Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
July 29, 2012
Worship 10:00 am

Hymn-sing
Celebrating 20 years of our “new” hymnal

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                   "Move in Our Midst"                418
  Announcements

  Beginning                            "Morning has broken"                                    648
                                                                    (repeat verse 1)

  Torah                                  Genesis 1 (selections)                                    806

*Open your hearts          "Praise, I will praise you, Lord"                              76

*Gospel                                   John 1:1-5, 10-14                                       841

*Praise!                             "Wonderful grace of Jesus"                               150

*Responsive Opening Prayer                                                                      670

  Welcome

  Beholding                        "This is my Father’s world"                                154

  Scripture                                Ephesians 3:14-21

  Being Held                            "Blessed assurance"                                     332

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

  Trusting                            "When peace, like a river"                                336

  Responsive Intercessory Prayer                                                                722

  Forgiven                              (vs. 1-3, 6) "Amazing Grace!"                                143

  Scripture                                 Psalm 145:13-21                                       824

  Singing our giving               "Great is thy faithfulness"                                  327

  Unison Dedication Prayer                                                                         751

  New Beginning                       Revelation 21:1-4                                       860

*Rising Song                    "In the bulb there is a flower"                               614

*Sending                                                                                                    764

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Torah
Genesis 1:1-3,6,7,9,11,14,20,24,26-28,31

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”

Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.”

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years…”

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.”

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.”

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.

Hymnal #806
scripture text 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.
  

Gospel
John 1:1-5, 10-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

Hymnal #841
scripture text 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.
  

Responsive Opening Prayer

 Leader: Our God,
                 we gather to worship you, the One who creates all things.
People: For the gift of creation, we give thanks.
 Leader: We gather to worship you,
                 the One who brings salvation through Jesus Christ.
People: For the gift of redemption, we give thanks.
 Leader: We gather to worship you,
                 the One who sustains us by the Spirit.
People:  For the gift of your presence, we give thanks.
 Leader: We bring to you our offerings of thanks and praise
                 for all your gifts.
    ALL:  We worship you - Our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. AMEN

Hymnal #670, © 1988 Ruth A. Yoder
26175 Woodridge Dr., Elkhart, IN 46517
   

Welcome

Welcome to our Hymn-sing, celebrating 20 years of our “new” blue “Hymnal.” That’s right, it was in 1992 that we first brought this worship resource into the life of our congregation. It replaced our old, red 1951 Brethren Hymnal. Earlier this year we received a request from our denomination to share our “top ten,” favorite hymns from this hymnal. Many of you took up the invitation and wrote down your own list. Every list was sent to Nancy Faus who helped chair the committee that produced this hymnal. She pulled together all the lists from around the denomination in order to hold a 20 year celebration at our recent Annual Conference.

We thought it would be enjoyable and inspirational to have our own celebration here at Long Green Valley. Thus, today’s hymn-sing. We pulled together all your lists, and came up with the 10 hymns for our congregation. The last song we will sing this morning received the most votes, and is thus considered the favorite. Basically, the order of hymns is like a countdown from the 10^th place hymn to #1. Of course, there were several ties, for 2^nd, 7^th and 10^th place. In fact, there were 12 hymns vying for 10^th place. We broke the tie by putting them all on our Facebook page and letting those who visited that page choose. Even then the vote was close, but the song we sang before the announcements won – “Move in our Midst.” The good news is that we have many favorite hymns.

To further celebrate our 20 year old Hymnal, we are using many worship resources from the back of it. You will be getting a workout, with all the singing and responsive readings and prayers. This makes sense, since what we do in worship, something we call “liturgy,” means “the work of the people.” We have not gathered to be entertained, my friends. We are here to do the work of worship. May we not so much dwell upon our favorite songs, what we list as out top ten hymns. Instead, let’s use them for the task of praising our Maker, of beholding God’s creation, of being held in the arms of Jesus, of trusting in the faithfulness of the Lord, of confessing our sins and being forgiven, of responding to the goodness of God with our offerings, of dedicating our lives to following Jesus Christ, of rising with him to new life – in this world and in the blessed hope of the world to come. That is the work of worship this hour, something this blue hymnal was uniquely organized around, its songs placed in worship order rather than doctrine order.

Now, some folks say that hymnals are a relic of the past. Who needs something you can hold in your hands when the words can be projected upon a screen. In fact, as you notice, everything we are doing this morning is in both formats – on the screen and in your hands. A projection of words, however, cannot give you the music which enables those of you who can read music to sing in four-part harmony. It will be a poorer church which has lost the ability to sing in harmony. There is something about singing in harmony with each other that helps us live together in harmony. We don’t all sing the same notes, but we do sing together. And it is not a production, with you being entertained by those of us up front. We are in this together. Never forget that. Even when you sing using the words on the screen, seek to harmonize. Open your hymnal and use it if need be. By the way, another reason we do both projection and hymnal is that some of us are taller than others, and shorter folks are just as important, equipped with your own hymnal.

I think I’ve said enough. Let’s continue this celebration. Behold! “This is (our) Father’s world.”

Prayer of the People

(Pause for silence after each intercession. Specific requests may be added)

Leader:  Merciful God,
                       your love for us makes us bold to join our prayers
                       with all who need your help.
              We bring our prayers to you:

                       For those who suffer pain;
                       For those who struggle with limits of body and soul;
                       For those who are satisfied with less than the life
                                              for which they were created;
                       For those who know their guilt and their need
                                              but do not know of Jesus;
                       For those who know that they must shortly die
                                              and for those who cannot wait to die.

   ALL:  Come, Redeeming God,
                       take all these sufferings upon yourself and transform them.
              Be merciful also to us, who offer these prayers,
                       so that we might enter the sufferings of others
                       and become agents of your healing love,
                       through Jesus Christ, our Lord. AMEN

Hymnal #722
adapted from Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship,
ed. Caryl Micklem, © 1956 1967 SCM Press, Ltd.
   

Psalm 145:13-21

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
    and gracious in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
    satisfying the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is just in all his ways,
    and kind in all his doings.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
    he also hears their cry, and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Hymnal #824
scripture text 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.
  

Unison Dedication Prayer

Generous God,
    you gave us life;
    now we give our lives back to you.
We present ourselves:
    our work and play,
    our joys and sorrows,
    our thoughts and deeds,
    our gifts and resources,
    to be used by you
      for the sake of all people everywhere,
      through Jesus Christ, our Lord. AMEN

Hymnal #751, from First University United Methodist Church,
Minneapolis, Min.. adapted from Ventures in Worship, Vol. 1,
ed. David J. Randolph, copyright © 1969 Abingdon Press.
  

New Beginning
Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

Hymnal #86o
scripture text 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.
  

Sending

Leader: Go in love,

People: for love alone endures.

Leader: Go in peace,

People: for it is the gift of God.

Leader: Go in safety,

People: for we cannot go where God is not.

Hymnal #764
by Earle W. Fike
from Book of Worship
©1964 by Brethren Press