In Person and Livestream Worship Service—a service to souls!
Westport Presbyterian Church—The Phoenix is rising!
November 13, 2022, 11:00 am
(Video will be posted LIVE on the church’s FB page at 11am and then cross-posted here. If the video doesn’t load properly here, you should be able to click on the Watch on Facebook link and watch as a guest, even if you don’t have Facebook)
PRELUDE: Now Let Us to God, the Lord, Give Thanks—Johann Pachelbel
CALL TO RETURN TO OUR SOULS
Leader: Let’s Practice seeing what we can’t see—
People: A tree’s roots underground
Leader: Stars at 10:00 o’clock in the morning
People: Planets in mid-afternoon
Leader: A winter night—no evidence of the Moon.
People: A Galaxy other than our own.
Leader: Water stored in an aquifer’s ancient sandstone.
People: The owl in the woods you have never seen—only heard.
Leader: The unknowable journey of a few kind words.
People: Have you ever tried to find the place where the baby possum who comes to eat red berries in your yew bush every afternoon- Lives?
Leader: I seriously doubt you will succeed. Still, seeing what you can’t see is a practice you definitely need!
People: God’s Good Realm will come closer gradually!—To thee!
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah GTG#65
CALL TO CONFESS OUR WEARINESS, DISCOURAGEMENT, DESPAIR, THEN COMMIT TO TRANSCEND THESE SELF DEFEATING MINDSETS
Pastor: I now know that God is able!
People: To give us interior resources to face life’s storms.
Pastor: Let this affirmation be our ringing cry.
People: It will give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future.
Pastor: It will give our tired feet new strength as we strive toward the city of freedom.
People: When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds,
Pastor: And our nights become darker than a hundred midnights—
People: Let us remember that there is a Power in the universewhose name is God.
Pastor: God is able to make a way out of no way,
People: And transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.
Pastor: This is our hope for becoming new persons.
People: This is our mandate for seeking to make a better world.
Pastor: This is why we keep returning to answer the call to worship a God
People: Who will be at our side forever -Dr King, from the sermon “Our God is Able” after the family’s home was bombed
BLESSED ASSURANCE OF GOD’S ACTIVE GRACE: Halle, Halle, Hallelujah (sing twice) GTG#591
BIBLE READINGS: Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-8 Numbers 22:4b-6, 22-31
ANTHEM: Morning Hymn—Arlen Clarke (Today we welcome Sarah Baxter, alto, and Collin Woroniak, tenor)
MESSAGE : Two Talking Animals
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: You Walk Along Our Shoreline GTG#170
WELCOMING
PRAYER: Pastoral/Matthew 25 Prayer, Lord’s Prayer, Sung Response: Jesus, We Are Here (Jesu, Tawa Pano) GTG#392
OFFERTORY: The Quiet Heart—John Ness Beck, transcribed by Craig Courtney; Sarah Baxter, alto
RESPONSIVE PRAYER OF DEDICATION:
Pastor: May I be a guard for those who need protection
People: A guide for those on the path
Pastor: A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
People: May I be a lamp in the darkness
Pastor: A resting place for the weary
People: A healing medicine for all who are sick
Pastor: A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
People: And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
Pastor: May I bring sustenance and awakening
People: Enduring like the earth and sky
Pastor: Until all beings are freed from sorrow
People: And all are awakened.
—Shantideva, Indian Buddhist sage 700 C.E. Prayer performed each morning by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Take Me to the Water GTG#480
BENEDICTION
SUNG BENEDICTION RESPONSE: Take Me to the Water (repeat stanza 1) GTG#480
POSTLUDE: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah—setting by Jason Krug
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
· First Congregational Meal in 3 years. FRIENDSGIVING POT LUCK after worship TODAY. All are welcome to enjoy the meal and friendship and then, if you are interested, attend the Dancing Word which is free (donations welcome to support Westport Center for the Arts
· 2023 Pledge Drive has begun. Pledge drive email/letter. Respond to God’s love and grace in your life as you are able. Our goal is $115,000, a $10,000 increase over what was pledged for 2022. Pledge online here: https://westportpresbyterian.org/pledge-drive/
· Rev Scott will be off duty starting tomorrow, Nov. 14 through Monday, Nov. 21. He will be back at church on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Please call the church office for pastoral needs. A pastor will be available. Micah Rose Emerson of the Presbyterian Urban and Immigrant Ministry Network will lead a “Many Streams of Gratitude Thanksgiving worship service next week.
· Cookie Sale in December to support Westport Concert Series, Dec 17, 11:30-2:30. We need volunteers for baking, for taking a shift, and people to come and buy cookies!
· Choir service, Dec 18. Want to join the choir for this one? Contact Emily. Practice will be after church the two Sundays prior.
· Winter Coat drive! We need to restock our supplies for the homeless and we have no coats! (blankets, shoes, clothes are also welcome)
· Thanks to Josh Stark for running the Livestream of the Worship Service today while Deanna Capps is in Michigan for a family wedding. Thanks, Josh!
· We are involved in the Steptoe Lives coalition, an effort to preserve and honor the history of Black Westport—the historic African American community that became strong just west of the church, around St. Luke’s Hospital and Embassy Suites and to the west of there. The most immediate effort is to change the name of 43rd Terrace back to its original name, Steptoe Street. We meet again on Thursday, Dec. 1 if you are interested. Zoom meetings.
· The next Westport Midweek Bible Study is on Tuesday, Nov. 22. We switched days this one time due to several schedule conflicts on the usual 3rd Wednesday. We are studying Mark. Newcomers to the Bible are welcome. We use a simple method of study. 60-70 minutes by Zoom, starting at 6:30 p.m. A deepening spiritual experience!
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