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    Nov 15, 2020

    We Need You Just the Way You Are

    We Need You Just the Way You Are

    Passage: 2 Corinthians 4:1-10

    Speaker: Pat Botelle, Lay Speaker

    Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. (2 Corinthians 4:1)
    Nov 15, 2020 – Laity Sunday
     
    Click to watch the service as you follow along
     
    Prelude – Centenary Flourish
    ~ June Nixon
     
    Welcome
     
    Call to Worship
    Now Abraham was the first to go and must have been a brave man.
    Because you did not say where he was going
    and still he followed your command.
    He shows us that when you ask us to move, we should say:
    Lord, here I am.
     
    There are many who are bold,
    and, in your name, take a stand
    when your people are hurting each other in ways we can’t comprehend.
    Without a moment’s hesitation, they say to you:
    Lord, here I am.
     
    When we hear tales of injustice and oppression
    happening across your vast land
    we believe you want us to respond – to be your feet, to be your hands.
    And while I don’t know the work you need me to do:
    Lord, here I am.
     
    You are working through our lives
    to fulfill your mighty will and plan
    and it requires a submission we sometimes cannot understand.
    But as you promised to never forsake us, we each say:
    Lord, here I am.
     
    Ciona D. Rouse, The Africana Worship Book, Year A, Discipleship Resources, p.87
     
    Opening Song – I Give You My Heart
    Words & Music: Reuben Morgan | Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
    CCLI Song # 1866132; CCLI (C) 1011499
     
    Opening Prayer (Unison) “A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition”  UMH 607
     
    I am no longer my own, but thine.
    Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
    Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
    Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
    exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
    Let me be full, let me be empty.
    Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
    I freely and heartily yield all things
    to thy pleasure and disposal.
    And now, O glorious and blessed God,
    Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
    thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
    And the covenant which I have made on earth,
    let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
     
    Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1, 5-10
    Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.
     
    For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
     
    But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
     
    Leader: This is the Word of Lord.
    All: Thanks be to God!  
     
    Message – We Need You Just the Way You Are
     
    Prayers of the People
                Joys and Concerns
                Prayers of the People
                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 trespasses,
                            as we forgive those who trespass against us.
    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 to God
     
    Closing Song Trading My Sorrows
    Words & Music: Darrell Evans |Integrity's Hosanna! Music (ASCAP) CCLI  (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing
    (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) CCLI Song # 2574653|1998 (C) 1011499
     
    Announcements
    Virtual Holly Fair now through Nov 21. On the 21st there will also be a bake sale and soup pickup. Details can be found on our website or the Holly Fair Facebook Page
     
    Christmas Eve Services – we are trying to determine how many Christmas Eve services will be needed this year. Please register for either the 4:00 or 7:00 service. You can register online or by calling or emailing the office.
     
    Forms for the alternative Christmas are available at the church and will soon be available online.
     
    Gift card orders will be taken each Sunday between now and…. You can also download the order form from our website and mail to Tammy or Lois.
     
    Thanksgiving Turkey giveaway 200 turkeys and meal boxes - first come, first served on Wednesday, November 18 beginning at noon. Open to residents of Reisterstown, Owings Mills, Glyndon & Finksburg.
     
    The reopening team will be meeting tomorrow evening to discuss what changes, if any, are needed to the way RUMC is opening based on the new information coming from the county executive and governor.
     
    In October, Bishop Easterling, and the cabinet of the BWC called us to pray and fast for our nation. Pray daily and fast weekly on Tuesday from October 12 for 40 days. The Bishop has extended that request to continue to January 20th, inauguration day. She asks that we pray the three prayers I have included in the service today. Begin the day with A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition, pray the Lord’s Prayer at noon time and The Prayer of Saint Francis in the evening. If you don’t have a routine of prayer in your life, these prayers may help you get started. If you do, these prayers are a good way to begin or end your prayer time. Please join me in our closing prayer
     
    Closing Prayer (Unison) “The Prayer of Saint Francis”   UMH 481
     
    Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
    where there is hatred, let me sow love;
    where there is injury, pardon;
    where there is doubt, faith;
    where there is despair, hope;
    where there is darkness, light;
    where there is sadness, joy.
     
    O divine Master,
    grant that I may not so much seek
    to be consoled as to console,
    to be understood as to understand,
    to be loved as to love.
    For it is in giving that we receive,
    it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
    and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
    Amen.
     
    Benediction
     
    Postlude – Make Me A Channel of Your Peace
      ~Sebastian Temple