January 17, 2016 Second Sunday after Epiphany Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration

Transcription

1 January 17, 2016 Second Sunday after Epiphany Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Ringing of the Church Bell Prelude Walk with Me Improvisation on Spirituals Call to Worship Leader: Look around and see God s love reflected in the faces around you. People: This is a place where people are cared for, nurtured and loved. Leader: We are called to go out and do God s work, both near and far from this place. People: Let us not be afraid to take the journey to God's Promised Land. Leader: Let us go and share God s love. Let us share love when it is easy and when it is hard. All: Let us say with Dr. King and Moses before him, Here I am, Lord. Use me! *Hymn No. 563 Lift Every Voice and Sing LIFT EVERY VOICE Welcome Call to Prayer I Want Jesus to Walk with Me Spiritual Pastoral Prayer The Lord s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Children s Sermon Children will leave for Discovery Hour in the Parish Hall.

2 *Hymn Swing Low, Sweet Chariot SWING LOW Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. (2x) I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, coming for to carry me home, A band of angels coming after me, coming for to carry me home. Swing low,... If you get there before I do...tell all my friends I m coming too... I m sometimes up, I m sometimes down...but still my soul feels heavenly bound... Scripture Readings Deuteronomy 34: 1-7 (KJV) 1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, 2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. Luke 1: (KJV) 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Sermon We ve Got Some Difficult Days Ahead Rev. James W. Carter Invitation to Giving Offertory Music Ain t Got Time to Die Spiritual, arr. by Wm. Dawson Jeremy Hetzler, soloist *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below: Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise God, the source of all our gifts! Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts! Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! LASST UNS ERFREUEN

3 Prayer of Dedication *Hymn Let There Be Peace on Earth Sy Miller & Jill Jackson Benediction Response Let there be peace on earth, And let it begin with me. Let there be peace on earth, The peace that was meant to be, With God as our Father, brothers all are we. Let me walk with my brother In perfect harmony. Let peace begin with me, Let this be the moment, now. With ev ry step I take, Let this be my solemn vow. To take each moment and live each moment In peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth, And let it begin with me. Postlude Hymn to Freedom Oscar Peterson *Asterisk indicates standing for those who desire

4 Welcome Visitors! We are delighted to have you joining us here at Norfield today! Please let us know if you have additional questions, or require further assistance. Do not hesitate to ask one of our greeters or ushers, a deacon (identified by name badges), or one of our ministers. Please also take a moment to fill out a nametag for yourself so we can greet you by name. Infant and toddler care is available in the lower level of the Christian Education Building. An usher can direct you. You can also see and hear the service in the Greene Room if you need to. A Children s sermon is shared most Sundays and all children are invited to come to the front of the altar and join us. Norfield s Church School, called Discovery Hour, meets during the service. Children leave after the Children s Sermon, accompanied by their teachers. All children are welcome and encouraged to attend. Pre-registration is not necessary. Children can then be picked up following the service at the Christian Education Building. Please ask us for directions. Hearing Assistance System amplifiers are available. Please speak with an usher if you would like to use one. Prayer Cards are located in the pew racks. If you have a prayer request, please fill one out and place it in the offering plate or give it to a minister. We pray over these concerns each week. Please fill in your address and any questions you might have on the back of one of the Prayer Cards in the pews, and then put the card in the offering plate or give it to a minister. Please join us, following the service, for coffee hour in the Parish Hall so we can welcome you personally and introduce ourselves. Please visit our website at for more information, and for updates on church activities and service schedules.

5 P a ri sh Note s January 17, 2016 Norfield Congregational Church Office Hours: Monday Friday 9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Senior Minister Office Hours: Monday Thursday 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Welcome! Thank you for joining us today! We hope that the hour spent in this sacred space will draw you closer to God, and an awareness of God s love. Name Tags! In an effort to maintain and nurture our Norfield family we ask that everyone please put on a name tag. They can be found in the pew box in front of you! Leaders of Worship Senior Minister Rev. Dr. Bernard R. Wilson Associate Minister of Children, Youth and Families Rev. Kelly Hough Rogers Pastoral Associate for Wholeness Ministries Rev. Diane Stevenson Director of Music & Worship Arts Dr. David H. Connell Deacon of the Day Laura Casellas Greeters Adrienne Wallace Coffee Hour Hosts Diane Hartman Our Prayer List (January) I lift up my eyes to the hills from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2) Concerns: For those on our Prayer List. Joys: Wishing you a Blessed and Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend! In loving memory of Bob Kaeser. Today we will blow out a candle and make a wish for you. Happy Birthday Dad. We miss you and keep you a part of every day. Gwen, Coley, Greg and Ginny. (If you would like to put a name, concern, or joy on the prayer list, please call the church office at Your prayer concern will remain on the list for the month; if you would like to extend that time please call the church office.) D iscovery H ou r Penny Anderson, Christian Education Director The children will do a group activity in the Parish Hall to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. s birthday.

6 Announcements Music News Music Makers Ministry meets every Wednesday except when Weston schools are on vacation (or snow days). Children in grades 6 and below are welcome to join us! We gather from 3:30 to 4 pm in the Norfield Room, Sing and play from 4 to 5:30 and then enjoy a community dinner together from 5:30 to 6:00 in the Parish Hall. After dinner there is a Youth Fellowship group for grades 3 and up, with Rev. Kelly, from 6 to 6:45 pm. Our Norfield Handbell Choir holds rehearsals on Thursday evening at 6:15 in the Greene Room. If you have ever wondered about playing the bells, this is a good time to ask. See David at Coffee Hour! The Sanctuary Choir would be happy to clear a seat for you in the choir loft. If you d like to try singing with us, you are always welcome to come for our post-service rehearsal, 11:20 to 12 on Sundays. Youth Group News Due to the long weekend, there is no Confirmation or Youth Group today! See you next week! 2016 Altar Flowers Now is a good time to sign-up to give flowers for Sunday church services. We have the 2016 Flower Chart standing in the Parish Hall right now. This is a good way to give flowers to honor or memorialize someone. You will get a phone call to remind you it s your turn. You can order from a local florist or purchase flowers from a grocery store. You must call the office by Tuesday, to tell them what message you want to say in the Sunday Bulletin or send an to info@norfield.org. Discuss what you want to do with the flowers after Sunday service. Thank you for your kind generosity. Thank You, Bobbie Sassano & Gaitrie Bos Annual Meeting SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016 In accordance with the Constitution of Norfield Congregational Church (Art. XVII) the Annual Meeting of the Congregation is called by the Church Council to be held on the first Sunday in February (Feb. 7, 2016). Immediately following Sunday Morning worship, the meeting shall receive reports from all officers, Boards and Committees; act on a budget for the following year, elect officers and appoint committees for the following year and transact any other appropriate business with its authority. Refreshments will be served immediately following the Annual Meeting in the Parish Hall.

7 Today, We Welcome Our Guest Preacher... Rev. Dr. James W. Carter For the past 10 years, Rev. Dr. Carter has served as the Executive Director of the Norwalk Children s Foundation. Recently, he retired and was named Executive Director Emeritus and a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. He founded Operation Mustard Seed, Inc., a community-based ministry to addicts and alcoholics, in Red Bank, NJ. Previously, Rev. Dr. Carter served as the Executive Director of the Council of Churches and Synagogues of Southwestern Connecticut. Marking more than 45 years in the ministry, he has held pastoral and ministerial positions in churches in New Jersey and Connecticut. He has preached to congregations throughout the United States and lectured on Christianity, in more than 20 countries in the Middle East and Africa at the invitation of the United Nations Secretariat General s Office. He has combined his ministerial duties with governmental assignments at the White House, the United Nations, the NJ State General Assembly and the NJ State Attorney General s Office. He has earned a Bachelors Degree, two Masters Degrees, has received several honorary Doctorates, and has done work towards his PhD.

8 NORFIELD S LENTEN BOOK READ You are invited to be a guest in the reading, fellowship and conversation surrounding this special book, Searching for Sunday, by Rachel Held Evans. Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn t want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals church culture seemed so far removed from Jesus. Yet, despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing her back to Church. And so she set out on a journey to understand Church and to find her place in it. Centered around seven sacraments, Evans quest takes readers through a liturgical year with stories about baptism, communion, confirmation, confession, marriage, vocation, and death that are funny, heartbreaking, and sharply honest. A memoir about making do and taking risks, about the messiness of community and the power of grace, Searching for Sunday is about overcoming cynicism to find hope and, somewhere in between, Church. Walter Brueggemann comments about Searching for Sunday: Evans has written a zinger of a book. Grounded in the deep things of faith, she writes in a vivid style and transposes the claims of faith into compelling concrete narrative. Her book is a forceful invitation to reconsider that faith has been misunderstood as a package of certitudes rather than a relationship of fidelity. Another reviewer writes: If there s a part of you a big part, a small part that is whispering the question why am I still a Christian? then I think you might need to read this. The book is available in the church office in limited quantities or for $10 on amazon. Contact Mac Josselin in the church office, (203) , to reserve one today. SOUL FOOD is Norfield s wonderful Sunday morning breakfast fellowship and learning experience. There will be three Soul Food sessions to tie in with our reading of Searching for Sunday: Sundays in Lent, February 14, 21, 28 and March 6 & 13 Breakfast at 8:30 am Learning experiences for all ages at 9:00 am Note: the reading of the book begins at home on Sunday, February 7. Each week s reading leads up to the presentation and discussions at Soul Food the following Sunday. RSVP Please! Please help us prepare by contacting the church office in advance. But you do not have to RSVP to participate! Please join us as you are available!

9 Love a Classroom Project Could you ever imagine entering school with no backpack, no pencil, and no notebook? Well, the young students at the Cesar Batalla School in Bridgeport do that each year. The Cesar Batalla School is a very unique neighborhood school of over 1,230 students the largest elementary school in the entire state of CT. They emphasize dual language programs up to sixth grade. 100% of the students are from families with such little income that they qualify to receive both breakfast and lunch at school and, when available, are given meal backpacks for the weekends. In August, each Cesar teacher is given a $30 school supplies stipend, which obviously only covers minimal school supply needs. Here is where you can make a difference! During February, halfway through the school year and the month we celebrate Valentine s Day, a box will be in the front of the four schools to drop off school supply donations!!! Extra ANYTHING will make a difference! Boxes for donations will be in each of the 4 schools, Weston Public Library and at Fairfield County Bank, any many other places in our town! Backpack Lunchbag #2 Pencils Eraser Pencil Box or Pencil Pouch Pencil Sharpener Pens Colored Pencils Highlighters 12 inch Ruler Elementary School Supplies List 5 inch Blunt Tip or Point Tip Scissors Gluestick 4 oz. Glue Wide Ruled 1 Subject Notebook Composition Notebook Loose Leaf Filler Paper Wide Rule Folders 3 Ring Binder or Zipper Binder Crayons Markers Watercolor Paint Ruled Index Cards Compass with Measuring Guide Book Covers or BookSox Tissues Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer

10 C h u rch Calendar Day Date Time Event Place Sunday 1/17 10:00am Worship Service Sanctuary 4:00pm Youth Group Parish Hall 5:15pm Confirmation Class Parish Hall Monday 1/18 MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY Wednesday 1/20 9:30am Open Door Bible Study Banks Room 4:00pm Music Makers Ministry CE Bldg 5:30pm Community Supper Parish Hall 6:00pm Youth Fellowship Parish Hall Thursday 1/21 6:15pm Handbell Choir Greene Room Saturday 1/23 8:30am Kiwanis Greene Room Sunday 1/24 10:00am Worship Sanctuary 5:15pm Confirmation Class Parish Hall BOARD AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Moderator Don Gary Church Clerk Kerri Meredith Assistant Treasurer Pam LaFontaine Board of Trustees Britta Lerner Human Resources Walter McCullough Senior Shepherds Arlene Pitts Board of Christian Education Eric Braun Prayer Shawl Ministry Jacqueline Pike Board of Christian Outreach David MacWilliams Vice Moderator Rob Sanders Nominating Committee Gaitrie Bos Altar Committee Bobbie Sassano & Gaitrie Bos Board of Deacons Carol Hamilton Board of Music Jennifer Barron Board of Fellowship Kim Gautier Prayer Requests Jackie Troxell Shepherds Lois Bechtel & Missy Dorsey Treasurer Herb Cotter