04 May Worship Bulletin: 5/7/23
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, May 7, 2023 @ 10:15 a.m. | National Senior High Youth Sunday | Celebration of High School Graduates
Video Welcome
Gathering Music | “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” | Ken Medema/arr Jack Schrader
Jean Hendricks, piano
Sharing Time: Joys & Concerns | DayVeon Crawford & Malia Pfeiff
Centering Music | “You Are Mine” (I will come to you in the Silence) | David Haas
Worship Band joined by Jr. High and Sr. High Youth
- I will come to you in the silence – I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice – I claim you as My choice – Be still, and know I am near REFRAIN - I am hope for all who are hopeless – I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night, – I will be your light – Come and rest in Me REFRAIN - I am strength for all the despairing – Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free – And all will know My name REFRAIN - I am the Word that leads all to freedom – I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name, embracing all your pain – Stand up, now, walk, and live REFRAIN x2
REFRAIN
Do not be afraid, I am with you – I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me – I will bring you home – I love you and you are mine
Responsive Opening Prayer | Lucy Bowman & Eli Leck | written by Jerry Bowen, inspired by “Call to Worship” by Calla Stoltzfus
Voice 1: Gracious Creator, we gather in Your Name.
Voice 2: Loving God, we come to worship You.
People: And we do so – ready to stand up – and stand out!
Voice 1: This year has pushed many of us – to the limits of our abilities.
Voice 2: Yet – O God – we find solace in You – and so …
People: We are ready – to stand up and stand out!
Voice 1: Each day is new – in You O God – so we welcome each new day because –
Voice 2: each sunrise promises – Your Fresh Spirit – will greet us and empower us…
People: To stand up and stand out! AMEN
Opening Song | “Morning has Broken” | #648
Senior Messages | Seniors Share their stories; pre-recorded and live | Maggy Adolf (Video), Mason Clark, Eli Leck, Keira McMillan, Malia Pfeiff and Ashlyn Shugart
Story for the Children | Lucy Bowman & Kaia Pfeiff
Video Invitation to Give
Give online or send a check made payable to “McPherson Church of the Brethren,” 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 67460
Musical Offering | original composition by Ashlyn Shugart | Ashlyn Shugart, cello
Prayer of the Congregation | Malia Pfeiff
Loving God,
We promise to think twice before throwing food away.
We promise to turn the faucet off.
We promise to find ways to walk or ride a bike when possible.
We promise to plant so that all creatures, great and small, can fill their bellies.
And O God, we promise to continue finding ways to creatively live simply, so that –
all of Creation might simply live. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Scripture Song | “When we Walk with the Lord (Trust & Obey)” | #544
Scripture | Romans 12:2 | Miles Bauer, Daniel Bowen, Kayden Friesen | Scripture Jam written by Calla Stoltzfus (using the NLT translation – with excerpts from The Message)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
New Living Translation (NLT)
12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God
does for you is the best thing you can do for od. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into
it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily
recognize what God wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging
you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
The Message
Person 1: Stand up, even if you stand out!
Person 2: But we’re sitting…
Person 3: It’s the National Youth Sunday theme.
Person 2: Oh.
Person 3: Do you know the verse that goes with it?
Person 2: Jesus wept. John 11:35.
Person 1: What does that have to do with standing?
Person 3: Uh, no. It’s Romans 12:2.
“Do not conform to the behavior and customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
Person 1: “Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Person 2: But how do I know if I’m conforming to the world?
What is “of the world” and what comes from God?
Person 3: Good question. It’s easy to fit in without even thinking.
Person 1: You won’t have to worry about any of that, as long as you fix your attention on God.
God will change you from the inside out, and through God you will respond to
what God wants from you – unlike what the culture wants from you.
Person 2: So when I don’t know what decisions to make, or where to stand on certain issues, I should
just look to God?
Person 3: Yes! And unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,
God brings the best out of you.
Person 1: And through that, you will mature into the person God wants you to be.
Person 2: Ok……can you give me an example?
Person 3: It’s like Noah.
Person 2: Noah? The floating farm guy? But all he did was build a boat.
Person 1: Actually, Noah did much more than that.
Person 3: The Bible says he was the only righteous man of his time.
He stood out – as the rest of the world had turned – or conformed – to the ways of the culture.
Person 2: And…?
Person 1: Noah faced persecution for his devotion to God, and when he began to build the ark, his
neighbors laughed in his face and insulted his family.
Person 3: But Noah persisted, and in the end after all the rain had fallen and the land dried up, he helped
God’s people have a new beginning.
Person 1: And he saved all of God’s animal creations along with the people.
Person 2: That’s the story with the creation of the rainbow, right? Where God said
“I will never flood the earth again”?
Persons 1 &3: YES!!
Person 2: Ok so I’ve got it now. If I just stand firm in my faith, like Noah did, God will work within me
and lead me towards what is right in the ways of the world.
Persons 1 & 3: Yes!!!
Person 3: And you always have the Bible to lead you along. It’s God’s message to us.
Person 2: So stand up…
ALL: EVEN IF YOU STAND OUT!
Message | “Hot and Hungry” (1 Kings 17:7-16) | Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS)
During a time of drought and famine, a widow with her son was asked for food by the prophet Elijah.
Her response, “I am preparing to make a last meal, and then we will die” -.alongside her willingness to trust
God’s provision – demonstrates both hope and despair. As Christians, we are called to a ministry of caring for
our neighbors and all of God’s creation; we are called to a ministry of living in hope amidst despair. The
overlapping crises of climate change and food insecurity are dire but the possibilities for response are dynamic.
CCS Attendees and Sponsors:
Sponsors: Becki Bowman, Brent Shugart, Dustin Wilgers,
Students: Daniel Bowen, Lucy Bowman, Dayveon Crawford, Kayden Freisen,
Eli Leck, Mallory Koelling, Delfino Magnall, Malia Pfeiff, Ashlyn Shugart,
Molly Stover-Brown, and Noah Wilgers
Sending Song | “One World” | Michael Stern
Worship Band joined by Jr. High & Sr. High Youth
Refrain
One world in which we live together, one sun shining on you and me,
one ocean flows into another, one day we all will be free, one day we all will be free.
- One moment can change a whole lifetime, one life can change eternity,
one stranger befriended, one broken heart mended,
one child loved, one captive set free – one child loved, one captive set free.
REFRAIN
2. One day when the lamb and the lion and our pride and our anger lie down,
weapons to plowshares, a joy born of love’s tears,
a sacrifice and a crown – a sacrifice and a crown.
REFRAIN
3. One day we will all meet our maker, ‘til that day we must do what we can
to stand by each other, to love one another,
ev’ry child, ev’ry woman and man – ev’ry child, ev’ry woman and man.
REFRAIN
Congregation join in singing final refrain
Sending Words | written by Autumn Sauder | shared by Noah Wilgers
Sending Music | “Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho” | African American spiritual/arr John Kraus
Jean Hendricks, 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