McPherson Church of the Brethren | Worship Bulletin: 2/5/23

02 Feb Worship Bulletin: 2/5/23

Posted at 14:42h in Worship Bulletin by Joanna Davidson Smith

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, February 5, 2023 @ 10:15 a.m.

Gathering Music

Video Welcome

For those whose lives are broken by distress – enter here.
May the God of healing calm – restore us
For those whose lives are broken by fear – enter here.
May the God of healing confidence – restore us
For those whose lives are broken by anger – enter here.
May the God of healing serenity – restore us
For those whose lives are broken by pain – enter here.
May the God of healing delight – restore us
For those whose lives are broken by illness – enter here.
May the God of healing wholeness – restore us
For those whose lives are broken by sin – enter here.
May the God of healing goodness – restore us
May all who enter here – encounter the God of healing and restoration.
May the Spirit of God gently touch us, bringing warmth, comfort and
new life into our fractured souls.

Opening Song | “Here in this Place” | #6

Story for the Children | Barbara Wagoner

Video Invitation to Give
Give online or send a check made payable to “McPherson Church of the Brethren,” 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 67460

Unison Congregational Prayer | “Waiting and Longing” | Walter Brueggemann

God of the seasons – God of the years – God of the eons – Alpha and Omega – before us and after us.

You promise and we wait:
we wait with eager longing, we wait amid doubt and anxiety, we wait with patience thin and then doubt,
and then we take life into our own hands.

We wait because you are the one and the only one.
We wait for your peace and your mercy, for your justice and your good rule.

Give us your spirit that we may wait obediently and with discernment, caringly and without passivity,
trustingly and without cynicism, honestly and without utopianism,

Grant that our wait may be appropriate to your coming
soon and very soon – soon and not late – late but not too late.

We wait while the world groans in eager longing.

Musical Offering | “There is a Longing” | Anne Quigley
Worship Band
The Congregation is encouraged to join in singing with the Worship Band

REFRAIN
There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord for you to reveal yourself to us.
There is a longing in our hearts for love we only find in you, our God.

For justice, for freedom, for mercy, hear our prayer.
In sorrow, in grief, be near, hear our prayer, O God. (REFRAIN)

For wisdom, for courage, for comfort, hear our prayer.
In weakness, in fear, be near, hear our prayer, O God. (REFRAIN)

For healing, for wholeness, for new life, hear our prayer.
In sickness, in death, be near, hear our prayer, O God. (REFRAIN)

Lord, save us, take pity, light in our darkness.
We call you, we wait, be near, hear our prayer, O God (REFRAIN)

Scripture Focus | Psalm 27: 1-4

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked advance against me – to devour me –
it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek the Lord in the holy temple.

Scripture Song | “Siyahamba” (We are Singing, for the Lord is our Light)

Verse 1
See–yah–hahm–beh
koo–kah–nyeh-nee
kwehn-kohs
(X4)

CHORUS
See–yah–hahm–bah,
hahm–bah,
hahm–bah,
Oh!
See-yah-ham-beh
Koo-kah-nyeh-nee
Kwehn-kohs
(X2)

Verse 2
We are marching in the light of the world.
We are marching in the light of the world.
(X2)

CHORUS
Verse 1 again
CHORUS

Message | “CCEPI” (The Center for Caring, Empowerment and Peace Initiatives in Nigeria) | DRS. REBECCA AND SAMUEL DALI

This organization was founded by Dr. Rebecca Dali and serves those who have been traumatized.
Rebecca won the United Nations Humanitarian Award for her work with the kidnapped Chibok girls.
Dr. Samuel Dali was the head of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria,
and Dean of the Theological Seminary in Northern Nigeria.

To learn more, get involved, or donate go to (www.ccepiusa.org)

Please take a moment to contemplate the scripture and message.

Sending Song | “This is a Day of New Beginnings” | #640

Sending Words | “Stay Close to the Cracks” | Christine Sine, on Godspace
lightly adapted

As you go forth – may you;
Stay close to the cracks – to the broken places, where people weep and cry out in pain.
As you go forth – may you;
Stay close to the cracks – where God’s tears fall, and God’s wounds bleed – for love – of us all.
As you go forth – may you;
Stay close to the cracks – where new light shines in, and new grass pushes up –
where wounds open doorways to healing and wholeness and new life.
As you go forth – may you;
Stay close to the cracks – where God abides and calls you to reside.

Sending Music | “I Will Glory in the Lord” | Ross Anderson
Ellen Gilbert, piano

Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Choir Director: Becky Snell
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre
Chancel Decoration Team: Jill Brax, Colleen Gustafson, Michele Johnson, Shane Kirchner & Lara Schoming