PRELUDE “We Will Rejoice Again!”

Words and music by Dale Peterson.

WORDS OF GREETING

God is good — all the time.

All the time — God is good.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

GATHERING SONG #2150 FWS “Lord, Be Glorified”

*CALL TO WORSHIP #854 UMH Psalm 139:1-24

*PRAYER OF INVOCATION

We gather before you, God, thankful that you receive us when we come to you. Skillfully, through your Spirit’s fire, find the places where we hurt and shine on them with healing light. Find the places where we run from you and gather us home. Then mold us, shape us, make us one body in Jesus Christ. Amen.

*OPENING HYMN #173 UMH

“Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies”

CHILDREN’S MOMENTS

SCRIPTURE Jeremiah 18:1-11 The Message

PREPARATION FOR PRAYER #473 UMH “Lead Me, Lord”

TIME OF PRAYER

JOYS AND CONCERNS

SILENT PRAYER

PASTORAL PRAYER

TIME OF OFFERING

SHARING GOD’S BLESSINGS

All loose change goes to Interfaith Holiday Health Kits.

*OFFERING RESPONSE

#87 UMH “What Gift Can We Bring” verses 1-3

*OFFERTORY PRAYER

Loving God, there is no way we can settle accounts with you. We have no way to repay you for all we have received from your hands. Yet we want to give our best to the work you call us to do, to renew our commitment to the costly venture of spreading love throughout your world. Amen.

ANTHEM “I Will Lean into the Potter’s Hand”

Words and music by Douglas Nolan.

SCRIPTURE AND MESSAGE Luke 14:25-33 The Message

“Staying Malleable”

SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Like a skilled potter, O God, you have shaped each one of

us as a unique design. You know us better than we know ourselves. You value us more highly than we can imagine.

You weep when we are marred or broken through our own misdeeds. Hear our prayers. (Time of silent prayer.)

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

*PASSING OF THE PEACE Please introduce yourself

and extend the peace of Christ to those around you.

PRAYER OF GREAT THANKSGIVING #9 UMH

THE LORD’S PRAYER #10 UMH

SHARING THE LOAF AND CUP During communion please sing #2267 FWS “Taste and See.”

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION:

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

*CLOSING HYMN #2152 FWS “Change My Heart, O God”

*BENEDICTION

We are held in the thoughts of God.

We are shaped and reshaped by the potter’s hands.

We are finding new patterns of faithfulness in our lives.

We are discovering new reasons for joy.

Amen. And Amen.

*PARTING SONG #664 UMH

“Sent Forth by God’s Blessing” verse 2

An * in the service indicates to stand as able.

Liturgical resources drawn from: Gathered by Love by Lavon Bayler © 1994 by United Church Press; and Touch Holiness edited by Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi © 1990 by The Pilgrim Press.

Volunteers for Next Sunday:

Greeters and Ushers: Avis and Bob Weeks

Reader: Robert Dixon

September Dates to Remember

Sun Sept 5 9:00 AM worship @ Bethel and St James

10:45 AM worship @ Caldwell

6:00 PM Pastor Joyce @ Fairhaven vespers service

Tues Sept 7 6:30 PM UMW evening group mtg

6:30 PM Finance Ministry Team mtg

Thurs Sept 9 6:30 to 7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sat Sept 11 8:00 to 10:30 AM Food Pantry

Sun Sept 12 9:00 AM worship @ Bethel and St James

10:45 AM worship @ Caldwell

Tues Sept 14 Noon Mukwonago Clergy mtg @ Fork in the Road

6:30 PM Administrative Council

Thurs Sept 16 6:30 to 7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sunday, September 5, 2010

10:45 a.m. Worship with Holy Communion

Caldwell United Methodist Church

Your Mukwonago Church in the Country

8424 Caldwell Road, Mukwonago, WI 53149

www.CaldwellUMC.org • (262) 662-2679

Rev. Joyce Rich, Pastor

Holding in Prayer

Shut Ins: Mabel Byron, Bill Spires

Joys: Celebrating birthdays: Bob Weeks (Sept. 1); Thomas Craig (Sept. 3); Jill and Nick Aufmuth (Sept. 9); Bob Richardson (Sept. 10). Celebrating a wedding anniversary: Lucia and Dean Janke (Sept. 12). With Avey and Bob Weeks on the wedding of Dane and Kathy Verno; with Jane Craig that the lesion on her lung appears to be scar tissue only.

Concerns: For Jane Craig’s family and her father Elmer; for Carol Lohr’s mother Sherry as she recovers from ankle surgery; for Robert Dixon’s father Don with health issues; for continued prayers for Amy and Brian Donahoe’s family; for the family and friends of Delores Gregersen (mother of Rev. Paul Gregersen) on her death Aug. 16; for the family, friends, and former parishoners of Rev. Theodore Schwartz (retired clergy) on his death Aug. 16; for the family and friends of Gerold Klassy (father of Rev. Christal Bindrich) on his death Aug. 19; our troops overseas; all who are looking for work.

Join the E-mail Prayer Ministry Team

Pastor Joyce sends out a daily message to the E-mail Prayer Ministry Team with a short thought for the day/prayer and joys and concerns from Caldwell and Bethel. For more info on how to use your spiritual gift for prayer through this ministry, send an e-mail to BethelUMC@elknet.net, subject “prayer group.”

Help Make “Italian Night” Extra Special

At our Italian Dinner fundraiser on Sat., Sept. 25 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM we will serve fresh garden salad, bread, dessert, penne pasta with choice of plain marinara sauce or marinara sauce with Italian sausage. You can make the evening even more special by signing up to help! There are things to do in advance, and things to do that day. Check the sign-up sheet! Thanks to our UM Women for coordinating this event! Our goal is to serve dinner to 200 people on Sept. 25. Please put up posters at work, or pass out the small cards to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to invite them. At $7 per adult, or $4 for those under 10 years of age, this is a real family event!

Wheel of Fortune

By Doris L. Judy

Turn, turn, turn

another turn on the merry-go-round,

a spin on, a spin off of the potter’s wheel

until we are molded and modeled into the creation

that God has in mind for us.

The eye of God sees what we cannot know or feel,

or what we somehow sense, but are helpless to change.

The potter sees the flaw, and feels the imbalance

in the dried vessel.

And so we are cracked, broken down, scattered and

splintered. Then we are brought together,

water treated and mixed with other ingredients,

and pushed, pulled, and punched

until we are pliable enough, moist enough

to be kneaded, and thrown on the wheel once more.

Becoming a piece of God’s handiwork is a joy ride,

but it’s painful and humiliating once dried

and readied for the kiln to find ourselves in pieces

and beginning again composed of a different mix.

How little we know, how much we need

the judgment of God

to make us into vessels fit for the fire.

Turn, turn, turn

the wheel of promise spins.

It is a wheel of necessity and good fortune

preparing vessels from which new wine shall flow.

Jeremiah 18:1-11 The Message

God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there. I’ll tell you what I have to say.”

So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.

Then God’s Message came to me: “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them. At another time I might decide to plant a people or country, but if they don’t cooperate and won’t listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them.

“So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.’”

Luke 14:25-33 The Message

One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters — yes, even one’s own self! — can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

“Is there anyone here who, planning a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

“Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it goodbye, you can’t be my disciple.”

Extravagant Generosity with Dan Dick

Workshop is being held on Sun., Nov. 7 from 2:00 to 6:30 PM at Waterford Community UMC. The cost is $20/person, with a maximum of $60/church for all materials and a light supper.

Taking the War Out of Our Words –

Speaking the Truth in Love

A powerful non-defensive communication workshop led by Sharon Strand Ellison will highlight: how to ask questions with less emotional intensity, so that people drop their defenses and speak freely; how to make statements with no hidden agendas, while responding honestly to the actions, attitude, and/or body language of the other; and how to set practical limits that protect you and increase the chances that the other person will respond in a positive way. To be held Fri., Oct. 1 and Sat., Oct. 2 at Columbus UMC, 222 S. Dickason Blvd., Columbus, WI. Cost: Fri. only $45/person or $70/couple; Fri. and Sat. $80/person or $120/couple. No one will be turned away for financial reasons. To register call Rev. Jim Cotter at 920-623-3625, or email jcotter@wisconsinumc.org

God’s Acre Auction and More!

On Sat., Oct. 16 the bake sale, rummage sale, and silent auction all start at 9:30 AM. Ala carte lunch is available from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM. The live auction begins at 1:00 PM. How can you lend a hand? Contact the UM Men who are coordinating this event: Steve Lohr – silent auction (what businesses do you have contacts with?); Bob Weeks – live auction (what skills and services or stuff can you donate?); Don Foster – rummage (sort, clean, and bring in after Sept. 25); and Ken Pugh – lunch (assisted by Nancy – and maybe you?). The UMW also welcomes your contributions of baked goods for the bake sale! Stay tuned for more information in the weeks ahead!

Celebrate the Power of Bridging Faith and Ecology

An open house and showcase by the Interfaith Earth Network and partners will highlight the success of local congregations’ green teams. Enjoy an afternoon of inspiration and live music while networking with green teams as they exhibit, perform and demonstrate their sustainable living, faith education, and advocacy programs on Sun., Oct. 24 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Urban Ecology Center. Free, donations gratefully accepted. See www.interfaithearthnetwork.org for more info.