Worship at Home for August 9th, 2020
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, and 8/2.
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.
Opening Songs
Centering Song
Call to Worship (Psalm 105:1-6)
O give thanks to the Lord, call on God’s name, make known God’s deeds among the peoples.
Sing to God, sing praises to the Lord; tell of all God’s wonderful works.
Glory in God’s holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and God’s strength; seek God’s presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works the Lord has done, God’s miracles, and the judgments the Lord
uttered, O offspring of God’s servant Abraham, children of Jacob, the Lord’s chosen ones.
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
In this strange season when all our normal ways of gathering and taking collective action have been upended, God nevertheless calls us to be people devoted to the shalom of our city. Take a moment to listen for the voice of God. How is God inviting you to seek the shalom of the city in these days? Perhaps there is someone who God is calling you to check in on, perhaps a text or call with encouragement for someone who is suffering, perhaps a donation to an organization on the front lines. Listen for God’s invitation and make plans to respond in love and obedience.
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
God calls us to do good, care for one another and follow God’s life-giving commandments. We fall short of who we are called to be, hurting those we are to love and worshipping idols that never offer what they promise. Nonetheless, God is merciful and abounding in steadfast love. Therefore, we humbly, honestly, bravely confess our sin to God, in the company of each other, confident that God’s forgives and frees us.
Lord of wind and waves, creation and creatures, your power is at work everywhere, stilling the storms, offering peace, lifting us up from the depths of our greatest fears. You come to us immediately when we call and yet we still lack faith in your ability and will to work within and around us. We get distracted and afraid, focused on that which threatens us rather than the One who saves us. We act out of a sense of scarcity, as if there is not enough of God’s love, grace and abundant goodness for everyone. In our anxiousness we hurt those entrusted to our care, we injure the earth we are to steward and we fail to tend your sheep. Forgive our failings and mistakes and in your mercy reform us into the people you call us to be, those blessed to be a blessing. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon (Romans 10:13)
Scripture tells us that those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, that no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame. Trusting this sure promise, we rejoice that God hears our confession and forgives us. Friends, believe the good news, in Christ you are a new creation, the old has passed away and a new life has begun.
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture and Sermon
by
Minister Archange Antoine
Hymn of Response
Prayers of the People
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.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be your name
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
And Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
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, may these gifts we give
Of our money
Of our time
Of our affection
Of our service
Be small ways that we participate in your resurrection life
Which is breaking into the world.
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