ADULT OPPORTUNITIES Believing that discipleship is a lifelong journey. There is never a time in our lives when we can be satisfied with our growth or our certainty. Certainty is about being right. Faith is about being guided by what’s right and training yourself to do it. FRC’s worshiping community welcomes faith with all the doubts, the questions and the mystery There is also nothing like participating in hands-on service to deepen your faith and put it in action. Throughout the year, we offer many opportunities for missional service. NEW HERE? WELCOME! We are so pleased that you chose to be with us here at First Reformed. You’ll find we are a community of faith trying to help people live and love like Jesus in their communities. If you are new to us, we’d love to help along the journey. No matter who you are or how you are, we hope you know you can belong here. Our vision is to be the church in the heart of this town with OPEN DOORS, OPEN HEARTS & OPEN HANDS. If that is the type of church you are looking for, you can take a first step by filling out a connection card, which is located on the table by the entrance to our worship space at 8:30 a.m. service or in the pew at 10 a.m. service. Also, check out our website wwwfirstreformedchurch.com MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL MINISTRIES This year will be a great one for our middle school and high school youth. The youth will have an opportunity to participate in Bible studies, service projects, fun outings, small groups and overnight trips. Sunday morning classes open up God’s Word in new ways. Wednesday evening FUEL unpacks relevant issues that kids deal with every day. Both of these fun weekly events are supported by a great team of adult volunteers. Sunday classes meet at 10am on the 2 nd to 5 th Sundays of each month. Kids will be dismissed from the 10am worship service. The Wednesday evening program is from 7 to 8:30pm in Friendship Hall. BABIES & KIDZ MINISTRIES Nursery care for infants and toddlers is available at both services. The nursery is located on the main floor of the Ministry Center near the church office. Our Spark Kidz program for children age 2 years to 5th grade begins at 10 a.m. each Sunday in the Sanctuary, where children attend the first 15 minutes of the service with their family and then are dismissed for their individual classes. There they explore the Bible through exciting hands-on multi-sensory lessons. Parents can pick up their children in their classrooms upstairs in the Ministry Center following the conclusion of our 10 AM service. 529 Newark Pompton Tpke. Pompton Plains, NJ 07444 (973) 835-1144 email: [email protected]THANKS GIVING Celebrating Our Blessings HAPPY STAFF CONTACT INFO KATHLEEN EDWARDS CHASE – LEAD PASTOR 973-835-1144 x 12 [email protected]DAVE SIPPEL – DIRECTOR OF YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY 973-835-1144 x28 [email protected]ROLAND PETIT – VISITATION PASTOR [email protected]VICKY WERR – OFFICE MANAGER 973-835-1144 x11 [email protected]DOLORES WAGONER – FINANCE MANAGER 973-835-1144 x14 [email protected]JANET CHARDAVOYNE – CHILDREN’S MINISTRY COORDINATOR 973-835-1144 x21 [email protected]
Transcript
A D U L T O P P O R T U N I T I E S Believing that discipleship is a lifelong journey. There is never a time in our lives when we can be satisfied with our growth or our certainty. Certainty is about being right. Faith is about being guided by what’s right and training yourself to do it. FRC’s worshiping community welcomes faith with all the doubts, the questions and the mystery There is also nothing like participating in hands-on service to deepen your faith and put it in action. Throughout the year, we offer many opportunities for missional service.
N E W H E R E ? W E L C O M E ! We are so pleased that you chose to be with us here at First Reformed. You’ll find we are a community of faith trying to help people live and love like Jesus in their communities. If you are new to us, we’d love to help along the journey. No matter who you are or how you are, we hope you know you can belong here. Our vision is to be the church in the heart of this town with OPEN DOORS, OPEN HEARTS & OPEN HANDS. If that is the type of church you are looking for, you can take a first step by filling out a connection card, which is located on the table by the entrance to our worship space at 8:30 a.m. service or in the pew at 10 a.m. service. Also, check out our website wwwfirstreformedchurch.com
M I D D L E & H I G H S C H O O L
M I N I S T R I E S This year will be a great one for our middle school and high school youth. The youth will have an opportunity to participate in Bible studies, service projects, fun outings, small groups and overnight trips.
Sunday morning classes open up God’s Word in new ways. Wednesday evening FUEL unpacks relevant issues that kids deal with every day. Both of these fun weekly events are supported by a great team of adult volunteers.
Sunday classes meet at 10am on the 2nd to 5th Sundays of each month. Kids will be dismissed from the 10am worship service. The Wednesday evening program is from 7 to 8:30pm in Friendship Hall.
B A B I E S & K I D Z M I N I S T R I E S Nursery care for infants and toddlers is available at both services. The nursery is located on the main floor of the Ministry Center near the church office. Our Spark Kidz program for children age 2 years to 5th grade begins at 10 a.m. each Sunday in the Sanctuary, where children attend the first 15 minutes of the service with their family and then are dismissed for their individual classes. There they explore the Bible through exciting hands-on multi-sensory lessons. Parents can pick up their children in their classrooms upstairs in the Ministry Center following the conclusion of our 10 AM service.
S T A F F C O N T A C T I N F O KATHLEEN EDWARDS CHASE – LEAD PASTOR 973-835-1144 x 12 [email protected] DAVE SIPPEL – DIRECTOR OF YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY 973-835-1144 x28 [email protected] ROLAND PETIT – VISITATION PASTOR [email protected] VICKY WERR – OFFICE MANAGER 973-835-1144 x11 [email protected] DOLORES WAGONER – FINANCE MANAGER 973-835-1144 x14 [email protected] JANET CHARDAVOYNE – CHILDREN’S MINISTRY COORDINATOR 973-835-1144 x21 [email protected] PLEASE VISIT OUR WESITE FOR MORE INFORMATION www.firstreformedchurch.com
MEDITATION BEFORE WORSHIP “Everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefulness, and gratefulness is a measure of our aliveness.”
- Br. David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine Monk “Gratitude is complicated. Feelings of dependence—and interdependence—can be both elusive and resisted, mostly because they are caught up with soul-crushing ideas of obligation and debt. But if gratitude is mutual reliance upon (instead of payback for) shared gifts, we awaken to a profound awareness of our interdependence. Dependence may enslave the soul, but interdependence frees us.”
― Diana Butler Bass, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks
PRELUDE “For the Beauty of the Earth” & “We Gather Together” arr. By Barbara Baltzer Handbell Choir, Kim Lampe, Interim Director
WELCOME The Lord be with you. And also with you. Dave Sippel, Director of Youth & Family Ministry
SACRED SILENCE FOR CENTERING
*OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #790 (blue hymnal) “We Gather Together” Lori Yost, Musician
*CALL TO WORSHIP (responsive) Psalm 100 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
CHORAL ANTHEM “I Will Give Joyful Thanks” by Douglas Nolan
CHILDREN’S SERMON
(Children and youth are invited to leave for their classes)
LIFE OF THE CONGREGATION
INTRODUCTION TO HYMN
*HYMN #788 (blue hymnal) “Now Thank We All Our God”
SCRIPTURE READING Luke 14:1, 7-14 (NRSV) Pew Bible Pg. 849
MESSAGE “Thankful, Grateful, Blessed: A Table of Gratitude” Kathleen Edwards Chase, Lead Pastor
PRAYER OF INTERCESSION & THE LORD’S PRAYER
Hot showers in the morning and cool breezes in the evening; work that provides for our families, and abundance that makes us generous; silly jokes told by third graders, and the silent tears of a grandmother lost in her childhood forever. What blessings are ours, Creation's Joy! Teachers who patiently help us with our math, and mentors who keep us on the right paths; friends who shovel snow off sidewalks before we waken, and employers whose hearts are greater than their profits; piano teachers who smile at our repeated mistakes, coaches who teach us (one more time) how to curl the ball into the goal. What blessings are ours, Servant of Joy! Dogs who bounce us awake early in the day and cats who lullaby us to sleep at night; grandfathers who teach us how to whittle and sisters who give up a date to babysit; little boys who always forget to wipe their mouths and folks who always remember to say 'thank you.' What blessings are ours, Joyous Spirit! We lift up our gratitude and our requests in silence: God in Community, Holy in One, let thanksgiving be in each word we speak, even as we pray as Jesus taught us, saying, (The Lord’s Prayer)
OFFERING OF PLEDGE CARDS & GIVING
*DOXOLOGY Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son & Holy Ghost. Amen.
*SENDING SONG #794 (blue hymnal) “Let All Things Now Living”
*BENEDICTION
*PASSING THE PEACE May the peace of Christ be with you all. And also with you.
*POSTLUDE
Prayer List WITH SYMPATHY:
Amy Slufik’s father passed away on Nov. 19. Cards to 97 Larsen Rd., West Milford 07480
Diane Grossmueller, niece of Joan Muller & cousin of Amy Muller, passed away last week at 64 years old after many years with cancer. Cards to the Muller Family at 8 Atwood Ave, PP
CONCERNS:
Barbara Ciampa, prayers for upcoming back surgery on Dec. 2. Cards to 14 Lynn Place, PP
Bob Tintle, in Chilton recovering from a stroke. Cards to 10108 Warrens Way, Wanaque, 07465
Robert Hudson, Sr. recovering from a stroke. Prayers for healing
Dot Groener, prayers for healing.
Linda Wilson, prayers for upcoming surgery. Cards to 260 Sunset Rd, PP
Lori Rose Osborne recovering from gall bladder surgery. Cards to 104 Hillcrest Dr., Wayne 07470
Kerri Squires, prayers for complete recovery and for fundraiser that will help her pay her medical bills.
Dave Way, is in rehab at Renaissance at Cedar Crest. Prayers for healing. Cards to 211 Timber Ridge, PP
LONG TERM ILLNESS: Dave Cox, Yvonne Hughes, Amy Finigan’s sister, Ewa Toczyska (Eve Lotito’s aunt), Jan Savage (Jane Young’s friend), Ada Sauer (Carolyn Connerton’s nephew’s daughter), Valerie Floyd (Joan Muller’s cousin), Susan Rayner, Rusty Ayers (receiving Hospice), Diane Grossmueller (Joan Muller’s niece), Brian Spring, Connie, Jamie, Bob, friend of Joann Warner, Andres Echevarria, Jennie Byram, Eugene Fletcher, Carol Ratz, Kathy (Sue Leonard’s friend), Candace (Jane Young’s sister), Michael Barch, Gavin Brady, Blair Ludemann, Cheryl, Lawrence Trumpore, Jim (the Bundz’s neighbor)
