CHURCH SERVICES
at the
UNITED CHURCH of LUDLOW
are shared ELECTRONICALLY
Contact unitedchurch@tds.net
or call 802-228-4211
for more information.
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If you are comfortable attending in person, please join us.
The doors open at 9:45 am, and worship begins at 10:00 am.
We follow procedures to minimize the risk of exposure.
Please read and follow these procedures for the safety of all.
If you are not able to attend in person, a simultaneous Zoom stream is available.
Send an email to unitedchurch@tds.net to get Zoom access.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
We thank C. J. King for presenting our service this week.
A Warm Welcome to All Visitors.
If any member of the congregation may be of service to you, please contact the
church office at 802-228-4211 or unitedchurch@tds.net.
Regarding Individuals in the Hospital or Sick at Home
It would be greatly appreciated if you know of individuals or family members in
the hospital or sick at home, to kindly inform the church office at 802-228-4211
or unitedchurch@tds.net.
Upcoming Meetings/Events
Executive Board Meeting - Wednesday, Jan. 27, 7:00 pm
Gill Home Board Meeting – Saturday, Feb. 6, 9:00 am
Weekly Offerings
Please mail your offerings to our Receiver of Offerings, Anne Oakes at
145 Merrill Road, Ludlow, Vermont 05149.
Altar Guild
Linda Alexander and Carol Wu provide the Altar Guild services.
Prayer Concerns
Please keep Courtenay Dundy in your prayers. Donations may be made to
Special Olympics in remembrance of her mother, Pam Dundy.
We ask that you keep Terry DeYoung's father, Arthur Marin, in your prayers as he
recovers from Covid-19.
We continue to keep the following in our prayers:
James Almond, Terry DeYoung, Kathy Doyle, Judy Edwards,
Jean Eggleston, Carolyn Gauthier, Sheila Kafer, Susan Kneebone,
Ginny Kottkamp, Anne Oakes, Evelyn Tucker, Herb Van Guilder,
and Evelyn Verro.
Celebrations
Sandy Peplau celebrates a birthday on January 28th.
Don Harpster celebrates a birthday on January 31st.
David Almond celebrates a birthday on February 1st.
_________________________________________________________________________
If any member of the congregation may be of service to you, please contact the
church office at 802-228-4211 or unitedchurch@tds.net.
Regarding Individuals in the Hospital or Sick at Home
It would be greatly appreciated if you know of individuals or family members in
the hospital or sick at home, to kindly inform the church office at 802-228-4211
or unitedchurch@tds.net.
Upcoming Meetings/Events
Executive Board Meeting - Wednesday, Jan. 27, 7:00 pm
Gill Home Board Meeting – Saturday, Feb. 6, 9:00 am
Weekly Offerings
Please mail your offerings to our Receiver of Offerings, Anne Oakes at
145 Merrill Road, Ludlow, Vermont 05149.
Altar Guild
Linda Alexander and Carol Wu provide the Altar Guild services.
Prayer Concerns
Please keep Courtenay Dundy in your prayers. Donations may be made to
Special Olympics in remembrance of her mother, Pam Dundy.
We ask that you keep Terry DeYoung's father, Arthur Marin, in your prayers as he
recovers from Covid-19.
We continue to keep the following in our prayers:
James Almond, Terry DeYoung, Kathy Doyle, Judy Edwards,
Jean Eggleston, Carolyn Gauthier, Sheila Kafer, Susan Kneebone,
Ginny Kottkamp, Anne Oakes, Evelyn Tucker, Herb Van Guilder,
and Evelyn Verro.
Celebrations
Sandy Peplau celebrates a birthday on January 28th.
Don Harpster celebrates a birthday on January 31st.
David Almond celebrates a birthday on February 1st.
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January 24, 2021 10:00 A. M.
Service of Worship
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
PRELUDE
(All are encouraged to use the prelude for quiet meditation to prepare for
the worship service.)
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND GREETING
The grace of our LORD Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13: 13)
And also with you.
CALL TO WORSHIP* (Please Stand.)
Holy God, you gather the whole universe into your radiant presence and
continually reveal your Son as our Savior. Bring healing to all wounds,
make whole all that is broken, speak truth to all illusion, and shed light in
every darkness, that all creation will see your glory and know your Christ.
Amen.
HYMN 358* Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
OPENING PRAYER*
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
People: If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1: 8-9)
Pastor: Let us confess our sins before God and one another.
People: God, you call us and sometimes we duck under the table, hoping
you didn’t notice us. You call us, and we try to look too busy to answer. You
call us, and sometimes we just say, “No!” We know that we aren’t expected
to do everything, but we often forget that you call us to be ourselves in the
places where our very self is what is most needed. So give us the grace to
say “Yes” to your call… even now…as we offer our silent confessions…
SILENCE (Silence observed for reflection and prayer.)
ASSURANCE OF GOD’S LOVE AND FORGIVENESS
God will not deny a repentant heart or an open spirit.
Know that you are forgiven and walk anew in the assurance of God's love.
Be open to the words of your Lord and Master. Walk anew with Jesus.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
READING OF SCRIPTURE
FIRST READING Jonah 3: 1-10
GLORIA 70*
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
THE GOSPEL LESSON Mark 1: 14-20
SERMON “Reluctant Prophets”
HYMN 475* Come Down, O Love Divine
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (“trespasses”)
PRAYER RESPONSE Hymnal, No. 473
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness;
Make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only,
That makest me dwell in safety.
OFFERTORY SENTENCE
“They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; all shall give as
they are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he
has given you." (Deuteronomy 16:16-17)
OFFERTORY
DOXOLOGY
At the Presentation, Hymn 95* Old 100th
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, you heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION*
Generous God, we ask you to bless the gifts we give this morning.
We ask that you help us grow in trust, that we might follow without looking
back, and that we might experience more deeply our new life in you.
Help us to leave our nets on the shore, leave those things that seemed
essential before we heard the call, so that we might travel the road you have
put before us. In the name of Christ who goes before us and beside us, we
pray. Amen.
HYMN 467* Trust and Obey
BENEDICTION AND BLESSING*
BENEDICTION RESPONSE
DISMISSAL
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
* All who are able may stand.
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Lyrics to the Hymns
for the January 24 Service
HYMN 358 Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard, beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow thee.
O sabbath rest by Galilee, O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!
Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
HYMN 475 Come Down, O Love Divine
Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace, till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
HYMN 467 Trust and Obey
When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
[Refrain]
But we never can prove the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
[Refrain]
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do, where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
[Refrain]
_________________________________________________________________________
for the January 24 Service
HYMN 358 Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard, beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow thee.
O sabbath rest by Galilee, O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!
Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
HYMN 475 Come Down, O Love Divine
Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace, till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
HYMN 467 Trust and Obey
When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
[Refrain]
But we never can prove the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
[Refrain]
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do, where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
[Refrain]
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