Round Hill Community Church
ORDER OF SERVICE
August 11, 2013
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
PRELUDE
Christ Our Lord and Savior
J.S. Bach
WORDS OF WELCOME
INTROIT
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God has been acting in our lives and in the world
around us this past week.
All:
We have come for this hour of worship to make
ourselves more aware of God and to give thanks for
God’s presence with us.
Leader:
God is here even now, ready to strengthen us and to
urge us to greater faithfulness.
All:
Fill us with your goodness, O God. Draw us into the
orbit of your activity in the world that we might fulfill
the purpose for which you created us. Amen.
*HYMN No. 276
We Gather Together
*PRAYER
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires
known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy spirit,
that we may perfectly love, and worthily magnify your holy
Name.
*CHURCH CREED
I believe in God, the one universal Father of all mankind,
revealed supremely in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and present with
us to guide, comfort and inspire in the Holy Spirit. I believe in
the Kingdom of God; and in the mission of the Christian
Church to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, exalting the
worship of the Lord our God, and laboring for the progress of
knowledge, the promotion of righteousness, the reign of peace,
and the realization of human brotherhood. United in
Christian love, we pray and labor for the coming of the
Kingdom, the triumph of righteousness and the life
everlasting. Amen.
*GLORIA PATRI
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.
Children are invited to leave for Church School Classes
SUMMER HYMN SING
ANTHEM
Let All Things Now Living Taditional Welsh Melody
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
2 Kings 5:1-15
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was
a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the
Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty
warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their
raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she
served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord
were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his
leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl
from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go
then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand
shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to
the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know
that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him
of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his
clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man
sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see
how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of
Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why
have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn
that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses
and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha
sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven
times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But
Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for
me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of
the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure
the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and
be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants
approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had
commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have
done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and
be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in
the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was
restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his
company; he came and stood before him and said, ‘Now I know
that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a
present from your servant.’
Luke 10:25-37
A lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what
must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written
in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor
as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer;
do this, and you will live.’
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is
my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who
stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half
dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when
he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite,
when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he
saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged
his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him
on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the
innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I
will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do
you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the
robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘Go and do likewise.’
SERMON
Crossing the Border
*HYMN No. 582
The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann
Come Down, O Love Divine
OFFERING
Invitation
Offertory prayer
Anthem
*Doxology
*Hymn No. 720
PASTORAL PRAYER
Lay Me Low
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies
Shaker Song
(verse 1)
THE LORD’S PRAYER (using “trespasses”)
*HYMN No. 595
Be Thou My Vision
CHURCH PRAYER
Our Heavenly Father, shed forth thy blessed spirit upon all
our lives. Make each one of us an instrument in thy hands for
good. Purify our hearts, strengthen our minds and bodies, fill
us with Christian love. Let no pride, no self-conceit, no rivalry,
no ill-will ever spring up among us. Make us earnest and true,
wise and prudent, giving no just cause for offense; and may
thy holy peace rest upon us this day and every day throughout
the coming week, sweetening our trials, cheering us in our
work, and keeping us faithful to the end, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE
POSTLUDE
We All Believe in One God
*The congregation is invited to stand.
J.S. Bach
CHURCH NEWS
Thank you to today’s ushers, Bon Jasperson and Michael
Sandifer.
We offer a special welcome to Rick Tripodi, who will be our guest
organist while Christopher is on vacation.
Our thanks to Helen O’Malley, this morning’s Liturgist.
We thank Heather and Michael Sandifer for hosting Coffee Hour.
Please join them in the Parlor following worship.
Wanted: Playful People to join in the fun at Beach Day,
Wednesday, August 28 [rain date Thursday, August 29]. We’ll
welcome families from East Harlem’s Little Sisters of the
Assumption at 9:30 a.m., at Tod’s Point. The day includes fun in
the water, lunch, and a trip to the museum, before the families
return to their homes at 3p.m. Sign up in the Parlor if you’d like to
join us for this annual day of fun.
Join us for Rally Sunday on September 8 when we welcome
children back to Church School! Following the service we will
gather on the front lawn for a picnic. Children can play games, ride
the Round Hill Express and have their faces painted. Dr. Ed
Horstmann, will be there to meet and greet members and visitors,
young and old. Bring a salad or dessert, if you'd like, and most
certainly invite your friends to join in the fun! There’s a sign-up
sheet in the Parlor.
If you, or someone you know, can’t to make it to Church,
our services are recorded and available on our website
at
roundhillcommunitychurch.org/sermons. You have the
option of listening to the entire service or just the sermon. Click on
PLAY under the option you choose. We also have CDs of the
service available. Simply call the Office and we can put one in the
mail for you.
REFLECTION
Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl
captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.
2 Kings 5:2
The Bible is full of stories about change agents, yet they are
an odd lot. In some cases we never learn their names, in other
instances they appear without qualification and only briefly, and
then recede into the background. One such power broker is the
young girl described in the story of Naaman, a powerful military
commander afflicted with leprosy. Though removed from her
native land by this man’s troops, she nevertheless possesses
knowledge that is indispensable to Naaman’s health. Because of her
concern for him he is healed of his leprosy, and set on the path of
new life.
Our lives are enriched in remarkable ways by people whose
names we will never know. In some cases, these same people will
reach out to us even though they themselves are suffering. But
likewise, we can empower countless others, without any thought of
acknowledgement. Through our prayers, our kindness, our belief
in others, we can be God’s change agents, until God’s kingdom
comes, on earth as it is in heaven.
Prayer: O God of energy and change, help us to see in all our
interactions with others the opportunity to offer the gift of presence,
and the blessing of encouragement; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Minister: The Rev. Dr. Edward Horstmann
Round Hill Community Church
395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831