Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
May 13, 2012
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am

Mothers' Day 

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)             "Now thank we all our God"             86
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Call to Worship                                                                    (back of bulletin)

*Hymn                              "With happy voices singing"                                 83

*Opening Prayer

  With Children                                Psalm 98

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

  Hymn                              "Thou true Vine, that heals"                                373

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                    John 15:9-17

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory Video                      "The Mom Song"
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                    1 John 5:1-6

  Message                                      "Get real" (mp3)

*Hymn                           "Heart with loving heart united"                             420

*Benediction

*Postlude  

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

One:     Come, children of God, worship and give thanks!

All:      We come with joy, gathered as sisters and brothers of Christ.

One:     Come, children of God, come as you are and enter God's presence.

All:      We come with gratitude and great love for the One who has created us.

One:     Come, children of God, bring your sorrows and your joys.

All:      We come with our flaws and failures, knowing we are forgiven and loved.

One:     Come, children of God, let us worship the One who gives us life!

All:      We come with open hearts and open hands to worship our God, and to welcome one another.

by Christy Waltersdorff, pastor
York Center Church of the Brethren Lombard, Illinois
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
 

Opening Prayer

Holy God, we welcome your presence in these moments of worship. We seek your wisdom and understanding, your peace and grace. Send your Holy Spirit to move in and through us, so that we may indeed be the church you call us to be. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

by Christy Waltersdorff, pastor
York Center Church of the Brethren Lombard, Illinois
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
 

For Children
Psalm 98

To capture the exuberance of this psalm gather all the rhythm instruments and noise makers you can.  Invite the children forward to help the congregation read the psalm.  Pass out the instruments.  The children's job is to make noise with the instruments and shout Alleluia! each time you point to them.  Practice once or twice.  Then read verses 1-3 without pausing.  Pause after each of the remaining verses for the children to praise with their alleluias and instruments.  The verses may be read by a liturgist or by the whole congregation. (The latter is louder and more in keeping in the spirit of the psalm!).

from Worshiping with Children, Easter 6B,
by Carolyn C. Brown, 2012.
scripture text is Good News Translation (GNT)
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
  

Pastoral Prayer

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

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

When we return to God from what the Lord has first given us, we bear fruit - whether our offering involves time, talents, or money. On this Mothers' Day, you are welcome to add a special offering - above the amount you regularly give - to go toward the mothers and their children ministered to by the Family Crisis Center. This is one small way we can befriend families going through rough times. It's also a way of honoring our own mothers, or someone who has been like a mother to us. Feel free to include the name of the person you are honoring, or in whose memory you are giving your offering. These will be listed in our June newsletter. While the ushers collect what we have to share, we will view a light-hearted video full of all sorts of nuggets mothers speak to their children, put to the tune of the William Tell Overture. In our laughter, may God's joy be made complete. Please pray with me...

With these offerings we are about to give, Lord, we are not laying down our life. Perhaps we are stretching a bit beyond our usual giving. However, it is your greater sacrifice which empowers us to reach out, because you have first taken us in your arms upon the cross. Not as "servants," but as your "friends," do we offer these gifts. As we think of those who have nurtured us, whether they are still with us or are among that cloud of witnesses in heaven who continue to influence us, may our memories of how you worked in our lives through them make our complete. This we pray in the name of the One who said, "abide in my love." Amen

Ushers - please guide us in giving.

Offertory Video
'The Mom Song"

Benediction

What a friend we have in Jesus!
      Those are not hollow words.
He was and is real - honest to God!
      Flesh and blood,
            living, dying, rising ... for us!
Indeed, what a friend we have in Jesus!
      Can I have an "amen!"?

Therefore, go and be real as friends to others,
      who will not know if they have a friend in Jesus
            if they don't have a friend in you.
      Don't be hollow in your loving.
            God has called you,
                        commanded you, even,
                  to a higher love.
      It's not a burden to bear,
            but a joy to share,
                  made possible by a higher power,
                        alive and active in you!
Be a blessing!
      Amen?