NOTE: Please sign the attendance sheet in the pew pad. After everyone in your
pew has signed in, please tear the sheet out
and place it in the
offering plate. Thank you!
GATHERING SONGS
#529 UMH “How Firm a Foundation”
WORDS OF GREETING
God is good — all the time.
All the time — God is good.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Come, family of God.
Gather in God, O faithful ones.
Come, brothers and sisters in Christ.
Gather in God, O faithful ones.
Come, you of every age.
Gather in God, O faithful ones.
*PRAYER OF INVOCATION
Surrounded by a rich heritage of faith, we seek to know you, God, in
this time of worship. Thankful for our spiritual ancestors, we return to our
roots to find our true identity. We lay aside all that weighs us down and fills
us with doubts so we can give attention to your call and your message. Amen.
*OPENING HYMN #577 UMH “God of Grace and God of Glory”
*PASSING OF THE PEACE Please introduce yourself
and extend the peace of Christ to those around you.
CHILDREN’S MOMENTS
TIME OF PRAYER
PREPARATION FOR PRAYER #393 UMH
“Spirit of the Living God”
JOYS AND CONCERNS
SILENT PRAYER
UNISON PRAYER AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
God of Abraham and Sarah, God of Jesus Christ, God of our mothers and
fathers, you are a God who acts in history.
Yet we confess that we are too busy with our own lives to perceive you
at work in our time. We fall into fear and despair about our troubled world, as
if you had no care for us. Forgive our lack of faith and help us to join you as
you labor to bring new life on earth.
May we have the confidence and conviction of our ancestors in the faith. Guide us to live faithfully in our time as they did
in theirs, living into the promise of your heavenly realm. With the Spirit of
Christ we pray:
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.
TIME OF OFFERING
SHARING GOD’S BLESSINGS
All
loose change goes to
*OFFERING RESPONSE
#2044 FWS “My Gratitude Now Accept, O God”
*OFFERTORY PRAYER
God, your creative energy has filled all heaven
and earth with good things for us to enjoy and share. We honor your with our
offerings. We look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith, as our
model in facing all circumstances and giving ourselves for others. We share the faith of the great cloud of
witnesses that surrounds us, and with them we give, not out of
fear or duty, but in thanksgiving to you. Amen.
ANTHEM “Bless the Lord, O My Soul”
Composer: Ipoli Ivanoff
SCRIPTURE Hebrews 11:1—12:2 NRSV
Turn to your bulletin
insert as we will be
reading the passage
responsively as printed.
MESSAGE “Faith. Hope. Perseverance.”
*CLOSING HYMN #2196 FWS “We Walk
by Faith”
*BENEDICTION
We are ready to meet God at home and at work.
We are ready to serve wherever we are.
God, whose Word prepared vast worlds beyond our knowing, welcomes us as
covenant partners in this world.
Direct our steps, O God, and we will obey.
We respond to your promises in faith and trust.
Work for justice and peace where you live.
Let your prayers embrace those in need.
God is our assurance and our peace.
God is the light along our way.
Amen. And Amen.
*PARTING SONG #2208 FWS “Guide My Feet”
An * in the service indicates to stand as able
Liturgical
resources drawn from: Gathered by Love by Lavon Bayler © 1994 by United Church Press; Touch Holiness edited by Ruth C. Duck
and Maren C. Tirabassi © 1990 by The Pilgrim Press; and Seasons of the Spirit™ Congregational Life Pentecost 1, 2010 © 2009 by Seasons
of the Spirit.
Worship Leaders for Next Sunday:
Greeters and Ushers: Diane and Don Herron
Reader: Elouise Benner
Sunday, August 15, 2010
10:45 a.m.
Worship Service
Your
www.CaldwellUMC.org •
(262) 662-2679
Rev. Joyce Rich, Pastor
August
Dates to Remember
Sun Aug 15
9:00 AM worship @
10:45 AM worship @ Caldwell with
VBS presentation
Mon Aug 16
5:30 to 6:30 PM ‘Second Helpings’ meal @ St James
Wed Aug 18 6:30 PM Depression/Suicide Forum @ Vernon
ELCA
Thurs Aug 19 6:30 to 7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sun Aug 22
9:00 AM worship @
10:45 AM worship @ Caldwell
Thurs Aug 26 6:30 to 7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sat Aug 28 8:00 to 10:00 AM SHARE Distribution
9:00 to 11:00 AM Adopt-a-Highway
clean-up
9:00 to 10:00 AM United Methodist Men mtg
Depressed?
Suicidal? How Can You Tell?
Do
you know the signs that could warn you that someone you know is considering
suicide? Take part in an eye-opening discussion/forum on suicide and depression
at
Holding
in Prayer
Shut Ins: Mabel
Byron, Bill Spires
Joys: Celebrating birthdays: John Steib (Aug. 15); Brittney
Schmidt (Aug. 16). Celebrating wedding anniversaries: Jane and Bill Spires
(Aug. 12); Shelia and Chad Klawitter (Aug. 14); Kathy and Scott Craig (Aug. 15).
With Chuck Herman for a good visit with his daughters and
grandchildren; and for Deanna’s return from
Concerns: With Tami Wolf-Dixon and her family on the death of her
father Richard Wolf on Aug. 5; with Jennie Sanchez for the 17 members of their
family traveling in Puerto Rico; family of Burma Walker (widow of Rev. Ralph
Walker) on her death July 29; family of Mary K. Miller (widow of Rev. Norbert
Miller) on her death Aug. 3; our troops overseas; all who are looking for work.
Join
the E-mail Prayer Ministry Team
Use your spiritual gift
of prayer every day with the E-mail Prayer Ministry Team! To inquire about this
ministry send an e-mail to BethelUMC@elknet.net, with subject “prayer group.”
Hebrews
11:1—12:2 New Revised Standard Version
Now
faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things
not seen.
Indeed,
by faith our ancestors received approval.
By
faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that
what is seen was made from things
that are not visible.
By faith
Abel offered to God
a
more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s.
Through
this he received approval as righteousness,
God
himself giving approval to his gifts;
he
died, but through his faith he still speaks.
By
faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not
found, because God had taken him.”
For it
was attested before he was taken away
that
“he had pleased God.”
And
without faith it is impossible to please God,
for whoever would approach
him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith
Noah, warned by God about events
as
yet unseen, respected the warning
and
built an ark to save his household;
by this he condemned the
world and became an heir to
the righteousness that is
in accordance with faith.
By faith
Abraham obeyed when he was called
to
set out for a place that he was to receive
as
an inheritance;
and he set out, not
knowing where he was going.
By
faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign
land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob,
who
were heirs with him of the same promise.
For
he looked forward to the city that has foundations,
whose
architect and builder is God.
By
faith he received power of procreation, even though
he was too old – and
Sarah herself was barren –
because he considered him
faithful who had promised.
Therefore
from one person, and this one as good as dead,
descendants
were born, “as many as the stars
of
heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand
by
the seashore.”
All
of these died in faith without having received the promises,
but
from a distance they saw and greeted them.
They
confessed that they were strangers and foreigners
on the earth, for people
who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they
had been thinking
of the land that they had
left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
But as it
is, they desire a better country,
that
is, a heavenly one.
Therefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God;
indeed, he has prepared a
city for them.
By faith
Abraham, when put to the test,
offered up Isaac.
He
who had received the promises was ready to offer up
his only son, of whom he
had been told,
“It is
through Isaac that descendants
shall
be named for you.”
He
considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and
figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked
blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed
each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.” By
faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the
Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
By faith
Moses was hidden by his parents for
three
months after his birth, because they saw
that
the child was beautiful; and they were
not
afraid of the king’s edict.
By
faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called
a son of Pharaoh’s
daughter, choosing rather to share
ill-treatment with the people of God
than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for
the Christ
to be greater wealth than
the treasures of
for
he was looking ahead to the reward.
By
faith he left
he kept the Passover and
the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch
the firstborn of
By faith
the people passed through the
as
if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were
drowned.
By
faith the walls of
for seven days. By faith
Rahab the prostitute did not perish
with those who were
disobedient, because she had received
the spies in peace.
And what
more should I say?
For
time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and
Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered
justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in
war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women
received their dead by resurrection.
Others
were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better
resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and
imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were
killed by the edge of the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute,
persecuted, tormented –
of
whom the world was not worthy.
They
wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves
and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what
was promised, since God had provided something better so that they
would not, apart from us, be
made perfect.
Therefore,
since we are surrounded
by
so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside
every weight and the sin that clings
so closely, and let us
run with perseverance the race
that is set before us,
looking to Jesus
the
pioneer and perfector of our faith,
who for the sake of the
joy that was set before him
endured the cross,
disregarding its shame,
and
has taken his seat
at
the right hand of the throne of God.