At the (*) please stand in body or spirit.

WE GATHER TO PRAISE

GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS (Liturgist)

Creator and Sustainer God, we give special thanks this day for our elders.

Surround them with your healing as they guide us on our faith journey.

Anoint them to provide wisdom and lead this community to greater understanding.

*CALL TO WORSHIP (Liturgist)

L: Just as Abraham and Sarah lead the nation of Israel and the Elder Eli provided guidance for young Samuel, the Elders of our community provide wisdom.

P: "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life" (Proverbs 16:31).

L: Today we celebrate our elders. We celebrate the leadership and guidance of our elders and renew the commitment of these elders to our community and our community to these elders.

P: "You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall fear your God"

L: Would our elders please stand? God has given us the gift of life. The gift of long life gives us wisdom, guidance, and leadership. Today, we as a community renew our commitment to glean from you, our elders.

ELDERS ONLY PLEASE RESPOND: We agree to be the sages of this community, passing on tradition and offering guidance.

L: Let us pray,

ALL: Lord God, in your ultimate wisdom, you have given us the blessing of those wise sages to guide and lead the community in our faith journey. Help us see the blessing in aging, the fulfillment of your gift of life. Amen.

*OPENING PRAISE: UMH #117 “O God Our Help in Ages Past”

OPENING PRAYER:

Gracious God, we give you thanks for those who taught us the faith, who shared their beliefs with us. We are grateful for all those who have set examples for us to follow. Help us to know that same fire of your Spirit. For those of us who are younger in years, let us learn from those who have traveled further. For those of us with much to share, let us be good teachers and models of your unending love. As we learn from one another, we ask that we may all come to more clearly know your presence and power in our lives.

CHILDRENS TIME (Congregation)

FIRST LESSON: (Liturgist) Ezra 3:10-13 (Pg.463/ Lg. Print Pg.736 )

SECOND LESSON: (Liturgist) Acts 2:14-21 (Pg.1078 / Lg. Print Pg. 1692)

THIRD LESSON (Liturgist) Genesis 1:26-31, 6:3 (Pg.2/ Lg. Print Pg. 3)

GOSPEL LESSON: (Liturgist) Luke 5:36-39 (Pg.1020 / Lg. Print Pg.1599 )

The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God

HYMN: UMH #451 “Be Thou My Vision”

MESSAGE

CALL TO CONFESSION (Pastor)

Far too often, we think only of the dreams and visions for the future of our young

men and women. We plan our church programs for those we feel can “grow” the

church. We seek out “new” leadership for our committees and ministries. The

money in our budgets goes to Christian education for our children, youth, and young

adults and to activities to support these age groups and families. We are not

intentional about engaging our older adults in ministry.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Pastor)

Holy God, you created us to enjoy a full and an abundant life, but we have devalued and demeaned people who are aging and elderly in our society and communities. We have cast them aside into institutions and have ignored them in our communities. Lord, forgive us for not seeing the value and the wisdom of elderly people in our midst. Forgive us for demanding that they step aside from valued work and from mentoring the younger generations. You have said that gray hair is a blessing, yet we look upon our elderly as a problem and try to find ways to disinherit them from society. God, forgive us and remind us that one day we will be traveling the same journey. May we look with compassion and love upon those people who have been blessed with long and abundant living. May we find joy in walking together with them as we learn from them and seek their wisdom for our lives. In Christ's name, who came to give us the abundant life all of our years. Amen

WORDS OF ASSURANCE (Pastor)

Pastor: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven

People: In the name of Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

PRAISE & PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

THE LORD’S PRAYER #895 UMH

OFFERING & DOXOLOGY: UMH#95

PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Liturgist)

Merciful God, as we celebrate this day the elders of our congregation, help us to give freely.
Help us to give our wisdom, our experience, our blessings, and our service. Amen.

*CLOSING HYMN: UMH #558 “We Are the Church”

BENEDICTION: (Pastor)

May we each remember to honor those who have gone before us. We thank God for the

promise to bless those who do so. Help us Lord to treasure grandparents who invest their

time and resources in our lives and may we reward them with a great return, in Jesus name

we pray. Amen

CHORAL BENEDICTION: UMH#672 “God Be with You till We Meet Again”

Cokesbury Memorial United Methodist Church

P.O. Box 85- Abingdon, MD 21009

Cokesbury Web page: www.cokesburyumcharford.org

Cokesbury email: cokesburychurch * unitedmethodist.comcastbiz.net

Church Office: 410-676-6295 Parsonage: 410-569-1550

Pastor Frankie Revell: revellfa * gmail.com

“ADD PASTOR FRANKIE AS A FRIEND ON FACEBOOK”

Secretary Kristie Taylor: krislynn998 * verizon.net

Liturgist this week: Arnie Criss

Liturgist next week: Rebekah Barczak

September Ushers: Steve & Magge Fulkrod

Offering counters this week: Mary & Scott Bekker

Offering counters next week: Bruce Riley & Jesse Lambert

Nursery this week: Suzanne Riley & Nicholas

Attendance Last week: 77 Giving Last week: $2,509.71

Cokesbury Memorial UMC

September 13, 2009 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost