First Presbyterian Church. Valatie, NY. First Presbyterian Church. Where friends are made, Faith is nurtured, Service begins and All are Welcome!

Transcription

1 SESSION Class of 2019 Class of 2020 Class of 2021 Nancy Pienta Steve Hohneker Rick Jacker Chuck Shattenkirk Sarah Sayers Moderator: Rev. Kathi L. Jones Clerk of Session: Nancy Pienta DEACONS Class of 2019 Class of 2020 Class of 2021 Rosalie Hemingway Betsy Gorman Judy Bury Hertha Matuszek Laurae Hoffmann Cheryl Fitzgibbons Co-moderators: Judy Bury Hertha Matuszek Church Treasurer: Sandra Hohneker Assistant Treasuerer: Vieve Gay Financial Secretary: Bill Ring First Presbyterian Church Valatie, NY First Presbyterian Church 3212 Church Street P.O. Box 267, Valatie, NY Church Phone Pastor s Phone Church s ifirstpresbyter1@nycap.rr.com Pastor Rev. Kathi L. Jones Pastor s revkathiljones@yahoo.com Organist Ardelle Stewart Secretary Naomi Handley Sexton Nick Becker Where friends are made, Faith is nurtured, Service begins and All are Welcome!

2 March 4, :00am. THIS WEEK S CALENDAR WELCOME SERVICE FOR THE LORD S DAY THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT * * * * * * Gathering in the Name of the Lord (In silence and meditation prepare yourself for worship) LIFE OF THE CONGREGATION MISSION STATEMENT We are a small congregation, part of God s larger family, teaching and living God s Word, and sharing God s love throughout the community. PRELUDE CALL TO WORSHIP (Responsively) The heavens declare the glory of God. We will add our praise to theirs. The whole earth sings of God s greatness and glory. We will join in their song. They cannot be silent about the power and glory of their Creator. Nor can we. It is easy in this place, in this day to praise God. But how about out there? Yes, we confess that too often our praise is joyous and loud here but muted the second we leave. Today, let that be no more. Let us enter God s house with thanksgiving and praise And leave it the same way, declaring God s glory everywhere we go. TODAY 11:00am. Worship Sacrament of Holy Communion 12:15pm. Congregational Meeting 12:35pm. Deacons Meeting MONDAY 10:30am. Christian Nurture 12noon Food Pantry Open 7:00pm. Congregation and Community TUESDAY 7:00pm. Boy Scouts WEDNESDAY 6:00pm. Food Pantry Open 7:00pm. Boy Scout Committee SATURDAY 9:00am. Food Pantry Open Looking Ahead NEXT SUNDAY March 11, 2018 Fourth Sunday in Lent Daylight Savings Begins 9:30am. 11:00am. 12:15pm. Sunday School and Adult Education Worship - Gifts of Women Sunday Coffee Hour Birthdays This Week 3/7 Geraldine McCrum 3/9 Wayne L. Austin *HYMN 307 God of Grace and God of Glory

3 Minute For Mission: Being in mission starts where you are. Boston Young Adult Volunteer experiences the joys and power of community. Work is an important part of vocation, but an equally important part of living out my calling is my new home. My current home as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) is an intentional Christian community in Boston, where my fellow YAVs and I seek to build faithful relationships with one another, with our neighbors and with God. My year of service is teaching me that being in mission is a way of living that starts in the place where I eat, rest, reflect and pray with those closest to me. My discernment toward becoming a YAV did not start with God calling me to leave everything and serve in a faraway place. Instead, I heard God asking to be invited into my life and calling me to be intentional about how I live. Becoming a YAV did take me away from where I grew up, but has also given me the opportunity to organize my life around service and ministry. Just as I look to God for guidance when I am at work volunteering, I look to God for guidance when I am at our YAV house, discerning how to spend time and money while building relationships with members of my community. Hardly anything we do at the YAV house is more significant than nourishing and sustaining ourselves by eating. The YAV site in Boston is focused on food justice, the movement to promote equity, sustainability and nutrition in how we produce, distribute and consume our food. My fellow YAVs and I all work for organizations that address root causes of hunger, but we also live out food justice by carefully examining our own eating habits. Our community has been especially built around gathering at a table and better understanding our relationship to our food system. In my home as a Boston Food Justice YAV, I hear God calling me to make decisions about food that benefit God s people and God s creation. This year I am finding that my calling is not only about what I do, but also about who I am, what I live for and what matters to me. God asks to be invited into the place closest to my heart, into the relationships and practices that make me who I am. That place, my new home in community with other YAVs, is where I discern how God is calling me to live and to use my gifts. Through consciousness about food justice and Christian reflection with my housemates, I am building an intentional Christian home, learning how to be a compassionate and hospitable member of my community, and answering God at my door. Stuart Mapes, Recent Graduate of the College of William and Mary CALL TO CONFESSION PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Responsively) Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy. Honestly God, when it comes to putting faith into practice, we are not very smart, yet we are not as dumb as we sometimes pretend. We are not particularly good, but not as hopeless as we sometimes may fear. We are not remarkably loving, but not as insensitive as our words and deeds might suggest. We have bad days on which we look back with disappointment and considerable frustration. We have better days when we can gratefully look back at the light and love we have shared. We are what we are, yet also we are what your saving grace is making of us. So help us God, to become the people you intended us to be, filled with faith, compassion and fire to follow Christ. SILENT PRAYER OF PERSONAL CONFESSION ASSURANCE OF PARDON RESPONSE 694 (v.1) Proclaiming the Word Great God of Every Blessing PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION God our best and most holy Friend, turn our hearts towards your true Son, that we may see in him the same saving love that cleansed the temple courts and died on the cross forgiving enemies. Give us his mind and his spirit, that in the midst of the busy commerce of the world, we may discern what should be done and have the faith and love to undertake it willingly. Through our Savior Christ, who lives and loves with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

4 NEW TESTAMENT LESSON I Corinthians 1:18-25 (O.T. pg.162) GOSPEL LESSON John 2:13-25 (N.T. pg. 91) NOT FOR CHILDREN ONLY HYMN 432 How Clear Is Our Vocation, Lord SERMON Is Anger a Christian Feeling? Responding to the Word MINUTE FOR MISSION SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS OFFERING OF TITHES AND GIFTS RESPONSE 607 Easter Flowers in the sanctuary have been a tradition here for many years. Lets keep the tradition going! The deadline for ordering your Easter flowers is March 17. Please complete the order form enclosed and give it to Kathi. Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow PRAYER OF DEDICATION As we gather our gifts on this day, instill within us a spirit of dedication and thanksgiving. Help us to commit our very lives to you, O God. Give us the grace to see you, to hear you, and to love you. Give us the strength to walk in the path of your love. Help us to recognize your face in the faces of those who are poor, lonely, estranged, or suffering. Allow us to see your son in the faces of those around us each day. Empower us, O God, so we might commit our lives to being your faithful servants, not only now, but always, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Rainbow Girls will be serving their annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner fundraiser on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day in the Fellowship Hall. Dinner will be starting at 4:30pm. $12 for adults and $8 for children. The menu will include corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, desert, coffee, tea, iced tea and water. Don t forget to set your clocks ahead before you go to bed next Saturday night for daylight savings, which begins Sunday, March 11. A meeting of the congregation and corporation of the First Presbyterian Church, Valatie, NY, is called for March 4, 2018, immediately following worship for the purpose of: electing the 2018 Nominating Committee members-at-large approving the 2018 terms of call for the pastor By Order of the Session

5 ANNOUNCEMENTS NURSERY CARE DURING WORSHIP is provided for infants and children through the second grade. Parents are asked to take their child (ren) to the nursery during the hymn just before the sermon. The nursery is found through the door to the left of the pulpit, down the hall on the right. Children who are in the third grade and older should remain with their families during the worship service. THE ECUMENICAL FOOD PANTRY continues to meet a growing need in the Ichabod Crane School district. They are grateful for all donations of non-perishable foods (that have a future expiration date) and are asking particularly at this time for pickles, soup and cereal. If you have any questions about the Food Pantry or how you might get involved, speak with Dorothy Johnson or Carol Matthews, our representatives on the Food Pantry Committee. Have you considered giving flowers for a Sunday worship service? A signup sheet is on the table for you to give the information necessary for the bulletin and a form to fill out and put in the Secretary s box. You may bring any flowers you want from the garden or store arranged. We all appreciate the beauty of creation! The March-April edition of Our Daily Bread and The Upper Room is available on the table. Consider picking up a copy of this helpful devotional and making it a part of your daily time of prayer and Bible reading. HYMN 496 Sacrament of Holy Communion Bread of Heaven, on Thee We Feed INVITATION TO THE LORD S TABLE May the God of holy words be with you. May the Meditation of our hearts be with you. People of God, open yourselves to the One who is your rock. God fills us with foolishness, so we may be wise. Children of God, sing songs of thanksgiving with all creation. Our voices are lifted to the One who makes all things. You spoke those words of creation, God of faithfulness,......with those who have great faith, with those who have very little, we sing our thanksgivings to you: Holy, holy, holy are you, God of mountaintops. The heavens join all creation to tell of your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the One who is foolish for our sake. Hosanna in the highest! Day to day, you are holy, our God,.....As we remember his zeal for your heart, as we remember his passion for us, we would speak of that mystery we know as faith: Christ died, the rock which broke sin s power; Christ was raised, death conquered by our redeemer; Christ will return, desiring us more than anything in all creation. Its not too late! We will be collecting donations for CWS Blankets through the month of March. CWS blankets can be a vital resource for someone needing a little support, warmth and encouragement. Together, we can help even more families stay warm this winter. Won t you join us by making a gift today? THE LORD S PRAYER BREAKING OF THE BREAD POURING OF THE CUP COMMUNION OF THE PEOPLE (sins, sin)

6 PRAYER Almighty and everlasting God, we thank and praise you for feeding us with the life-giving body and blood of your beloved son Jesus Christ. Send your Holy Spirit that, having with our mouths received the holy Sacrament, we may by faith obtain and eternally enjoy your divine grace, the forgiveness of sins, unity with Christ, and everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. *HYMN 826 *CHARGE AND BENEDICTION *PASSING THE PEACE The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. Go in peace. Amen. * * * * * * * - Indicates that all who are able, may stand. Lift High the Cross (Responsively) ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST as Lord and Savior are invited to participate at his table. You are urged to prepare your hearts ahead of time in repentance and prayer. Elder Steve Hohneker is lay reader and assisting with communion today. Greeting at the door is Karen and Jim Leffingwell. OUR CHURCH FAMILY Lucy Haemmerlein Mary and Charles Heermance Ricky Jacker Geraldine and Bruce McCrum Marie and Dan Wloch EXTENDED FAMILY, FRIENDS AND THE WORLD Jennifer Scheitenger and family, pre-school teacher Caren Stewart Those who have lost loved ones The community of Parkland, FL Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Puerto Rico, Syria, The West Bank Tending the nursery today is Holly Rappleyea. Head Usher for March is George Matuszek.