The Work of The People - 3-29-20
Welcome to the Work of The People! This our weekly worship service online. It is a compilation of what the people of Knox Knolls have offered up to God in worship. You are invited in. From wherever you are, join in the reading, the praying, the singing and preaching. Our vision at Knox Knolls FMC is to become a church that Welcomes Everyone, and Makes Disciples. Join us in the work of the people and seek in all you do to become more like Jesus. Rejoice and be glad in this day that the Lord has made and given us.
March 29, 2020 - Fifth Sunday of Lent
Opening Prayer With Abby Cox
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly
wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to
love what you command and desire what you promise; that,
among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts
may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Scripture Reading With John Haley - Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD." So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act," says the LORD.
Song By Brennan & The Boyertones - This Is Amazing Grace
Unison Scripture Reading With Melissa Lueken - Psalm 130
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.
Song By The Laurelettes (Brenna & Nicole) - Desert Song
Scripture Reading With Justin M. - Romans 8:6-11
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law-- indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Scripture Reading With Melody Everitt - John 11:28-45
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Announcements & Sermon – Pastor Tyler
Closing Song By the Allisongs (Sarah & Tyler) – Doxology
Announcements
Sunday Morning: Work of the People Online!
We will be meeting online for at least one more Sunday. Watch the website this wee for some creative suggestions for Palm Sunday online! We will continue to keep you posted about when we can gather together again.
Love Feast At Home
Since we cannot gather together and enjoy the Lord’s Supper, I would encourage you to join with those you are sheltering with and share a Love Feast. I have provided instructions on our Work of the People document. As Acts reminds us, we can commune with God and each other by “Eating with glad and sincere hearts.” Until we can meet at the Lord’s Table together let’s gather with prayerful and thankful intention at our own tables.
Giving
Though we are not currently in our building, our bills continue to come and need to be paid. All of you have been so generous in giving to God and to others. Please continue to be the godly and generous people that you are. You can give your tithes and offerings by mailing them to the church, or by going to our website and giving online.
Website & Morning Prayer
Remember to join in morning prayer from Thou My Best Thought. Prayers will be posted at our Blog and on Facebook. Also don’t forget to contribute to the Knox Knolls Worship Spotify Playlist! Check the website often.
Cards & Letters
Remember those of our number who are in assisted living facilities. Opal Smith, Jim Gall, Maxine Whitlock, Betty Miles and Patsy Fuller. You may know others as well who are quarantined. Please send these wonderful women a card or a letter as you remember!
Love Feast Instructions
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
- After Pentecost, the church practiced what has come to be known at the Love Feast.
- This is not the same as the Lord’s Supper, but remember the Lord’s Supper came at the end of a Passover meal.
- I want to encourage at least once this week to celebrate this meal with those you are with. Make one meal this week sacred; make it a feast where you love God and each other.
Step One: Cook your dinner and gather at the table, include bread you can pass and share if you are not bread averse.
Step Two: Devote yourselves for a moment to prayer and the apostles teachings. Have someone at the table open with the following prayer for the Love Feast by Charles Wesley-
"Father of earth and heaven, Thy hungry children feed, Thy grace be to our spirits given, That true immortal bread. Grant us and all our race In Jesus Christ to prove The sweetness of thy pardoning grace, The manna of thy love. Amen"
Have another person at the table read Psalm 145:8-21
Step Three: Break bread, pass it to one another, remember Jesus and his blessings and enjoy your meal.
Step Four: At the end of the meal follow the example of generosity set by the early church and talk together about how you might give to God and to your neighbor this week.
Step Five: Conclude your meal with prayer, or singing, or sharing what you are thankful for.
