Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
June 14, 2015
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)              “Be thou my vision”              545
  Announcements
  Prelude

*Call to Worship                         Psalm 92:1-4

*Hymn                        “Praise the Lord who reigns above”                      54

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                   Mark 4:26-34

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

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

  Scripture                         2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

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

   Hymn                                  “I am thine, O Lord”                               505

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                            1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13

  Message                “…but the Lord looks on the heart” (mp3)

*Hymn                               “New earth, heavens new”                          299

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

One:  It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

All:   to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

One:  to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

All:   For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalm 92:1-4 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

          Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

adapted from Gregorian Sacramentary, 7th century
taken from For all who Minister,
©1993, Brethren Pres, Elgin, IL, p.86
     

Mark 4:26-34

1 - Jesus was a master storyteller. He once told the following parable.

2 - “Picture this: God’s kingdom is like a farmer who scatters seed one day, and then goes on with other tasks. Day after day, night after night, that seed goes on to do what seeds do – sprouting and growing. The farmer doesn’t exactly know how it happens. It just does. The earth does its job, without much help from the farmer – from root to stalk to ripened grain. When the time is right, that farmer heads out with a sickle to harvest what began with a bag of seed.”

1 - Jesus continued:

2 - “Indeed, how else might we picture the kingdom of God? Are there other stories we might tell? What about this? It’s like a tiny mustard seed. Tossed on the ground, you’d be hard pressed to think it would amount to much. Even so, it grows up and becomes what we might call ‘the greatest of all shrubs.’ On its large branches the birds of the air make their nests in its shade.”

1 - As I said, Jesus was a master storyteller. People like stories, you know, and he had plenty of them. That’s how he got his message across to the crowds. When he was alone with his closest companions, however, he went over the details, to make sure they got it.

this paraphrase is my own,
what might be called
the "Rockhay Version"
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Last week, we introduced our summer-long “Read to Feed” project. Let’s briefly go over the details to make sure we “get it.” The goal of this project is to raise funds for Heifer International in a way that involves us all, and nudges each of us to grow. Adults – you are the initiators. You pick up a packet and a student guide off the back table. Connect up with a young person – a child, a youth, a young adult, someone younger than you – and challenge them to read over the summer, instead of just watching TV or playing on the computer.

It doesn’t matter what they read, though you might have some suggestions. You become their sponsor, checking in with them over the summer. Between the two of you, decide how much you’ll give them per page, per chapter, per book, or per hour they read, money which they will put in an ark bank to give to Heifer International at the end of the summer. It’s that simple.

By the way, it doesn’t have to be someone in this church that you sponsor. You can sponsor more than one young person. They can have more than one sponsor. Just make a connection. Be supportive as you challenge. Likewise, be creative. Maybe challenge yourself if you can’t find someone else. For instance, read your Bible and put in a donation, or (on the other hand) put in some coins when you forget to read. Do you “get” this “Read to Feed” challenge?

This is a summer-long Witness project. During the month of June, however, our special offering focus is our district camping program. We support two outdoor ministry centers: Shepherd’s Spring near Hagerstown, and Camp Mardela on the eastern shore. Our challenge was to raise $300 or more for both. Now, Heifer International dovetails with outdoor ministry at Shepherd’s Spring with their Heifer Village. Let’s watch a video about it as we return our morning offering. Please note – this was made in 2010. The program has grown since then, like a seed moving toward harvest.

Ushers, please come and gather in our offerings.

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13

(reader begins in front of the worship center)

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah;
         and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
            ³⁵ Samuel did not see Saul again
                     until the day of his death,
         but Samuel grieved over Saul.
               And the Lord was sorry
                     that he had made Saul king over Israel.

(reader turns the crown on the worship center upside down)

^16:1 The Lord said to Samuel,
         “How long will you grieve over Saul?

                 I have rejected him from being king over Israel.
           Fill your horn with oil and set out;
                 I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite,
                       for I have provided for myself
                             a king among his sons.”

(reader moves the crown from the worship center to the lectern, right-side up)

² Samuel said,
      “How can I go?
              If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.”

(emphasize “heifer” below as a pun to go with our summer “Read to Feed” project)

And the Lord said,
     “Take a heifer with you, and say,
            ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
         ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice,
                 and I will show you what you shall do;
                       and you shall anoint for me
                             the one whom I name to you.”

(reader comes down the steps)

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord commanded,
     and came to Bethlehem.

The elders of the city came to meet him trembling,

(invite the congregation to be the elders, “trembling”)

and they asked,
     “Do you come peaceably?”

(prod them to do so)

 ⁵ He said,

       “Peaceably;
               I have come to sacrifice to the Lord;
                     sanctify yourselves
                           and come with me to the sacrifice.”

(Someone has been asked ahead of time to be Jesse.
After the next sentence, “Jesse” goes and recruits eight males
to come forward and stand in a line in front of the lectern.
These are NOT speaking parts.
“Jesse” can call them out by name … or not.)

And he sanctified Jesse and his sons
      and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they came, Samuel looked on Eliab and thought,
      “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.”

(reader acts the part of “Samuel”)

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel,
      “Do not look on his appearance
                        or on the height of his stature,
                               because I have rejected him;
              for the Lord does not see as mortals see;
                    they look on the outward appearance,
                          but the Lord looks on the heart.”

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab,
        and made him pass before Samuel. He said,
            “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”

⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said,
      “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”

 ¹⁰ Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel,
          and Samuel said to Jesse,

              “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”

¹¹ Samuel said to Jesse,
      “Are all your sons here?”

(“Jesse” can memorize the following response, be prompted to speak, or simply mime)

And he said,
     “There remains yet the youngest,
             but he is keeping the sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse,
      “Send and bring him;
              for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

¹² He sent and brought him in.

(“Jesse” goes out and drafts someone, preferably a young male,
and brings him forward and stands him in front of the pulpit.
While he does so, the reader moves the crown to the pulpit)

Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.

The Lord said,
      “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”

(The reader, as “Samuel,” has “David kneel,
then pretend to pour a jar of oil on his head, while reading)

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil,
         and anointed him in the presence of his brothers;
               and the spirit of the Lord
                     came mightily upon David
                           from that day forward.

Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

scripture text slightly adapted 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
  

Benediction

(start by tapping a heartbeat on your chest,
remaining constant through & beyond all the following words.
End with heartbeat.)

Sing a new song to the Lord this week.
      Along the way,
            pay less attention to what’s on the outside,
                  and more to what grows within:
                        a seed planted and nurtured by God,
                        a heart beating to the rhythm of its Creator.
Yes, sing a new song today, and every day this week,
      to the One who has said,
           “Behold, I make all things new.”