January 30, 2022 Worship

 PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Worship via Blog     Fourth Sunday after Epiphany    January 30, 2022

 WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome to Pioneer’s blog worship service. Though we are accessing this remotely and unable to look each other in the eye, we are still the Pioneer faith community, gathered as children of God to worship, to be spiritually fed, and to be equipped to go out to serve in Christ’s name—though we do it differently during this pandemic.

 

Pioneer offers worship in several modes:

a)    The blog.

b)   The blog service mailed through US Postal service.

c)    Sermons only, mailed to those who so request.

d)   Zoom services at 10:00 Sunday mornings.

e)    Live worship with masks and social distancing has plenty of room for additional worshipers.

 

-         Women’s Spirituality meets Tuesday at 10:30

 

Now allow yourself a brief time of silence as you open your hearts and feel God’s presence with you, right where you are.

 

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BAPTISM:         Friends, remember your baptism … and be thankful.

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

  A word of encouragement came from prophet to people;

              Live a life that is full – build, plant, eat, love, multiply-

       Pray for your communities

                Keep God in the center of all that is.

  We enter into worship today with hope in our hearts

              For something happens here that reminds us that we can live as God desires

   God has made a promise of faithfulness to us

                 And we can trust the promise. 

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Lord Jesus, thank you for making the perfect plan for our lives; plans for good and not for harm.  Thank you for protecting us while we are led in the way we should go.  We may not always understand why things are the way they are or where exactly we are headed, but we trust you.  We thank you for your master plan.  Help us today to discern your call and direction.  Give us the courage and strength to obey your commands.  Your way is the best way, Lord, and we vow to follow you.  In your good and holy name we pray, Amen 

 

OPENING HYMN:     “We Are the Family of God”                     LU #16

                                    "In The Bulb There is a Flower"                LU #88

                                  

         

CALL TO CONFESSION

The act of confessing our sin is not simply a recitation of our faults and wrongs, but also an opportunity to receive God’s mercy and share in that abundant grace.  Confident of God’s love for us, let us offer our prayers. 

 

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours.  Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to you.  For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength.  Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to you in our world. Remind us to be who you would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with.  Hold us closes to you and build our relationship with you and with those you have given us on earth. Amen 

PASSING THE PEACE

          May the peace of Christ be with you.

                   And also with you.

Let us extend the peace of Christ in heart and prayer to one another.

 

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

 

1^st SCRIPTURE READING:  Philippians 4: 4-13                        Page #1024

          2^nd SCRIPTURE READING: Jeremiah 29: 4-7, 11-14a               Page #676

 

SERMON                          "Look For The Flowers"         Sheila Cunningham

 

HYMN:                             “I Will Come to You”                         Glory   #177

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

O great and tender God. You have provided in your carefully crafted plan a path to eternal life, a way to endless love, a means to renewing forgiveness.  But we don’t always see the path.  Sometimes the way is foggy, sometimes we have trouble choosing the right fork in the road.  At times the side streets distract us, and we become lost.  Sometimes the road is just plain washed out and we get bogged down in the muck of life. It’s in those times that you always have a way to find us, a way to rescue us.  For those times we give you thanks. We give you thanks for the comfort and coziness of our homes, and we thank you for the family and friends who fill these homes with love and laughter.  Lord, we have so much to be thankful for.  Help us to come to you in gratitude and humbleness for all these blessings.

 

In our humbleness may we never forget those who find it hard to be grateful.  Those who have suffered from natural disasters, those who are experiencing loss – loss of employment, loss of dreams, loss of relationships, loss of direction.  Those who struggle with addiction.  Those who live in the shadow of fear.  Those who feel alone, scared, cold, beaten down.  And Lord, we all have those feelings at one time or another.  Bless us and all those around us near and far who stumble and fall.  Bring us upright again with you.

 

Lord, we bring to you those in our church family who are hurting.  Please lay your hand of comfort and peace on ___________________________ (please include names on the back of the bulletin.)

 

Are there additional prayers of joys and concerns that you would like to share?

Let us pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray: Our Father… 

OFFERING

Let us bring before God the gifts of our hearts and labors. 

 

DOXOLOGY

 

PRAYER OF THANKS AND DEDICATION

You have blessed us generously in our lives.  These gifts are a token of those blessings.  As we dedicate our monetary gifts, may we also dedicate our lives to spreading your love and compassion to all your children.  Amen 

 

CLOSING HYMN:             “God Be with You Till We Meet Again”              Glory #541

 

BENEDICTION

         So where do we go from here?  We go forward, knowing that we don’t go alone.  God goes with us and provides support through our church family, remember, we are the family of God.   Be there for each other, cry on each other’s shoulders, share memories, laugh, play games – competitively, remember all that Jean has taught us.  I found a list that Jean had written that she titled: I Want to Live My Life Well and then went on to list what that means to her.  Her list included: live without fear, live in love, live generously, live honestly, and live trusting God, among other things.  May we strive to live our lives that way as well. Jean was a great example of what it means when we hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Now, go in peace and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit go with you.

 

CHORAL RESPONSE

May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever. Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up your eyes and see his face and his grace forever. May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever.

 

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LOOKING AHEAD

Today following service: Deacons will meet

 

 

PRAYER CARE:

Tina Bossuot (Alzheimer’s), Verna’s sisters (Covid recovery), (one passed away), Mary and Ray Swarthout, Sandy Cargill (breast cancer), Somer Bauer (breast cancer), Tasha Sizemore (Crohn’s), Jacob Cunningham, Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark’s family (Dave passed away), Virginia DesIlets (age 100!), Margaret Dunbar (Ashley Manor), George and Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Darlene Wingfield (pulmonary fibrosis, breast cancer), Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s).

 

 

LECTIONARY FOR 2/6/22

Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13); Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11