Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
August 30, 2015
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)        “When morning gilds the skies”       644
  Announcements
  Prelude                           “Prelude from Sonatina in F”                    Clementi

*Call to Worship

*Hymn                        “Immortal, invisible, God only wise”                        70

*Opening Prayer (ends with Lord’s Prayer)

  Scripture                                   James 1:19-27                (from The Message)

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                                     “Andante”                                Beethoven
                              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

*Remembering Torah

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

   Hymn                         “O Master, let me walk with thee”                      356

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                         Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
                                             (Laughing Bird version)

  Message              “Getting to the heart of the matter” (mp3)

*Song                                     “Lord of the Dance”

*Benediction

*Postlude                      “I to the Hills will Lift Mine Eyes”   Psalm of David

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Enter this time and place for prayer:

  Open our hearts, O God, so we might receive you.

Incline your ear to the Lord:

  Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

Listen for the word of God:

  May our hearts and minds be open to You,
    and may we receive Your Spirit
      of wisdom and guidance in our lives,
        today and every day. Amen.

by Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell, from rev-o-lution.org
amid other callings, she is pastor of Burien, WA Community Church
  

Opening Prayer

Light-giving God:
our praises spring up
like flowers on a spring day;
our songs of joy are lifted to you;
our hearts overflow with
your kindness and generosity. 

Jesus, Beloved Child:
you look through the lattice of the world
at our lives, our hearts, our souls.
You speak to us with tenderness and strength,
calling us to come away from rigid legalism
to lives of grace and hope.

Truth-speaking Spirit:
we look in a mirror
and see God's child;
we walk away
and forget whose we are.
Move within us and reshape us
into God's beloved children,
living within that circle of blessing
called the kingdom.

God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray together,
as Jesus taught us, saying,
             (The Lord's Prayer)

by Thom M. Shuman ©2015
transitional pastor at Galloway Presbyterian Church
Columbus, OH
from Lectionary Liturgies
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

            Composers, such as Ludwig von Beethoven, often titled sections of a larger work with words that direct how it should be played. For instance, today’s offertory, “Andante,” means, “in a moderately slow tempo, usually considered to be slower than allegretto but faster than adagio.” Interesting enough, the word “andante” in Italian, is the present participle of “andare,” which means “to walk.”

            The letter of James calls us “to walk” our faith, to allow the Word of God to become an active part of our living, descending from our ears to our feet. Don’t just let it go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! “Andante!” Walk it!

            One way we “walk it” is through our giving, and now is the time to return our tithes and offerings. As the ushers pass the plates, listen for what God may be saying to you today. “Andante.”

Ushers?

Remembering Torah

             At the heart of the Torah, the Law of Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, God’s people are called to be living listeners:

             Ten commandments, or Words from God, are recorded twice in the Torah (Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21). Following both the Shema (“Hear”) of the Old Testament which calls us to be living listeners, and the wisdom of James from the New Testament which calls us to be doers of the Word, let’s pay attention to what God says with our whole bodies. I will read an abridged version of the ten words, after each one, we will speak and do in unison, five affirmations:

            Please note that behind every affirmation is a confession. Yes, we remember what God said and we affirm it. But we also remember how we have all fallen short in living out what God commands. If it were not for the steadfast love and grace of God in Jesus Christ, we could not be living listeners, doers of the Word.

So, sisters and brothers, rise in body or spirit, and let us respond to each of the commandments of God.

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must have no other gods before me….

2. Do not make an idol for yourself, and bow down and worship it…

3. Do not misuse the Lord your God’s name…

4. Keep the Sabbath and treat it as holy…

5. Honor your father and your mother…

6. Do not kill…

7. Do not commit adultery…

8. Do not steal…

9. Do not testify falsely against your neighbor…

10. Do not covet your neighbor’s spouse, or lust after anything that belongs to your neighbor…

adapted from an idea shared by
Carolyn Brown in her blog,
Worshiping With Children
   

Pastoral Prayer

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

Benediction

Go out, and be doers of the Word.
Cleanse your hearts of all pollution,
be quick to listen and learn,
welcome the Word that God implants in you,
and bring it to birth in acts of righteousness and compassion.

And may God pour grace upon you and bless you forever;
May Christ Jesus reveal to you the truth of God’s ways;
and may the Holy Spirit fill your life with passion and love.

by Nathan Nettleton (©2001)
pastor, South Yarra Community Baptist Church
       (near Melbourne, Australia)
from the Laughing Bird resources