Worship Can Be Our Rest Stop

The video below is our worship service for this week. This week's bulletin is below the video.

Hymn: This is My Father's World

Call to Worship
God invites us this morning into the sanctuary of the divine presence. We enter with awe and devotion to meet together with God This is a safe place where we know that we are loved. We feel the presence of God's spirit and the spirit of God's people. Here, God invites us to look honestly at our lives. We trust God's love and open our hearts today. May we honestly examine our lives so that we can become all that God created us to be.

Prayer of Confession
We come this sabbath morning confessing to you, the one who made all things good, that we have not become what you created us to be. Yo made us in your image of love but we have not always shared that love with others. You breathed in us your own spirit and we have allowed our lives to be ruled by the spirit of want and need. You have given us directions to new life that we have not always followed. You created all things with love and joy, and we have turned life into an existence of want and need. Let us bless the goodness of God this day and praise his name. Amen.

Time of Personal Reflection

Assurance of Pardon
In Christ there is no east or west,
In him no south or north,
But one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.
In Jesus Christ there is new life.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

Children's Sermon

Hymn: On Eagle's Wings

Prayer of Illumination

Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
      maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
      who was conceived by the Holy Ghost
      and born of the virgin Mary.
      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, dead and buried.
      On the third day he arose from the dead.
      He ascended to heaven
      and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
      From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.

Scripture Lesson

Matthew 11:28-30 
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Exodus 20:8-10 
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Mark 6:31 
31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark 2:27 
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Sermon: Worship Can Be Our Rest Stop

Hymn: ​O Day of Rest and Gladness

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

Church Joys and Concerns
If you have other prayer requests you would like to share, feel free to share them in the comments.

• Mike, who has had open heart surgery, and is still in the hospital
• June, who is home resting
• Donna, who is home after rehab
• Ed, who continues to be at home
• Ron, who is waiting for surgery
• Dave, who is at home resting
• Ruth, who is having some recurring health problems
• Edith, who has been in the hospital

Pastoral Prayer and Lord's Prayer

Benediction

Hymn: God Will Take Care of You

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During Lent, we shared both on our website and on our Facebook page devotionals written by church members in past years. This served as a nice way to connect, even after we stopped meeting in person. Because it will still be some time before we are physically together, we thought that continuing some devotions would be a great way to continue reaching out. 

Pick out a few verses or a passage of scripture that mean something to you. Write a paragraph or two (or more, if you need to!) about your reflections on that passage, and a small prayer. Email that to the church's email: north.buffalo.church@gmail.com. We plan to share these on both the church website and Facebook page. ​

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As we continue to be physically apart, please let Pastor Gary or a session member know if you need anything. If you have prayer requests, please talk with Linda Miller. If you need food from our food pantry, please get in touch with Becky Phillips. 

This is also a continuing opportunity to reach out to friends, loved ones, and member of our church family. You could send a card, or make a phone call. Even a text message can be appreciated.