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Virtual Worship – May 24, 2020
Virtual Worship – May 24, 2020
The Service For The Lord’s Day FATHER’S DAY
JUNE 21, 2020 WHENEVER “”Have a little faith, baby! Have a little faith!”
… Oddball
Video Prelude “Woodsong Wanderlust” (Joshua Messick) Piano Prelude, Lighting of the Candles Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
We gather together, whether here in this room or via the miracle of virtual worship, To be the people of God and to offer the sacrifice of worship.
We gather as a people of love and hope, even when love seems scarce and hope almost futile. We gather, never doubting the grace of Christ,
And we need this time to prepare us to leave again ready to be that grace of Christ for a world that desperately needs it.
God, accept our worship and help us have the faith we need. Amen.
* Hymn # 464 “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
* Praise Song “God is Good All the Time” God is good all the time; he put a song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good all the time; thro’ the darkest night, his light will shine. God is good, God is good all the time. (repeat)
Prayer of Confession (unison prayer) Forgive us, O God, if we have taken the gifts of life for granted, without giving thanks, without sharing. Forgive us, Holy One, if we have refused to hear your voice within our hearts or through the prophets of our day. Help us put our lives in order, so that we will be worthy to share in the bounty of your realm; through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
* Response “Surely it is God” Surely it is God who saves me; I will trust in him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and he will be my Savior.
(Repeat)
* Sharing the Peace of Christ May the Peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
(If you are worshiping with family this morning, share the peace of Christ with them; If this reminds you of someone you might need to reach out to, make a note to send them an email or text and share Christ’s peace that way.)
Honoring our Fathers on Father’s Day A Father’s Day “Infomercial” – the BEST GIFT EVER FOR DADS! An Audio / Visual Tribute to all our Fathers
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Offering our Gifts and Ourselves to God During the offertory, please take a moment to be intentional about your financial support. You can make an offering to either church online or by sending a check. The online giving tabs are at the top right of each website.)
Video Offertory “Go Down Moses” (Sir Willard White)
* Response # 428 “We Give Thee but Thine Own” (verse 1) We give thee but thine own, What-e’er the gift may be, All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
* Prayer of Dedication
Old Testament Reading: Nehemiah 4; 6, 10, 14, 21 – 23; 6: 15 – 16 (last page) New Testament Reading: Philippians 1: 12 - 26 (last page)
Sermon: “Choosing Faith Amid Too Much Rubble” Rev. Sellers
* Affirmation of Faith (from A Brief Statement of Faith) In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve. We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel. Amen.
* Hymn “Faith of Our Fathers” * Charge and Benediction * Postlude * Video Postlude “The Living Years” (Mike and the Mechanics)
(Italic words are spoken by the leader; Bold words are spoken by everyone.)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “What's the future look like? I'll tell you: It's about tough choices. For example, this morning I noticed that my electric razor had spilled its entire collection of whiskers all over the inside of my fashionable leather toiletry bag. I had two choices. I could laboriously remove those whiskers, individually cleaning each of the other contents of the bag, thus missing at least an hour of useful work, or I could say to myself, "If I didn't mind having those whiskers on my face, why should I mind them on my little traveling aspirin bottle?" I chose the latter. After all, I already got used to the toothpaste all over everything in that bag. How bad could a few hairs be? That's what the future looks like – a bag filled with toothpaste, whiskers and unidentified containers. We're entering an age when the things we need to do and want to do are absorbed and overwhelmed by other things we need to do and want to do. We'll make random, often stupid choices because we don't have the brains or the time to do better.”
… Scott Adams, “Dilbert” Creator
”How can God entrust great things to those who will not thankfully receive from him the little things? This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from overly zealous members about their congregations. A person – especially a leader – should not complain about his or her congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to their leadership in order that they should become its accuser before God and mortals. When a person becomes alienated from a Christian community in which he or she has been placed and begins to raise complaints about it, they had better examine themselves first to see whether the trouble is not due to their wish dream that should be shattered by God. Let them guard against ever becoming an accuser of the congregation before God. Let them rather accuse themselves for their unbelief. “
… Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“There you go again Moriarity! ALWAYS with the negative waves! Have a little faith, baby… Have a little faith!”
… Oddball
Christ and Mulberry Prayer Concerns – June 21, 2020 (Updated as of Friday, June 19th)
Pray for: Pray for all those who have just recently tested positive for COVID-19 in the recent rise
of infections. Keith Davis (Lee West’s friend): Has COVID-19. Bill Thomason and family: He continues needed eye drops every hour and Betty,
Susan and Michael are all assisting in his care. Rick Pearson: Continued healing of his collarbone break. Tymire Campbell (Tamika Scott’s son): Some recent problems and issues. Everyone who is experiencing anxiety and depression due to the ongoing limitations
and restrictions in our daily lives. Those out of work and struggling to make ends meet financially. Lewis West, for continued healing in his back. Our friends and family in assisted living or nursing homes who can’t have visitors, like
Maggie Thrower, Lillian Williamson, Louise Carter, Lorraine Smith, Lorenzo Conyers. Pray for Susan Kinley’s family (Linda Sadler’s friend): She passed away Wed., June 3rd. All our members and friends that we’ve not had regular contact with lately. All those who do not have a church family to love and support them in difficult times. The Lorien Academy of the Arts, as they plan for their summer camp. The Creative Player Foundation, as they also try to figure out how to move forward
with summer program plans. All our church leaders who are prayerfully looking at how we continue to safely and
responsibly move forward in our plans for reopening.
MULBERRY STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION
Christ Staff Contact Information Pastor: Rev. Rodger Sellers [email protected] 704-796-3117
Admin: Tina Emmons [email protected]
Music Dir: Brandon Cook [email protected] 704-941-9400
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
Announcements and Notes REOPENING PLANS: We’ve shifted the target date on our reopening worship to Sunday,
July 12th due to the 4th of July holiday. Please understand that the date is completely tentative and is dependent on both federal guidelines regarding COVID-19 “curve” numbers as well as the state’s own directives as to what stage of reopening we will be in by the 1st week of July. We’ll share more info. as we have it and a decision will be made by July 4th.
THURSDAY NIGHT VIRTUAL WORSHIP TAPING SESSION: If you would like to attend this coming week’s virtual worship taping session on June 25th at Christ, please either call or email Rodger beforehand. Attendance is capped at 10 people and we’ll begin at 6:30 PM.
The WEEKLY “ZOOM IN” CATCH UP THIS WEEK: Join us at 6 PM Wednesday to catch up with everyone. If you need the meeting ID # and password, let Rodger know and he will email it to you.
WEBSITE UPDATES / CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: The weekly “Devotionals to Go” are now on both websites each week. On the MPC website, look for the “Devotionals to Go” sub-menu item under the “News” menu; on CPC’s the “Devotionals to Go” is a main menu item.
THE PC(USA) GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Keep all our denomination’s leader’s in your prayers as they meet this coming week. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s assembly will be online for the first time ever.
PRAYER REQUEST REMINDERS: You can use the contact form on either church website to share a prayer request with everyone in both congregations. https://mulberrypc.org/contact/ or https://christpccharlotte.org/contact/.
Happy Birthdays to: Shirley West, This past Friday, June 19th Tina Dean, Tuesday, June 23rd Sandra Phillips, Saturday, June 27th Mike Tano, Monday, June 29th
https://mulberrypc.org/contact/https://christpccharlotte.org/contact/
SERVICE NOTES: Father’s Day Tribute: Today’s video tribute to all fathers whose pictures were submitted includes Sharon Whitley’s version of Mariah Carey’s 1993 song “Hero.” Our hope is that the images and music will remind everyone to say “Thank you” and “We love you” to all our fathers, whether they are still with us or not. By the way? There actually is NOT any miracle item called a “SLEDGE-A-MATIC” and you cannot order one by calling 1-800-747-6337 (1-800-RIP-OFFS!)
Today’s Video Prelude: “Woodsong Wanderlust”: Today’s video prelude is another song by Asheville-based Joshua Messick. He is one of the best artists in the world playing the hammered dulcimer, having been National Hammered Dulcimer Campion several times. He is a composer and innovator influenced by Celtic, World, Renaissance, Folk, and Classical music.
Today’s Video Offertory, “Go Down Moses”: This powerful spiritual is sung by the Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone, Sir Willard White. Born into a poor family in Kingston, Sir Willard was a founding member of “The Jamaican Folk Singers,” eventually won a scholarship to The Juilliard School of Music, and is thought of as one of the premier baritone voices in the entire world.
Today’s Video Postlude, “The Living Years”: This song, one of the greatest and most moving power ballads ever made, was written by Mike Rutherford in 1989. The song describes his conflicted relationship with his own dad, and how he discovered, shortly after his father died, that he had a much stronger connection with him than he realized, and how he regretted not saying more while his father was still alive.
“Faith of Our Fathers”
Faith of our fathers, living still. In spite of dungeon, fire and sword. O how our hearts beat high with joy, when e’er we hear that glorious word: Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death. Faith of our fathers, God’s great power. Shall win all nations unto thee; And through the truth that comes from God, all people shall be truly free: Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death. Faith of our fathers, we will love. Both friend and foe in all our strife. And preach thee, too, as love knows how, by kindly words and virtuous life: Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death.
Nehemiah 4: 6, 10, 14, 21 – 23; 6: 15 – 16: 6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work. 10 But Judah said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.” 14 After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” 21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand. 6:15: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
Philippians 1: 12 – 26: 12 I want you to know, beloved that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; 14 and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. 15 Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. 16 These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; 17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. 18 What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance. 20 It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.
