March 26, 2017

Fourth Sunday of Lent

For Meditation and Reflection “Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” -Daniel J. Boorstein

Welcome and Announcements

Responsive Call to Worship – #824 (Black hymnal)

Opening Hymn: #1 – Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Prayers of the People: #878 – Litany of Intercession

Today’s Scripture Readings: First Reading: Psalm 23 Second Reading: John 9:1-40

Sermon by Rev. Mary Mason: “Blind from Birth”

Responsive Hymn: #547 – Amazing Grace (first verse twice).

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Reflective Hymn: # 472 – Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the People: Friends……..God invites us to hold the needs of our sisters and brothers as dear to us as our own needs. Loving our neighbors as ourselves, we offer our Thanksgiving and our prayers on behalf of the church and the world.

Lord’s Prayer (Traditional with “debts”)

Closing Hymn: #23 – There’s a Wideness In God’s Mercy

Benediction – May God bless you and keep you.
May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May God look upon you with kindness and give you peace.

Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Thoughts for the Day/Week

“We shall meet your physical force with soul force.
Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you……..
One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves.
We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.”
-Rev. Martin Luther King

God, grant that I might love you so hard that love spills over even
onto people who show it differently than I do.

Our Statement of Faith

We gather in worship as an inclusive community, an open & affirming community of faith that transcends any distinctions based on gender, sexual orientation, nationality, race, or religion…

Our formal worship flows into a living worship of love and support for one another as we pursue ways to reflect God’s reign of mercy, justice, and peace in our community and throughout the world…

….along with a continuing search for ways to celebrate the goodness of life together…
and always reaching out to draw others, with total inclusiveness, into this communal experience.

Announcements:

This Sunday, March 26th

Our Worship leader is the Rev. Mary Mason.
Her sermon topic is “Blind From Birth”.

Sunday, April 2nd

Our Worship leader will be the Rev. Samantha Tuttle.

Sunday, April 9th

The Council meeting will convene at 9:30 in Fellowship Hall.

Our Worship leader will be the Rev. Mike Lyle, a recent visitor and friend of the congregation.

Easter Sunday, April 16th

We will continue our Easter tradition of recent years by beginning our worship with a brief sunrise service at the cemetery on the southeast edge of Lovettsville. This will be followed by a potluck breakfast at Fellowship Hall. The worship service will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. We hope you can join us for all or part of this Easter celebration. If any of our members or friends are moved to act as worship leader for either of these Easter services, please contact David Weintraub, Lauranne Oliveau or Tena Brass.

We are starting a project suggested by Alice Bagwill, to collect pill bottles, which are needed by organizations sending medicines overseas. A collection box is on the pew in the back of the Sanctuary. Please save your medicine containers (rinsed and with the labels removed, please) and donate them to this worthy cause.