Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
May 17, 2015
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

Seventh Sunday of Easter

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)        “Rejoice, the Lord is king!”        288
  Announcements
  Prelude

*Call to Worship

*Song                                     “Shine, Jesus, shine”                             (insert)

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                     Acts 1:1-11

  For the young at heart   “Different kinds of sad”

  Scripture                                    Acts 1:12-14

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

  Hymn                          “Breathe on me, breath of God”                        356

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                    Acts 1:15-17

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

  Scripture                                    Acts 1:21-26

  Message               “With heads not lost in the clouds” (mp3)

*Hymn                       “Lord of light, your name outshining”                    410

*Benediction

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

1 - Welcome! May the peace of Christ be with you on this last Sunday in the season of Easter.

2 - Rise in body or spirit, your mind and heart prepared to be awakened by God.

1 - Listen to Psalm 47, and allow the words to draw you into the presence of truth and glory,

2 - into the light of grace and mercy. Those who have ears, hear!

(pause to indicate scripture is to be spoken)

1 - Clap your hands, all you nations;

2 - shout to God with cries of joy.

1 - For the Lord Most High is awesome,

2 - the great King over all the earth.

1 - He subdued nations under us,

2 - peoples under our feet.

1 - He chose our inheritance for us,

2 - the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

1 - God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

2 - the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

1 - Sing praises to God, sing praises;

2 - sing praises to our King, sing praises.

1 - For God is the King of all the earth;

2 - sing to him a psalm of praise.

1 - God reigns over the nations;

2 - God is seated on his holy throne.

1 - The nobles of the nations assemble

2 - as the people of the God of Abraham,

1 - for the kings of the earth belong to God;

2 - he is greatly exalted.

(pause to indicate scripture has ended)

1 - The risen Christ leads us. So remain standing and turn to the song on your bulletin insert. Let us sing, “Shine, Jesus, shine.”

Psalm 47 is from the New International Version®, NIV®
© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
     

Opening Prayer

1 - You awaken us with your word, Awesome God, like the sound of birds in the morning calling us to rise from sleep and step into a new day.

2 - You awaken us with the light of your Son, Lord Most High, like the rays that shine through our windows preventing us from slipping back into the night.

1 - You are Ruler of all Creation, and we raise our voices in praise and wonder.

2 - You are the great King over all the earth, and we have gathered as your people to re-orient our lives to the cross and the empty tomb.

1 - Bless this time, for it is yours.

2 - In Jesus’ name, shine! Amen!

Acts 1:1-11

1 - We shift from the book of Psalms in the Old Testament,

2 - to the book of Acts in the New.

1 - In it we hear the good news story of Jesus continued in the life of the early church.

2 - Tradition says that “Acts” was written by Luke, the physician who penned the gospel which goes by his name.

1 - The very first verse says it was written for someone named “Theophilus.”

2 - Well, today we are “Theophilus.” Listen to what Luke has to say.

 (pause to indicate scripture is to be spoken)

1 - In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. He said,

2 - “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

1 - So when they had come together, they asked him,

2 - “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

1 - He replied,

2 - “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 - When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said,

2 - “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

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
  

For the young at heart
“Different kinds of sad”

             Show me a “sad” face... Oh, that’s very good. Tell me, when have you worn such a sad face?... (listen to and validate the experiences of sadness they share, along the way asking how each one might be different from the others)… Are there different kinds of sad?... It won’t be long until school is finished for the year. Does that make you sad? No? Yes? If you liked your teacher, she won’t be your teacher anymore. Next fall, you will be in a different class, with different classmates, and different teachers, maybe even a different school. Does that make you sad? Yes? No? We sometimes use the word “bittersweet” to talk about feelings that are both sad and happy, bitter and sweet.

            I bring this up because we just listened to a bittersweet moment in the Bible. It was the day Jesus left his disciples, which happened 40 days after he rose from the grave on Easter. In the church calendar, last Thursday was “Ascension Day,” a time to remember when Jesus left his followers and “ascended” to be with God in heaven. Do you think the disciples were sad that Jesus left on that day? It was a different kind of sad from how they felt when Jesus died on the cross, don’t you think? Then, they were afraid (show me an “afraid” face), and maybe angry (how about an angry face). How about confused … empty … lost … broken? There are many kinds of sad.

            But today we remember yet another kind of sad, that maybe was a little bit glad (show me a glad face), and hopeful (how about hopeful), full of anticipation … and wonder. It was sort of like the last day of school, a bittersweet day. They were sad that something was changing. After ten days (not a whole summer), a new teacher was coming. Her name was “Holy Spirit.” But that is next week’s story.

Thank you for helping us to remember.

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)
perhaps this prayer will be used.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             We continue the story of the disciples of Jesus following his ascension. According to the book of Acts, ten days separate those moments on mount Olivet, when Jesus left to be with the Father, and the Jewish feast of Pentecost. As we heard, they “devoted themselves to prayer” during that time. There were also some loose ends to tie up. Listen:

read Acts 1:15-17

             There are always loose ends to be tied up, aren’t there? Some would say that taking up an offering during worship is a loose end that distracts from more important things. What do you think? Are finances a distraction, or do our offerings help make possible our “share in this ministry”?

             Last week, our treasurer Gary Miller lifted up the mission of Bethany Seminary and the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center as our special offering emphasis for the month of May. These schools help train men and women in our denomination to be ministers of Jesus Christ. That’s not a “loose end,” by the way. Calling persons to ministry is important work. If you would like to add a special offering to these ministries, above and beyond your regular commitment, please do. Use a manilla envelope found in your pew rack, and write “Bethany” or “SVMC” on it. Beyond that, ponder who our congregation in the future might call to ministry and send to Bethany. Maybe that someone is you.

Ushers, please guide our giving.

Benediction

An appropriate blessing for this day, from Psalm 121:

from the Revised Standard Version
copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 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