Nothing But the Truth

Greetings & Announcements Call to Worship One: People of God, worship the living God today! Remember that out of nothing God created the heavens and earth. Remember that not even the gates of hell can stand against God’s purposes. Let us behold and worship our God, who reigns now and forever! Prayer of Confession   All :  Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love.  Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry for all we have done to displease you.  Forgive our sins, and help us to live in your light and walk in your ways, for the sake of Jesus  Christ, our Savior. Amen . Assurance of Pardon Scripture Readings:       Luke 24:13-35 Message:   “Ordinary People”    ...

Then Jesus said to them:  “Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other.  There will be great earthquakes and wide-scale food shortages and epidemics. There will also be terrifying sights and great signs in the sky.  -- Luke 21:10-11 (CEB) Have you checked the news lately? There's a pandemic happening around the globe. Oh...my bad! You probably have heard about it.  I don't mean to make light of it. This is a serious situation. The COVID-19 outbreak appears to be very contagious, causing over 88,000 deaths worldwide -- more than 14,000 in the United States. However, it seems when something really bad occurs within our borders or around the globe, select groups of people will use it to their advantage to create more fear and panic. Super pink moon seen in the heavens this week! Is it a sign of the end of days? Worldwide plague! Didn't Jesus say something about that? Earthquakes shaking the globe! Could this be it? Empty shelves at the grocery! What is going on??...

Palm/Passion Sunday April 5, 2020 Welcome and Announcements; Notes on Communion Call to Worship : One: O Lord, open to us the gates of righteousness so that we enter them, and give you praise. All: We will give thanks to you, for you hear our prayer, and you have become our salvation One: Blessed is the One who comes in the Lord’s name. We bless your name from the sanctuary! All: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. One: Come! Let us worship God! Hymn   All Glory, Laud and Honor (click link for music)              Prayer of Confession   All: Loving God, f orgive us those times when we think too highly of ourselves  and remind us always that you ask from us  lives dedicated to service,  to you and to our neighbors,  wherever and whoever they might be.  Enable us to take off our cloaks of self-righteousness  and lay them down a...

CSI: Jerusalem                Matthew 26:14-27:66           A crime has been committed. The victim is dead. Clues to what really happened are available at the crime scene. Evidence has been collected. Eyewitnesses have been interviewed, attesting to what they heard and what they saw.            All of this information is needed by a crime scene forensics team which is tasked with finding the truth. Forensic science uses scientific tests and techniques in the detection of crime to help answer legal questions: What was done? Who did it? Where was it done? How was it done?           Crime scene investigators, or CSIs for short, have been around a long time. Their primary responsibility is to collect and analyze physical evidence of a crime. They might collect hair, tissue, or body fluids from a crime victim or perform tests on items found at the crime scene. ...

Quarantines, self-isolation, and safer-at-home orders. We're now into Week 3 of social distancing and staying at home. No shopping in malls. No dining in restaurants. No exercising in gyms. No working in offices. No watching movies in theaters. What is there to do? You've read all of the Harry Potter books. You've binged several movies and series on Netflix or Disney+. You've played your 2,553rd round of Candy Crush. You've placed the 1,000th piece into your Star Wars jigsaw puzzle. You've taken more naps than when you were a kid. What is there left to do? Well, allow me to introduce you to someone who knows exactly how we're feeling as we try to keep our distance to stop the spread of the coronavirus... and to keep our sanity until the danger passes. This is  Layla .  It seems Layla has the beginnings of a bad case of cabin fever.  First used in 1918, cabin fever refers to an  extreme irritability and restlessness from living in isolation or a con...