The First Congregational Church United Church of Christ

Transcription

1 *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. *Prayer of Dedication The First Congregational Church United Church of Christ * Closing Blue Hymnal #169 Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart (verse 5) Praise God who reigns on high, The Lord whom we adore; The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - One God forevermore. Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice, Give thanks and sing! *Benediction *Pastor: The Peace of Christ be with you. Congregation: And also with you. *Postlude Joshua Fit the Battle Joel Raney Pastor Rev. Raymond Dekker (home & cell phone) ( ) rvdekker@fremontfcc.com Organist Jackson Brooks Creative Ministries Mat Emerick Facilitator ( ) matemerick@fremontfcc.org Music Facilitator Deb Emerick Secretary Lorene Witte Website: Church: congo@fremontfcc.org 714 Hillcrest Drive Fremont, MI 49412

2 November 25, 2018 Reign of Christ * those who are able, please stand As you enter the sanctuary, please be mindful of those already seated who want a quiet place to pray. The Order of Worship Prelude Music of Joel Raney: We Gather Together I Want Jesus to Walk with Me Amazing Grace Chimes Call to Worship Give Thanks (selection Blue Hymnal #170) Welcome 10:00 a.m. Praise Group *Opening Hymn Blue Hymnal #797 Come Ye Thankful People Come Opening Prayer Invitation to Prayer Congregation/Praise Group The Power of Your Love Lord I come to You, let my heart be changed...renewed... Flowing from the grace that I found in You. And Lord, I ve come to know the weaknesses I see in me Will be stripped away by the pow r of Your love, Hold me close, let your love surround me; Bring me near; draw me to Your side. And as I wait, I ll rise up like the eagle And I will soar with You, Your spirit leads me on In the pow r of Your love. Lord, unveil my eyes, let me see you face to face, The knowledge of Your love as You live in me. Lord, renew my mind, as Your will unfolds in my life, In living ev ry day in the pow r of your love. Hold me close, let your love surround me; Bring me near; draw me to Your side. And as I wait, I ll rise up like the eagle And I will soar with You, Your spirit leads me on In the pow r of Your love. And I will soar with You, Your spirit leads me on In the pow r of Your love. Prayer of Confession *Response Thank You Jesus Hillsong Verse 1 - Praise Group Grace that lows like a river washing over me Fount of heaven, love of Christ overflow in me Chorus: Congregation & Praise Group Thank you Jesus, You set me free Christ my Saviour, You rescued me (repeat) Verse 2 - Praise Group Take this life delivered a vessel of Your love Wholly now devoted to see Your Kingdom come Chorus: Congregation & Praise Group Thank you Jesus, You set me free Christ my Saviour, You rescued me (repeat) Anthem Trio (from Impromptu in A Flat) Franz Schubert Story Bell Bullwhip Mat Emerick & Guy Redinger Hymn of Preparation Blue Hymnal #513 Thank you, Lord Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, Thank you, Lord, for making me whole; Thank You, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free. Scripture Reading Dr. Ron Graeser, Reader Matthew 1 1 N.T. Message Personal History *Hymn Blue Hymnal #788 Now Thank We All Our God Prayers of the People and Silent Prayers The Lord s Prayer (sung by the Praise Group) Offertory Give Them All to Jesus arr. Jerry Nelson continued on back page

3 What a blessing that in Christ we can approach God s throne in confidence and find grace. Welcome to worship! *Visitors ~ Welcome! There is a Welcome Packet in the pew rack for you. Please fill out the Guest Information insert, place it in the offering plate and take the packet home for review of the other information. We are thankful you are here and hope that your time here is a special blessing to you and your family. Please let us know how we can best serve you. *Large print Bibles, bulletins, and Children s bulletins are available from the ushers. Quiet bags for children to use while they are in the worship service are available on the table in the narthex. *Children are an important segment of the living body of Christ, so we welcome them in our worship services and grant to them the blessing of worshiping along side their parents, siblings and family in Christ. Families with young nursery age children are also welcome to use the Family Room nd in the balcony located on the 2 floor. *Our sanctuary is equipped with a T-Coil Hearing Loop. Please turn your hearing aid to the T-Coil position to access this feature. Other hearing devices are available at the sound booth upon request. *The Deacons invite you to join us for a few moments of prayer in the library at 9:40 a.m. each Sunday morning. We want to ask God to prepare our hearts for worship, to guide those leading worship in word and song and invite the Holy Spirit to minister to our church family and visitors. Please come and pray! Following the worship service you are invited to join us in Fellowship Hall. Come meet new friends and have some refreshments. We look forward to meeting you. Serving Us: Altar Rep: Carol Black Altar Flowers: Cornucopia(today) Poinsettias(next week) Greeters: (today) Jack & Mary Butterick(next week) Ushers: Barb Veldman, John & Gail Cooper(today) (next week) Compassion: Judy Clapp Organist: Sound System: Rick St. Peter Coffee Hosts: (today) Jack & Mary Butterick(next week) Towel Washer: Barb Clark Thank you to Barb Clark & Jim Rynberg for arranging the cornucopia display. What a beautiful way to demonstrate the bounties that God gives us. Celebrating this week: Happy Birthday to ~ David White (29) Happy Anniversary to ~ Bill & Millie Sherman (26) Prayer Requests ~ (Prayer requests will be printed for two weeks. The person or family requesting prayer must call the church office or Pastor Ray in order to have the request printed) Siria Pinnick - fell and broke her pelvis This Week s Calendar Sunday, November 25 9:40 a.m. Prayer Time - Library 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:15 a.m. Fellowship Time Monday, November 26 - Church Office Closed Tuesday, November 27 - Church Office Closed 5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Violin Lessons - Fellowship Hall 6:30 p.m. Woman s Bible Study - Lounge Wednesday, November 28 6:30 p.m. Praise Group Rehearsal - sanctuary 7:30 p.m. Choir Rehearsal - choir loft Thursday, November 29 - Church Office Closed 7:00 p.m. Oasis Meeting - Lounge Friday, November 30 Saturday, December 1 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Christmas Shopping & Home Tour Sunday, December 2 9:40 a.m. Prayer Time - Library 10:00 a.m. Worship with Communion 11:15 a.m. Fellowship Time

4 Our Church News Women's Bible Study - Tuesday, November 27 will be our last Bible Study for this session. We will be meeting at 6:30 p.m. on the 27th instead of 7:00 in order to get in the last two videos. Hope to see you there. Beth Ladies, First I would like to say Thank You to those that I have asked to make a dessert for the Tea Shoppe. There are many of you that have done so before that I may have missed and my apologies. So at this time please consider providing a dessert. Small cookies or Bar cookies, fudge are preferred. It is very helpful to have those PRE-CUT (1 inch x 1 inch). Please have desserts to the church kitchen by 5:00 on Friday, November 30. THANK YOU all so much!!! Shelli Waldo Look What s New!! - Your Board of Trustees have approved and instituted a convenient additional way of donating or paying pledges. You can view it by either clicking on the link at the bottom of our church s or go to our website ( and click on the donate button at the top of the page. This gives you a new freedom to donate with a credit card. We encourage you to look at it and try it. If you have questions call the church office and ask. On Friday, December 7, the American Decency Association is sponsoring the faith-based movie God Bless the Broken Road at their location on Main Street in Fremont. The times for the free showings are 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. This movie co-written by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, a native of Fremont, is the story of an Afghanistan widow who now has to raise her daughter without her husband. Amber looses her faith in God throughout her grieving process. However, through the problems she experiences with her daughter and getting to the end of her rope, she comes back from the broken road she has been on to accept that she hasn t lost the greatest gifts of all, her God, her daughter, and her church family. Jennifer will also be there to introduce the movie and to meet and greet all of you who come to see it. Jennifer is the daughter of Dr. Ron and Gail Graeser. Refreshments will be served. The Lindner family thanks everyone for the prayers and loving concern we received this past week. It can never be overstated how much it meant. You all get the Extra Effort Award for each hug and deed done in Dad s honor. You are all a blessing to us. Thank you for your food and monetary donations to our Harvest InGathering. 109 pounds of food was donated and $825. Special thanks to Jack Butterick for delivering the food to Tru North. Lorene will be out of the office Monday, November 26. You are welcome to call if you need to speak with her. Our Deacon s Fund needs to be replenished. The Deacon s Fund is used to help people in church in financial crisis. SCRIP is available in Fellowship Hall following worship. Fremont First Congregational Church invites all to attend a special Christmas presentation of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as part of the Sunday morning service on Dec 16. Afterwards children are invited to pay a visit to Santa and each child will receive a delicious Christmas treat and a fun toy. The presentation will feature the beloved poem, a whimsical St. Nicholas as well as a colorful "Dance of Toys" with wonderful costuming by Lion Heart Productions. The presentation also includes a charming Children's Christmas Pageant to share the true meaning of Christmas. Along with that will be heartwarming traditional Christmas carols and music. Any child interested in participating in the pageant is welcome to. If interested please contact Mat Emerick. Invite your grandchildren and any child you can think of! Requested Announcements Mistle Toe and Music to benefit United Way, Wednesday, December 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $40 per person or a table of 8 for $300. Contact Jim Rynberg You are invited to an evening of Christmas Music presented by the River Country Community Choir at the Grant Fine Arts Center on Sunday, December 9 at 6:00 p.m. Singing from our church is Al Smalligan.

5 Announcing ConGo Enjoy-Meant Events We are ConGo (Christians on the Go) and meant to go and enjoy good food and fun activities together! Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh. 8:10 Go and enjoy : Sunday, December 16 5:30-7:00pm- "Chrismas Carolrama!"- More singing together! This time of course it s Christmas Carols! Please bring a festive finger food. Please RSVP with Mat, Plum Pudding ~ 2018 In accordance with the State of Michigan Food Requirements this is the required list of food items that can be made for Plum Pudding: Breads - not frozen Similar baked goods Vinegar & flavored vinegar Cakes - not refrigerated Muffins Cooked fruit pies Jams & Jellies in glass jars that can be stored at room temperature. Cookies Dry herbs and dry herb mixes Dry baking mixes Dry dip mixes Dry soup mixes Dehydrated vegetables or fruits Popcorn Chocolate covered pretzels, marshmallows, graham crackers, rice krispie treats Coated or uncoated nuts Dried pasta made with eggs Roasted coffee beans or ground roasted coffee All food items have to be labeled with a list of ingredients with your FIRST name, The First Congregational Church Thank you for your cooperation, Mary Butterick, Plum Pudding Coordinator

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7 Announcing ConGo Enjoy-Meant Events We are ConGo (Christians on the Go) and meant to go and enjoy good food and fun activities together! Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh. 8:10 Go and enjoy : SATURDAY OCT 6-2nd Annual "Congo-Que" with Professional Barbequer Mark Wescott ("Smokin' Good Time BBQ")- A "Just for Fun" competition will be held for bar-b-quers and grillers. The winner will receive the coveted "Congo-Q" statue. But others who come can partake of some delicious pulled pork bar-b-que prepared expertly by Mark. A donation will be taken to cover the cost of the meat. All extra will go to the church's outreach ministry (Benevolence Committee) to help those in need. Mark will begin the day with a bar-b-que tutorial for all interested. This event is open to the community. Those that would like to compete will need to bring your own grill and meat. Tutorial begins at 9:00am. Grilling begins at 10:00am. Eating starts at 1:00pm. For more info or to register call Mat Emerick at