Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina

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Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina www.gcpcusa.org July 12, 2015 10:30 am All great spirituality teaches about letting go of what you don t need and who you are not.

1 Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina July 12, :30 am All great spirituality teaches about letting go of what you don t need and who you are not. Then, when you can get little enough and naked enough and poor enough, you ll find that the little place where you really are is ironically more than enough that place is called freedom. It s the freedom of the children of God. Such people can connect with everybody. - Richard Rohr Prelude Meditation on Repton Robert Hobby * Call to Worship We gather, as God's people, bringing our fears and pain, knowing that when our spirits have grown cold, God rekindles the gift of faith in us. We gather, as God's people, hanging our broken hearts on the branches of the tree of life. knowing that while friends may turn against us, God transforms enemies into sisters and brothers. We gather, as God's people, crying for healing and hope, knowing that in our hunger, God prepares a feast for us. * Hymn 81 Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken AUSTRIAN HYMN * Call to Reconciliation

2 * Prayer of Confession God of grace and love, we stand before you in this moment and share what you already know. Our cheeks are carved with the tears of the pain we have caused. Our hearts are so empty we cannot comfort others. Our desires have taken us places where we cannot sing your praises. Forgive us, we pray. Plant a tiny seed of hope that it might grow. Increase our faith until it spills over in thanksgiving to you. Fill us with the love that rekindles our desire to follow faithfully Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen * Assurance of Forgiveness While our failure and frailty is fresh, God's grace has been ours before time began. This is great news - we are forgiven. In Christ, we become new people: broken, we are made whole; lost, we are found; forsaken, we are restored to new life. Thanks be to God. Amen. * Response

3 * Passing of the Peace The Peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. Prayer for Illumination New Testament Anthem Gospel The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God! The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God! Philippians 2:1-11 Summer Choir Luke 12: Sermon The Things We Carry Kristy Farber Silent Meditation * Hymn 450 Be Thou My Vision SLANE * Affirmation of Faith (from the United Church in Canada) We are not alone, we live in God's world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God's presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen. Our Life Together (Please sign the Friendship Pad located in your pew)

4 Offering (Please place prayer cards in the offering plate for the Prayers of the People) Prayer of Dedication Offertory I Surrender All Mark Hayes * Doxology Prayers of the People The Lord s Prayer Each section of the prayer will conclude: God, in your grace Please respond: Hear our 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, And the glory, forever. Amen

5 * Hymn 733 We All Are One in Mission ES FLOG EIN KLEINS * Charge and Benediction Postlude Toccata on Slane Austin C. Lovelace (For some, the Postlude serves as festive music to accompany their going back out into the world. Others prefer to remain seated and listen. Please be mindful of these different needs as you depart. Thank you!) * Please Stand in Body or Spirit. We gather to worship God who is larger than all our imagination! We encourage all persons to sing the gender nouns and pronouns they prefer in referring to God. Our Life Together Thank You! Head Usher: Beth Kissling Liturgist: Heather Brown Thank you to Mary Byers for the flowers that decorate our sanctuary, given to the glory of God, in honor of her children, Christina, Clayton and Chris. Faith Sharing With Children is on hiatus for the summer months, but will resume in the fall when we return to two services. Please be reminded that Sundays through July 26th, we will have a parable Godly Play lesson in the sanctuary for children and adults of all ages at 10am prior to worship. Meeting of the Congregation Sunday, July 26 10:15am Sanctuary The Session calls a meeting of the congregation for Sunday, July 26, 2015, at 10:15 a.m. in the sanctuary for the purpose of acting on a report from the Nominating Committee to fill a vacancy on Session. Joel Hathaway and his family are moving to Colorado. The Nominating Committee proposes Tiffany Kinnard to fill his place in the Class of As we continue to welcome Samantha Gonzalez- Block, Grace Covenant s new Associate Pastor, please remember to wear your name tags and introduce yourselves to her after worship. We are delighted to have her with us and excited for her ministry. If you would like a nametag made, please contact Nancy, nquick@gcpcusa.org

6 real.life.stories TONIGHT 5:00 PM Avenue M Childcare at GCPC Theme for the evening: "Twice Told Join us to hear some of the great stories from the past two years. Listen to Heather Brown, Ben Graham, Michael Isaacs, Megan Bowman, Mark Clevenger, Robin Gaiser and Jeff Jones tell a first- person story centered on various themes. Please arrive by 4:30 to enjoy Avenue M's hospitality before we get started promptly at 5 PM. Serve Pritchard Park Breakfast Announcement At a recent meeting between city leaders and a group of GCPC members, we learned more about the bigger picture of homelessness in Asheville, in particular where partnerships with faith communities are most needed. Both Homeward Bound and the Mayor's Office asked us to stop serving Pritchard Park Breakfast because it is a duplicated resource. To try and be responsive, we're reexamining our Sunday morning commitments, including Pritchard Park breakfasts, and we'd like to hear from those of you who've been active in this ministry to help inform these decisions. As we work this out, we ask for your thoughts and reflections. Please come to a meeting after worship on July 19 to offer feedback and learn more about these conversations. Care Prayer List [We are happy to pray for anyone who is in need. Concerns will stay on this list for a month unless we hear otherwise. Please keep us updated.] Jerusalem Church elders deacons congregation; Frank Wilson (Martha Kisiah's nephew); Linda Albin (Les & Susan Stradley's friend); Matt Lyles (Fred & Heather Hudson's friend); JoDell Hawthorne (Donna Robertson's cousin); Frances Buchanan (Brian Buchanan's mother); Dorothy LaRue Sloane (Donna Robertson's cousin); Natalie DeVito (Karen Rohls' daughter); Natalie Taggert ( Kay Cole's friend); Terry Churchfield (Susie Churchfield's brother); Tricia & Steve Minnick (Mary Lou Nash's friends); Pam Morrell (Penny Ponder's daughter); Kimo Hyatt (Keaton Hill's father); Susie Moore (Ray Kisiah s sister); Lindsae Becker (Tyler Ander s friend); Brenda Taylor (Florence Riedesel s cousin); Flavia Proenza (Karen Rohl s friend); Heath & Peggy Rada (Moderator of the PCUSA General Assembly); Barrett & Ali Payne (Commissioned to Columbia Seminary); Mark & Heather Merritt (Commissioned to Columbia Seminary); Richard Simons; Al Williams; Janet Bondurant; Jack & Betty Smith; Lorraine Formato; Dana Victor Little; Mimi Aldridge; Bettie Pritchard; Sarah Harwell; Mary Ellen Horne; Susan Stradley; Donna Robertson; Carly Stein Debbie Lee; Alva Bennett; Diane Chambers; Robin Gaiser; Ray Dean; Mary Moncada; Virginia Bradley; Jane Lee Vondette

7 Our sympathy and support are extended to Cecil Jividen, on the death of his wife, Sandy Jividen, on July 4, A Service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held on Saturday, July 18th at 2pm at Grace Covenant. Grace Covenant s Annual Congregational Retreat Saturday, September 12 Early Bird Registration Deadline TODAY $10 off Montreat, NC Rev Dr. Willie Jennings- Retreat Leader (Associate Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School) Camping/Lodging available all weekend. Please see our web site under GROW or the Thursday Weekly News to download a registration form, or pick a hardcopy from the Information Station. Grow 2015 Summer Women s Memoir Series Wednesdays 7:00 PM Library Join us for a series of book talks focusing on memoirs written by people of faith. Hosted by Kristy Farber, Heather Gast, and Rebecca Gurney, and open to all women of the church. One copy of each book can be found in the newly revamped library annex upstairs in the Memorial Garden Overlook. Please pre- read the books to ensure lively discussion but come either way! July 15 Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline Woodson August 12 Jesus Land Julia Scheeres Parable Godly Play Lessons Sundays, June 21 through July AM Sanctuary In conjunction with our summer parable sermon series, we will be doing Godly Play lessons that go along with the week's parable before worship June 21- July 26. This is the wonder- filled curriculum we will be doing for our preschool through elementary school next year. Preschool through adults are welcome! Godly Play Curriculum Preschoolers- 5 th Grades Information Session August We are moving to the Godly Play curriculum next year with our preschoolers through fifth graders. This wonder- filled program has many opportunities for participation including storytellers, snack helpers and door keepers. We would love for you to consider where you may fit in! On August 28-29, we will be hosting a Godly Play trainer at GCPC where you can learn all about the curriculum. If you are interested or want more information, please contact Heather at hgast@gcpcusa.org. Summer Choir Announcement 9:00 AM Sanctuary Summer Choir continues through July 19! Please join us next week at 9:00 AM to rehearse and sing for worship. All ages are welcome - bring the family and come sing next Sunday morning. Dr. King s Unfinished Agenda Montreat August 21-23, 2015 A Teach- In for Rededicating Ourselves to The Dream Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King s address to the Christian Action Conference in Montreat, the goal is to engage an intergenerational community in embracing and lifting up Dr. King s unfulfilled dream as our very own. Gather to

8 hear leaders from the church and public life, including Rep. John Lewis, and Charles M. Blow, among others. For a complete list of speakers and registration, visit the Information Station or Next Sunday, July 19, 2015 Worship Service at 10:30 AM Summer Courtyard Fellowship at 11:30 AM Sermon: Little Big Disruptions by Samantha Gonzalez- Block Scriptures: 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Matthew 13:31-33 CALENDAR Sunday 12 10:30 AM Worship 11:30 AM Summer Courtyard Fellowship 4:00 PM Worship at Westminster Pres. (15 Overbrook Pl.) 5:00 PM Ave. M Tuesday 14 9:00 AM Prayer Group 6:00 PM Committees Wednesday 15 7:00 PM Summer memoir series Sunday 19 10:30 AM Worship 11:30 AM Deacons 11:30 AM Summer Courtyard Fellowship 4:00 PM Worship at Westminster Pres. (15 Overbrook Pl.) God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending. Robert L. Edwards, (c) 1961, 1989 the Hymn Society in the US & Canada, All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Onelicense.net A

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina www.gcpcusa.org May 24, 2015 10:30 am The Day of Pentecost Sacrament of the Lord s Supper All that is true, by whomsoever it has been said,