Worship - June 9, 2013

Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
June 9, 2013
Worship 10:00 am Sunday School 11:10am

“My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. It wasn’t given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.”
(Galatians 1:11-12, CEV)

Beginning with Praise (9:50 am) "Unto thy temple, Lord, we come" 4
Announcements
Prelude "Prayer" Cherubini

Responsive Call to Worship Psalm 30:1-5

*Hymn "Come, we that love the Lord" 14

*Opening Prayer

Turning in Faith Psalm 30:6-10

Responsive Confession 691

A Moment of Silence (let grace sink in)

A Chorus of "Amazing Grace!" (vs. 2) 143

Words of Wonder Psalm 30:11-12

A Chorus of "Amazing Grace!" (vs. 6) 143

A Gospel Story Luke 7:11-17

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

Children of Compassion

Moving Prayer

Hymn "Gracious Spirit, dwell with me" 507

Spoken Prayer

Scripture Galatians 1:11-24

Message "Owning the Gospel" (mp3)

*Hymn "Lord, speak to me" 499

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Responsive Call to Worship

One: I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

All: O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

One: O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

All: Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

One: For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime.

All: Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

scripture text is 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

You, O God, show us daily the breadth of your mercy and the depth of your kindness. Your compassion brings to us awareness of peace unknown from human sources. Your kindness turns us toward healing as nothing else can. We come to you as grateful and willing students. Amen.

by Dallas A. Brauninger
from the book Lectionary Worship Aids Series V, Cycle C

Responsive Confession

Leader: Almighty God, Spirit of purity and grace
                 whose dwelling is with the humble and contrite heart,
                     hear your children's confession of sin and grant us mercy.
             For all that has been evil in our lives;
                 for unholy thoughts and impure motives,
                 for any scorn of goodness, trifling with truth,
                     and indifference to beauty,
                 for being petty when we could have been gracious,
People: forgive us, O God.
Leader: For lack of love toward you,
                     whose love has never failed;
                 for doubt in your providence,
                 for acts of ingratitude,
                 and for disobedience to visions we have been able to see,
People: forgive us, O God.
Leader: For the wrong we have done our neighbors;
                 for silence in the face of war,
                 for neglect of charity and failure in justice,
                 for forgetfulness of other's pain,
                 and for advantage taken of another's weakness,
People: forgive us, O God.
Leader: For our faulty following of the Master;
                     our slow faith in his power to save,
                     our timid, hesitant answers to his call of service,
                     our insensibility to the meaning of the cross;
                 for all that mars our discipleship
                     and makes it difficult for others to believe in him,
People: forgive us, O God.
Leader: May God, who is almighty and merciful
                 forgive our sins,
                 empower us to overcome temptation,
                 and enable us to love as Jesus loved.
People: AMEN

Hymnal #691 - adapted from a litany of repentance,
Edward K. Ziegler, The Adventurous Future,
ed. Paul H. Bowman, © 1959 Brethren Press.

Children of Compassion

In her Worshiping with Children weekly lectionary blog, Carolyn C. Brown writes the following:

Compassion is a big word that may be new to children and is an attitude that can be hard for children to adopt. Display the word on a big poster and savor saying it together. Divide it into “com” and “passion.” Define passion as caring a lot. Note that “com” comes from the Latin word for “with.” So compassion means “caring a whole lot WITH another person.” To have compassion is to stand with a person, to see the world through their eyes, to know how they are feeling AND to care so much about them that you will do whatever you can to help them. Cite easy examples of compassion such as going for help when you see someone get hurt and harder examples such as inviting a person who looks lonely to sit with you.

In our worship we will invite our children forward after our time of sharing joys and concerns, and talk briefly about “compassion,” with the above paragraph in mind. Praying for another person is also an act of compassion. The children will be invited at this point to help the rest of the congregation to express their compassion through prayer. Some will stand and hold baskets of tea candles, others will have our church candle lighters to assist with the Moving Prayer (below), while still others may help those for whom the chancel steps are a barrier to place a candle on the table for them. It all depends upon which children are present. (p.s. the idea below was also derived from a suggestion in the same blog.)

Moving Prayer

During our time of sharing, various names were mentioned. When spoken in worship, these are invitations to prayer – whether it be to celebrate with those who rejoice, or to bear with another’s burden. Let’s put prayer into motion in the moments that follow. Choose one of the persons lifted up earlier, or pick someone else not mentioned. Perhaps this is someone you know well, or not at all. You could recall an event from the news this week, nearby or far away, and choose someone or a community, or even a nation that was mentioned. Focus your prayerful attention upon those whom you now choose.

As we sing the next hymn, I invite you to come forward, if you are able. When you do so, first place your offering – if you have one to give this week – in the plates that are up front. Then, from one of the baskets our children hold, pick up a tea candle, and make your way up the steps to the worship center. A young person with a candle lighter will help you to light your candle. Then place it on the table, quietly praying for the person or persons you have chosen. I’d encourage those arriving earlier to place their tea candles further back on the table, so that those arriving later will not be reaching across the flames of other candles. Let’s not get burnt in the process. If the steps are a barrier, simply ask me or someone else to place a candle on the worship center for you.

Let us enter this time of “moving prayer” by singing "Gracious Spirit, dwell with me," #507 in the hymnal. Don’t worry if we are not done by the time the song is over. Our organist will continue with contemplative music if needed. Simply sing, and light your candle, and pray.

Spoken Prayer

Instead of closing our eyes to pray, let’s keep them open and look toward all these lights upon the table. Join me now in prayer.

Light of the world, when times are rough and it becomes hard to see, you show the way. Your word is a lamp to stumbling feet. Your voice is a comfort to lean toward and follow. You roll away tombstones and open the possibility for every sunrise to be Easter morning. Your Holy Spirit is a tongue of fire upon each head. Bushes still burn and yet are not consumed, pillars of fire yet stand as protection, signposts along the way of liberation from bondage – if only we have eyes to see.

You hear our prayers for others, even as you listen to our requests for our own journey. This we believe, as more than two gathered in Jesus’ name. Furthermore, we believe that you do answer our prayers, and provide for those in need. By lighting these candles, we are also affirming that you often make us a part of your answer. Therefore, we ask your help when it comes to letting our light – your light in us – shine.

This we pray in the name of the One who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”* Amen!

*John 8:12

Benediction

The challenge with which we leave this time and place is to “own” the gospel, to receive it and make it our own. Of course, by that we do not mean we should put up a fence around it and protect it under force of law. No! The good news can never be so limited. The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to be lived in and shared freely. However, in order to do so with integrity and authenticity, we each need to own it. So…

May God speak to you,
                 lead you,
                 strengthen you,
                 teach you,
                 fill you this week to live up to that challenge.
Amen.