Worship - July 26, 2015

Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
July 26, 2015
Worship 10:00 am Sunday School 11:10am

“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”
(2 Samuel 11:1)

Beginning with Praise (9:50 am) “Spirit of the Living God” 349
Announcements
Prelude “Invocation” McClellan

*Call to Worship

*Hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus” 117

*Opening Prayer

Scripture Psalm 14

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Offertory “Devotion” Steiner
(Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

A Gospel story John 6:1-13

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

Praying Scripture Ephesians 3:14-21

Hymn “Be still and know that I am God”

Scripture 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Message “But David remained…” (poor quality mp3)

Unison Confession 703

*Hymn “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah” 582

*Benediction

*Postlude “Hymnus” Fielitz

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Leader: Five loaves and two fish grew to feed five thou sand. When all were satisfied, Jesus told the disciples to gather the leftovers so nothing was lost.

All: From the fragments, they filled twelve baskets!

Leader: In God's grace, Jesus encourages us to let go of scarcity and fear...

All: To live in abundance, working so everyone has enough.

Leader: What would this abundance mean today?

Youth: Twelve baskets full of global collaboration.

Adults: Rather than fighting to stay on top.

Women: Twelve baskets full of shared wealth.

Men: So that none of God's children go hungry.

Left: Twelve baskets full of inclusive welcome,

Right: Dismantling all oppression.

All: While cultivating justice and equality for all.

Leader: Together, we can make this happen. The God of abundance and grace calls us to give what we have in body and spirit.

All: We offer our fragments in hope that all have enough, with twelve baskets to spare!

Melissa Bennett
West Chester, Pennsylvania
© 2015 Brethren Press. www.brethrenpress.com
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085,
"The Living Word" Series

Opening Prayer

             Holy God, joy of the universe, it is your awesome love that brings us here. You awaken within us a loving response, which hungers and thirsts for your truth and beauty.
            As we worship you, please do not give us the blessings we want but the ones we most need. Satisfy us with the truth that we may need, though such truth might be most uncomfortable, and confront us with your holy beauty that will often cause us pain before it brings healing.
                        Through Christ Jesus your joyful Son.
                                              Amen!

by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia,
from Resources: Based on the Revised Common Lectionary.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

In the story of David, before he became king of Israel, there is a man by the name of Nabal who was prosperous and well-known (see 1 Samuel 25:2-42). When David was on the run from King Saul and came to Nabal for help, Nabal sent him and his men away hungry, figuring it was better to stay on the right side of King Saul. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, was wise enough to disagree with her husband, and secretly gave David assistance. Things didn’t turn out well after that for Nabal, whose very name is the word in Hebrew used by Psalm 14 for “fool” - “A nabal says in his heart that there is no God” (14:1). A nabal is a person who, whether shrewd or powerful, makes a mistake about reality.* Such a fool can mouth all the right words about God, having the doctrine down pat, but still live as if God is not really part of the equation. A nabal, a fool can say “I’m a Christian,” and then act as if there is no God, treating other people as if they aren’t worth much as God’s children.

Some folks say that generosity is foolishness, that a wise person takes all he can get and holds onto it tightly. Think about that as the plates are passed. How would you define a “nabal,” a “fool”?

Ushers?

*James L Mays, "Psalms"
(Interpretation Bible Commentary),
©1994, John Knox Press, p. 81

A Gospel story
John 6:1-13
(Storyteller's version)

Items needed: lots of gluten free crackers and Swedish Fish. Put 5 crackers and 2 fish in a paper lunch bag, and the rest in 2 baskets. Alert the ushers ahead of time to help guide the distribution by children.

Begin in the back of the sanctuary, after the offertory. Grab a few children along the way to be disciples, and sit up front on the steps to tell the rest of the story, with the “disciples” gathered around and the “large crowd” in the pews.

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd (motion to congregation) kept following him.
Why? Because he healed the sick.

With his disciples, (gather children)
Jesus went up a tall hill and sat down there. (sit together on steps)
Note: Passover, an important celebration, was near.

When he saw the large crowd coming toward him, (motion to congregation)
      Jesus said to Philip (pick a child) with a wink
                   (‘cuz he already knew the answer),
     “Where will we buy bread for all these people to eat?”
            Philip, all flustered, answered him, (help child pretend)
                “Six months’ wages would not buy
                         enough bread to feed everyone”

(pick another child) Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
      “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.
                  (pull out small lunch bag, have child look inside)
              But what are they among so many people?”

Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” (motion to congregation)
Now there was a lot of grass there, so they sat down.
About five thousand people, believe it or not.

Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish (hold up the bag)
and gave thanks to God for them. (pray, then open bag and put contents in baskets)

Then the disciples passed out this food to everyone.
(the children pass the baskets, just like the ushers just passed the offering plates)
Take as much as you want, folks (the bread is gluten free)…

When everyone was finished eating, their stomachs full,
                        Jesus told his disciples,
      “Gather up what’s left over. We don’t want to lose any.”
             So they gathered them up. (children hand you the 2 baskets)
      “Any more in the back, Jeff?” (to the ushers, who reply:)
                 “Got 10 baskets here, full to overflowing.”

So, leftover from that boy’s 5 loaves and 2 fish,
they had twelve baskets full. Can you believe it?

When the people saw this, they began to say,
“Wow! What a prophet!” (motion for everyone to do so)

Of course, there is more to the story, for the crowds then wanted to force Jesus to become their King, but Jesus wisely made himself scarce. The next story involves the disciples in a boat on the sea, and Jesus walking on water to join them. But that story is for another day.

Praying Scripture
Ephesians 3:12-21

In the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we find a prayer. Instead of simply reading it, let’s allow his words to become our morning prayer. In Ephesians, Paul is praying for the people in that church. As you pray, be thinking of the people gathered here around you. When you ask, for instance, “that Christ will make his home in your hearts,” let this request be for your nearby brothers and sisters-in-Christ. Allow the words, then, to broaden out to encompass people outside our fellowship, even folks you do not know personally.

We will pause after every sentence, so that we might move beyond just reading the words, toward allowing them to grow within us. In the silence of that pause, let a word or phrase you just spoke linger in your mind, that you might pray it from the depth of your being. Borrowing a word from the Psalms, I will speak “selah” to end the silence, after which we will pray together the next sentence. At the end of the prayer, we will sing together “Be still and know that I am God” on the reverse side of this insert. Let’s first listen to the tune…

Paul prefaces his prayer in Ephesians with the following:

“In union with Christ and through our faith in him we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence. I beg you, then, not to be discouraged because I am suffering for you; it is all for your benefit.”

Join me, now, in praying this prayer in unison.

For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name.

(pause, then "Selah")

I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves,

(pause, then "Selah")

and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith.

(pause, then "Selah")

I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love,

(pause, then "Selah")

so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.

(pause, then "Selah")

Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

(pause, then "Selah")

To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of:

(pause, then "Selah")

to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

(then “Be still and know that I am God”)

Unison Confession

Gracious God, hear our confession.
Our faith is uncertain,
      our forgiveness slow,
      our conviction weak,
      our compassion wavering.
We have exalted the proud and powerful,
      put down the weak,
      saturated the rich with good things,
      neglected the poor,
      sent the hungry away empty-handed.
We have helped ourselves.

Show us your mercy,
Help us show mercy,
through your Son, our Savior. AMEN

Benediction

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

The Lord is your shepherd,
      you shall not be left wanting for what you truly need.
            Even through the darkest valleys
                        (which sometimes are of our own creation),
                  God’s rod and staff are there to guide and direct
                              to comfort and cast out fear along the way.
      May there be green pastures
                     and still waters for you this week,
            to restore your soul.
      Even in the presence of your worst enemy –
                  who might be you, yourself –
            you are invited to the Lord’s table every day.
      May your cup overflow,
              your loaves and fishes multiply,
              God’s love in you expand.
To God be the glory in the church
                           and in Christ Jesus for all time,
            forever and ever! Amen.