Home Worship Guide

May 16, 2021

Welcome

Thank you so much for joining us! The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday.

If you are new, welcome! We also want to invite you to learn more about us. You can do so by selecting the button below.
A few tips for parents:
  • Plan for your time – read through the guide and prepare the room where you are gathering
  • Make your time joyful – have fun!!!
  • Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
  • Have your kids participate in age and maturity appropriate ways – reading, singing, etc.
  • You are welcome to print out this week's Children's Bulletin here.

Time of Reflection

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
~Simone Weil (1909-1943), French philosopher and activist

“Over the last five years, I’ve really properly understood just how much our Christian communities contribute to our city’s success…. I don’t think non-Christians understand...the Christian church does so much good for all Londoners, irrespective of faith, race, background that I’m so incredibly proud of the friendship I formed with all the churches across London.”
~Sadiq Khan, recently re-elected Mayor of London

“My mother taught me to refuse hate. She taught me to refuse blanket judgment. And in this time, and with all of the internet and social media and algorithms and everything that wants us to think a certain way, the 24-hour news cycle, it is my hope that all of us will teach our kids … just refuse hate. Don’t hate anybody.”
~Tyler Perry, producer, director actor and screenwriter at the Academy Awards

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
~Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48

“[It] confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.... [As] a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes.... Education and training alone will not do.... Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good....”
~Matthew Parris, British journalist, politician and atheist, on the social impact
of evangelical Christianity, as quote in The Times (London) 12/27/2008

Opening Prayer

(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)

Call to Worship

Adapted from a common call to worship and Christ’s word in Matthew 11.

LEADER: To all who are weary and need rest,

PEOPLE: To all who mourn and long for comfort,


LEADER: To all who feel worthless

PEOPLE: And wonder if God cares,

LEADER: To all who fail and desire strength,

PEOPLE: To all who sin and need a Savior,

LEADER: This church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus Christ,

PEOPLE: For He is the Ally of his enemies, the Defender of the guilty, the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners.

LEADER: Indeed, listen as the Lord Jesus welcomes us all: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Songs & Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
AMAZING GRACE
(John Newton, 1779)
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
PSALM MEDITATION Psalm 1 (ESV)

LEADER: Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

PEOPLE: But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.


LEADER: He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

PEOPLE: The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.


LEADER: Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

ALL: for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

JESUS, THANK YOU
(Pat Sczebel)
The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend,
The agonies of Calvary.
You, the perfect Holy One, crushed Your son,
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me.

CHORUS:
Your blood has washed away my sin.
Jesus, thank You.
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied,
Jesus, thank You.
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table,
Jesus, thank You.

By your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near.
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend.
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace,
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end.
(CHORUS)

Lover of my soul,
I want to live for You.
(CHORUS)
©2003 Sovereign Grace Worship/ Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) CCLI#1791178

Sharing

(as a lead into the Prayer Time, as a group share how you are feeling and what you are learning)

Prayer Time

(You may have an open time of prayer or select someone to pray)

  • Pray for our church’s short and long-term meeting place needs, that God would give us favor in the eyes of those in authority and that He would give us provision that would go far beyond all that we could ask or imagine.
  • Pray for our world – that the good news of Jesus Christ would flourish and that many would come to know God genuinely and personally.
  • Pray for those experiencing injustices; specifically, that God would bring hope, reconciliation, and restoration through the good news of His Son, and that we would be agents of this reconciliation.
  • Pray for those in authority at every level in our country, that they would govern wisely and justly.

Listen to Sermon

“Jesus, a Woman, and a ‘Chance’ Encounter at a Well - Part 2”
John 4:1-42
preached by Pastor Don Willeman
We hope to have a recording of the sermon available by 11:30 am
Scripture Passage: John 4:1-42 (ESV)

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Confession of Faith

The Apostles’ Creed (circa 5th Century)

LEADER: Christian, what do you believe?

CONGREGATION: I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
    Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
    born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell*.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
    and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
    the holy catholic** church; the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
 
Amen.


*i.e. suffered under the judgment of God for His people
**i.e. “universal”

Song of Response

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions) 
NAILED TO THE CROSS
(Bryan Fowler, Christoper Llewellyn, Gareth Gilkeson, Jonathan Lindley Smith)
When I stand accused by my regrets
And the Devil roars his empty threats,
I will preach the gospel to myself
That I am not someone condemned,
For Jesus Christ is my defense.

CHORUS:
My sin is nailed to the cross.
My soul is healed by the scars.
The shame and guilt I bear no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

When my doubt and shame hang over me
Like the arrows of the enemy,
I will run again to Calvary;
That rugged hill of Hell’s defeat,
My fortress and my victory.
(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:
It is finished, sin is vanquished.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
All the glory, all the honor,
To my Savior, Christ the Lord.
(REPEAT)

When I stand before the throne at last,
His blood will plead my innocence.
I will worship Him with holy hands
And raise the song that never ends,
Of Jesus Christ, my righteousness.
(CHORUS)
©2017 Capitol CMG Amplifier (Admin by Capitol CMG Publishing) CCLI #1791178

Benediction

(The leader or individual should read this aloud relishing in the confident assertion that Christ has conquered.)

Luke 12:29-32

LEADER: Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

PEOPLE: Amen!

Worshipping God through Giving

God has called us to be generous. He has entrusted this earth and all that is in it to us, but it is, ultimately, His! The Father gave what was most precious to Him, His own Son, in order to die for our sins. He has given to us abundantly beyond all that we could possibly ask or imagine! He is a benevolent and generous Giver! So, we give.

First, we want to remind you to continue your regular giving to CRC. This supports the ongoing work and ministry here in the Upper Valley and around the world through our missions support. Second, please consider giving to our Benevolence Fund, which supports local community care, both inside and outside the church. This is vitally important right now! As we see needs sprouting up around the community, we want to be positioned to extend a loving hand of support to those in need.

Giving Numbers
Budgeted Giving: $242,280
Actual Giving to Date: $224,668
Difference: (-$17,612)
Missions Giving YTD: $42,140
updated as of 4/30/21