June 28, 2009, 10:00 AM
WE ENTER INTO GOD’S PRESENCE
Preparation for Worship
*Call to Worship
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
*Opening Praise – “Hallelujah! Sing Praise to Your Creator”
*God Greets Us
*We Greet Each Other
*Continuing Praise
“How Majestic Is Your Name”
“God of Wonders”
“I Stand in Awe”
Call to Confession
We cannot come before God unless we are first honest with ourselves about who we are, about the mistakes we make, and about how well or poorly we care for others. In this spirit, let us offer our prayers to God.
Prayer of Confession
We as humans, made in your likeness, too often fail to show your image. All creation suffers. We abuse the creation or we idolize it. We are estranged from our Creator, from our neighbor, and from all that God has made. Lord, have mercy on us and pardon all our sins.
Assurance of Pardon –
Our world, broken and scarred, still belongs to God.
He holds it together and gives us hope.
With the whole creation we wait for the purifying fire of judgment.
For then we will see the Lord face to face.
God will be all in all, righteousness and peace will flourish, everything will be made new,
And every eye will see at last that our world belongs to God!
Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus.
(Our World Belongs to God, stanzas 18, 58)
*Song of Response – 453 “Let All Things Now Living”
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
Children’s Time
Prayer of Preparation
Scripture Reading – Acts 14:21-25; 16:1-5
Message – “Learning from Early Churches: Lystra”
Prayer
WE RESPOND WITH THANKSGIVING
*Song of Response – 585 “Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds”
The Offering - General Fund
Offertory Prayer
Sharing Joys and Concerns
Intercessory Prayer
WE ARE DISMISSED TO LOVE AND SERVEOpportunities for Ministry and Fellowship
*God Blesses Us
*Closing Song – 188:1,3 “Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah”
Postlude
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The opening hymn today is a version of Psalm 148 set to an Indonesian tune. We plan to sing this a few times in the coming months so we can learn it and be ready to sing it clearly and with gusto when the Lapians are with us on August 16. The insert in today’s bulletin gives us both the words and the tune. Please leave this in the music rack in front of you so we can use it again another time.
Reserve Sunday, August 16 as the day we will welcome the Lapian family as well as the date for our annual church picnic that will follow the morning service. Sunday, August 2 we will be hosting the Van Dam family, our missionaries in Haiti. There will be a dinner at church that day as well to get better acquainted and to give them our blessing before they return to Haiti.
Justice for the poor and needy is an important theme in Scripture and is something God’s people are called to promote. One small way to advance this cause is to use Fair Trade coffee in our homes and here at church. The Christian Reformed Church and its Office for Social Justice has made arrangements with a roaster to distribute Fair Trade coffee (coffee which is purchased directly from the grower, giving more income to the small farmer and bypassing some of the cost added by large corporations.) This morning at the fellowship time after worship you will be able to sample three varieties of Fair Trade coffee to see if you like them. If you do, you can order them for use at home and we may decide to purchase Fair Trade coffee for our coffees at church. The worship team is considering this and has arranged for the coffee tasting this morning. Share your reactions with a member of this team.
Valley Church is conducting the worship service at Fairview-Good Shepherd home this afternoon at 3:30 PM. If you can join the Gelders for the service to help with the singing and to greet residents following, it will be appreciated.
Wednesday, 6:00 AM Men’s Breakfast and Bible study at the Spot
Frank Lockwood continues to be on restricted activity due to the blood clot in his leg. Pray that the clot dissolves and that there are no more incidents. Meanwhile, pray for patience as he deals with these limits.
Greg Huck’s surgery last Tuesday went well and he is recovering at home. Pray that there will be no complications and minimal side effects during the recuperation time.
Valley Church is proud of the accomplishments of its young adults. This year we have no high school graduates, but there are several of our young people who have reached significant milestones in their college and post-college careers. Congratulations to Krista Cunningham on her graduation from SUNY Oswego, to Christaline Germaine on her graduation from SUNY Oneonta, and to Amanda Komaromi on her graduation from Ithaca College. None are able to be with us today, but we wish them all God’s blessings as they continue their education or seek employment.
Are you able to help out with children’s church during the summer? You can sign up for just one or two Sundays – you don’t need to commit to doing a whole month. There are videos to show and snacks to serve. Thank you to all who have already signed up, allowing those who have served in this capacity for the last year to have a summer break. Contact Ron or Janet Crawford if you can help.
NEXT SUNDAY, July 5, 2009
SUNDAY SCHOOL: There are no Sunday School classes until September.
MORNING WORSHIP: 10:00 AM Pastor Gelder continues a summer series of messages “Learning from the First Churches” based on stories in Acts 10-28. We will visit the church in Jerusalem as described in Acts 15:1-11.
