August 3, 2008, 10:00 AM
WE ENTER INTO GOD’S PRESENCE
Preparation for Worship
*Call to Worship – Psalm 24:1-4
*Opening Song – 431:1,4,5 “All Creatures of Our God and King”
*God Greets Us
*We Greet Each Other
*Continuing Praise –
“Shout to the Lord”
“Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful”
“Beautiful Savior”
Call to Confession
The psalmist testifies:
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has given heed to the words of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me. In the strength of this assurance, let us confess our sins to God.
Prayer of Confession
O God, whose nature it is to be generous: we confess to you our share of the guilt for a world of hungry families and homeless peoples. Forgive us for our self-centered living and spending; forgive those who blame you for their failures. Grant that this week some who have given nothing may start to give, and those who have given something may give more, that both our church and our nation may give due place to the cries of those who have nothing to eat and nowhere to live, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Here are words you may trust, words that merit full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. To all who confess their sins and resolve to lead a new life, he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” He also says, “Follow me.” Now to the one who rules all worlds, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
*Song of Response – 483:1,3 “How Great Thou Art”
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
Children’s Time
Prayer of Preparation
Scripture Reading – John 6:26-40
Message – “Bread? What Bread?”
Prayer
WE RESPOND WITH THANKSGIVING
*Song – 282:1-3 “Break Now the Bread of Life”
The Offering – General Fund
Sharing Joys and Concerns
Intercessory Prayer
WE ARE DISMISSED TO LOVE AND SERVEOpportunities for Ministry and Fellowship
*God Blesses Us
*Closing Song – 631 “Praise and Thanksgiving”
Postlude
ANNOUNCEMENTSThe message this morning is brought to us by Elder Bill Kutz. He will be continuing the summer series of messages on the Lord’s Prayers. May God bless him as he speaks a word from the Lord to us.
Once again a group of people from Valley Church will be attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit simulcast this Thursday and Friday. It will be broadcast from Chicago via satellite and our group will be seeing it at Eastern Hills Bible Church in Manlius, a suburb of Syracuse. Pray for safe travel both days and for challenging input that Valley leaders can share with the rest of us.
The Gelders are out of town until Saturday. If you need pastoral counsel, please contact one of the elders.
Beth Cunningham once again needs our prayers, this time because of a blood clot in her leg. This is very frustrating, since she had just returned to work full time after her cancer treatments. She will need to be off her feet for several weeks. Pray that the clot will dissolve soon and that Beth will receive an extra measure of patience while this heals.
The next Kids for Christ activity will be on Saturday afternoon, August 16. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the entry where you can indicate if your child will be participating.
We still need a couple people to sign up to help with children’s church the last part of August. There’s a sheet on the table in the entry where you can sign up for the Sunday you can help. Thank you.
The Sea to Sea Bike Tour continues to make its way across the country, raising awareness and money to help end the cycle of poverty. You can follow the tour on-line at www.SeatoSea.org. This week the cyclists continued their journey, having left the mountains and started across the prairies. Plans for our hosting of the tour on Wednesday, August 27 are moving along nicely. We will need your help in bringing salads and desserts for the meal, as well as to be here to welcome the cyclists as they arrive and to help serve the food.
Youth Announcements:
NEXT SUNDAY, August 10, 2008
SUNDAY SCHOOL: There are NO Sunday School classes until September 7.
MORNING WORSHIP: 10:00 AM Pastor Gelder will bring the next message in this summer’s series on the Lord’s Prayers. The message is “Dealing with Debt”, based on Matthew 6:12. We will also celebrate Holy Communion at this service. In order to do this in a way that will honor God and be most helpful to your spiritual growth, take time this week to examine your own walk with Christ. Are you truly trusting him as your Savior? Is your daily life consistent with your profession of faith in Christ? You need not be perfect to be blessed by Communion, just certain of your pardon by the death of Jesus on the cross.
The second offering will be a reverse offering for CHOW. Instead of putting something into the offering plate, you can take a paper or several which will list items needed by CHOW. You can then return with those items the next week. This is part of our overall goal of working with local media to collect 10,000 food items for CHOW by the time the Sea to Sea tour reaches Binghamton on August 27.
