This week’s Wednesday’s Catch-up is a behind-the-scenes look on prepping for a Sunday worship live-stream service. Thank you all to those who were able to volunteer and serve over the past year! And thank you to all those who have tuned in and supported the services. We couldn’t continue without you!
News & Events
Worship
March 21, 2021
“We pray best when we are no longer aware of praying.”
~ Cassian
“Prayer consists of Attention. It is the orientation of all the attention of which the soul is capable toward God.”
~ Simone Weil
“The one fixed pole in all the bewildering confusion is the faithfulness and dependability of God.”
~ Helmut Thielicke
“According to Jesus, nothing is too trivial [for prayer]. Everything about me – my thoughts, my motives, my choices, my moods – attracts God’s attention.”
~ Phillip Yancey
Prelude
Kevin McCullough
Call to Worship
As darkness gives way to light
and winter sleep to fresh beginnings,
We come today to be reminded of God’s love for us.
Like the green shoots of renewed life,
stirring beneath the soil,
We welcome an awakening of our call to be God’s love to others.
In this time of reflection and repentance,
We affirm our identity
as children of God.
~ written by Gill Le Fevre
Songs
Praise Band
Time for Kids
Shelley Ahn-Wong, Children’s Ministry Director
Scripture Lesson
Matthew 5:43-48
Message
Pastor Kate Conolly
“The Practice of Prayer”
Offering Prayer
God of love and relationship,
we give these offerings in gratitude,
rejoicing in the abundance of your gifts to us.
We give these offerings in faith,
trusting that you will provide for our needs.
We give these offerings in hope,
knowing you can use them to spread your love in this world.
And with these offerings, we give ourselves;
May we live with generous hearts, with open hands. Amen
~ written by Joanna Harader
Offertory
Praise Band
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Song
Praise Band
Sending Forth
Whatever wilderness the Spirit has brought you to:
walk in boldness, as a beloved child of God
walk in peace, under the shelter of the Most High
walk in faith, knowing Christ walks with you. Amen.
~ written by Joanna Harader
Postlude
Kevin McCullough
Worship
March 14, 2021
“There comes an hour when begging stops,
When the long interceding lips
Perceive their prayer is in vain.
~ Emily Dickinson
“When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”
~ Oscar Wilde
“Just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care.
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”
~ Garth Brooks
“We do not want to be beginners at prayer
But let us be convinced of the fact
that we will never be anything
but beginners, all of our life!”
~ Thomas Merton
Prelude
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“O Sacred Head” ~ Johann Pachelbel
“Prayer” ~ W. F. Ambrosia
“In Paradisum” ~ Theodore Dubois
Call to Worship
Come and worship, all you who love and serve the Lord—
outsiders and insiders,
old-timers and new-comers,
the young, old and the in-between.
Come as you are,
for this is God’s house—a house of prayer for all people,
and God welcomes each one who comes.
Hymn
John Palmer & Gareth Williams
“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” ~ UMH #474 vs. 1, 3
Time for Kids
Scripture
Romans 11:33-36
Message
Pastor Kate Conolly
“Prayer Dilemmas”
Offering Prayer
Ever-faithful God,
we long to be faithful givers,
modelling ourselves on you
who have given everything to us.
May your Spirit of abundance,
which gives more than we ask or imagine,
grace these gifts for your kingdom
in Jesus’ name, Amen.
written by Carol Penner
Offertory
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Pie Jesu” from “Requiem” ~ Gabriel Faure
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn
John Palmer & Gareth Williams
“Stand By Me” ~ UMH #512 vs. 1, 3
Sending Forth
As you go from here, remember this:
God’s love and God’s compassion can never be taken away—
they can never be cancelled or rescinded.
They are irrevocably yours.
So go with confidence and joy to serve God and one another.
And may the blessing of God—
Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer—
be among you and within you
wherever you find yourselves this week.
Amen.
Postlude
Joyce Rhodes
“Scherzo” ~ John Duro
“Toccata” from “Partita on Heinlein for Organ” ~ Anita Graves
Messy Church, Sunday, March 28
LGUMC’s Messy Church will be back Sunday, March 28 from 11-12pm.
There will be arts & crafts, games and other fun activities.
RSVP to kids@lgumc.org.
For more information on Messy Church: https://lgumc.org/messy-church/
Soft re-opening survey
Dear Members and Friends of LGUMC,
This week marks one year since we gathered in person to worship. As Covid numbers are improving and as many of you are receiving the vaccine, we can begin to think about slowly and safely coming back to in person worship.
We would greatly appreciate you taking a minute to fill out this very short survey by Thursday, March 11. It will help guide us for a “soft opening” for in person worship, which will be in adherence with Santa Clara County protocols such as 25% occupancy, masking, social distancing, and no congregational singing.
At the beginning of our return to in person worship, we will continue alternating the traditional and the Open House services. We will eventually return to our pre-Covid worship of both services every Sunday. Also, livestream worship is here to stay! It is an important and permanent part of the worship experiences we will offer.
Peace and Blessings,
Glenn Stansbury, Chair of Trustees & Kate Conolly, Pastor
Worship
Sunday, March 7, 2021
“If you are praying, you are already doing it right.”
~ Roberta Bondi
“Jesus taught a model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, but otherwise gave few rules. His teaching reduces down to three general principles. Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up.”
~ Philip Yancey
“The fewer the words, the better the prayer.”
~ Martin Luther
“We can pray for a shot at having a life in which we are present and awake and paying attention and being kind to ourselves. We can pray, “Hello? Is there anyone there?” We can pray, “Am I too far gone, or can you help me get out of my isolated self-obsession?” We can say anything to God. It’s all prayer.”
~ Anne Lamott
Prelude
Kevin McCullough
Announcements
Moment for Mission
Video Colonet
Call to Worship
Come, all you whose souls thirst for the living God.
We come in search of help and hope.
Come, you who are acquainted with grief or oppression.
We come bearing our doubts, our wounds, and our fears.
Come, you who are in need of good news.
We come in search of joy, truth, and light.
Come and find refuge in God your rock.
Let us again praise the One who is our help and our hope.
~ written by Rev. Heather A. Moody
Songs
Praise Band
Scripture Lesson
Psalm 42
Message
Pastor Kate Conolly
“The Language of Prayer”
Offering Prayer
Ever-faithful God,
we long to be faithful givers,
modelling ourselves on you
who have given everything to us.
May your Spirit of abundance,
which gives more than we ask or imagine,
grace these gifts for your kingdom
in Jesus’ name, Amen.
written by Carol Penner
Offertory
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
The Celebration of Holy Communion
Communion Prayer
Lord, as we take this bread and drink this cup,
We remember that You are the bread of life and the cup of salvation.
You feed our souls, you nourish our hearts and You give us sustenance to run the race before us. Amen.
Song
Praise Band
Sending Forth
Go now from this service of worship
to the service of God’s people near and far,
refreshed by the living water that Jesus offers to you.
Listen for the parched voices of the least of these;
search out the dry places and the arid souls,
and become for them a spring of living water.
And as you go,
may the blessings of the God of life,
the Christ of love,
and the Spirit of grace
be upon you this day and forevermore. Amen
Postlude
Kevin McCullough
Wednesday’s Catch-up with SPR Chair Tom Waldrop
Today’s Catch-up is Chair of SPR Tom Waldrop. He explains one of the big responsibilities of SPR, the itinerary of a new pastor.
Worship
February 28, 2021
Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous. It is more like haggling in an outdoor bazaar than the polite monologues of the church.
~ Walter Wink
The universe is done. The greater masterpiece, still undone, still in the process of being created, is history. For accomplishing His grand design God needs the help of human beings.
~ Abraham Joshua Heschel
The most active workers and thinkers and fighters in the divine service in this world have at the same time been the most active in prayer.
~ Karl Barth
Prayers like gravel
flung at the sky’s
window, hoping to attract
the loved one’s attention…
~ R.S. Thomas
Prelude
Joyce Rhodes, organ“Vater unser im Himmelreich” – “Our Father Who Art in Heaven”
~ J.S.Bach, Georg Boehm, Johann Pachelbel, Samuel Scheidt
Call to Worship
Pilgrims, we are invited to journey through this season of Lent
towards the One who calls us each by a new name.
Disciples, we walk with Jesus wherever he leads us,
pulling our fears, our doubts, our longings behind us.
Believers, we seek to trust the God who always surprises us,
whose promises take on flesh and blood in the good news called Jesus.
Hymn
Sue Livingstone
“Sweet Hour of Prayer” ~ UMH #496 vs. 1, 3
Time for Youth
Robbie Frederiksen, Youth Ministries Director
Scripture Lesson
Luke 11:1-11
Message
Pastor Kate Conolly
“Unraveling the Mysteries”
Offering Prayer
Lord, let our congregation be a witness to you:
immersed in scripture,
constant in prayer,
joyful in worship,
generous in giving.
A loving, supportive community
reaching out to those in need.
Accept these gifts we offer, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
written by Carol Penner
Offertory
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“The Lord’s Prayer”
~ Albert Hay Malotte, arr. Henrietta Griswold
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn
Sue Livingstone
“Open My Eyes, That I May See” ~ UMH #454 (all three verses)
Sending Forth
The peace of God be in your heart
The grace of God be in your words
The love of God be in your hands
The joy of God be in your soul
Go out in peace. Amen.
Postlude
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Introduction and Toccata in G Major”
~ William Walond