Mt. Hope United Church of Christ 2400 Mt. Hope Church Road, Whitsett, NC 27377 Office: 336-697-1561 - Fax: 336-697-1449 Rev. Kristin Gerner Vaughn & Rev. Lynne Hinton, Co-Pastors Phone: Pastor Kristin, 336-402-2897 (cell) 336-617-0777 (home) Pastor Lynne, 505-220-4594 (cell) 336-895-4971 (home) E-mails: kristingvaughn@gmail.com; lynnehintonnm@aol.com Church Email: mthope@triad.rr.com Church Website: www.mthopeucc.com
Mt. Hope United Church of Christ at Worship Sixth Sunday after Epiphany 11:00 a.m. February 12, 2017 *Prelude *The Light Enters Lilly Moser, Acolyte Welcome and Announcements Listen! *Choral Call to Worship Sanctuary Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true; with thanksgiving I ll be a living sanctuary for you. * Responsive Call to Worship One: You made a choice to be here. All: Being in community is choosing life. One: You now make a choice of how you will worship All: May our eyes, our ears, our hearts and spirits be open to God s word. One: We are instructed to choose life over death, faith over fear, joy over sorrow. All: Today, we choose life. Hallelujah, Amen. *Passing the Peace of Christ One: The peace of Christ be with you, All: And also with you. *Opening Hymn #377 (GH) Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee Accompanied by the Handbell Choir Children s Time (Children ages 0-4 years old are welcome in the nursery.) Prayers of the People and The Lord s Prayer (In unison) 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 glory forever and ever, Amen. Anthem "Seek Ye First" Learn! Scripture Reading Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Sermon Choose Life Pastor Lynne Silent Reflection: Can you hear the voice of Moses speaking to you? Where do you need to make lifeaffirming decisions? Where do you need God s grace to equip you in your choices of life or death?
Sharing of our Gifts Musical Offering O, How I Love Jesus Accompanied by the Handbell Choir *Song of Thanksgiving Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow 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. Amen. *Prayer of Thanksgiving *Sending Forth #363 (GH) To God Be the Glory Accompanied by the Handbell Choir *Choral Benediction *Postlude God Be with You *Indicates please stand for those who are able. The flowers which grace our altar today are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Warren Neese's birthday by his children, Billie, Jean, Carmen and Terry. Announcements: We welcome all of you into worship today and we are particularly happy to welcome any visitors that are joining us this morning. Please fill out a visitor s card found in the small pew racks and place them in the offering plate. If you have questions about Mt. Hope, please contact one of the pastors. We re glad you are here! Greeters for the month of February: February 12 Brenda Currie February 19 Bob and Dottie Deeter February 26 Stan Buff Handbell Choir: This morning, we welcome the Mt. Hope Handbell Choir, who will be providing accompaniment to our congregational hymns and offertory music. If you have an opportunity, please express your appreciation to the following Handbell Choir members: Carmen Cox, Carolyn Simpson, Dee Greeson, Elaine Layton, Gloria Apple, Jeff Holt, Linda Shue, and Ruth Harris (retired from handbells). Our upcoming performances will be on Palm Sunday (April 9 th ) and Homecoming (May 21 st ). Women s Circles: The On Tuesday, February 14th, the Willing Worker s Circle will be meeting at 1:30 p.m., and the Mary / Martha Circle will meet at 7:00 p.m. All ladies are invited to attend!! Congregational Meeting: There will be a Congregational meeting following worship on Sunday February 19th in the New Fellowship Hall. We will be serving soup for a light lunch (by donation) followed by the meeting to approve the revised constitution. Copies are available in the narthex today (one per household, please) and again on February 19th. We would welcome any simple desserts to share after the soup. Friends & Neighbors: We are looking forward to our next meeting on February 21 in the church fellowship hall at 10:30. Due to a scheduling conflict, our program has changed, and we will enjoy
seeing and hearing Lisa Dames perform Patsy Cline songs. Ms. Dames has performed many times at The Barn Dinner Theatre and The Broach Theatre. We are fortunate to have her visit Mt. Hope; you won t want to miss her performance. Invite a friend and plan now to come and enjoy our February 21 meeting. Following our meeting and entertainment, we will enjoy sharing lunch at CIAO s Restaurant at Stoney Creek. Young Disciples: The Young Disciples Children's Ministry needs to partner with you. We are looking for sponsors for each of our children involved in this program. A sponsor will have the opportunity to purchase a $20 bible story book for their child and have the opportunity to get to know one of the church s Young Disciples during the year. If you are interested in helping with this program, please let one of our pastors or Becky Stafford know. Easter Bunny Time: The Mt Hope Easter Bunny looks forward to visiting nursing homes again this year. He would like to request the assistance of our congregation to gather candies. The following are needed: Plain chocolate 2-3" bunnies - count 110 Sugar free chocolate 2-3" bunnies - count 86 Non chocolate Easter item - count 5 (no nuts, please) Thank you! Carmen & Lisa Flag Honorees: The Consistory has approved for us to have a plaque listing the honorees that we have flown our flags for here at Mt Hope. In an effort to be sure our list is correct, we request you to review this list. If any corrections are necessary (deletions or additions) please notify Dallas Belvin. The list: John Phipps, Floyd Ingold, Everett Shue, Charles Brown, Rosa Oakley, Lorena Coble, Bill Miller, Jerry Branson and J H Neese. Cancellation of Birthday Celebration: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the birthday celebration that was scheduled to take place today for Lloyd and Sylvia Gilliam has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled at a later date. Pews: There are a few pews for purchase. If you are interested, please call Bennie Gerner (336-697- 1620). The cost is $150 per pew. Weekly Reflection: Every day gives us multiple opportunities to choose life or choose death. This week, pay attention to your choices, pay attention to your decisions. Find time this week to be generous, grateful, and gracious. Find time this week to share your choice of life with those around you.
Opportunities for Worship and Service Today, February 12 9:45 a.m., Sunday School 10:00 a.m., Children s Music in the Sanctuary 11:00 a.m., Worship 4:30 p.m., Young Disciples 6:00 p.m., Vespers 6:30 p.m., Continuing Prayer Tuesday, February 14 1:30 p.m., Willing Workers Circle 7:00 p.m., Mary/Martha Circle Wednesday, February 15 6:30 p.m., Bible Study 7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal Thursday, February 16 2:00 p.m., Peacehaven Fiber Arts Program Sunday February 19 9:45 a.m., Sunday School Youth pack bags for Homeless 11:00 a.m., Worship 12:00 p.m. Soup and Church Meeting with Vote on Constitution 4:30 p.m., Young Disciples 6:00 p.m., Vespers 6:30 p.m., Centering Prayer Tuesday, February 21 10:30 a.m., Friends & Neighbors Wednesday, February 22 6:30 p.m., Bible Study 7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal Thursday, February 23 2:00 p.m., Peacehaven Fiber Arts Program
To God Be the Glory Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was blinded by an illness as an infant, but she lived a long life full of joy and accomplishment. She entered the New York School for the Blind at age 15, and remained there for 35 years, first as a student and then as a teacher. She wrote poetry from the time that she was a child, and published her first book of poetry, A Blind Girl and Other Poems, at age 24. But Fanny Crosby is best known for her hymns. She wrote more than 9000 hymns during her lifetime. Many, such as All the Way My Savior Leads Me and Blessed Assurance quickly became standards and are still included in many hymnals a century after her death. Fanny wrote To God Be the Glory about 1872, and included it in a collection of hymns entitled Brightest and Best. However, while many of the hymns in that collection became quite famous, this one didn t catch on at least, not in America. But Evangelist Ira Stankey published the song in his Sacred Songs and Solos, and took it with him to England. It caught on well enough there to be included in several hymnals. Then in 1954, Billy Graham went to England for his London Crusade. Someone (almost certainly English) gave a copy of the song to Cliff Barrows, Graham s song leader, and suggested including it in the songbook that they were compiling for the crusade. Barrows had heard the song on an earlier visit to England, and was impressed with its strong note of praise so he included it in the songbook and used it in the crusade. The crowd responded so enthusiastically that he sang it nearly every night. Upon returning to the United States, Graham and Barrows introduced the song to an American audience for the first time at their Nashville Crusade. Once again, the crowd responded enthusiastically, so Graham and Barrows adopted the song as one of their standards. Because of their influence, the compilers of hymnals began including it in new hymnals. It has become sufficiently popular that I was surprised to learn that it had languished in disuse for such a long time. Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan
Health Care Center Alamance House Bill Starr (#111) Brookdale (Burlington) Helen Whitesell (#69) Clapps Nursing Center Coy Amick (# 703-B) Clapps Nursing Center Robert Ingold (#311-A) Golden Living Center Melvin May Greensboro Retire. Center Denny Ingold (#105) Murdoch Center Dreama Greeson Ralph Scott Home Betty Kim Settlemyre Mt. Hope Military Connections Scott Amick Blake Craft Christopher Bahleda Josh Ellis David Blakesley, Jr. Kyle Gerner Michael Clapp Grant Harden Timothy Coble Megan Moore Members David Clontz Mary Neese Billy Farmer Diz & Doris Reece (home) Hoy & Lorene Greeson Carol Sawyer Cliff Greeson (surg. 2/9) Irene Sharpe Ruth Harris Helen Smith J.W. & Helen Johnson Tyler Stewart Betty Kime Bill Welker Sharon Nance (home) Jim & Nancy Wimbish Vance Greeson WLH #1520 Friends & Relatives Robin Baker friend of Joe & Cindy Hughes Denny Baltzager uncle of Claire Smith Alma Bowman May Clapp Von Clapp daughter-in-law of Shirley & Junie Clapp Scarlet Cook & Bobbie friend & relative of Ida Glover Jim Craft life support - Bill s brother Joanne Danley Nelly Dancy mother of Nancy Wimbish & Mary Neese Mary Davis friend of Virginia Barker Fran Enochs mother of Elaine Layton Ed Goodman Friend of Freddie Gossett James Harold Hamlett brother of Bob Hamlett Kirby Hart husband of Bertie Linda Hinshaw friend of Linda Ayers Debbie Isley sister of Janet Ellis Marie Jones sister of Nancy O Ferrell - home Jessica Middleton -friend of the Hughes Willie Moore Uncle of Brenda Currie Liz Pegram friend of Sonia Knowles - WLH Bruce Tanner friend of Bill & Elizabeth Craft Kelly Termin neice of Bob & Dottie Deeter Evelyn Thomas wife of Joe Thomas home Loretta Whitesell - WLH Young Disciples Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choir Director / Organist Tim Hucks Sound Bennie Gerner/Byron Greeson Conner Chapmon *Please contact the church office when someone can be removed from the prayer list.