PENTECOST 23 Order of Service
We will gather together for worship service on Zoom using the following information:
MEETING ID: 5977365682
MEETING PASSWORD: 204934
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PENTECOST 23 Coronavirus
11-08-2020 10:00AM Worship
(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)
OPENING SONG: “LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS” – sung by Timyk Hillsman
THE OPENING RITE: recited by Lydia Henson + Judy Echols
L The day of the Lord is near.
C Any time is God’s time!
L The day of the Lord is coming.
C We want to be ready at all times!
L This might be the very day and hour of God’s coming.
C We will not fear as those who have no hope!
L But the truth is that sometimes we are wise and sometimes foolish, sometimes watchful and sometimes careless, sometimes ready and sometimes unprepared. And so we confess as individuals and as a congregation…
C O Lord, you know our failings better than we do; our sins are revealed in the light of your face.
We are not the faithful servants you expect us to be; we are not the committed Christians we pretend to be.
Our days and years pass by; the things we trust in fade like grass.
Often we miss the moments you offer us –
those moments meant to bless, assure, and strengthen us…
those moments for our faithful witness or our loving service.
Before it is too late, we pray for your forgiveness.
While there is still time, give us a second chance. Have mercy on us, Lord! Amen.
L The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Through (+) Jesus Christ – the living
Word – God forgives your every debt, your every sin, and gives you a new heart and a new spirit. So take the grace now,
live the grace now, follow Christ now, believe now, allow your life to change for the better now, serve God now. O my
sisters and brothers, turn to God; He will not turn away from you! Hallelujah!
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY: recited by Judy Echols
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have created your people to be the Body of Christ on earth, ONE HOLY CHURCH of faithful living and fervent loving.
Give us the light that we need, and awaken us to the needs of others
We want to be ready when the trumpet sounds, when the saints go marching in. Amen.
FIRST READING: AMOS 5:18-24 [The DAY OF THE LORD – Wonderful worship, no matter how sincere, will never be a worthy substitute for daily lives of living justice and righteousness.] read by Andrea Crawford
18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?21 I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18 [The DAY OF THE LORD – The faithful who have already died and the faithful who are still alive will all be saved and will dwell with Christ forever.] read by Roscoe or Rashidah Perkins
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
GOSPEL VERSE: “Victory is mine, victory is mine, victory today is mine! sung by Linda (+ Herb?) Crawford
I TOLD SATAN ‘GET THEE BEHIND!’… victory today is mine!
(2) Joy is mine…
(3) Peace is mine…”
HOLY GOSPEL: MATTHEW 25:1-13 [The DAY OF THE LORD – Will you be ready for judgment or ready for resurrection? Don’t wait “too long” and risk “too late”!] read by Elaine Jones
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.
6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.
8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
THE SERMON Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil
SONG SELECTION: “THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE” sung by Riana + Kennedy
THE APOSTLES’ CREED: recited by Katrina Whittaker
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
OFFERTORY SONG: sung by Carol Lee
“Thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… I just want to thank you, Lord!
(2) Been so good…
(3) Love you, Lord…”
OFFERING PRAYER: recited by Donna Jones
God of grace and glory, we thank you for the gift of creation and the gift of our lives,
for the gift of salvation and the gift of Jesus Christ,
for the gift of your Holy Spirit and the gift of your Church.
Take our attitude of gratitude and transform it into caring and sharing towards the least, the lost,
and the lonely all over the face of this earth.
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and the MISSION of the Church to the world! led by Herb Crawford
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION Kemar Harrison
THE BENEDICTION by one of the Pastors.
Month of November… Give thanks, live thanks, share love.