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Phones: 253-7698 • Phone/Fax: 253-8668 Email: chccucc@myfairpoint.net • Website: www.chccucc.org | ||||
Pastor..................................................... Reverend Carol Asher Home Phone: 744-7864 E-mail: clsasher2@aol.com Ministers.............................................................. All Members Director of Music............................................ Secretary............................................................. Diane Lamper Ukama/Partner........ |
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This Week in Our Church Family
Boldface = Church-sponsored events
Sunday (2/14) 8:30 am BOCE
10:00 am Worship and
11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments in Gilpatric Hall
All Church Mardi Gras
5:30 pm Second Sundays Youth Group
Monday (2/15) 8:00 & 9:00 am T’ai Chi
8:30 am Boot Camp (Mon.-Fri.)
Tuesday (2/16) 7:30 am Spirituality
5:30-6:30pm
7:00 pm Cabinet
Wed. (2/17) 7:00 pm Ash Wednesday Service
Thursday (2/18) 6:00 pm T’ai Chi
Friday (2/19)
Saturday (2/20) 8:00 am Al-Anon
8:00 am Prepared to Serve
Sunday (2/21) 10:00 am Worship and
11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments in Gilpatric Hall
Thank You to Today’s Volunteers
Ushers: | Dave and Lynne Sias | Nursery Care: | Gabby Smith |
Liturgist: | Mary Alice Warner | Greeter: | Ruth Costello |
Acolytes: | Charlotte Morrow and Hannah Crosby | Fellowship Hosts: | Patte Morrow and Carrie Crosby |
9 PM Daily DEAP (Drop Everything and Pray) for Peace
February 14, 2010 10:00 a.m.
Morning Worship
Large print bulletins available—please ask an usher.
An asterisk (*) indicates “Please stand if you are able.”
Gathering for Worship
PRELUDE “Deo Gracias” Young
IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH (announcements)
PREPARING THE WAY
Entering into Worship
CHORAL INTROIT
RESPONSIVE CALL TO WORSHIP
L: The blessing of God… P: rests on our shoulders.
L: The love of God… P: dwells in our hearts.
L: The Word of God… P: inflames our speech.
L: The compassion of God… P: stirs us to care.
L: The word of God… P: compels us to sing.
L: The mystery of God… P: leads us to worship.
*OPENING HYMN “The Voice of God is Calling” (different tune) Hymn #666
*GATHERING PRAYER (in unison)
God, we thank you for your love and your grace so abundant, so overflowing, that you receive us in spite of our fears and our timid lives of faith. As you encouraged the first Christians to witness in the face of all risks, encourage us to follow your call rather than to cower before the powerful. As you empowered them to do impossible things in Jesus’ name, help us to dare to be true to the name “Christian”. Grant us peace in the midst of the challenge; and fill us with your Spirit. We pray as Jesus taught us, saying: “Our Father…”
*LORD’S PRAYER (using “debts”)
CHILDREN’S STORY “Saint Valentine”
The legend claims St. Valentine was in a prison cell
thinking of his little flock he had always loved so well.
And, wanting to assure them of his friendship and his love,
He picked a bunch of violets and sent them by a dove.
This proves that love can triumph, no matter where you are—
And that love is always greater than the strongest prison bar.
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
(Children will leave to go to their classes at the beginning of this greeting time.)
*HYMN “When Love is Found” Hymn #499
A Time of Sharing
PRAYER JOYS AND CONCERNS
Prayer doesn’t help us get out of our difficulties; but it does get us through them.
ANTHEM “Down To The River To Pray” Curry
CALL TO PRAYER
“Lord, listen to your children praying; Lord, send your Spirit in this place.
Lord, listen to your children praying. Send us love, send us power, send us grace.”
PASTORAL PRAYER
CHORAL RESPONSE
MOMENT FOR
OFFERING
Organ Offertory “You Are My
*Doxology (sung by the people)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise God, all creatures here below,
Praise God, above, ye heavenly host,
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen
*Prayer of Dedication
Reflecting on God’s Word
SCRIPTURE Luke 9: 57-62 p. 70 NT
SERMON “A Tough Act to Follow”
Sending
*CLOSING HYMN “I Am Thine, O Lord” (v. 1 + 2) Hymn #601
*BENEDICTION
ORGAN POSTLUDE “Toccata On Leoni” Young
A Sign of Contradiction (Joseph Roy)
A true Christian is a sign of contradiction--a living symbol of the Cross. He or she is a person who believes in the unbelievable, bears the unbearable, forgives the unforgivable, loves the unlovable, is perfectly happy not to be perfect, is willing to give up his or her will, becomes weak in order to be strong... and finds love by giving it away.
The Tiger and the Fox (a fable of the Arab mystic Sa’di)
A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs and wondered how it had lived. Then he saw a tiger come in with game in its mouth. The tiger had had its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox.
The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God’s greatness and said to himself. “I too shall just rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and he will provide me with all I need.”
He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at death’s door when he heard a voice say, “O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Follow the example of the tiger and stop imitating the disabled fox.”
Honorable Identity
In a small town in
When the devastating earthquake struck
So the people of that town honor his memory and his young widow by calling her “Palasan’s wife.”
Sometimes a person’s greatest honor is not who they are but to whom they are related. The highest honor of any believer is to be called a disciple of Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for all people.
In a Pit
A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out.
A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there.”
An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”
A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into a pit.”
A mathematician calculated the odds of falling into a pit.
A news reporter wanted an exclusive story on the man in the pit.
A fundamentalist told him, “You deserve your pit.”
An IRS agent asked if he was still paying his taxes while in the pit.
A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen the pits that I have fallen into.”
A charismatic said, “Just confess that you’re not in a pit.”
An optimist said, “Things will get better.”
A pessimist said, “Things will get worse.”
Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit!
Remaining in Christ
On a recent ski trip, I saw to my surprise a blind person skiing. The blind skier, wearing a bright pink vest, stayed directly behind an instructor, listening for directions on how and when to turn.
Over the next several days I saw many blind skiers, invariably following the person who gave them the information they needed to make it safely down the mountain.
Remaining, or abiding, in Jesus means following him in the same way.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of us all. Ephesians 4:3-5
This verse is for you to think about and learn. Adults, please help your smaller children learn the part that is bolded.
Announcements
Welcome
Welcome to this service of worship. In the spirit of the psalmist who said, “I will sing and make melody to the Lord” (Psalm 27:6), let us join together in song and prayer and waiting upon the Lord that we may be refreshed in the Spirit and encouraged for the week ahead. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mardi Gras
The days before the Lenten season are traditionally a time for fun—before the somber forty days of preparation before Easter. Celebrations around the world mark the colorful Mardi Gras carnival days. (Mardi Gras means “fat Tuesday” and is the day before Ash Wednesday; it is the last day to use up all the butter, eggs, sausage, sugar and cream before Lent).
You are all invited to celebrate Mardi Gras TODAY after Worship in Gilpatric Hall.
There will be some special crafts, some singing, a parade with appropriate accompaniment from a well-rehearsed kazoo band, banners to make, light lunch of pancakes and sausages and YOU and your whole family! Let’s have fun together before we begin our Lenten journey.
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Ash Wednesday
You are invited to begin a Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, February 17th at 7:00 PM. Come to burn up your failures and transform them with God’s help.
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Second Sundays
Second Sundays youth group will meet today at 5:30 PM in Gilpatric Hall. All youth in grades 6-12 are invited. We will be doing a gear check for our upcoming hike. Please bring a friend!
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Those Who Follow Jesus
During Lent we will focus on the disciples whom Jesus called to follow Him—those long-ago disciples whose names are mentioned in scripture and those disciples who are called today. Those first disciples were the most unlikely candidates—even after three years of learning from Jesus, most of them didn’t “get it”. They made many mistakes during their on-the-job training program, yet Jesus put all His faith in them. We will look at those mistakes and try to learn from them. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our mission of the month is the Mission Trust Fund. The interest on this fund provides extra money to benefit the many missions you support.
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Al-Anon Meetings on Saturday mornings
Al-Anon is a group meeting for those whose lives are impacted by the alcoholism of a family member or friend. A group will be meeting in the church parlor on Saturday mornings, beginning next week. Please pray for the members of this group, but respect their need for privacy and anonymity. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________