Chilmark Community Church
Feb.28,2010
Prelude: Choral Prelude Johann Walther
Gathering and Announcements
Introit: How Beautiful Shines the Morning Star J S Bach
Peace Let us greet each other with the Peace of God.
Call to Worship Psalm 27 p. 758 (no musical response)
*Hymn 142 “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee” v. 1,2.
Confession (unison)
O merciful God, we confess that we have not acknowledged you as the source of our successes, our substance, our selves. We have been far more ready to complain when things go wrong than to praise when all is well. We have fed our bodies a rich diet while neglecting to feed our souls. Power and wealth have assumed greater importance to us than sensitivity and service. We have allowed religious words and forms to substitute for living encounters with the persons you have called us to love. Forgive us, compassionate Redeemer, and grant us the opportunity to start over again. Keep us from repeating the mistakes of the past or from new evils that could mislead or destroy. adapted from Lavon Bayler, Book of Worship
Silent prayer
Unison Assurance
Thank you, Lord, for your promises. Help us to keep “inquiring in your temple” and waiting with patience to see the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Amen
Proclamation and Praise: May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
Genesis 15:1-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35.
*Hymn 451 “ Be Thou My Vision”
Concerns and Celebrations Let us remember in silence those we have named and those close to our hearts.
Unison Prayer:
O eternal God, in whose appointment our life stands, and who committed our work to us, we commit our cares to you. We thank you that we are your children, and that we can rest under your wings. Fill us with that compassion for others’ troubles which comes from forgetting our own; with the charity of those who know their own unworthiness; and with the glad hope of the children of eternity. And to you, the Beginning and the
End, Lord of the living, Refuge of the dying, be thanks and praise for ever. Amen from James Martineau, England 19th cent.
The Lord’s Prayer
Offering Remember the words of Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
*” We Give Thee But Thine Own”
Prayer of Dedication (unison)
Our spiritual ancestors offered sacrifices to glorify you, O god; so would we honor you by these gifts. May they reach those who long for meaning as well as for life’s other necessities. Grant your joy to all who give and all who receive. Amen
*Hymn 118 “The Care the Eagle Gives her Young”
Benediction (unison)
God gives life. God renews life. God is life. Let us celebrate the life within us and let it overflow to enliven the world. May the peace of God dwell within this week and forevermore. AMEN
Postlude: Organ Piece by August Reinhard
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Organist: Carol Loud
Next Week’s Lessons:Isaiah 55:1-9; PaLM 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9.
*Stand if you are able