Chatham Charge Worship Service January 10, 2021
We come together as a community of faith to praise and worship our Father Almighty, He is the one that calls us to worship. His Holy Spirit is calling us now. He welcomes us into His house to spend time together in fellowship with him and with one another.
*Call to Worship: Psalm 29: 1 – 4 #761
L: Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
P: Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor.
L: The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, upon many waters.
P: The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
Opening Prayer:
God who watches over us, offering us light and hope, be with us this day as we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism. Help us to remember your healing, cleansing, and claiming love for us. Remind us again of the many ways in which you reach out to us. May the image of the waters be for us an image of hope. Bring us closer to you, loving God. Embrace us again with your love. We open our hearts to you this day. AMEN.
*Hymn: Come Thou Fount #400
- Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace; streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.
- Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come; and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
- O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
First Scripture: Isaiah 60:1 – 6
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
“Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
The Lord’s Prayer
Gloria Patri: UMH 70
*Prayer:
Before we turn to the Word of the Lord, let us turn to the Lord of the Word in prayer. Heavenly Father we ask that you send your Holy Spirit to come dwell with us at this time in order that he might open our ears to a new meaning of your Word, open our minds to a new understanding of your works, and open our hearts to greater love for you. Be with us Spirit, be our guide and our companion on this spiritual journey to a greater understanding of the God of this Word. Amen
Message Lesson: Mark 1:4 – 11
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Words of God for the People of God!
The Message
By Water and the Spirit
Bishop Greg Palmer
Hymn: Shall We Gather at the River #723
- Shall we gather at the river, where bright angel feet have trod, with its crystal tide forever flowing by the throne of God?
Refrain: Yes, we’ll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river; gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.
- On the margin of the river, washing up its silver spray, we will walk and worship ever, all the happy golden day. (Refrain)
- Ere we reach the shining river, lay we every burden down; grace our spirits will deliver, and provide a robe and crown. (Refrain)
- Soon we’ll reach the shining river, soon our pilgrimage will cease; soon our happy hearts will quiver with the melody of peace. (Refrain)
Prayers of the People
Pastoral Prayer:
Creator God, when everything first began, water became a symbol of refreshing, of washing away, of renewing. Through the waters of creation you brought forth abundant life. We have gathered this day to remember Jesus’ baptism, how when he came up out of the water your Spirit proclaimed that He was your beloved Son in whom you were very well pleased. Our spirits resound with that proclamation. In His baptism, Jesus’ ministry was initiated. He dedicated his life to you completely and without reservation.
Help us to dedicate our lives to you, to offer our best for you, to be of service to you by serving in your world. As we have lifted before you the names of people near and dear to us who need your healing touch and your tender mercies, we have also lifted ourselves up as people in need of your grace. Our world is in the midst of strife; wars, oppression, famine, hunger, alienation, situations in which we have abused the world and each other.
Heal us and this world, Lord. Renew us with your life-giving waters and re-affirm our baptisms as your children. Let us go forth to be people of peace and mercy.
Heavenly Father, we also today pray for our nation. I ask that You would give our President and President elect the ears and desire to listen and follow your counsel, wisdom beyond his own understanding and the courage to choose the right path no matter how narrow the gate.
I pray for all in authority over us that You would give them the grace and strength to stand against the temptation to use power as a weapon but rather to carry it reverently as one would a child. I pray for the spiritual leaders of our country that they would hear Your voice and know your heart. I pray that they would lead from their knees and by that simple grace bring each one of us to our knees before Your throne.
It can be also be tempting to believe that America has reached a point of no return. While these factors cause despair, we are reminded in Scripture that with God, nothing is impossible. No problem is too great for Him. Seasons of distress and uncertainty and hardship call for faithful, fervent prayer by God’s people and remind us of our responsibility to humble ourselves before Almighty God.
We cannot expect healing to come to our nation apart from obedience to God through His Holy Word. We also know from Scripture that when light stands in the darkness, light always wins.
We know from Joel 2:25 that God can restore what is broken and change it into something amazing. All we need is faith. There is no need for you to feel like there is anything in your life that God can’t handle. He is omnipotent, omnipresent and active in all areas of our lives.
We may live in dark times, but we have hope, because light always wins. At our lowest points, God is our hope and at our weakest points, God is our strength and will heal us. As our next song tells fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart! Amen
Hymn: Love Divine, Loves All Excelling #384
- Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart.
- Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast! Let us all in thee inherit; let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be; end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.
- Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive; suddenly return and never, never more thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above, pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.
- Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee; changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Benediction
God has laid claim to your life. By your baptism you have been marked as God’s own forever. In grace may God watch over you. In strength may you go forth in service. Amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Prayers for Sandy, Nancy’s sister
- Prayers for Dick and Mary Ann
- Prayers for Bonnie
- Prayers for Sally and David
- Prayers for Sandy and Jim.
- Prayers for Dean, Nancy and their family
- Prayers for Teri
- Prayers for Fred
- Prayers for Carolyn
- Prayers for Betty
- Prayers for Pauline
- Prayers for Paul and Carol
- Prayers for Louise
Happy Birthday
1/6 Nancy Runyon
1/8 Kallie Robinson
1/10 Stacy Austin, Linsey Bilger
1/11 Julianna McComb, Nolan Bennett, Fred Pletcher
1/15 Rosemary Ritchey
1/ 16 Monica Broceus
1/ 17 Ernie Staugh
Happy Anniversary!
1/8 Deborah and Bill Byrnes
The Life of the Church Coming Events
January 13 – Bible Study, 2PM Telephone 508 – 924 – 5730. Read Exodus Chapters 23 & 24 in preparation for this week. Bible Study audio will be available at same phone number by noon on Thursday
Sermon Line is 617-793-8516! The audio of the services available by noon on Monday.
Please remember your Church at this time of year
Please remember your Church at this time of year! Advent is always an important time of the year financially for the churches. But when we aren’t in worship sometimes those gifts are missed.
If you haven’t already given a Christmas Offering to your church and you are able to do it, please send the money to the church address or to the Church treasurer!
Words of Confession:
Lord, you have blessed us with life. We praise you for this blessing. What we have done with our lives has both delighted and perplexed you. We are far too often inclined to be stubborn and arrogant, believing that we are all powerful, that we have no need for you. But there is an emptiness in us – a place where we are raw and hurting, bleeding, and bruised. We have tried our own healing methods, and they have not worked. We feel as though we are an oar-less, sail-less boat drifting in water, unable to gain direction, unable to see the shore. We long for home and hope. From across these waters, you have called us. Now let us come to you in contrition, seeking your healing and forgiving love.
God of mercy and love, you have called us over the waters, and through the waters of baptism you have blessed us. You have cleansed and healed us and adopted us as your beloved children. Help us to live as children of the light, serving you faithfully all our days. AMEN.
Words of Assurance
The love of God is always offered to us, freely, joyfully, for all eternity. Rejoice, dear friends, this is the Good News of our Lord. AMEN.