Chiming of the Hour GREENWOOD FOREST BAPTIST CHURCH The Worship of God The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost June 17, 2018 Gathering Hymn 307 (v. 1 & 3) Welcome to Worship All Creatures of Our God and King Rev. Stephen Stacks Leader: The Lord be with you, People: And also with you. Passing of the Peace Rev. Stacks Preparation for Worship Little Things with Great Love Assad, Wardell, and Cunningham In the garden of our Savior, no flower grows unseen; His kindness rains like water on every humble seed. No simple act of mercy escapes his watchful eye For there is One who loves me: his hand is over mine. In the kingdom of the heavens, no suff ring is unknown; Each tear that falls is holy, each breaking heart a throne. There is a song of beauty on ev ry weeping eye For there is One who loves me: his heart, it breaks with mine. Oh, the deeds forgotten; oh, the works unseen, Every drink of water flowing graciously, Every tender mercy, you re making glorious. This you have asked us: do little things with great love, Little things with great love. At the table of our Savior, no mouth will go unfed; His children in the shadows stream in and raise their heads. Oh give us ears to hear them and give us eyes that see For there is One who loves them: I am his hands and feet.
Call to Worship (Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15) Rev. Wesley Spears-Newsome Presentation of the Offering GLORIA PATRI Leader: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, People: To sing praises to your name, O Most High; Leader: To declare your steadfast love in the morning, People: And your faithfulness by night, Leader: To the music of the lute and the harp, People: To the melody of the lyre. Leader: For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; People: At the works of your hands I sing for joy. Leader: The righteous flourish like the palm tree, People: And grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Leader: They are planted in the house of the Lord; People: They flourish in the courts of our God. Leader: In old age they still produce fruit; People: They are always green and full of sap, Leader: Showing that you are upright; People: You are my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in you. Invocation Hymn 376 Offertory Prayer Rev. Spears-Newsome For the Fruit of All Creation Rev. Amanda Warren Preparation for Worship Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven arr. Farlee As our offering is presented back to God, we will sing the following doxology: Prayers of the People and Lord s Prayer 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, Amen. We affirm each prayer with the following response: Leader: Lord, in your mercy... People: Hear our prayer. Children s Parable 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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Rev. Stacks Kadeisha Bonsu During the following hymn, children (ages first grade and younger) are invited to go to Children s Time. Parents may pick up their children in the Children s Wing after worship.
Hymn God the Sculptor of the Mountains Scripture Reading Mark 4:26-34 Chris Beal We affirm the reading of Scripture with the following response: Reader: The word of God for us, the people of God. People: Thanks be to God. Anthem The Kingdom Andre Thomas Righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, That's the kingdom of God. Don't you want to be a part of the kingdom? Don't you want to be a part of the kingdom? Don't you want to be a part of the kingdom? Come on everybody! Oh yes, there's joy in the kingdom! Oh yes, there's peace in the kingdom! Oh yes, there's love in the kingdom! Come on everybody! The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. We are a part of earth, and it is a part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, The deer, the horse, the great eagle These are our brothers. Oh, all things are connected. Rivers our brothers, earth our mother. The earth is the Lord's. Sermon Jesus Was More Than a Storyteller Rev. Dr. Mack Thompson
Hymn God of the Fertile Fields Benediction Rev. Spears-Newsome Postlude Please stand as you are able. The Deacon of the Day is Rev. Amanda Warren, Chair of the Congregational Care Ministry. Today s acolyte is Brooks Jarrell. Hearing assistance devices are available at the back of the sanctuary.
Prayer Concerns Gilles Bikindou, Margaret Curl, Pat Hudson, Alex and Anne Nichols, Marietta Potok, Stephen Pratt (Sara Beck s friend), and Iris Thomas Jo Brooks Duke Hospital, Durham Our partner church, Ebenezer Baptist, Cuba, and our brothers and sisters of the Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Mission GFBC by the Numbers Focus on Finance 2017/2018 Budget (MDP + MSP) $900,457 Amount of Budget supported through Stewardship Giving $825,216 (excludes cell tower and GFCC receipts) Week 41 of 52 (June 10) Week 41 YTD Total Giving $13,735 $787,087 Less Designated Giving $ 720 $ 89,545 Actual Stewardship Giving $13,015 $697,542 Stewardship Giving needed to fully subscribe budget $14,854 $661,822 Over (Under) $(1,839) $ 35,720 Attendance Last Sunday Faith Formation 108 Worship 160 Announcements and Upcoming Events Adult VBS June 17-19 Adult VBS kicked off this morning with our combined Faith Formation session and continues tomorrow and Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:00 pm. Feel free to join us tomorrow and Tuesday even if you didn t register. Food, Friends, and Fun Begins This Week Food, Friends, and Fun (FFF) is a summer feeding and enrichment program for neighborhood kids coordinated between GFBC and other area churches. All GFBC children are invited to attend as well. For our work last year, FFF received three awards from state and federal departments of the USDA! To build on our work, we need your help! FFF happens every Thursday from 9 am-12:30 pm at GFBC from this Thursday, June 21 to Thursday, August 16. If you would like to find out more and sign up to volunteer, please visit bit.ly/2018fff. Message from the Nominating Committee Still looking for that perfect match? Consider these opportunities for service: Money Counting - Meets Mondays at 9am. Join the team and serve on a monthly rotation. Audio/Visual - Help the team with the A/V needs for services and events. Training provided. Availability for weekday events a plus. Yarn Needed for FFF We need yarn to make hats and scarves during the FFF Ministry this summer. Please bring both new and used yarn such as Red Heart and chunky weight to the box outside the church office. For more information or to volunteer to help, call Susan Miller at 919-481-1359. VBS Volunteers Needed The Children s Ministry requests your time and talent in preparing for VBS 2018. We are currently recruiting Group Leaders and Volunteers. Do you have a specific area you want to help with? If so, let Kadeisha Bonsu know! We will hold a volunteer training for ALL VBS volunteers on Sunday, July 15 at 2:30pm. If you are signed up to volunteer or planning to sign up, make plans to attend this training.
Youth Camp Scholarships Throughout the year, the youth group goes on many wonderful trips and retreats, and occasionally we need some extra support to make sure everyone can attend. If you'd like to help fund scholarships for future youth trips and events, please contact Wes at wesley.spears-newsome@gfbccary.org. Backpack Buddies Update Thank you to everyone who contributed to Backpack Buddies this year! We served over 65 students between our two schools, Briarcliff Elementary and Farmington Woods Elementary. We could not do it without your financial support and our dedicated volunteers who shop to keep the shelves stocked, set up, pack, and deliver food. This summer, we will pack bags for one of Farmington Woods summer programs (July 11-27). If you would like to become involved in Backpack Buddies, please contact Judy Vaccaro or Karen Upchurch. GFBC Accepted Into Princeton Seminary Log College Project Princeton Seminary has selected 53 churches from around the country to innovate in youth ministry and they selected GFBC! The Log College Project will put churches leadership in a learning community and help them develop a new model of youth ministry specific to their context. For the next two and a half years, GFBC will also receive extra materials and curriculum as part of the project and be invited to participate in Princeton s research on youth ministry. GFBC also has a chance to apply to be one of 12 churches that could receive a $15,000 grant to put their new youth ministry vision into practice. Dorcas Ministries Celebration One of our missions partners, Dorcas Ministries, is having a 50th anniversary celebration worship service followed by a reception tomorrow, Monday, June 18 at 7 pm at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Cary. Everyone is welcome to attend. Upcoming Blood Drive Save the date for a Red Cross-sponsored Blood Drive at GFBC on Thursday, October 4. Please fill out an interest form to help us plan for this event. Forms are available in your Faith Formation class and outside the church office. Our Upcoming Guest Preachers We have an exciting lineup of guest preachers to fill the pulpit during Pastor Efird's maternity leave. As you will see, some of these talented proclaimers are from within our congregation and some are friends of GFBC from the wider community. See the list below for information about each week and the person who will bring God's Word to us! Rev. Dr. Mack Thompson will preach on June 17. He is a member of Greenwood Forest and served as our Interim Pastor in 2010-2011. Before his retirement in 2008, Mack served a number of churches across North Carolina including a more than 20 year tenure at Ridge Road Baptist in Raleigh. Rev. Dr. Rose Cornelius will preach on June 24. She is the Development Director for Dorcas Ministries in Cary. Rose holds a Master of Science in Business from Florida Institute of Technology and a Masters of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary. Rev. Paula Clayton Dempsey will preach on July 1. She is the Director of Partnership Relations with the Alliance of Baptists. She has more than 25 years of ministry experience as a pastor, campus minister, Hospice chaplain, and Director of Advent Spirituality Center. Rev. Tim Moore will preach on July 8. He is currently the writer-in-residence at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte where he was the pastor for 19 years. He also serves on the Alliance of Baptists Board of Directors. He holds degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Andover Newton Theological Seminary, and Mars Hill College.