( Higos used with permission from Joan Grífols.) Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. Helen Keller www.colonialucc.org March 6, 2016 913 362 7735 10:15 a.m.
The Colonial Church in Prairie Village United Church of Christ When Your Legs Don t Work Like They Used To Sunday Worship Service in the series Love Hurts 1 Please silence your electronic devices in preparation for worship. * Please rise in body or spirit We Gather as God s People Gathering Music Beach Spring Wold Welcome and Announcements (Please sign and pass pew pads and fill out Prayer Request cards you may have. You can place the Prayer Request cards in the offering plates later in the service.) A Moment to Lay Your Burdens Down * Opening Hymn #423 Great is Your Faithfulness * Call to Worship Based on Psalm 146 Leader: Praise God! People: Praise God, O my soul! Leader: I will praise God as long as I live, People: I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Leader: Do not put your trust in princes, People: In mortals, in whom there is no help. Leader: Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, People: Whose hope is in God, Leader: Who execute justice for the oppressed, People: Who give food to the hungry. Leader: Praise God! All: Praise God, O my soul!
* Song of Praise Gloria #759 adapted Glory to the Creator, and to the Christ, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. Amen. 2 * Sharing God s Welcome (Greet everyone in the hope of peace and friendship.) Children s Conversation (Children of all ages are welcome to come forward to the chancel steps. Following the Conversation, children are welcome to remain to worship or to participate in our Sunday School.) This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. We Hear a Word from God A Word Proclaimed Pastor Aaron Roberts When Things Go Horribly Wrong Luke 13:1 5 Some who were present on that occasion told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices. He replied, "Do you think the suffering of these Galileans proves that they were more sinful than all the other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did. What about those twelve people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think that they were more guilty of wrongdoing than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did." What Does the Fig Tree Think About Itself? Luke 13:6 9 Jesus told this parable: "A man owned a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. He said to his gardener, 'Look, I've come looking for fruit on this fig tree for the past three years, and I've never found any. Cut it down! Why should it continue depleting the soil's nutrients?'
The gardener responded, 'Lord, give it one more year, and I will dig around it and give it fertilizer. Maybe it will produce fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.'" A Word in Our Holy Meal Communion Prayer Pastor: God s Law required that farmers not harvest the corners of their fields or recover produce that was dropped during harvest. People: That food was left to be collected by the marginalized, the poor, the stranger, the refugee. Pastor: This Law was for the sake of the less fortunate so that no one no one would hunger in the land. People: Christ declared, I am the true vine. As the vine, Christ provides life and livelihood to us who are attached to him. Pastor: At his Table we demonstrate a gleaning field where all are fed and no one is turned away. People: There is plenty for all. Remembering and Consecrating Sharing the Bread and Cup (As the bread and cup are served, the choir will sing I Am a Path, a piece written especially for this day. Drink the cup as you are served as a sign of God s particular love for you. Hold the bread until everyone has been served, and we will eat it together as a sign of our unity in Christ.) Communion Anthem I Am a Path (composed by Dr. Joseph Kern; lyrics by Ancel Neuburger; clarinet played by Mary Burnett) I am a path to Easter through ashes, deferring feasting until after fasting. I appear without warning in whispers and flashes, and promise you banquets in life everlasting. I am body and I am also blood; I am your host with secrets to reveal. I am with you always, presence simply understood. Share me at your table. I am a holy meal. 3
Dine on me and my mystery; take my body into your body and consume me tenderly. 4 I am sustenance that lasts beyond time, a miracle of transfiguration. I foresee that fairness and justice will someday rhyme, salvation served in communal celebration. Dine on me and my mystery; take my body into your body and consume me tenderly. Prayer of Thanksgiving We are nourished at this Table of Abundance so that in turn we may live abundantly a life of neighborly love. In Jesus Christ, God goes where we go and stays where we stay, sharing our common lot. In response, we stand in solidarity with refugees and those deemed outsiders, assuring them with words and acts, that in Christ they always have refuge. Amen.
We Respond with Thanksgiving and Prayer Call to Offering and Offertory Help Me, O God, That I May Overcome (Our weekly offering includes food collected to help fill local pantries.) 5 Dupre * Doxology (#780 adapted; tune Old Hundredth) Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, you heavenly host: Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen. * Prayer of Dedication We thank you, ever generous Creator. In humility, we sacrifice in the name of love. We support your Church so that it may live out its call to serve. May the witness and work made possible by our tithes and One Great Hour of Sharing offering comfort and empower those seeking refuge, that they may be able to sing with peace and joy the Lord s song in a foreign land. Amen. Time of Prayer Prayers of the People Believing that each joy and/or concern expressed is indeed a prayer, after each expression, the Pastor will say: Lord, in your mercy. And the people may respond: Hear our prayer. Praying in Silence Our Lord s Prayer ( Our Father is the traditional way this prayer begins. You are invited to use whatever name for God you find most meaningful (Father, Mother, Creator, God, etc.). These names for God create a beautiful chorus.) 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.
We Depart to Serve 6 * Hymn #586 Come to Tend God s Garden * Renew Our Covenant (Turn towards the center aisle as we bless one another with the promise of our covenant.) We covenant with the Lord and with one another and do bind ourselves in the presence of God to walk together in Christian Love. We seek to worship God in spirit and in truth and to love our neighbors as ourselves. With God s help we will honor Colonial Church in our conduct, support its program, and extend the influence of Christ throughout the world. * Congregational Song of Blessing #809 God Be With You God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. O God be with you, God be with you, God be with you till we meet again. * Benediction and Postlude Beach Spring Wold Liturgist: Bruce Wofford Videographer: Geoff Robinson Worship Graphics Operator: Hayden Huggins Children s Conversation: Communion Servers: Pastor Aaron Roberts Marylee Battaglia, Cindy Lafferty, Stacy Huggins, Jayne Quimby Greeters: Karen and Brad Hodges Head Usher: Jim Whiles Ushers: Rosalie Henry, Linda Moses, Marion Taylor, Jane Whiles
7 Our 10:00am Thursday morning Bible Study is covering the Gospel of Mark. If you would like to take part in the study, simply come on Thursdays or signup for the group via infellowship from the church website. Keep the simple point in mind: our primary purpose is not simply learning information about the Bible. It is hearing God speak. Lesson 3 Apocalypse Now Homework Step 1: First Reading Mark Chapters 13:1 14:11 Find a comfortable place to sit, when you can be undisturbed for 15 minutes or so. Read the text slowly, prayerfully and meditatively. Savor the words. Pray them. Put yourself into the text with your senses. What do you hear, smell, or feel? Pay attention to words or phrases that speak to you or jump out at you. Consider reading it aloud. Step 2: Second Reading of the same text This may happen at the same time as your first reading or at a different time or on another day. For this second reading, note any questions you might have. Is the reading all one, or can you see subsections or parts? Who are the main characters? Is there a plot or story? Note additional information you need place names, monetary values, etc. to better understand what s going on. Step 3: Interpreting the Text and Homework Questions (if you are planning to come to class, give the church office a call so that we can mail a copy of the lesson to you.)
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