Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
March 9, 2014
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

First Sunday of Lent

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)            "I want Jesus to walk with me"           439
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Responsive Call to Worship

*Hymn                           "Oh, how wondrous the grace"                               147

 *Opening Prayer

   Scripture                                  Genesis 6:11-22    Contemporary English Version

   For Children                            "Fill the Ark"

   Scripture                                 Romans 3:23-26                          from The Voice

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

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

   Hymn                                      "Be still, my soul"                                   (insert)

   Pastoral Prayer (mp3)

   Scripture                                 Matthew 4:1-11                           from The Voice

   Message                       "Being led into the desert" (mp3)

 *Hymn                               "When peace, like a river"                                 336

 *Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship
(based upon Psalm 32)

Our hearts sing with joy when we know that we are free from deceit, and our sins are forgiven, but our lives disintegrate with worry and guilt when we keep silent about our wrongdoings.

When we seek your truth, O God, and acknowledge our sin, we experience your forgiveness.

Let all people reach out to you in prayer, O God, and know your protection and strength, so that embraced by your grace-filled presence and filled with your undeserved forgiveness, they sing your praise and shout for joy.

When we listen for God's word and follow God's direction for our lives, our stubbornness melts away and our tempers are controlled

When we fail to listen, and persist in following other than God's way, our hearts are hardened and our lives tormented.

But when we put our trust in God, we are surrounded and filled with God's steadfast love.

Let all those who are upright in heart rejoice and shout for joy.

written by Rev. Moira Laidlaw
a retired minister in the Uniting Church in Australia
from "Liturgies Online"
    

Opening Prayer

             How deep, indeed, are the riches of your grace, O Lord, and how great is your love! We have only begun to scratch the surface, to catch but a glimpse of who you are, and who we are in relation to you. Even so, we are filled with awe and wonder. We praise you, and thank you. May this time of worship be less about us and more about you.

             Through your Spirit, help us to open the door of our heart, soul, and mind and allow you entrance into our lives today. This we pray in the name of the One who said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock..."

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest! Amen.

(used last on Feb. 17, 2002)
     

For Children
"Fill the Ark"

            We're involving our children in the launching of our Heifer International "Fill the Ark" fund raiser. After simply explaining how Heifer International passes on the gift of living critters to folks who can use them to feed themselves (and then give to others), we'll bring out the Ark banks and fold them into boxes. The children will pass these banks and the accompanying calendars to everyone in the congregation.
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Pray with me.

             O God, who placed the rainbow in the sky as a sign, we thank you for going beyond your promise to never again destroy the whole earth because of human cruelty and violence (Genesis 8:20-22). Through Jesus the Anointed, you have demonstrated your restorative justice, saving and setting right with you all who have sinned. Our offerings just now are not futile attempts to reach you, but rather are an overflowing of gratitude for your free gift of grace. In your name we pray. Amen.

Ushers?

Benediction

May God fill us with the sort of strength
      that can only be discovered
                        and developed in the wilderness:
      the power to resist the seductions of our foolish desires
                             and the tempter's vain delights;
      the will to walk in obedience and righteousness,
            rejoicing with an upright heart. Amen.