Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
June 15, 2014
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

Trinity Sunday – Father’s Day

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)          “We are people of God’s peace”         407
  Announcements
  Prelude                             “As Torrents in Summer”                                Elgar

*Responsive Call to Worship            Psalm 8                                              812

*Hymn                             “For the beauty of the earth”                                  89

*Opening Prayer

  The Creation Story                 Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a
                 (when directed, sing “Behold what God has made,” on the insert)

  Hymn                              “This is my Father’s world”                                154

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                                     “Cantabile”                                    Lemmens
                              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

*Response                 “Praise God from whom (Doxology)”                     119A

*Dedication

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

   Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                            2 Corinthians 13:11-13

 Message                        “The power of being sent” (mp3)

*Hymn                               “You shall go out with joy”                                427

*Benediction                            Matthew 28:16-20                  Betty Chenoweth

*Postlude                               “Forth in Thy Name”                                 Dykes

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

O Lord, our Sovereign,
      how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
      the moon and the stars that you have established;
      what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
            mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
      and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
      you have put all things under their feet,

all sheep and oxen,
      and also the beasts of the field,
      the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
            whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
      how majestic is your name in all the earth!

#812, Psalm 8:1,3-9  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

        O God, Author of eternal light, lead us in our worshiping this day; that our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, our meditations may glorify you; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adapted from Sacrum Breviary, 11th Century
p. 86, For All Who Minister, Brethren Press, 1993
   

The Creation Story
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a

             Last week we celebrated the birth day of the church on Pentecost. Today, we turn our thoughts to another beginning. The first chapter of the Bible sets in motion God’s story, which is our story. The first word, “Genesis” (in Greek) or “Bereshit” (in Hebrew) literally means, “in the beginning.” This is where we will start, listening to the unfolding of Creation, day by day. We will pause after the reading of each day, in silence after the first two, and with a song thereafter. Let me teach you the words and tune, which were written for this moment. First, listen, then join in singing it second time through.

             As we progress through the seven days of Creation, we will be blessed by the artwork of Corinne Vonaesch, a Swiss painter. “Faith is a big part of my art,” she writes. “I like the beautiful connexion that exists between art and faith. The Bible has been an important source of inspiration all through my artistic journey.” Projected on the screen as we listen to Genesis will be her series, “The seven days of Creation.”

Open yourself to voice of God.

Reader 1      (Genesis 1:1-5) 

Silence

Reader 2      (Genesis 1:5-8)

Silence 

Reader 3      (Genesis 1:9-13)

“Behold what God has made”

Reader 4      (Genesis 1:14-19) 

“Behold what God has made”

Reader 5      (Genesis 1:20-23)

“Behold what God has made”

Reader 6      (Genesis 1:24-31)

“Behold what God has made”

Reader 7      (Genesis 2:1-4a) 

“Behold what God has made”

then, immediately move into “This is my Father’s world,” Hymnal #154

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             The Italian word, “cantabile” (kon-tah-bill-eh) literally means “singable” or “songlike.” Listening to the Creation story is like hearing a song, for it is the voice of the Great Singer that brings everything into existence, day by day – and behold, “it was very good.”

             When we gather to worship, we add our voices – some clear and melodious, others “a joyful noise unto the Lord” – to the song, responding to the goodness of our Creator and the goodness of Creation. We are invited to be filled with wonder over, and not tear asunder what we have received. In the moments of giving that follow, may your offering be like a song, a response to the Great Singer whose voice still brings forth goodness on this earth.

Ushers, would you put your feet and hands into the task of guiding our giving song?

Dedication

             May these offerings, along with the words we utter and the pondering and wondering of our minds and hearts, be like a song to you, O Lord. You have made it all possible. You continue to show the way. You empower us to step into the story. God in three, holy in One. Amen

Pastoral Prayer

I may adapt this prayer, or in that moment go in a different direction.

Benediction

             Let’s allow our sister Betty Chenoweth to send us forth with God’s promise, a great commission from the lips of someone whose body may be bound to a wheelchair, but whose spirit goes out with joy.

Matthew 28:16-20