Sunday Morning Worship Service
October 12, 2003
TO OUR GUESTS, we extend a warm welcome. We invite you to participate in signing our Friendship Folder, adding your address and phone number if you'd like to receive our church newsletter or a pastoral call. When we pray the Lord's Prayer at Bethel, we say "sins...sin against us" rather than "debts..." or "trespasses..."; during "a time for sharing" we welcome prayer requests from the congregation. On first Sundays each month, all who put their trust in Christ and who have received baptism in any Christian church are invited to share his sacred meal. We are glad you are with us. Please come again.
THE SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
Friendship Sunday
October 12, 2003
9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.
GREETING, WORDS OF WELCOME, RITUAL OF FRIENDSHIP, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
PRELUDE They’ll Know We Are Christians Scholtes
CALL TO WORSHIP
Just as we are, we have come. With broken spirits and contrite hearts, we come. With bruised and fractured lives, we come. Seeking refuge, we come. Seeking peace with ourselves and with one another, we come. We have come because Jesus has come to us.
For we have heard that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Let us worship together in the soothing shadow of the Lord.
Let us offer praise unto God!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
*HYMN # 276 Great Is Thy Faithfulness Faithfulness
*A TIME OF SILENT REFLECTION
*UNISON CONFESSION OF SIN
O Lord, forgive:
Our choosing the worse when we know the better;
Our failure to apply to ourselves the standards of conduct we demand of others;
Our blindness to the sufferings of others and our slowness to be taught by our own;
Our complaisance toward wrongs that do not affect us, and our oversensitiveness to those that do;
Our hardness of heart toward our neighbor’s faults and our readiness to make allowance for our own;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus, let us be assured that our prayers have been heard by our loving God who is attentive to the details of our hearts and the world. In as much as we have confessed with sincerity our sins, our needs, our weaknesses, and our fears; let us with confidence receive the forgiveness, energy, patience, courage and love that only Jesus Christ can offer!
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE Amazing Grace Newton
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.
MINUTE FOR MISSION
Hands of Mercy Enterprises (H.O.M.E.)
Carolyn McNew
NEW TESTAMENT READING Hebrews 4:12-16
A MOMENT WITH THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH
ANTHEM Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing Thogerson
OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 32:22-32
SERMON Jacob’s Limp
The Reverend Marc Sherrod
*HYMN # 324 Open My Eyes That I May See
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – from A Room Called Remember
We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go. We become something new by ceasing to be something old...Out of Nothing [God] creates Something. Out of the End [God] creates the Beginning. Out of selfness we grow, by his grace, toward selflessness, and out of that final selflessness, which is the loss of self altogether, “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” what new marvels [God] will bring to pass next. All’s lost. All’s found. And if such words sound childish, so be it. Out of each old self that dies some precious essence is preserved for the new self that is born; and within the child-self that is part of us all, there is perhaps nothing more precious than the fathomless capacity to trust. Amen.
PRAYER CONCERNS AND A TIME FOR SHARING
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
DEDICATION OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY Aria on Jewels Wood
*DOXOLOGY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*HYMN # 361 How Firm A Foundation Foundation
*CHARGE AND BLESSING God Be With You Hymn # 540
God be with you till we meet again; Loving counsels guide, uphold you,
With a Shepherd’s care enfold you: God be with you till we meet again. Amen.
*POSTLUDE Harvest Home Eliot
*All who are able may stand.
This worship service is broadcast on WKTS 90.1 FM at 12:30 p.m. today.
Bethel offers Sunday school for children and four educational opportunities for adults at 9:45 AM. Childcare (babies and preschool age) is offered at 9:45 and 11 AM. Restrooms are located in our Educational Building, first floor and lower level. Ushers can provide large print hymnbooks and activity sheets for children.
The Sanctuary Flowers today are provided by Mary & John Will honoring her mother’s birthday. Our Liturgist today is Caleb Sherrod. Our Ushers/Greeters are Mark & Kathy Banker and Deb & Bram Hyder.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
COFFEE HOUR today will be from 10 to 11 in the Fellowship Hall
CHURCH SUPPER AND VISIONING SMALL GROUPS this Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Bring a covered dish. Child care provided.
THE EVENING CIRCLE will meet at 6:00 P.M. in the church lounge. We will study the woman who challenged Jesus for her daughter's healing (Matthew 15:21 - 28; Mark 7: 24 - 30) and the woman who washed Jesus' feet (Luke 7: 36-50). All women of the church are invited to attend.
PROPERTY AND PERSONNEL: A reminder of workday on Saturday, October 18, from 8:30 to 12:30. A list of needed jobs is in the narthex. Please try to come and help. Thanks.
CORN MAZE - Children, Youth and all others interested in going to the Crossville Corn Maze, meet today at Bethel at 2:00 p.m. Information & directions available in the narthex.
SENIOR HIGH YOUTH meet next Sunday at 5:00 for pizza, and a video movie.
TORA PHILLIPS - web page www.caringbridge.org/tn/tora. Tora is an 8 year old from Midtown who recently received a bone marrow transplant at Vanderbilt University Hospital. Tora is Julie McGill’s niece. Please keep her in your prayers.
ANNUAL WOMEN’S RETREAT at John Knox Center Nov. 14-16. If you are interested in attending, pick up a copy of information & registration form in the narthex.
MICHAEL RODGERS sends this message regarding his CD: “If the CD which you purchased has ‘skips’, please return it to me, via Dianne Griffith, and I will replace it with another one.
BETHEL RECORDS - October 5 - Attendance 104, Contributions $5,668.10, Peace Making $780.00, Youth Mission Trip $25.00, Parish Nurse $35.00, H.O.M.E. $50.00, Local Disaster Emergency Relief $100.00, Evening Circle $124.75
PLEASE PRAY FOR: Christine Woods, Margaret True, Al & Dot Davis, Tora Phillips, Ruth Moutoux, Florence Simmons, Presbyterian Churches & Pastors -Maryville -Clover Hill (Thomas Gilliland, Jr.) & Concord (Kelly Negus)
THIS WEEK
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY: BODY RECALL – 9-10 AM
| TUES – |
NO FUN LUNCH (BECAUSE OF FELLOWSHIP SUPPER)
EVANGELISM COMMITTEE – 6:30 PM
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| WED – |
NO HANDBELLS
PROPERTY & PERSONNEL COMMITTEE – 5:00 PM
FELLOWSHIP SUPPER – 6:00 PM
VISIONING SMALL GROUPS
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| THURS – |
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COMMITTEE – 7:00 PM |
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