Month: March 2022

Worship Service for March 27, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Attendance is returning almost to normal. We had 61 this past Sunday. That’s the highest since the start of the pandemic! Denny Huff is soon to arrive at the church to help me pull down 20 more chairs from the attic. And it is time for me to ask all of you who are able to fill in the west parking lot facing the pavilion first. This will leave more readily visible and available spaces for newcomers. This does not apply to those of you who need to be close to the entrance for health reasons.

We will be opening the nursery and kids’ worship next Sunday. We still need 3 volunteers for kids’ worship and one for the nursery. The folks who lead kids’ worship take the kids in the kids’ worship room during the sermon time to give them a Bible lesson. You will be given a very easy-to-follow curriculum the Sunday before. Both the nursery and kids’ worship will be available each Sunday as volunteers come forward to fill those positions. Please see Gail today after worship to let her know if you can help.

Our community Easter Egg Hunt will be held on the Saturday before Easter. We noticed that in the last three years we were able to have one, the majority of the families came as a result of being invited by a CrossPointer or a friend of CrossPointe in the community. So your mission, if you wish to accept it, is to spread the word. The event will begin at 11 am and conclude at 12:30 pm. We will be encouraging people to pre-register online. We would love for you to get involved. We will need both candy and helpers. There are sign-up sheets on the table in the back.

Let’s show some appreciation to Chuck Lemmon who has been leading our Recovery Ministry for five years!

Larry and Cathy Warner made their weekly sojourn to Akron to fetch some of those wonderful Gardner’s Pies. Please take one home for a donation that will go toward paying down our church mortgage! Thank you Larry and Cathy! And thank you who have been taking home those pies!

In the middle of creation, God is talking to one of his angels and says, “Do you know what I have just done? I have just created a 24-hour period of alternating light and darkness on Earth. Isn’t that good?”
The angel says, “Yes, but what are You going to do now?”
God says, “I think I’ll call it a day.”

CALL TO WORSHIP

He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

John 1:10-17

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Worship Service for March 20, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Most of you are aware that we recently expanded our stage and had new flooring installed on it and back into our office space. Thanks to our Trustees and especially Trustee Jerry Barnes. At the same time, the Trustees thought it would be nice to take advantage of the situation to also install some mic/instrument inputs and electrical outlets and I want to thank Jim Brandenburg for putting them in. You can readily see some of them on the facing of the stage. It was a very tedious job as Jim had to solder about 80 connections to make it happen.

Our leaders met this past Tuesday evening and among other decisions we made, set a goal to re-open the nursery and kids’ worship by the first Sunday in April. If your heart beats for kids and you would like to know more about either position, please talk to Gail today after the service.

Next Friday is our next Community Meal. If you’d like to help serve it, please let Sandy Barnes know.

Lastly, we are planning an Easter Egg Hunt for the Saturday before Easter. We need volunteers. There are sign-up sheets on the table I the back.

Before I read today’s Call to Worship, I have a little story. Whether it’s true or not, I leave to you to decide.

After God made Adam, he noticed that Adam was sad and asked what was wrong.
Adam replied, “I’m lonely.”
God said, “That’s no good! How about I make you a companion? One that is appealing, will cook and clean, and doesn’t mind it when you hang out with the guys or watch football?”
Adam can’t contain himself: “That sounds awesome! What will it cost me?”
God says, “An arm and a leg!”
Adam asks, “What can I get for a rib?”

By the way, were you aware that we’d all be living in paradise if Adam and Eve were Chinese. Because they would’ve eaten the snake and not the apple.

But alas, they ate the forbidden fruit as Paul writes about it in our . . .

CALL TO WORSHIP

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. … Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12, 14b-17

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Worship Service for March 13, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lets’ begin with a little ancient Biblical history:

After God created Adam from dust, He noticed that Adam was sad and asked what was wrong.
Adam answered, “I’m lonely.”
So God said something like, “How about I make you a companion? One that is pretty, will cook and clean, and doesn’t mind it when you spend time with the guys or watch football?”
Adam says, “That sounds awesome! What will it cost me?”
God replies, “An arm and a leg!”
Adam asks, “What can I get for a rib?”

Speaking of being sad, Gail and I were scheduled to go to Syracuse New York this weekend to help celebrate the birthday of our grandson, Eliot. But alas, he and his sister, Anna, came down with bad colds and their parents thought it best to cancel. That’s the third time this year that we have had to cancel trips to see family due to illness.

Anyway, I had asked and Jim Brandenburg had accepted the invitation to preach today while we were supposedly going to be away. And so, although it was sad that we could not make our trip we are glad to be here today to participate in this service of worship.

Our leaders met this past Tuesday evening and among other decisions we made, set a goal to re-open the nursery and kid’s worship by the first Sunday in April.

One practice that we adopted during the pandemic was to not pass offering baskets and we are going to maintain that. Not because of covid fears, but because it seems to work better. So for the time being we will continue the practice of placing our offerings in the wooden box on the wooden table next to the doors.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

Psalm 130

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Worship Service for March 6, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thanks to all who participated in this past Wednesday’s Prayer Vigil.

Today, we are blessed to be able to celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion. I am so happy to say all who desire to be right with God through the Lord Jesus are welcome to come to the table and receive what God in Christ offers. If you are reading or listening at home, I encourage you to pause in order to prepare the communion elements you will be using.

This is also the first Sunday of six in the Lenten season. On these Sundays, I plan on drawing closer to Christ by examining the lives of some of the people who were close to Jesus then. Today we will focus on who I am calling “the fickle follower.”

CALL TO WORSHIP

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.

Ephesians 1:1-7

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