Welcome! Thank You for Worshiping With Us Today!
Welcome to The First Congregational Church of Southington. Ours is an Open & Affirming congregation dating from 1724 & worshiping in our present Meetinghouse since 1830. One of the larger, more vibrant United Church of Christ churches in New England, our church’s purpose is to love & worship God; extend God’s radically-inclusive love to all people everywhere; make more & better disciples of Jesus Christ; & inspire people & society to become more & more just, loving, compassionate & Christ-like. You will find our church to be an accepting, caring, non-judgmental community, where faith is renewed, lives are transformed, & power for positive living is received. It’s a church where the Spirit is alive & miracles happen! Welcome!
January 21, 2007 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 9:30AM
Biblical scholar, William Barclay, wrote: We hear a great many sermons about the might & the majesty & the power of God; we would do well sometimes to think of the helplessness of God, that without what we can do, God is quite & totally helpless. I think Barclay overstates his case by saying God is helpless. But his point was that the church is essential in the achievement of God’s purpose & will for the world. More than just a community that keeps Christ’s memory alive, we are, figuratively speaking, the hands & feet & voice that does His work & speaks His word. We are called to be the flesh & blood manifestations of the Holy Spirit as it reveals the reconciling love of God.
INFANT & TODDLER CARE BY ADULTS DURING ALL SERVICES IN CHURCH NURSERY
PREPARING TO WORSHIP GOD
Prelude Suite Gothique: Introduction-Choral; Menuet Leon Boellmann
The Welcome/Welcoming One Another
Church Family Announcements
Music for Meditation Interludium Herman Schroeder
Lighting the Candles Acolyte: Katherine Maddy
PRAISING GOD
The Call to Worship (an ancient Jewish hymn):
PASTOR: If my lips could sing as many songs as there are waves in the sea;
PEOPLE: If my tongue could sing as many hymns as there are ocean billows;
PASTOR: If my mouth filled the whole firmament with praise;
PEOPLE: If my face shone like the sun and moon together;
PASTOR: If my hands were to hover in the sky like powerful eagles and my feet run across the
mountains as swiftly as the deer;
PEOPLE: All that would not be enough to pay You fitting tribute, O Lord my God.
UNISON: Let us lift up our hearts and voices ! Let us praise our Creator and Sustainer!
Hymn of Praise: #9 We Sing to You, O God Camano
*Prayer of General Confession (unison)
Patient and loving God, how often You have spoken to Your people and we have closed our ears
because Your words disconcerted us? How often have You given us new vision and we have
closed our eyes for lack of courage to see what You would have us see? How often have You
nudged us to take risks for the sake of love and we have turned aside, missing divine opportunities?
Forgive us, O God, for not listening, not seeing and not acting. Forgive us for not heeding Your
call. Now in the silence, hear our personal prayers of confession.
*Prayer of Personal Confession (in silence)
*Response: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
*Assurance of Forgiveness
HEARING GOD’S WORD
Anthem Surely, The Lord is in This Place Norman Coke-Jephcott
The Children’s Message
Children & Teachers Exit to Church School
Scripture Lesson 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31
Sermon MANY MEMBERS, ONE BODY Dr. Gordon E. Ellis
Hymn of Reflection: #163 Many Are the Lightbeams Lightbeams
RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD
Prayer of the Church & Lord’s Prayer (using sins)
Presentation of Our Offerings & Tithes
Offertory Anthem: Many Gifts, One Spirit Allen Pote
*Doxology Praise God from who all blessings flow! Praise God, all creatures here below!
Praise God above, you heavenly host! Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost!
*Prayer of Dedication
*Hymn: #377 Forward Through the Ages St. Gertrude
*Words of Parting (unison)
With the songs we sing, the programs we offer, the ministries and missions we promote and
support, and all that we do as a church, we love and serve both God and neighbor. But, let
us always strive to do it together, as one -- for together, we are the Body of Christ, God’s
love made flesh!
*Benediction
*Response: (join hands) Blest Be the Tie That Binds
“Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.”
Postlude: Rigaudon Andre Campra
JOIN US DOWNSTAIRS NOW FOR COFFEE & CONVERSATION
Ushers: Gail Fulop; Gary & Garrett Cooper; George Moore; Judy Chatfield, Hardice Jones & Tim Lockwood
Greeters: Ed Pahl, Linda Hadlock & Joe Yevich Coffee Hour Host: Melinda Baumgartner
Our 2007 Flower Chart to provide flowers in honor/memory of loved ones is now available in Memorial Hall.
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Joys & Concerns for Prayer: Alan Beaudoin will have surgery on 1/29 at Yale-New Haven Hospital. We continue to pray for Pat Diego; John Zigmont; Mary Carter; Shirley Penfield; Janet Crocker; Betsy Roberts; Maureen Curtis; Pat Livingstone; & our Stephen Ministers & care-receivers.
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SOUPER BOWL OF CARING: 2/4 (Super Bowl Sunday) is Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday. Our youth join youth nationwide collecting money for the hungry & hurting. In 2006, 11,000 groups in all 50 states & beyond generated over $5 million. All money is donated to local charities selected by the participants. Organizers just ask participants to report collection amounts so that national totals can be announced. Our young people will hold soup pots at all exits on Souper Bowl Sunday for Bread for Life, our community soup kitchen. Since 1993, over $33 million nationwide has helped those in need. Please support our youth in loving our neighbors by dropping $1 into a soup pot on 2/4.
SEEDS OF HOPE GROUP has been rescheduled from tonight until NEXT Sunday, 7:30pm.
ALL-COMMITTEE MEETING NIGHT IS TOMORROW for Christian Education, Missions, Stewardship & Trustees, beginning with a brief worship service for everyone at 7:00pm in our Chapel.
PEACE CAFÉ: Our Church Council has officially re-named Fellowship Hall (under Meetinghouse). It will now be called Peace Café. Plan to join us on Saturday, February 10, for our grand opening, starting with a wonderful church family pot-luck supper in Memorial Hall at 6:00pm to get acquainted with new and long-time members. Then we will adjourn to Peace Café for a special dedication of our new coffee house and theater, followed an evening of fun, music (by very talented church friends) & film. Anyone wishing to perform a song or two should contact Dee Elloian (860-674-8844) ASAP. You’ll LOVE it!
SACRED CIRCLE COVENANT GROUPS will be offered during Lent. As a Lenten discipline, we hope all church members & friends will attend one. It’s a 5-week commitment (2/26 - 4/1) spending 2 hours/week in a group with 6 to 8 others from church exploring & learning to live according to The Sacred Circle of Discipleship that Gordon presented in a 3-part sermon series in October. Groups will be offered at different times on different days for your convenience. Watch for sign-up sheets soon.
TRIP TO SEE GODSPELL: Join your church family to see Godspell on Sunday, April 15, 2:00pm, at The Warner Theater in Torrington (small theater across from main theater). We have reserved 25 seats at $18.50 each (less if we fill all 25 or more). Sign-up next to Gordon’s office by March 1st or contact Cynthia Enright (860-276-0138 or ccenright@yahoo.com) with questions. Adults must accompany children.
WINTER ART CAMP: Award-winning artist & teacher, John Baker, will offer an Art Camp during February vacation (2/19 - 2/23) for kids (with lessons in painting, drawing, clay, collage, mixed media & illustration) in our new Peace Café (formerly Fellowship Hall). Sessions will be 2-hour: grades 1-3 meet 9:30-11:30am & grades 4-7 meet 1:30-3:30pm. Children will also learn about art from around the world & help their friends create artwork for our new Peace Café. Cost: $150 (includes all materials). Register today; space is limited. Contact John (203-536-5642 or at Johnnysings@excite.com).
PUZZLE SWAP on Sunday, 2/25, all day in Memorial Hall. Bring in & take home puzzles for adults & children (children’s puzzles not more than 100 pieces). For info, contact Lois Hall (860-828-4219).
PASTA DINNER: Join us on Saturday, 1/27, 5:00-8:00PM, Memorial Hall, for a Pasta Dinner to support our February Youth Mission Trip to Mississippi, where they will help with Hurricane Katrina reconstruction. $7.50/adults & $5/children (5 & under).
A QUIET CANDLELIGHT PRAYER SERVICE in the style of Taize is held EVERY Tuesday, 6:30-7:00pm, in our Chapel. All welcome & encouraged to attend for quiet, reflective worship.
CHECK OUT OUR CHURCH’S WEBSITE, www.firstchurchsouthington.org. You’ll love it!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
BREAD FOR LIFE WEEK: Our week to serve at our community soup kitchen is this week. If you can help any day, 10am – 2pm, please sign-up next to Gordon’s office. THANK YOU !
HOME REPAIR HELP NEEDED! Help church family members in need with one-time/short term home maintenance or repair. We have a need for both skilled & unskilled labor for occasional projects: a great way to make a positive impact on someone’s life while getting to know others in your church family! To sign-up, contact Clare Lindsey (860-628-0298) or mlcbl58@hotmail.com (preferred).
INFANT/TODDLER NURSERY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED DURING ALL SERVICES: Adults & teens needed! Please call Beth Winne (621-6159).
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY WORK DAY: Our next work day is SATURDAY, 2/17 (& monthly on the 3rd Saturday). Sign-up TODAY next to Gordon’s office! Men, women & teens (16 & over) welcome. If you can’t join us to work, please consider providing fuel for the volunteers, SNACKS, morning break food for 15-20 people. Call Michael Halloran, (860/426-1304) for more info or to sign-up. Thanks!
COVENANT TO CARE NEEDS: Placement packs for all ages, including: Infant & Toddler (baby blankets, pacifiers, bottles, onesies, washcloths, wipes, sippy cups, diapers, toothbrushes, baby rattles/teethers, infant formula, baby food, baby cereal); Preschool (toiletries, wipes, color books/crayons, hand/body lotion, combs/brush, stuffed animals, small toy, books, small packaged snacks); School Age (backpacks, markers, deodorant & other toiletries, pens/pencils, books, clothes, etc.). Items may be left in our Mission Hope Chest in the Narthex. For more info, call Kim Rees (860-621-7768). THANKS!
SMALL GROUPS
All small groups are open to everyone, whether or not you’ve ever attended before.
R.E.S.T., OUR SPIRITUAL BOOK CLUB, short for Reading for Enrichment & Spiritual Transformation, is led by Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey & meets monthly on the 3rd Sunday, 7:30 – 8:30pm, room #207. For TONIGHT, read The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver & Pricilla Warner. You’re invited to read any or all books & attend any or all monthly sessions.
QUILTS FOR CHILDREN IN NEED GROUP meets every other WEDNESDAY, 10:00AM, room #207, to sew quilts to comfort children in need. No need to sew; you may cut, piece or tie.
Next meeting: January 31. For more info, call Carole Lantz.
PARENTS & TOTS GROUPS meet Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00AM, in Fellowship Hall (under Meetinghouse). For info, call Lisa Christensen (860-276-0235). Fun for kids; fellowship for parents!
PRAYER CIRCLE: EVERY TUESDAY, 7:00PM, Church Parlor. Join us anytime! Leave prayer requests & addresses (card will be sent) in the folder next to Church Office marked, “Prayer Requests.”
SEEDS OF HOPE GROUP works in & through our church & community to foster awareness, communication, educational opportunities & action regarding our role as compassionate Christians living in a small, small world, who take seriously Jesus’ statement: Whatever you do to even the least of your brothers & sisters, you do it to me. The group sponsors forums, speakers, film & book discussions & more, promoting peace, justice, environmental concerns & more. ALL WELCOME!
Next meeting: NEXT SUNDAY, 1/28, at 7:30pm, in room #204.
OUR ADDICTION ASSISTANCE NETWORK is for individuals/families needing confidential assistance with problem drinking, drug use, gambling, etc. Contact Steve & JoAnn Ray (203-591-1291).
Why Attending Church School is Important
Church School plants the seeds & nourishes the roots of your children’s faith. Their faith foundation plays a major part of their growth & development, & by bringing your children to Church School, you are telling them that their Christian Education is important to you. We have a great staff of loving, caring teachers who are giving our children a gift that they will spend their lives unwrapping because the Bible stories are about real life. If they know the stories, they’ll remember the stories & themes later on as they need them on their life journey.
Most of our kids love Church School, but some don’t. One of our Jr. High kids asked if it counted to God that he had come, even if he didn’t want to, because his parents made him come. Good question! I think God is just glad that he showed up & his parents should be commended for bringing him. If he didn’t want to brush his teeth or go to the dentist, would that be okay? How about going to the orthodontist each week? We don’t see results right away, but in the long run, it works. Church School can be the same for some children, when you bring them, even if they don’t love it, you are giving them the opportunity to build a solid faith foundation & showing them that their spiritual growth & Christian education matters just as much as their mental & physical development. Thank you for letting us share our faith with your children.
Love, Karlene Archambeault, C. E. Director
Today’s Scripture Lesson
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31 12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot would say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear would say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Today’s Anthem Texts
Surely The Lord is in This Place
Surely the Lord is in this place: this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And this stone shall be God’s house.
Behold now, praise the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and world without end; and let all the people say Amen. -- Rev. Canon Edward N. West --
Many Gifts, One Spirit
Many gifts, one spirit; many songs, one voice. Many reasons, one promise, many questions, one choice. O God, we pray for unity, give guidance from above. In our differences unite us in the circle of Your love. O God, remind us we are not alone. Though we move on different pathways, we are walking to Your throne.
Help us learn to love each other, show us ways to understand we are members of one family, growing strong by joining hands. O God, remind us we are not alone. Though we move on different pathways, we are walking to Your throne.
Take our many ways of working, blend the colors of each soul into the beauty of a rainbow. Give us life, Lord, make us whole.