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Good morning! We're glad you've decided to read our Sunday School lesson for the fourth Sunday of Advent. We are not meeting in person for a Sunday School lesson this morning. Instead, we're having a special Christmas program. “Special Sunday School Hour for Christmas!" On the Sunday before Christmas (December 19) we’ll have a special time together! We’ll gather at 10:00 in the sanctuary and we will have a Christmas Carol Hymn Sing with a reading of the Christmas Story from the Bible! A relaxed fun time for all as we prepare for morning worship and the final week of Advent. Everyone is welcome! When meeting in person, we share our joys and concerns together. Take some time to consider your last week, and any prayer requests you have. If you would like, you can share with a comment on this post. When you are ready, you can use the prayer below (source) to get started. Prince of Peace, we seek you. In far off lands, your children flee their homes pursued by violence. In our community, we know not all our neighbors are safe from brutality. Prince of Peace, we seek you. You sent your son, Jesus, to bring your peace and comfort to the world. In this season of Advent, renew and strengthen us in a commitment to your peace that surpasses all understanding. Prince of Peace, we seek you. May your peace fill our hearts and grace our lips so that we might be agents of your peace in the world. Amen. Today's lesson is on Isaiah 9:2-7.
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Today’s guest speaker is C.R.E. Jack Snodgrass. All of the information normally found in our bulletin is below the video. Simply click on "Read More" to load the rest of the bulletin. You can use this to follow the service, as well as to pray our unison prayers. All joys and concerns that we know, as well as our continuing prayer list is within the Joys and Concerns. Announcements can be found at the bottom of this service. Gathering Around the Word
Prelude Introit Choir ANNOUNCEMENTS CALL TO WORSHIP: Responsive Reading From Psalm 40: 3-5 3 He has put a new song in my mouth-- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them,They are more than can be numbered PRAYER OF INVOCATION
Good morning!
We're so glad that you decided to join us for Sunday School today!
When we met in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Consider the past week. What joys or concerns do you have? This might be for our world, our friends and loved ones, or ourselves. If you would like to share, you can comment on the Sunday School lesson. When you are ready, use the prayer below:
Ah, Lord God,
Holy Lover of my soul, when you come into my soul, all that is within me will rejoice. You are my glory and the exultation of my heart. You are my hope and refuge in the day of my trouble. Set me free from all evil passions, and heal my heart of all inordinate affections, cure and cleanse me within, that I may be made fit to love, courageous to suffer, steady to persevere. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. Let me love you more than myself, and love myself except for you, and in you all that truly love you, as the law of love commands, shining out from yourself. Amen.
Today's lesson is on Isaiah 29:13-24.
Good Morning!
Happy Easter!
When we met in person, we shared our joys and concerns together. Take some time to think over your last week. What joys and concerns do you have? If you would like, you can share those as a comment so that the rest of us can pray as well. When you're ready, use the prayer below (from Woman's Day) to get started.
Lord, we lift our hearts to you. As the dawn breaks, may we carry the unity we share into every moment knowing that we are one with the risen Christ.
Lord, we lift our eyes to you. As the sun rises, may this moment stay with us, reminding us to look for the beautiful colors of promise in your word. Lord, we lift our prayers to you. As the dew air falls, may we breathe this morning in and know that like the earth, you sustain us, keep us and work within us always. And so, we lift our voices to you. We celebrate the greatest day in history, when Jesus rose from death, defeated darkness and bathed the world in stunning resurrection light. May we ever live to praise you! Amen.
Today's lesson is on Isaiah 53:4-11. The devotional reading is Philippians 2:1-11.
If you have any thoughts or observations on the scripture passages from today, you can share them in the comments.
Our benediction this week is from the Complete Jewish Bible.
Next week's lesson will be on Ezra 10:1-12.
Tenebrae, from the Latin word for “shadows,” has been observed in the church of Jesus Christ since the fourth century on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. During the service, different readers will recall the events that led Jesus to the cross, and we will extinguish fourteen candles, one by one, dramatizing the suffering and death of Jesus. The diminishing light symbolizes the fading devotion of the disciples and the sin of the world. At the end of the service the worship center will be dark. During the service, the chimes will toll thirty-three times to signal Jesus’ thirty three years. The Christ candle will then return, symbolizing the hope of his promised resurrection. At the conclusion of the service, please leave silently, contemplating Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus, the Son of God, was dead.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
TENNEBRAE AND HOLY COMMUNION GATHERING IN THE LORD’S NAME In silence and meditation prepare yourself for worship
Once the candles have been lit, please be respectful of that sign as the beginning of worship by refraining from conversation with those around you so that all may enter into a time of silent preparation for worship.
We’ve spent the weeks of Lent looking at the idea of lament.
This week, the last one of Lent, we’re going to ponder the end of lament. What will it be like to no longer need to lament?
First, read Isaiah 2:2-3 and Isaiah 25:6-10. Just click on the scripture to open it up in a new window. This passage is a prophecy from Isaiah. God has set a celebratory feast upon a mountain. Sadness will end, and death will be defeated. All we must do is wait for this to happen.
Next, read Revelation 21:1-8. Again, click on the scripture to open it in a new window. This portion of the book of Revelation is a description of a vision of God’s new kingdom. Note that “passed away,” according to our study, does not mean that the old heaven and earth were annihilated. They were instead transformed into the new heaven and new earth.
As you read these passages, you may have noticed how hopeful they are in the future. We lament because we have hope for the future. We trust that God is able to bring about a future like those we’ve just read.
I think it is important to consider part of this future that we hope for. The descriptions in these passages talk about what the future will not have. It will not have tears and sadness. It will not have injustice. It will not have death. We might picture heaven as having mansions and gold streets… but we picture it being somewhere else! But creation will be redeemed as well as humanity. I’ve never been a huge fan of the heavenly mansions, so I quite like this picture. It looks like a restoration to the garden of Eden, except it won’t be only the garden. It will be the whole world! There will not longer be somewhere outside the garden to be expelled. More importantly, we will always have the presence of God. He will be right there. There will be no perceived absence of God, and thus no reason to lament. 
Jan Bruegel, the Elder. The Garden of Eden. (c. 1610-1612).
A part of lament that we’ve discussed is that we can lament in our life’s circumstances. We show our trust in God by crying out for His help in our day-to-day lives. We’ve also looked at lament in song.
For this final lesson, the book suggested the hymn “Life Every Voice and Sing.” The words were written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, a leader in the civil rights movement. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, set those words to music. As you listen to one or more of the versions below, consider both the lament and the hope in the words.
This hymn is still telling a story of both lament and hope. People are still writing songs and poems that feature both lament and hope. In a daily email subscription that I receive, Father Richard Rohr discussed one recent example of a poem. (If you read our weekly Sunday School lessons, it also goes nicely with our recent discussions of prophets.) Take a moment to read his thoughts here on the poem, "The Hill We Climb." If you would like to read the poem, you can follow this link.
Right now, we all have reasons to lament. But we also have hope for the future, where we will no longer need to.
Closing Prayer
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, you have brought us thus far on our way. Though the road continues out before us, you give us hope: Hope that our work will bring your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Hope that you will walk beside us every step of our journey. For your unfailing love for us, and the hope you give us, we give you thanks. Our trust is in you. Amen.
Today’s guest speaker is Rev Clarejean E. Haury.
All of the information normally found in our bulletin is below the video. Simply click on "Read More" to load the rest of the bulletin. You can use this to follow the service, as well as to pray our unison prayers. All joys and concerns that we know, as well as our continuing prayer list is within the Joys and Concerns. Announcements can be found at the bottom of this service.
Prelude
Hymn: "Hosanna! Loud Hosanna!" ANNOUNCEMENTS CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: Who is this unlikely king? PEOPLE: Hosanna! His name is Jesus! Leader: Why does he ride into the city? PEOPLE: Hosanna! He comes to save us! Leader: Let us wave our palms, throw down our coats, PEOPLE: and follow our Christ into His kingdom! This week, we will discuss the lament of creation. We’re going to move away from thinking about people. Instead, we will think of things like plants, animals, and even the earth. Before we begin, think about your answers to the following questions. What are the places in creation that call you to praise God? Is there one place in particular, over all others, you want to go?
When I thought about this question, I was reminded of Rev. Mason’s recent sermon on The Thin Place (which you can watch here). The big idea was that some places can make you feel closer to God. Those places are the thin places.
Today's guest speaker is Rev. Craig Kephart.
The scripture and this week's joys and concerns are written below the video. If you need anything during this time, please contact a session member. If you have prayer requests, you can contact Linda Miller or add a comment to this post. If you need food from our food pantry, please contact Becky Phillips. Isaiah 43:1-7
Church Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern to share that is not listed below, and you feel comfortable doing so, you may share it in the comments. Birthdays Jan. 3 Beverly Calhoun 4 Kristin Shrader 7 Cathy Moore 8 Jim Kuhn Sympathy to The Family of Carolyn Grimes, The Family of Dick McFeeley, and The Family of Virginia Coffield We were able to take Ricky Amos off the prayer list this past week. Prayer works! Seth Cummings dental surgery at Children’s Hospital went very well on December 31st. Please pray for safe travels as Betty Francis, a retired teacher leaves for Ghana to serve in the mission field. She will be there through April. Continued prayers for Roma Grose, Ruth Hampe, Susan Schively, Jimmy Davis, Judy Donaldson, Margo Johnson, Melissa Pedigo, Aaron Blake, Lisa Phillips, Mickey Gubitti, Chip Rogers, Dixie Avoila, Dennis McWreath, Chuck Warlow, Chuck Dicks, Randy Moore, Margaret Knabenshue, Janet Schively, Mary Ann Durila, Patty Nagey, Dr. Craig Fox, Karen Eisiminger, Kelley Gump, Mary Ann McFeeley, Ed Horne, Donna West, June and Keith McGill, Dianna Donaldson, Chuck Montecello, April Hincy, Glenn Miles, Dave Cummings, Ken Jackson, Doug Ward, Mark Knabenshue, Rick McFeeley, Deron Wood, Susan Alberti, Bryan Dunn, Dana Wilson, Marge McWreath, Marlene Huffman, Debbie Kelley, Seth Cummings (3 yrs old) dental surgery on 31st and Tim Knabenshue.
All of the information normally found in our bulletin is below the video. Simply click on "Read More" to load the rest of the bulletin. You can use this to follow the service, as well as to pray our unison prayers. All joys and concerns that we know, as well as our continuing prayer list is within the Joys and Concerns. Announcements can be found at the bottom of this service
Hymn: Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult
Call to Worship When I think of God's presence in the world, I am grateful. Grateful for the presence of hope; grateful for the gift of life. And when I think of the presence of God in my life, I am humbled. Humbled by the gift of grace; humbled by the invitation to begin again each day. And when I think of God's presence in this community, I am glad. Glad to be surrounded by holy people that are worshipping out holy God. On this Sabbath morning in mid-August, we thank you Lord for your presence and your incredible grace that is a free gift to each of us. We ask all these things on this Sunday morning in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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