Worship at Home for June 20, 2020
Men of the Church Sunday
&
Happy Father’s Day
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, and 6/14.
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 86:1-5)
Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long.
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
Our city and many cities across the country have seen protests seeking justice and reform in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Let us pray and work together for change in our city. Many Westminster members participated in various protests and prayer gatherings as our way of seeking the shalom of our city, nation, and world.
Also, we pray that God continue to bless the efforts of the Westminster/Capital Area YMCA partnership as we help distribute 480 breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday to now over 200 youth 18 years and younger. This week muchisimas gracias go out to Lolly O’Brien and Nassau’s Craft Committee for creating and distributing 300 crafts for Trenton children and youth.
Also during this time, we encourage you to pray for friends and family, neighbors, our city, our country, and the world. Particularly keep in mind those who are most vulnerable during this time: the elderly and immuno-compromised who are particularly vulnerable to infection, the poor who are particularly vulnerable economically as daycares and businesses close, and those without healthcare coverage.
Pray also for all our healthcare workers who face a daunting task ahead and who place themselves in harm’s way in love and service to their community.
Prayers for Westminster nurses Rachel, Chiquera, and Chuck and corrections officer Latipha; all three are caring for people with COVID 19.
Finally, take a moment to listen for the voice of God. How is God inviting you to seek the shalom of the city in light of the spreading corona virus? 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
The Lord preserves our lives. God abounds in forgiveness and steadfast love. Therefore, we are free to come without fear to the throne of grace and honestly repent of our sin. Come, all who want to confess, repent and be made whole. Come and call on the Lord who promises to hear our cries.
God of the sparrow, you tell us that the very hairs on our heads are counted. You assure us of our value in your sight and promise to never abandon us. Yet we act out of a spirit of timidity and not courage. We live as if our discipleship does not have life or death consequences for ourselves and for others. We keep silent when we should speak, and say much that ought not ever leave our lips. Forgive us, we pray, for the times we allowed injustice to go unchecked and inequity to persist without even a word of protest. In your mercy forgive what we have done and left undone. Help us to acknowledge Christ in all our actions so that he will acknowledge us before you in heaven. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
(Romans 6:9-11)
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Friends, believe the good news, through Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture: Proverbs 27:17
Sermon: Today’s Man 2020 Iron Sharpens Iron
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.
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
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 Thine 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
Divine Love, we hear your call, and we desire to respond
With these gifts and with our whole lives.
We will follow you, Jesus, wherever you lead us.
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