TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY March 3, 2019 9:45 AM BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 225 N. Swiss St. San Antonio, Texas 78202 Phone: 210-227-2696 Email: bethelsatx@gmail.com Pastor Juan N. Tolliver
ORDER OF SERVICE 9:45 a.m. PRAISE AND WORSHIP Praise Team DOXOLOGY Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow - Hymn #647 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. A-men, A-men, A-men! CONGREGATIONAL SONG My Hope Is Built - Hymn #364 My hope is build on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. Refrain: On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. Refrain His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope an stay. Refrain When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found! Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne! Refrain
INVOCATION PRAYER RESPONSE Spirit of the Living God Hymn #619 HOLY SCRIPTURES Luke 9:28-36 (NLT) Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me, Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. LEADER PEOPLE LEADER PEOPLE LEADER ALL 28 About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, Master, it s wonderful for us to be here! Let s make three shelters as memorials one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. 34 But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. 35 Then a voice from the cloud said, This is my Son, my Chosen One. [b] Listen to him. 36 When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
MUSICAL SELECTION VOICES OF PRAISE GUESTS WELCOME & MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS MUSICAL SELECTION VOICES OF PRAISE THE PREACHED WORD INVITATION to form a relationship with God, with other people & with the church TITHES & OFFERINGS HOLY COMMUNION The General Confession: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all humankind, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have committed by thought, word, and deed against Your divine majesty, provoking most justly Your wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father for Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ s sake; forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please You in newness of life, to the honor and glory of Your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. First Collect: Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of Your great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto You, have mercy upon us; pardon and deliver us from all our sins; confirm and strengthen us in all goodness; and bring us to everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Second Collect: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Adoration: It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we shall at all times and in all places give thanks unto You. O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God.
Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your Holy Name, evermore praising You and saying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts; heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Glory be to You, O Lord most high. Amen. Prayer of Humiliation: We do not presume to come to this Your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather the crumbs under Your table. But You are the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of Your dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink His blood that our sinful souls and bodies may be made clean by His death and washed through His blood, and that we may ever more dwell in Him and He in us. Amen. Prayer of Consecration: Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of Your tender mercy did give Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death on the cross for our redemption, who made thereby His oblation of Himself, once offered, a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and did institute and in His holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that His precious death until His coming again; hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech You, and grant that we, receiving these Your creatures of bread and wine, according to Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ s holy institution, in remembrance of His death and passion, may be partakers of His most blessed body and blood; Who in the same night that He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to His disciples saying, Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me. Likewise, after supper He took the cup and when He had given thanks He gave it to them saying, Drink all of it, for this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins; do this, as often as you shall drink it, in remembrance of Me. Amen. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for you, to preserve your soul and body unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on Him in your heart by faith, with thanksgiving. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you to preserve your soul and body unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ s blood was shed for you and be thankful. DOXOLOGY BENEDICTIONThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:18
Thoughts from Pastor Tolliver After much prayer and observation, I have noticed that there are multiple visions for the Bethel Church. I believe the direction of the Bethel Church should be Christ-centered and Christ-driven. Good ideas are just that good ideas. My prayer, however, is that we would want and desire God ideas. I hear you, thinking out loud! We need a roof and other things for our church. And the number one issue is money or is it? Yes, we do have a rainy-day fund which was put in place by some phenomenal leaders to have funds on hand in case of a financial emergency. This was forward thinking at that time; however, we are at impasse. We have recognized needs and we need TO address them. Additionally, I have noticed that the spiritual growth of our church is being overlooked. As pastor of the Bethel Church for 16 months, here are the statistics; only 7 accessions, no conversions, and no baptisms. This is utterly unacceptable. Our attendance average is 120 out of 302 members. These statistics should be alarming as we consider our priorities as a church. I submit to you that our meetings have become nonproductive because we argue more than we pray. Our prayer meeting averages 6 people weekly. 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. It is my prayer that during the Lenten season that we would fast and pray as a church family, and seek the Lord s guidance and direction.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPCOMING EVENTS March 3, 2019 GET ON THE BUS: Bethel is invited to fellowship with Rice Chapel AME Church, Dallas, on Sunday, March 17, 2019, @ 3:00 p.m. as they celebrate their church anniversary. Pastor Tolliver will be the guest preacher and the Bethel Church Family will be there to support and celebrate with Rice Chapel. Please sign up to reserve your seat on the bus for this day of worship & fellowship with our sister church. The cost is $25 per person. So, don t delay, reserve your seat on the bus today! OUTREACH MINISTRY VOLUNTEERS: Volunteers are needed immediately for picking up goods from the San Antonio Food Bank for our church s Outreach Ministry. A truck and volunteers are needed for Mondays from 9:30-11:00 am to transport items from Food Bank to the Outreach Center and assist with the loading and unloading of goods. If you are willing to assist with this ministry, please contact Madelyn Johnson @ 210-849-7140 or Julia Hartfield @ 210-367-0223. COMMUNION TO HOMEBOUND: Please note the updated procedure for Communion: - Class Leaders should contact members to see if they want to receive Communion and report the same via their Class Leader Report forms. - Class Leaders should submit their reports to the church office and the Class Leader Coordinator. - Only those members who specifically request Communion will receive it (there is no longer a standing list of persons to receive Communion). - A list of persons to receive Communion will be compiled by the church office based on the Class Leader reports received. - Communion will not necessarily be served to the homebound on Sunday and may be served by the pastor and/or other ministers on staff. - The minister who will serve Communion will coordinate with those persons who will assist. Please do not hesitate to contact the church office if you have any questions or concerns.
WOMEN S HISTORY PLAY: The Cultural Arts Committee invites you to join in celebrating Women s History Month with a play entitled SHIRLEY CHISHOLM: WOMAN of DISTINCTION on the 4 th Sunday, March 24 th, during the Church School hour in the Beasley Brown Community Center. SAN ANTONIO DISTRICT CONFERENCE: The San Antonio District Conference will be held March 14-16, 2019, at Emmanuel AME Church. The theme is Intentionally Growing Spiritually. There will be a Communion Service on Thursday, March 14 th and the conference sessions will begin on March 15 th & 16 th @ 8:45 a.m. The special guests will be Dr. James Wade, Executive Director of Church Growth & Development of the AME Church, and Valerie Bell, Connectional Lay President of the AME Church. Dr. Wade will present and discuss the topic: if we are going to grow the church, we must first grow and develop spiritually as individuals. Pastors must grow. Members must grow. Disciples must be made, and we must hold each other accountable for personal spiritual growth. All officers and board/auxiliary leaders are expected to attend. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please contact Presiding Elder Bryant. CHILDREN S CHURCH: Youth ages 4-12 are welcome to attend Children s Church every 1 st & 4 th Sunday of the month @ 10:00 am in the Beasley Brown CC. The youth will participate in engaging, fun activities that will impact their lives both spiritually and socially. The next session will be held on Sunday, March 3 rd. Parents must complete a permission form for each youth that attends. WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING AND BIBLE STUDY: Join us each Wednesday for Prayer @ 11:00 a.m. and Bible Study @ 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm. We prefer to see you in person every Wednesday for Bible Study, however if you are unable to attend in person, please join via conference call by using the following info: (Dial-in #: 605-562-0400; Access Code: 1090898) ANNOUNCEMENTS: Info and announcements to be included in the Worship Guide should be sent to the church s email address by 12:00 noon on Wednesday. Info not received by the deadline may not be included until the following week. CONTINUAL PRAYERS: We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2