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To support Cokesbury financially, you can give online here: Cokesbury UMC
Greeting – Greet each other in the name of the Lord. Buenes Dias. Bienvenidos.
Call to worship:
L: God has chosen you through the work of the Holy Spirit making you holy and by the faithful obedience and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
All: May God’s grace and peace be multiplied.
L: The Lord, on account of his great mercy, has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
All: May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed!
L: You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish. Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive salvation.
All: Thanks be to God!
Song – Hold on to God’s Unchanging Hand:
Time is filled with swift transition, naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal, hold to God’s unchanging hand!
Refrain:
Hold to God’s unchanging hand! Hold to God’s unchanging hand!
Build your hopes on things eternal, hold to God’s unchanging hand
Trust in Him, who will not leave you, whatsoever years may bring,
If by earthly friends forsaken, still more closely to Him cling
Refrain
Covet not this world’s vain riches, that so rapidly decay;
Seek to gain the heavenly treasures, they will never pass away.
Refrain
Jennie Wilson and F. L. Eiland
Prayer:
O Lord our God, you are always more ready to bestow your good gifts on us than we are to seek them, and are willing to give more than we deserve. Help us to seek that we may truly find, so to ask that we may joyfully receive, so to knock that the door of your mercy may be opened to us, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
Scripture – Matthew 5:43-48:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, [a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
L: The word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
Sermon Rev. Gayle Porias
Song – Sweet, Sweet Spirit – UMH 334:
There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord;
there are sweet expressions on each face, and I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
Sweet Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly Dove, stay right here with us, filling us with your love;
and for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise;
without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived when we shall leave this place.
Doris Akers CCLI# 18204
Offering and signs of reconciliation and love: Our tithes, time, talent, prayer and witness
Song – O How I love Jesus – UMH 170:
There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth
It sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth
Refrain:
O how I love Jesus! O how I love Jesus!
O how I love Jesus, because He first loved me
It tells me of a Savior’s love who died to set me free
It tells me of His precious blood, the sinner’s perfect plea
Refrain
It tells of One whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe
Who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below
Refrain
Frederick Whitfield CCLI# 28696
Prayer of dedication and Intercession
Benediction
Song – This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine, let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Announcements:
2021 Charge Conference has been set for Sunday, October 24 following worship.
The Finance Committee will be providing a monthly Cokesbury Financial Health report.
For 2021 to date:
Actual Expenditures: $82,564 (church operations and ministries- COM)
Tithes and Offerings received: $68,215
Shortfall: $14,349
The Cokesbury UMC Prayer Group meets weekly at the church on Mondays at 5:30pm in the church Fellowship Hall – all are invited to join and participate!
Please send or share all prayer concerns with Pastor Gayle so we may give each concern prayerful attention.
Messy Church: Information meeting today following worship. Introducing new people to Jesus through hospitality, friendship, story and creativity. Includes a meal, Bible story, arts and crafts, activities, celebration.
“Questions God Asks Us” by Trevor Hudson- a small group discussion begins Wednesday September 29th at 7pm. You can participate in-person (masks and social distancing) or by Zoom.
Sermon Series: based on Dr. Amy Oden’s book God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World.
A.C.T.S is in need of the following items:
Canned Vegetables, especially peas, 15 oz size, Low sodium canned vegetables, Snack items, individually packed, Pop-top canned prepared meals suitable for our homeless clients, Single serve prepared food suitable
for our homeless clients, Laundry Detergent, Dish Detergent, Cleaning Supplies in general, Toiletries and Personal Hygiene Items, Size 4T pull-ups, Size 6 diapers.
Featherstone Elementary School is in need of the following items: Refillable water bottles (child size); winter coats, hats, gloves, underwear and socks.
Church-wide clean-up day: Saturday October 9th beginning at 9am. Rain date October 16th.
For outdoor work: (if you have) weed eater, loppers, rakes, and clippers. For indoor: mask and bucket.