Holy Communion
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012
FIFTH SATURDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
HOLY COMMUNION
5:00 P.M.
The Time of Centering: We use this time to make the transition between “getting here” and “being here.” Take these few minutes of quiet time to get in touch with the calm places, the still, the deep places in you; the spirit. Focus on feeling, on being. Be receptive to your center – your reservoir of inner peace, strength, love.
*Please stand as you are able
PRELUDE “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” Bradbury/Shackley
Leigh Fleming, pianist
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
*CALL TO WORSHIP Liturgist, Barbara Wells
Leader: The grace of Jesus Christ be with you all.
People: And with you also.
Leader: We have been called the salt of the earth.
People: Let us remain hidden and distinctive.
Leader: We have been called the light of the world.
People: Let us shine brightly in the midst of pain and confusion.
Leader: We have been called a city set on a hill.
People: Let us, like Jerusalem, lift our gates, lift our hearts, lift our voices in the worship of God, the Sovereign of hosts and the Savior of the humble.
*OPENING HYMN No. 139 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Please be seated.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Patient God, repeatedly – day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute – you call us to serve you. But increasingly your voice is drowned out by the noise we have created to isolate ourselves from you and those around us – the noise of our TV’s, our iPods, and our surround sound systems; the noise of our political pundits, our marketing gurus, and even our own voices. Forgive us, quiet us, God, and teach us to listen for your voice, that we may know ourselves in you, and know what you would have us be and do to your glory. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Leader: Come to the quiet. There, God speaks to us, discerning our thoughts with love and compassion. Know that you are wonderfully made, and that God loves and forgives you.
People: Thanks be to God.
HYMN No. 132 “All My Hope Is Firmly Grounded”
MESSAGE IN POETRY “I Celebrate the Church of Jesus Christ” By Anne Weems
PSALTER No. 859 Psalm 147:1-11
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING Mark 1:29-39
HYMN No. 367 “He Touched Me”
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING Isaiah 40:21-31
MESSAGE Pastor Dave Swinton
A MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING (see insert)
OFFERTORY VOLUNTARY “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go” Manchester/Paxton
Leigh Fleming, pianist
Please sign and date the attendance register located at the end of the pew and pass it along. When it reaches the end of the pew, please return it.
*DOXOLOGY FOR THE SEASON OF EPIPHANY to the tune of “Old 100th”
O God, may we who bear your name
By gentle love your grace proclaim,
Christ’s gift of peace on earth declare
And your anointing Spirit share.
*BLESSING OF OFFERING
*HYMN No. 421 “Make Me a Captive, Lord”
*BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
Saturday Vespers
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Grove Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311
(515) 255-2131
www.gracedesmoines.org