Worship at Home for December 13, 2020
Third sunday of advent
Due to the spread of Covid-19, we are taking a sabbatical from our normal Sunday morning gathering, but unity and community are more important than ever before in this season of uncertainty. To help facilitate this, we are providing an online service so that, one in heart, we can worship together even as we maintain distance out of love for our neighbors. This is designed to be used on your own or together as a family or community. We hope this resource is a blessing to you. Remember to check in on friends and neighbors with calls or text, especially the elderly among us and others who are particularly vulnerable. You can also check out the services from 3/15, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24, 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/9. 8/16, 8/23, 8/31, 9/6, 9/13, 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, and 12/6.
This Sunday, once again we are connecting as a church body using Zoom video chat. Here’s the schedule and instructions for joining in!
10-10:30 - Connect and informal checking in
10:30-11:00 - Prayers of the People, Joys and Concerns.
[**If you’re newer to Zoom or know that technology can be challenging, try signing on closer to 10:15 am so that we can have plenty of time to help you figure it out before Prayers of the People starts. Paula, who helped organize this, will help you!]
To join in the Zoom event on your computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
4. Follow prompts, including entering your name.
5. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/L5zzE-HGQko
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE
1. Click on http://princeton.zoom.us/j/6294864957
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
To join in the Zoom event using your Smartphone/Iphone:
1. Download the Zoom Cloud Meeting app
2. Open the app.
2. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
3. Follow prompts, including entering your name
4. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/lO206_NezaY
To dial in by phone:
+1 (646) 558 8656 (New York--please note this may be a long-distance call if you are using a landline)
Then at the prompt, enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
An Advent Poem
Advent is our time for preparation
To receive the shining light
Baby Jesus with Power and Might
He is anointed Son of God of salvation
He is the Christ without a question
He is not Moses nor Elijah
He is neither John nor Isaiah
Rejoice for One among us is born
Shout for joy and blow your horn
He is the Christ our MESSIAH!
(A Spanish “decima” written and translated by Elder William “Willie” Reyes)
Opening Songs
Centering Song
Call to Worship
Leader: With joy this day we anticipate the one who is coming, the arrival of the Messiah.
People: The one we call the Word! The one we call the Light.
Leader: Like John the Baptist, we are not the light. In our worship, we testify to the light.
People: Our testimony is prayer and praise, song and scripture.
Leader: Our testimony is preaching and teaching, learning, and serving.
People: May our testimony be a sweet sound in your ear, O God.
(Rev. Ross Reddick)
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 12/13/2020
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8
(Excerpts from the First United Methodist Church of Austin Lenten “Racism Interruption” Series)
Three selections from the daily Lenten “Racism Interruptions” series are provided each week for ongoing prayer and meditation. I have arbitrarily listed them on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. You are free of course to view them in whatever manner speaks to you. (With your cursor on the day’s selection, depress the Ctrl key and click to follow the link which will open in the Chrome browser.) Obviously we will not be posting our reflections to the FUMC Facebook Group. Please feel free to forward any thoughts to me at the email listed below or by requesting to join the private Facebook group Antiracist Adjustments with the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1819196591561542/?ref=share . Blessings as you continue your antiracism spiritual practice.
Monday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 18, 2020 (constantcontact.com)
Wednesday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 19, 2020 (constantcontact.com)
Friday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 20, 2020 (constantcontact.com)
As you sit with this week’s readings, remember to pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body and to where they are located. Do you notice agitation, constriction, release, pressure, energy, numbness, relaxation, warmth, coolness, softness, tightness? What statements resonate and which ones challenge? No judgment or analysis, just notice and let them go.
Daily morning intention:
Open my heart Loving Presence so that I may feel your Divine guidance to greater awareness of racial inequity and to my antiracist role this day.
(submitted by Pat Deeney, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton NJ, pjdeeney@hotmail.com)
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
Word of God, Breath of Life, come and live among us again. Clear away the things that clutter our hearts and lives, making it difficult to see and do your will. And where we have chosen to believe your way is obscure, preferring our way to yours, make your truth shine out. When we have chosen to focus on cheer at the expense of joy, forgive us and cause righteousness and praise to spring up in your world once again. We pray in the name of the coming Christ. Amen.
Rev. Teri Peterson
Assurance of Pardon
The prophets of old have declared, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God. For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robes of righteousness. Friends, believe the good news: in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Rev. Ross Reddick
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-11
Sermon by Erin Raffety
Hymn of Response
Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer
Prayers of the People happens each week on Zoom at 10:30am! Use the info at the top of the page to join us. If you missed it, stay tuned for next week’s Zoom info or reach out to Pastor Karen for info on how to join.
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever
Amen.
Offering
Even as we are unable to gather for our Sunday morning worship services, many of the church’s expenses remain the same, and now more than ever we want to have the resources to bless the community around us. Your gracious donation will ensure that Westminster continues to Seek the Shalom of the Capital City of Trenton and beyond.
Westminster can receive donations via a simple text:
Text to 609-438-8828 the word “Give”
Westminster’s online giving number will respond asking how much you’d like to give, and steps to follow
Westminster can receive donations online:
Westminster can receive donations by check:
Westminster Presbyterian Church
PO Box 3719
Trenton, NJ 08629
Prayer of Dedication
Jesus, it is as people called and commissioned by you
And filled with your spirit
That we give generously
Not only our money, but our whole lives
Living sacrifices.
Amen.
Closing Song
Benediction
The Lord be with you
And also with you
La paz de Dios sea con-ti-go
Y tam-bien con-ti-go
Sa-wa-bona
Si-ko-na
Pyeong-hwa
Pyeong-hwa