Round Hill Community Church
ORDER OF SERVICE JULY 14, 2013 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost PRELUDE Andante Handel (Organ Concerto in F major) WORDS OF WELCOME INTROIT CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: Let us worship God, who writes a new covenant on our hearts. All: Let up pray to God, who listens to our cries for justice. Leader: Let us search the Scriptures with excitement and find meaning for our lives. All: Let us rejoice that we know God and we are God s people. *HYMN No. 228 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling *OPENING PRAYER Christ, whose insistent call disturbs our settled lives, give us discernment to hear your word, grace to relinquish our tasks, and courage to follow emptyhanded wherever you may lead; that the voice of your gospel may reach to the ends of the earth. Amen. *CHURCH CREED I believe in God, the one universal Father of all mankind, revealed supremely in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and present with us to guide, comfort and inspire in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Kingdom of God; and in the mission of the Christian Church to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, exalting the worship of the Lord our God, and laboring for the progress of
knowledge, the promotion of righteousness, the reign of peace, and the realization of human brotherhood. United in Christian love, we pray and labor for the coming of the Kingdom, the triumph of righteousness and the life everlasting. Amen. *GLORIA PATRI Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Children are invited to leave for Church School Classes SUMMER HYMN SING ANTHEM O God Beyond All Praising Holst SCRIPTURE LESSON Jonah 3-4:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you. So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day s walk. And he cried out, Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink
water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. SERMON Never Beyond Reach The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann *HYMN No. 101 There s a Wideness in God s Mercy OFFERING Invitation Offertory prayer Anthem Peace Shaker Tune *Doxology *Hymn No. 440 O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (verse 1) PASTORAL PRAYER AND LORD S PRAYER *HYMN No. 414 In Christ There Is No East or West
CHURCH PRAYER Our Heavenly Father, shed forth thy blessed spirit upon all our lives. Make each one of us an instrument in thy hands for good. Purify our hearts, strengthen our minds and bodies, fill us with Christian love. Let no pride, no self-conceit, no rivalry, no ill-will ever spring up among us. Make us earnest and true, wise and prudent, giving no just cause for offense; and may thy holy peace rest upon us this day and every day throughout the coming week, sweetening our trials, cheering us in our work, and keeping us faithful to the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BENEDICTION CHORAL RESPONSE POSTLUDE Posthorn Fugue J.S. Bach *The congregation is invited to stand.
CHURCH NEWS Thank you to today s ushers, Grada and Bill Herrick. Our thanks to Dick Ford, this morning s Liturgist. We thank Helen and Bruce Dixon for hosting Coffee Hour. Please join them in the Parlor following worship. Be part of our Worship services! Sign up in the Parlor to Usher, be a Liturgist, arrange flowers or host a Coffee Hour!
REFLECTIONS A Prayer of Wholehearted Commitment Lord, You have the biblical reputation of taking people places they never wanted to go. Witness Jonah delivered by whale to Nineveh and Habakkuk flown by angel to Babylon. Also I have heard You do not consult. Abraham is suddenly ordered from Haran And Moses called out of retirement for the Egypt assignment. Furthermore Paul says You take a chiropodist s delight in Achilles heels, spurn eloquence for the stutter, and reveal yourself in the thorns of the flesh. And what was this unpleasantness with your Son shortly before his appointment at the Right Hand? So it is that to You my most resounding yes is a maybe and it is with one eye on the door that I say Behold, Lord, your servant waiteth. John Shea
Tantrum The generosity of God displeased Jonah exceedingly and he slashed with angry prayer At the graciousness of the Almighty. I told You so, he screamed. I knew what You would do, You dirty Forgiver. You bless Your enemies and show kindness to those who despitefully use You. I would rather die than live in world with a God like You. And don t try to forgive me either. Thomas John Carlisle Minister: The Rev. Dr. Edward Horstmann Minister Emeritus: The Rev. Dr. Ralph Alhberg Minister of Music: Christopher Kabala Director of Christian Education: Georgette Huie Round Hill Community Church 395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831 203.869.1091 roundhillcommunitychurch.org