1 Kings 17:5-16
Sunday Worship at Home
Bethel UMC Columbia | Rev. Julie Songer Belman
November 8, 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: “This Is a Day of New Beginnings”
While the prelude is played, 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: “Fill My Cup, Lord
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: “Worship the King of Kings” Enjoy this lovely anthem sung by our Bethel Choir.
Scripture: During the month of November we are taking a short break from our Year of Mark worship series. Today, Pastor Julie is preaching on 1 Kings 17:5-16. We invite you to open your Bibles (or the Bible app on your phone!) at home and read along.
Sermon: “Digging Deep!”
Hymn Meditation: God Is Here
Words by Fred Pratt Green Music by Cyril V. Taylor (ABBOT’S LEIGH)
(A thanks to Marian Scullion for always compiling this beautiful and meaningful Hymn Meditations for us!)
God is here! As we your people meet to offer praise and prayer,
may we find in fuller measure what it is in Christ we share.
Here, as in the world around us, all our varied skills and arts
wait the coming of the Spirit into open minds and hearts.
Here are symbols to remind us of our lifelong need of grace;
here are table, font, and pulpit; here the cross has central place.
Here in honesty of preaching, here in silence, as in speech,
here, in newness and renewal, God the Spirit comes to each.
Here our children find a welcome in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;
here as bread and wine are taken, Christ sustains us, as of old.
Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore
what it means in daily living to believe and to adore.
Lord of all, of church and kingdom, in an age of change and doubt
keep us faithful to the gospel; help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day’s dedication, all we have to give, receive;
we, who cannot live without you, we adore you! We believe!
It was requested of Rev. Fred Pratt Green that he write a hymn text to be sung at a festival on worship, music, and the arts in which the church would dedicate chancel furniture and rededicate themselves to God. It was also requested that he set his text to the hymn tune ABBOT”S LEIGH which was to be introduced to the congregation.
Concerning the text of the hymn, right away in the first three words of the hymn, “God Is Here,” we acknowledge something that so often we forget—God is here in worship and calls us first. We thank God for the gifts in the church, through Christ, and remember together that we bring thanks to God for the “varied skills and arts” as we invoke the “coming of the Spirit” into “open minds and hearts.” Note the poet, in stanza 1, succeeds in acknowledging the Trinitarian God, as well as ending the stanza referencing our United Methodist ethos with the words, “open minds and hearts.” In stanza 2, by way of reminding us of the outward symbols of our “need of grace,” Rev. Pratt Green manages to incorporate a list of those symbols in a natural, unforced way, then moves into the preaching and hearing of the Word, emphasizing its importance to each individual. In stanza 3, the inclusive word, “children,” reflects the importance of hospitality in a biblical sense, the common Table, and the need to extend this hospitality into daily life. The text of Stanza 4 acknowledges the timelessness of “change and doubt” with faithfulness to the gospel as assurance. With a brief reference to the special day for which the text was written that does not over-personalize the event, Rev. Pratt Green proclaims the essence of our faith in the last words, “We believe!”
This week’s meditation is from the UMC Discipleship Ministries History of Hymns (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-god-is-here).
Benediction: Say these words aloud:
May we dig deep and drink freely this week – knowing that wherever God sends us, the peace of Christ will go with us!
Go in Peace: Check on someone you love today.