PRELUDE:
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Johann Sebastian Bach
Amazing Grace, arr. Gilbert M. Martin
WELCOME
* CELEBRATION OF FRIENDSHIP
* SANCTUS (pew card)
* CALL TO WORSHIP AND SALUTATION - from Psalm 115 Glenda Alamilla
Leader: Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
People: For the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
Leader: Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
People: Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.
Leader: The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
People: He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great.
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
ALL: Amen.
* HYMN No. 3: Holy God, We Praise Your Name
* PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Steadfast God, you reach out to us in mercy even when we rebel against your holy call and prefer to walk in disobedience rather than in the way of your divine truth. Soften our hearts with the warmth of your love, that we may know your Son alive within us. Redeem and raise us up into your eternal presence, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
* KYRIE (pew card)
* ASSURANCE OF PARDON
* SUMMARY OF THE LAW
* Gloria Patri (pew card)
JUNIOR SERMON
ANTHEM: Soon and Very Soon, Andrae Crouch
Soon and very soon we are going to see the King; Hallelujah! We're going to see the King.
No more dying there, we are going to see the King; Hallelujah! We're going to see the King.
MORNING PRAYER AND LORD’S PRAYER
Lord’s Prayer (pew card)
Prayer Response, Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.
* HYMN No. 451: Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20, Pew Bible, page 163
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
1 Corinthians 3: 1-9, Pew Bible, page 927
And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The Word of God for the people of God. Let the people of God say - AMEN!
THE SERMON: God Gives the Growth, Rev. Douglas Estella
WORSHIP OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Offering
Offertory: I Shall Not Be Moved, arr. Alice Parker
Glory Hallelujah, I shall not be moved, Anchored in Jehovah I shall not be moved, just like a tree that's planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
In His love abiding, I shall not be moved, and in Him confiding, I shall not be moved, just like a tree that's planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
Though all Hell assail me, I shall not be moved. Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved, just like a tree that's planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
Though the tempest rages, I shall not be moved, On the Rock of Ages, I shall not be moved, just like a tree that's planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
* The Doxology (pew card)
* Prayer of Dedication
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
* Apostles’ Creed (pew card)
* HYMN No. 502: Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound
* BENEDICTION
Response: Sevenfold Amen, Peter C. Lutkin
POSTLUDE: Work for the Night is Coming, arr. H. Alexander Matthews
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WE WELCOME back the Rev. Douglas Estella to the pulpit. Rev. Estella served as pastor of the Sunnyside Reformed Church from 2000 to 2006. Currently he is a teacher at the Academy of Urban Planning in Brooklyn. Doug and his wife, Janet, live in Sunnyside with their daughter, Renee.
VALENTINE’S MISSION TRIP FUNDRAISER BAKE SALE: The Youth Group is having a Valentine’s Day bake sale in Gessner Hall to support their 2014 mission trips. It’s never too late to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Thank you so much for all of your generous support of our youth.
OUR APPRECIATION FOR TODAY’S VOLUNTEERS:
Van Drivers: Debra Rossi (AM), Bill Proschel (PM)
Coffee Hour Host: Yoon Ryo
Greeters: Nina and Bill Proschel, Dorothea Zelnick
Ushers: Virginia Andrews, Irma Karle, Irma Schubert, Dorothea Zelnick, and Jerry Good
Children and Worship: Kathy Bracken and Michael Iovale
VAN SERVICE: If you need a ride to church on Sunday, speak with Gerry Mendler at (917) 362-6284 (day) or (718) 464-3464 (evening).
2014 OFFERING ENVELOPES are at the entrance of the church. If you don’t see your envelopes and would like a box, please sign the list and a set will be available for you next Sunday.
COFFEE HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – To host a coffee hour after church, speak with Rhoda Jabbour.
YEAR-ROUND COLLECTIONS –
Donations for the Food for Kids Ministry should be brought to the Church office. This food will be given to families in need in Jamaica, New York.
Donations for pets brought to the church office will be given to Worthy Pause to be distributed to local animal shelters.
Christmas cards (with Forever Stamps on the envelopes) are collected in a basket at the back of the sanctuary. These cards will enable inmates at the Nassau County Correction Center to correspond with their loved ones.
PRAYER REQUESTS: Ruth Bailey, Letty Delgardo, Ed Diercks, Dombrowski Family, Edythe Durney, Alfred Gessner, Lisa Gessner, Jenny Hampton, Robert Keller, Hope Kingman, Fritz Kunisch, Ann Martin, Irma Matzke, John Molino, Josephine Rivera, Janice Serra and the Kales and Kellaway families.