Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
August 16, 2015
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)    “Ask ye what great thing I know”    337
  Announcements
  Prelude

*Call to Worship

*Hymn                        “Brethren, we have met to worship”                       8

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                    John 6:51-58

  For all us Children            “From stalk to table”

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

   Offertory Video                  “70 years of Farming”
                              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                   Proverbs 9:1-6

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

  Hymn                     (vs. 1-3) “Gracious Spirit, dwell with me”                507

  Pastoral Prayer

  Hymn                     (vs. 4-5) “Gracious Spirit, dwell with me”                507

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

   Scripture                                 Ephesians 5:8-20

  Message                             “Rising to new life” (mp3)

 *Song                                     “Awake, O sleeper”

*Unison Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

1 - Open your mouth and taste,

2 - open your eyes and see how good God is.

1 - Blessed are you who run to him.

2 - Worship God if you want the best;

1 - worship opens doors to all his goodness.

2 - Young lions on the prowl get hungry, but God-seekers are full of God.

1 - Come, children, listen closely; I’ll give you a lesson in God worship.

2 - Who out there has a lust for life? Can’t wait each day to come upon beauty?

1 - Guard your tongue from profanity, and no more lying through your teeth.

2 - Turn your back on sin;

1 - do something good.

2 - Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!

Psalm 34:8-14 from The Message.
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.
Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group 

Opening Prayer

We have come, once again,
      to taste and see your goodness, Lord,
      to pay attention to what we may have missed
            along the way of this week.
   For you, O God, work relentlessly
         for the good of this world you created,
               and for the good of your people.
   Awaken us from our slumber,
         that we might rub foolishness from our eyes
               and stand in the light of your grace and truth.
   Fill us anew, through your Spirit,
         with a “zest for living that is always on the alert
               for opportunities to be turned to good account.”*
   Start afresh right now, O Bread of Life,
         that we might eat our fill of your Word,
               and embrace your peace.
This we pray in the name of the One
      who fed 5,000 beside the sea
            with a few loaves and fish,
                  and with words that continue to feed us today.
                        Amen.

*quote is by Ralph P. Martin
from Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon
Interpretation Bible commentary
©1991 John Knox Press, p. 66

For all us Children
“From stalk to table”

(opening picture of stalks, grain bag, & bread)

            “I am the bread of life,” Jesus said. When we hear those words, what comes to mind? This? (picture of grocery shelves full of bread) Run to the store and pick up a loaf. Pay no attention to where it came from. Just grab it, buy it, eat it. Quick and easy bread…

            “I am living bread,” Jesus said. Seems to me bread comes from somewhere, doesn’t it? Maybe we should remember where, and how it makes it to our table. It all starts here (picture of a wheat field). At the beginning of the growing season, seeds are planted which, given enough rain and sun in good soil, reach harvest. The wheat is ready. (hold up the sheave from the worship table) But what happens next?

            At the top of each stalk is the “fruit,” the grain. But first it needs to be cut from the ground. (video of woman with a scythe) Then the stalks are pulled together into a sheave (picture of shocks in a field), and several sheaves are set up like a teepee, called a shock. These are left to dry in the field for 7-10 days. Then all the shocks are brought to a threshing place. “Bringing in the sheaves … glory, hallelujah, bringing in the sheaves.”

            Threshing separates the grain from the stalk (video of 2 persons pounding with flails) There are many ways of doing this, all of which require some kind of pounding or pressure. You could even use your feet to step on the grain. Once this is done, the winnowing process begins (picture of 2 men with threshing forks) Once detached from the stalk, the chaff needs to be removed from the grain. You could toss them in the air and let the wind blow away the chaff. Or use a basket and a fan. The point is to end up only with the grain. (picture of grain)

            It does not end here, however. Unlike cattle, we don’t eat grain. This grain needs to be ground (video of stone grinder), it needs to be smashed together to make something much finer in consistency. In the process, it becomes flour. (picture of a bowl of flour) Even so, it’s not yet in a form we can eat. Different ingredients are added to create dough (picture of hands kneeding dough), which is pummeled by hand, worked, pounded, squeezed – a process we call “kneading.” The dough is also left alone for a while to just sit. Then comes a time of fire and heat, when it is baked. (picture of woman baking bread) Only after all of this does that grain become bread. (picture of loaves of bread)

            It’s good to remember that bread doesn’t magically appear on grocery store shelves. Much goes into making it, from stalk to table. Just like a great deal went into God loving the world so much that he gave his only Son. Yes, from the Good News Grocery we receive our daily bread (picture of manna bread), our manna from heaven. Let’s just make sure we remember all that went into making it, from Jesus’ birth to his death, from the cutting, thrashing and winnowing of his earthly ministry, (picture of cross in field) to the grinding, kneading, and baking of his crucifixion. All of it led to him rising from the dead that we might fully live.

(closing picture of stalks, grain bag, & bread with Jesus’ words)

             “I am the bread of life,” Jesus said. “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             This summer, we have been involved with a “Read to Feed” project, emphasizing the mission of Heifer International. This organization began in our own denomination, with the vision of “Cowboy Dan” West. Next Sunday, our “Read to Feed” challenge is coming to a close. During worship, there will be an opportunity for those who have been filling Heifer arks with money raised from reading to bring those arks forward as a special offering toward ending hunger. Those of you who have been challenging and supporting these readers, please encourage them to bring their offering next week or in the following weeks.

            We will welcome a special guest, someone who – like our own Ellis Shenk – accompanied some of those heifers overseas in the early years of this hunger relief organization. They were called “seagoing cowboys.” Our guest, Harold Burton, a local veterinarian, with share his story with us. For now, let’s watch the following video (“70 years of Farming”) about Heifer International while we return our tithes and offerings. As you do so, remember these words of the apostle Paul: “...the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6)

Ushers?

Pastoral Prayer

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

Unison Benediction

             The darkness has lifted from our souls; the scales have fallen from our eyes. We have been transformed from blindness to sight. We shall live in the life that is the light of all people. We go now into the world with a message of hope, a message of joy, a message of life to share. We shall live! We shall live in the life and presence of the Risen One—our Lord, Christ Jesus. Amen.

by Richard F. Shreckhise
a retired pastor from the
Lancaster, PA Church of the Brethren
from the back of the March 31, 2013
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"