13 Jun Worship Bulletin – 6/13/21
McPherson First Church of the Brethren
Welcome to Worship at the McPherson 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, June 13, 2021
“Wisdom is not just special knowledge about something.
Wisdom is a way of being, a way of inhabiting the world.
The beauty of wisdom is harmony, belonging and illumination of thought, action, heart and mind.”
John O’Donohue
Welcome
Gathering Music | “Amazing Grace” | arr. Patricia Cote
Bell Ensemble: Janelle Flory Schrock, Kendra Flory, Deb van Asselt & Kaitlyn van Asselt
Sharing Time – Joys and Concerns | LaMonte Rothrock
Call to Worship | Francis Macnab
God, help us to listen to [You] – our inner spirit; to the inner yearning to belong to something greater than ourselves.
God, help us to listen to [You] – our inner spirit; and find there the presence of Your good encouraging [wisdom].
Opening Hymn | “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” | #70
Children’s Story
Invitation to Give
Offering Music | “In the Sanctuary” | G F Handel
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Give online or send a check made payable to “McPherson Church of the Brethren,” 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 674
Scripture Foci | Genesis 3:8-15; Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)
Genesis 3:8-15
3:8 They heard the sound of God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and
his wife hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden.3:9 But God called
and said to him, “Where are you?” 3:10 [The man] said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I
was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 3:11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 3:12 The man said, “The woman
whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 3:13 Then God said to the woman,
“What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 3:14 God said to the
serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon
your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 3:15 I will put enmity between you and
the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)
8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 8:5 and said to him, “You
are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”
8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to God, 8:7
and God said to Samuel,”Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not
rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8:8 Just as they have done to me,
from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also
they are doing to you. 8:9 Now then, listen to their voice; only–you shall solemnly warn them, and show
them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” 8:10 So Samuel reported all the words of God to the
people who were asking him for a king. 8:11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign
over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before
his chariots; 8:12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and
some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his
chariots. 8:13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 8:14 He will take the best of
your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 8:15 He will take one-tenth of your
grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 8:16 He will take your male and female
slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 8:17 He will take one-tenth of your
flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 8:18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you
have chosen for yourselves; but God will not answer you in that day.”8:19 But the people refused to
listen to the voice of Samuel; they said “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 8:20 so that
we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our
battles.” 11:14 Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 11:15 So
all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before God in Gilgal. There they sacrificed
offerings of well-being before God, and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.
Message | “Listen to God’s Wisdom” | Kathryn Whitacre.
Sending Hymn | “Be Thou My Vision” | #545
Please be seated
Sending Words | A Litany in Times of Change and Travelling On | Jan Berry
When hope invites us to journey elusive, beckoning onward but never in our grasp:
God of wisdom and promise give us courage to travel on.
When dreams glimmer in the distance, fading, clouded and hidden or shining with new brightness:
God of wisdom and promise give us courage to travel on.
When established patterns collapse into the uncertainty of the unknown and security dissolves into a memory:
God of wisdom and promise give us courage to travel on.
When the illusion of success threatens to divert us and silence our souls’ yearning:
God of wisdom and promise give us courage to travel on.
When we think our journey has ended in the star-lit glow only to find the end is a new beginning:
God of wisdom and promise give us courage to travel on.
Sending Music | “Prelude of Hope for Organ, No. 1” | James Michael Stevens
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre