Worship on June 29
The congregation gathered together. There was much talk in excited as they waited for a time of worship to begin.
Mr. Remaly led the announcement time. Betsy R, Wilma G, Gina G and Jack H each has a word of praise to share with the congregation. Julie W and Chris W voiced a prayer concern.
The worship service was called to order. Dave Need was the liturgist of the morning.
Connie Hinesley led us in the opening praise songs of “This is My Commandment” and “Surely the Presence”.
The pastor led us in a time of prayer.
The pastor gave a short description of why baptism is important to our faith. While he talked he poured water from a pitcher into a baptismal fount. He called Ric and Lisa Brown and their family forward. We participated in the baptism of Meleah and Adam.
Betsy Remaly called forward all the children who participated in this year’s community VBS. About 30 of the 125 kids were in our church this morning. She gave a short review of the week, including thanking the youth group for their help in running games. She had the sing one of the songs they learned this week.
Jeff Reach taught the children when they’d finished singing. He asked 12 of them to form a line. He whispered to the first one saying, “Pastor Rick is actually the Incredible Hulk and Cheryl is Wonder Woman.” That is not what the last child heard. Jeff talked about the evils of gossip.
Following the collecting of the offering we sang “The Lord’s Prayer.”
The scripture reading was from Hebrews 5:1-14.
The pastor said that although verses 1 – 3 talk about some of the work of the Jewish High Priest and how Jesus fulfilled that work, this also describes the work of each believer. We are called to represent one another in our dealings with God.
We are to offer the gifts and sacrifices of our time as we help one another deal with our sin problems. We are to be gentle with others as they don’t always understand faith questions. We want to be harsh. We should be gentle.
In reference to verse 7 the pastor pointed out that Jesus had a prayer list and a pleading list. Each of us should spend time pleading with God about those issues that are close to our heart.
In reference to verses 12-14 the pastor talked about how easy it is to just skim the faith. We need to take the time to dig deep into faith. He compared that to drinking milk or eating steak and taters. We’d rather eat the solid food. We should want the deep truths of faith.
We should read the Bible and ask ourselves how to better apply that truth to our life. We should spend serious time in prayer and take the time to listen to God’s words. We should spend time serving others. We should take the leaps of faith that God presents to us. We can’t grow in our faith if we don’t use our faith.
Our closing hymn was “He Touched Me.”
About 142 fine folk enjoyed our time of worship.
