Worship Service for 1/3/21

Worship for January 3, 2021

We’re worshipping on Zoom this week and for the foreseeable future, still grateful for technology, still grateful for one another.

Be safe and at ease, Shadow Rockers. And, stay tuned.

Reflection

The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder.

~Abraham Heschel

May 2021 bring us all a renewed commitment to wonder!

We Covenant One With Another

Click here to join Zoom

Adult Spiritual Formation - 10:00 am

We live in both the church year and in the cultural calendar, so we are drawn in this time to the symbol of the new year with its opportunities. Today we're discussing our experiences with new starts.

Hear this encouragement from the prophet Isaiah (43.19-20):

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

Transition Music

"Go Tell It On the Mountain" produced by the United Church of Christ Faith INFO Team.

Worship Begins - 11:00 am

Welcome and Announcements ~ Pastor Ken

Electronics Recycling
Blood Drive

Call to Worship and New Year Greetings

One: We come together in this hour in a wider search for truth and purpose.

All: We come together in this hour as a community, bonded together in trust and service.

One: In our lifelong quest, may we greet one another with open hearts and minds;

inspire each other to consider new questions;

and cultivate both wisdom and compassion.

All: Let all who enter this sacred space find comfort in this community.

One: Let us greet one another in peace.

Opening Prayer ~ Karen Richter

Perceiving and Responding

Give Online

Giving and Stewardship

We are grateful for the fidelity of giving among our community. Your sharing makes our compassionate response to the world possible. Please click here for our weekly financial update, Heidi's Corner.

Celebrations, Prayer Requests and Pastoral Prayer

We share news of our lives, birthdays, concerns, celebrations, and moments of grace and service. Please unmute to share your celebration in the Zoom worship space or use the 'raise hand' function in the participant list.

Communion

We celebrate the table of inclusion!

Celebration Song

“O Morning Star, How Clear and Bright” by Forrest and Carol Bachtel

Balancing Word and Deed

Word About Life for Today ~ Rev. Ken Heintzelman

Jeremiah 31:7-14

For thus says the Lord:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

“Save, O Lord, your people,

the remnant of Israel.”

8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

those with child and those in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9 With weeping they shall come,

and with consolations I will lead them back,

I will let them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;

for I have become a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”

11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall become like a watered garden,

and they shall never languish again.

13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,

and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,

says the Lord.

Introduction to Breakout Rooms and Today's Discussion Questions

What are your observations, feelings and interpretations of the word "remnant"?
Can you see Shadow Rockers as remnant people?

Words for Mission ~ Pastor Ken

One: May these early days of the new year bring you to gratitude and offer opportunities for growth and service.

These are the times.

All: We are the people.

One: All of Creation is blessed.

All: May we love all and serve all.

One: May God be with you.

All: And also with you.

One: Amen.

All: Amen.

Sending Forth

"Come Darkness, Come Light" by Mary Chapin Carpenter