Tag: Rev Michael Lyle

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on January 18, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

For Meditation and Reflection:
“Though it’s a familiar story to modern-day Christians, in many ways it might have made little sense to the early church. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? If anything, shouldn’t the Son of God be doing the baptizing?
For the early church, eager to proclaim Jesus’s divinity to the world, the story would obviously have proved problematic. Reading backward, then, we can see that the evangelists seemed to be stuck with an event that would have been hard to explain to newcomers. There is little chance that they would have consciously made up something like this. In addition, the story is included in all three Synoptic Gospels and referred to in John, so it needs to be taken seriously.”
~James Martin, SJ, Jesus, A Pilgrimage

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn #32, God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading: Mark 1:4-11

Sermon: “Baptism” (Mike Lyle)

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on October 26, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Worship Led by Reverend Dr. Michael Lyle

For Meditation and Reflection:
Like the majority of humankind I don’t know much about wholeness at first hand. It is something that, at most – like Abraham and Sarah and Moses and the rest of them – I have every once in a while seen and greeted from afar, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it, but that is about all. I like to believe that in a disorganized way it is what I am journeying toward, but the most I have to show for my pains is an occasional glimpse of it in certain people who had clay feet more or less like the rest of us but who struck me as being at least a good deal wholer than I have ever managed to become myself.
(Frederick Buechner, The Longing for Home)

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Hymn #1 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading Mark 10:46-52

Sermon Blind Long Enough (Mike Lyle)

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on September 21, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Saint James United Church of Christ
10 East Broad Way,Lovettsville, Virginia
www.StJamesUCC-love.org

For Meditation and Reflection:
This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine. But other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine. But other lands have sunlight too and clover and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. O hear my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine. (Lloyd Stone, 1934)

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn Jennifer leads us in a song she wrote

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading Luke 12:6&7

Sermon Incomprehensible (Mike Lyle)

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on September 8, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

For Meditation and Reflection:
Though the human body is born complete in one moment, the birth of the human heart is an ongoing process. It is being birthed in every experience of your life. Everything that happens to you has the potential to deepen you. It brings to birth within you new territories of the heart.
–John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn #4 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on August 17, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Musicians: Keith and Jennifer Taylor on mandolin and guitar

For Meditation and Reflection:
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us of the unique relationship between the Kingdom of God and the natural world. He emphasizes the mysterious forces at play in the world around us.
For Jesus, as in Celtic Christianity, story and nature, rhythms and words, meaning and mystery are inextricably intertwined. In scripture, worship, contemplation and prayer God refreshes and sustains like water from a holy well. The weary traveler is wise to drink deeply and often.

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Opening Hymn Arise Shine (see insert)

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading Matthew 13:24-20, 36-43

Sermon A Matter of Emphasis (Mike Lyle)

The Offerings and Offertory Music

A Litany of Thanksgiving
Pastor: All things come from you, O God, and with gratitude we return to you what is yours. All that we are, and all that we have, is your gift to us.
People: And so, in gratitude for all your gifts, we offer ourselves, and all that we have. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.
All: Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn Sanctuary (see insert)

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the Pastor and the People

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn Thy Word (see insert)

Prayer of Benediction: (Pastor)
Go forward in the comfort and strength of God’s blessing. Remember that you are loved, that God is ever near, and that divine mercy is your way in the world. Amen.

Sharing the Peace as we go… And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall. And today—enjoy Jammin’ at James Open Mic and pot luck party!

Reverend Lyle is happy to stay following the service to talk about questions, concerns or thoughts you may have about today’s worship.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Summer worship time in July and August is 10AM.

This Sunday, August 19th:
10am – Worship led by Rev. Michael Lyle
11:30am – Jammin’ at James Open Mic and potluck party.

Next Sunday, August 26th: Worship by working.
Please come at 10am to join the crew! We’ll be cleaning our the dusty corners and putting things in order. Then maybe eat out?!

Sunday, September 2nd: 11am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, September 9th: 11am – Worship led by Rev. Michael Lyle

Thoughts for the Week
Roads
No need to wonder what heron-haunted lake
lay in the other valley,
or regret the songs in the forest
I chose not to traverse.
No need to ask where other roads might have led,
since they led elsewhere;
for nowhere but this here and now
is my destination.
The river is gentle in the soft evening,
and all the steps of my life have brought me home.
— Ruth Bidgood (b.1922)

Our Statement of Faith
We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient texts, and discover new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on June 15, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Meditation and Reflection:
Frederick Buechner, referring to the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins writes, “He says with equal understatement that to have pity on his own heart means simply to be as kind and charitable to himself as Christ calls all of us to be to our neighbors, with the implication that unless charity begins at home, the chances are that there will be something a little grim and bloodless about it everywhere else.” (From Speak What We Feel)

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)

Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn: #43, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on May 25, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

Worship Leader: Rev. Michael Lyle; Musician: Janell Kinzie

For Meditation and Reflection:
“. . . the Church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became one of us for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in him.” – C.S. Lewis

Welcome and Announcements
Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
All: The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia!

Opening Hymn: #306 – The Church of Christ In Every Age

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on April 27, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Order of Worship for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Musician: Janell Kinzie

For Meditation and Reflection:
“How foolish and blind are those who choose to cross through the water when the road has been built for them! This road is such a joy for those who travel on it that it makes every bitterness sweet for them, and every burden light. Though they are in the darkness of the body, they find light; and though they are mortal, they find life without death. For through love and the light of faith they taste eternal truth, with the promise of refreshment in return for the weariness they have borne.” — Catherine of Siena, (1347 – 1380)

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship: (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: And our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands. The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia!

Opening Hymn: #8 – Praise to the Living God

February 18, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on February 17, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

First Sunday in Lent [Note – Rev. Lyle intended to lead this service on February 4, Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather.]

For Meditation and Reflection:

“If we choose to be co-creators (and it is a choice; God does not coerce our cooperation) we can help bring into being a world where peace, love, and charity rule, where we actually embody God. We become God’s hands and feet and voices . . . we give God a body in this world . . . we take action on what God wills for us and for the world, and we remember and fulfill our role as co-creators.” (Debra Farrington, Hearing with the Heart)

February 4, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on February 2, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

For Meditation and Reflection:

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)

Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

January 7, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on January 7, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

The Epiphany of the Lord

For Meditation and Reflection:

Carol of the Epiphany
(John Bell, The Iona Community, Scotland)

I sought him dressed in finest clothes
where money talks and status grows
but poor and wealth he never chose
it seemed he lived in poverty

I sought him in the safest place
removed from crime or cheap disgrace
but safety never knew his face
it seemed he lived in jeopardy

I sought him where the spotlights glare
where crowds collect and critics stare
but no one knew his presence there
it seemed he lived in obscurity

then in the streets we heard the word
that seemed for all the world absurd
that those who could no gifts afford
were entertaining Christ the Lord

and so distinct from all we’d planned
among the poorest of the land
we did what few might understand
we touched God in a baby’s hand

December 17, 2017

Written by St. James UCC on December 16, 2017. Posted in Bulletins.

Third Sunday of Advent
Worship Led by the Rev. Michael Lyle

For Meditation and Reflection:

He comes this year into a world of suffering, disillusionment, polarization and broken hearts, a world much in darkness.
It is the world of the Bethlehem cave two thousand years ago, the world as humankind has always known it.
I recently visited that cave, a shrine now, and saw in the eyes of the Palestinian people (in whose territory it sits), the ageless human story of struggle and pain. And I, along with my fellow pilgrims, could have confessed my own brokenness and longing.
We anticipate his coming this Advent in solidarity with all people of every place and time. We need him desperately.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Enter our weary hearts and make of them what you will. Make us into temples of your merciful love.

Tag: Rev Michael Lyle

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Sunday, April 29, 2018

February 18, 2018

February 4, 2018

January 7, 2018

December 17, 2017

Jessie Parsons

Mike Lyle

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