Online Text September 5, 2021

SEPTEMBER THEME: "Come, Share the Lord"

Worship, Witness, Word and Welcome
Online Worship with First Christian Church  (Disciples of Christ) Berea, KY

September 5, 2021
Before we begin, gather a candle or small light, your Bible, a cross, a piece of bread and a cup of juice or water. Place them at the center of a calm area in your home and gather comfortable seating for all who will join you. Place your phone, tablet  or computer where you can see and hear it.

Worship

Invocation We begin with prayer.
O God you led your people on the Exodus journey. We too wander in an uncertain world, not always knwoing where to turn. Help us turn to you, our heart’s true home. Teach us to seek our peace in you. Forgive us our transgression and rekindle a spirit of trusting self-discipline within us, through Jesus Christ, Amen.
-inspired by a prayer from http://www.ministrymatters.com/


Call to Worship
Voice One: Here, in this place, God welcomes all: as dreamers and doubters;
Voice Two: As worriers and wanderers; we call on God by name:
Voice One: Here we remember all the ways God has graced us:
Voice Two: Here we rejoice for God is with us, always!
Voice One: Here, we find the courage to cry out, in every situation:
Voice Two: 'God, save us!'
Voice One: Here, we become daring enough to step out of comfort into the unknown:
Voice Two: Here, the dreamers, the doubters, the worriers and the wanderers  become the brave ones.
Voice One: We light these candles today,
Voice Two: Because God is with us in this time and in all these places!
-adapted from a piece by Thom Shuman and posted at https://www.blogger.com/profile/09267107871832458323

Lighting the Candles  We light our candles or lights.

Witness
    Labor Day: "The Work of Our Hands and Hearts"
Morning Prayer:
God of grace and light, You can be found within and out with the structures of humanity, but You cannot be contained. Instead, you choose to dwell in hearts and homes, as you will. Gaze kindly upon the hearts and homes dear to us, the people and places where we seek blessing.

Build up our homes:
Where the happy may find peace;
The sad may find comfort;
The hungry may find food;
The weary may find rest.

Build up the places where we work:
Where the honest may find reward;
The dedicated may find delight;
The provider may find provision;
The imaginative may find new horizons.

Build up our community:
Where the isolated may find friendship;
The marginalised may find welcome;
The seeker may find purpose
The unloved may find acceptance.

Build up our nation, loving Lord,
Where leaders may shape communities of fellowship,
Where citizens may grow and prosper in grace,
Where visitors may find a blessing.

Build up the Church, redeeming Lord,
Where your children may find their place, unique and special,
Where your disciples may recognize their gifts and grow them,
Where your people may clearly hear and follow your call.

Help us all, this day, to be living stones in the world you are building, Oh God.
In the Name of our Saviour, our cornerstone, we pray.  Amen

~ adapted form a prayer written by Rev Dr Derek Browning, and posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website.  http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/




Word
Scripture:  Exodus 2: 1-10
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it.

When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
-New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Meditation

Challenge for Discipleship

Welcome- The Lord's Supper
Invitation to the Table
All are welcome to partake in the bread and cup at the table of God's love. It is Christ who is our host. When you hear the Words of Institution, partake of the elements.

Prayer of Communion Elders this month are Judy Halstead and Mark Workman.

Words of Institution 

Prayer of Response
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.


Blessing     We speak in unison.
The Light that was in one place and at one time, is now in all places and all times, for God has placed the light in us.   And we abide in peace. Amen.