to this story than what we just read. After Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening,” God had some things to say. And they weren’t happy thoughts. You see, Eli was a priest who took care of the temple at a place called Shiloh. People came to Shiloh to worship, and they brought with them offerings for God, that were supposed to be taken care of in a particular way. Eli had two sons, Hophni & Phinehas, who were up to no good. They were priests, also, and doing things in that temple they shouldn’t have done. God was going to put a stop to it. That’s what God told young Samuel.

Now, I imagine it wasn’t easy for a boy to hear something like that. He looked up to Eli, and God said he was going to punish Eli and his sons. After God finished talking to him, Samuel just lay there until morning. He didn’t know what to do. Should he tell Eli what God said? He was afraid. He didn’t want to hurt Eli by telling him that God was going to punish him and his sons, that his time of being a priest was almost over. That’s a lot to rest on the shoulders of a boy. Imagine if it was you.

The next morning, Eli called out (point to right side of congregation, like during the previous scripture reading), “Samuel! Samuel!,” and Samuel replied, (point to left side of congregation) “Here I am, for you called me.” Eli asked Samuel what God said. Do you think Samuel told Eli the truth? What would you have done? Well, Samuel did tell Eli. God entrusted a difficult message to a boy. And, you know what? Eli listened to Samuel with respect. Can you imagine?
  

Unison Reading
Psalm 139:13-18
(pew Bible, p. 542)

¹³For thou didst form my inward parts,
      thou didst knit me together in my
         mother's womb.
¹⁴I praise thee, for thou art fearful and
         wonderful.
      Wonderful are thy works!
   Thou knowest me right well;
¹⁵    my frame was not hidden from thee,
    when I was being made in secret,
       intricately wrought in the depths of
          the earth.
¹⁶Thy eyes beheld my unformed sub-
         stance;
      in thy book were written, every one
         of them,
   the days that were formed for me,
      when as yet there was none of them.
¹⁷How precious to me are thy thoughts,
         O God!
      How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸If I would count them, they are more
          than the sand.
      When I awake, I am still with thee.

from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] 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.
  

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Let’s pray.

O Lord, you have searched us and known us. You know us when we’re sitting and when we rise up; you discern our thoughts from far away. You search out our path, even when we travel where probably shouldn’t go. All our ways are known by you. Before we even speak, O Lord, you know what we’re going to say. Your presence - behind us, before us, beside us, above us, beneath us - isn’t a straight jacket, though there are times we are tempted to see it that way. Your hand is upon us, something that’s beyond our ability to comprehend, and yet we know it. Help us to live out of this sense of inconceivable, unbelievable being known and knowing. Amen.

Ushers?
  

Benediction

May the One who sees you as you truly are,
               and who seeks you out,
                        no matter where you go;
May the One who has known you
                                all along your life’s journey,
               and who knows you better
                                than you know yourself;
May the Lord bless your way through this week.

As you go, trusting God,
                  strengthened by the Holy Spirit,
     know that you cannot go where the Son
                  has not already been first.
     Whether you see him or not, he is there.
Follow the voice of the One who calls you by name,
and invites you daily to “Come and see.”
Amen.