Worship Bulletin – 11/24/19

Worship Bulletin – 11/24/19

McPherson First Church of the Brethren
We invite your active participation in the life of this congregation, as together we continue to grow in grace and seek justice for God’s creation.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Two of every five Haitians has to drink water drawn straight from a lake or river.
Clean water is essential for life. There is no substitute for this precious resource.
Thank You God for the blessing of Clean Water. Guide us to; use it wisely,
consume it sparingly, protect its purity, and ensure equitable access to it. AMEN

Gathering Music
“Sing Praise to God, the Highest Good” (arr. John Behnke)

Sharing Time
…a time of greeting and sharing those things which inform who we are as a community of faith and how God is moving among us. You are invited to welcome visitors, share joys, prayer requests and announcements.

Centering Music – “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain” (arr. Schreiner)

*Community Praise – Christine Longhurst (adapted)
God has blessed us with every possibility and imagining. “We give praise!”
God knows us and chooses us before the world began. “We give praise!”
God loves us and calls us children. “We give praise!”
God has prepared an inheritance for us that will never spoil or fade. “We give praise!”
God encourages and strengthens us in good times and bad. “We give praise!”
God comforts us in our troubles and cheers us in our celebrations. “We give praise!”
This is our God – the ultimate source of All Being. “We give praise!”
Let us worship God together! “Let us praise God!”*

Opening Song – “Come, Ye Thankful People” #94

Invitation to Give
Giving Music – “Alleluja” (W.A. Mozart)
Giving Prayer

Children’s Time
Following story: Childcare provided for infant thru Kindergarten (Education Building)

Prayer Song – “Praise and Thanksgiving” Insert

Prayer of the People (written by Glen E. Rainsley)
ONE: Loving and gracious God, from whom we receive all good gifts, hear now our
prayer of gratitude and praise.
ALL: We give thanks for the bounty and beauty of the earth, for lands of varied
terrain and waters in the aquifer and rivers, for fall’s brisk winds and
winter’s freeze that hardens the wheat and prepares for Spring renewal.
ONE: We give thanks for foods crunchy and smooth, for flavors sharp and sweet, for
smells that build our hunger and beckon us to table.
ALL: We give thanks for the joys of play and the satisfactions of work, for the
benefits of laughter and the lessons of hard times, for the resources of
experience and the opportunities of growth.
ONE: We give thanks for our own lives and for a whole human family for love toward
people as near as a hug and as far as half a world away, for friendship with
creatures great and small.
ALL: We give thanks for a faith to hold, for the imagination to hope, for the
desire to serve, and for the courage to act.
ONE: We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Worship Choir – “Our Song of Thankful Praise” ( Larry Shackley)

Scripture Focus – Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Luke 1:68-79 (NIV – paraphrase)

Message – “Finding Reasons to be Thankful” (Jerry Bowen)
After an intentional pause – please rise for the Sending Song

*Sending Song – “Sing to the Lord of Harvest” #98
*Sending Words
Sending Music – “We Gather Together” (arr. Franklin Ritter)

*Indicates please rise in Body and/or Spirit

WORSHIP PARTICIPANTS
Pastoral Staff – Jerry Bowen, Chris Whitacre & Kathryn Whitacre
Coordinator of Music & Organist/Pianist/Accompanist – Ellen Gilbert
Director of Bells – Kendra Flory
Director of Worship Choir – Becky Snell
Chancel Decorations – Michele Johnson
Acolytes – Ari Prose & Brielle Rothrock
Sharing Time – Ann Stover
Worship Leader – Kathryn Whitacre
Children’s Time – Gail Malaby
Trumpet – Lindy Reynolds
Screens – Ira Whitacre
Director/Camera – To Be Determined
Sound – Shane Kirchner
Greeters – Stephen & Tina Burkholder
Ushers – Lela Beam, LaMonte & Brenda Rothrock & Michael Wagner
Head Usher – Glenn Gayer
Balcony Usher – Mike Goering
Childcare Attendant – To Be Determined

Reminder: The bulletin announcements/weekly newsletter are sent to your email address every Friday with “COB Communications” caption in the address line. You may pick up a paper copy from the stand on the sanctuary level or from the literature rack immediately inside the Education Building front door.