Worship Themes September, 2010

September 5
Romans 12 (The Message) On keeping it simple…
1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 8… Keep a smile on your face.
9 Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.
10 Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11 Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master,
12 cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
13 Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.
15 Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down.
16 Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
17 Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone.
18 If you've got it in you, get along with everybody.
19 Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
20 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.
21 Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

1 Corinthians 12: 4-12
4 God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit.
5 God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit.
6 God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all.
7 Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!
8 The variety is wonderful: wise counsel clear understanding
9 simple trust healing the sick
10 miraculous acts proclamation distinguishing between spirits tongues interpretation of tongues.
11 All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.
12 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body.

September 12
Christian Education – “Lost and Found”
Luke 15:1-10
1 By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. 2 The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." 3 Their grumbling triggered this story. 4 "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? 5 When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, 6 and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' 7 Count on it - there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. 8 "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' 10 Count on it - that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."

September 19
Is there a balm in Gilead?
Jeremiah 8:18-22, 9:1
8  My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. 19 Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" ("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?") 20 "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 21 For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?
9:1 O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!

Philippians 3: 16-21
Let us hold fast to what we have attained. 17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

September 26
Servants and Evangelism How do we evangelize?

Luke 16: 19-31
"There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. 20 A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. 21 All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores. 22 "Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. 24 He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. 26 Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.' 27 "The rich man said, 'Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father 28 where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.' 30 "'I know, Father Abraham,' he said, 'but they're not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.' 31 "Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"

Every Sunday at 6:30 PM
A Contemplative Service in the style of Taizé

Come to listen, chant,
pray and share
in the holiness.
Our evening contemplative service is simple: blessings and prayers, readings and reflections, silence and songs. Please feel welcome to join us whenever and to bring friends and relatives with you. Could your Sunday could use a peaceful conclusion?

On the last Sunday of each month, we conclude an abbreviated contemplative service with a community labyrinth walk. The walk, along with an orientation for new walkers begins at 7:00 pm.