Worship at Home for November 29, 2020
First 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, and 11/22.
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 34:1-3)
In this uncertain season of Advent, we wait.
Hoping, hoping God is coming to us.
In the vagueness of these days, we try to listen.
Hoping, hoping the Word will be whispered to us.
In the weariness of our times, we wait, we listen, we watch.
Hoping, hoping the Spirit will be found in our midst.
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 11/29/2020
“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. Blessings as you continue your antiracism spiritual practice.
Monday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 10, 2020 (constantcontact.com)
Wednesday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 11, 2020 (constantcontact.com)
Friday
Daily Lenten Interruption - March 12, 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
Come,
God-who-draws-near-to-us,
for we live in fretful times,
wondering if we will ever come out of them.
Come to us, with your grace.
Come,
God-who-has-walked-these-roads,
for we long to be faithful in these days,
but find it all to easy to be seduced by worry.
Come to us, with your hope.
Come,
God-who-carries-life-in-your-breath,
for we try to stay apart for others and ourselves,
but find it easy to listen to those who
mock us for being so foolish.
Come to us, with your love.
Word of Flesh:
have mercy;
Friend of the poor:
have mercy;
Bridegroom of the faithful:
have mercy.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
In the midst of all our uncertainty, we are reminded of the old truths, that God loves us, God forgives us, God restores us to new life..
The Child has come, bringing grace, offering mercy, and wrapping us in arms of love! Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Sermon by PTS Intern Lexi Aligarbes
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