Jesus said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Mark 2:17
Dear Bethel,
Join us in worship this week as we continue our year-long journey through the Gospel of Mark! You may find today’s worship service on YouTube and posted to our Bethel UMC Facebook page. Links to our Facebook page, YouTube channel and an order of worship are shared below.
Bethel’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bethelmethodistcolumbia.
Bethel’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPfIqRQ6Nt6B3-bxNyPJDA.
If you would like to receive a DVD of our worship service please email a request to Sheryl at office@bethelmethodistcolumbia.com. We would be happy to send you one!
The church office will be *CLOSED* on Monday, September 7 in observance of the Labor Day Holiday.
Sheryl and Pastor Julie will be working in the church office Tuesday through Thursday this week. The telephone number to the church office is (803) 787-3058, and the church office email is office@bethelmethodistcolumbia.com.
Pastor Julie and Pastor Reggie may be reached directly on their personal cell phones at any time.
Julie Belman: (803) 319-6169
Reggie Rowell: (843) 697-6967
May the Peace of Christ surround you today, and always,
Pastor Julie
Sunday Worship at Home
Bethel UMC Columbia | Rev. Julie Songer Belman
September 6, 2020
Preparation: Find a spot in your home for yourself/your family to engage in worship. Include your Bible, a candle, and a lighter or matches (or battery operated candle or low wattage table lamp), if possible. You might consider a small cross as well.
Welcome: Thank you for joining us! We pray you will be blessed by your time of worship with us today.
Prelude: “Serve the Lord with Gladness”
While Bill plays the prelude, we invite you to light or turn on the candle/lamp to acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit in your worship. Take a deep breath and give thanks for God’s presence.
Offertory: Bethel Handbell Choir
Your continued support of God’s ongoing work at Bethel UMC is sincerely appreciated. Contributions to the mission of Bethel {Knowing, Loving, Serving: so the world may experience Christ’s Love!} may be made by mailing a check to 4600 Daniel Drive, Columbia SC 29206, or giving online at: bethelmethodistcolumbia.com. You may also contact your bank to have them draft a check on your behalf.
Pastoral Prayer: Please join with Pastor Reggie as he prays today. Pray for yourself, your family, your church community, your city, your state, your country, our world. Pray for the global health situation, particularly for those who are sick, those who are lonely, those who are gripped by fear, those who are facing financial hardship, those without safe shelter, those who are hungry, our healthcare workers, our leaders in every realm. Give thanks, once again, for God’s faithfulness and seek God’s guidance for ways to offer love and grace in the world right now.
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Anthem: “Lord of the Dance” Enjoy this powerful anthem sung by our Bethel Choir.
Scripture: Today is Week Six on our year long journey through the Gospel of Mark. Today Pastor Julie is preaching on Mark 2:13-28. We invite you to open your Bibles (or the Bible app on your phone!) at home and read along.
Sermon: “Style, and Substance, and Soul“ Rev. Julie Songer Belman
Hymn Meditation: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson
(Thank you to Marian Scullion for providing our weekly Hymn Meditations!)
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 God’s redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’ve 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, bought me with his precious blood.
Oh, 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.
In 1752, a young Robert Robinson attended an evangelical meeting to heckle the believers and make fun of the proceedings. Instead, he listened in awe to the words of the great preacher George Whitefield, and in 1755, at the age of twenty, Robinson responded to the call he felt three years earlier and became a Christian. Another three years later, when preparing a sermon for his church in Norfolk, England, he penned the words that have become one of the church’s most-loved hymns: “Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.”
In some texts, instead of “Here I find my greatest treasure,” (Psalter Hymnal) the first line of verse two reads “Here I raise mine Ebenezer,” a reference to 1 Samuel 7:12, in which Samuel sets up a stone and names it Ebenezer meaning “The Lord has helped us”
Using imagery of Christ as the giver of living water and the shepherd gathering his sheep back into the fold, this hymn reminds the worshipper of the ever bountiful grace of God. Like Robinson, we too are “prone to wander,” and are quick to seek redemption through our own power. But God continues to bring us back from our wandering, until, songs of praise on our lips, we dance forever before the mount of His redeeming love.
Our meditation today comes from Hymnary.org (https://hymnary.org/text/come_thou_fount_of_every_blessing)
Benediction: Say these words aloud:
Go forth with the Lord at your side, seeking goodness and compassion.
Bring the words of hope and peace to all whom you meet. AMEN.
Go in Peace: Check on someone you love today.