PRELUDE:
Introduction, William Walond
Prelude on “Evan”, Gordon Young
WELCOME
* CELEBRATION OF FRIENDSHIP
* SANCTUS (pew card)
* CALL TO WORSHIP AND SALUTATION: from Psalm 95, Elizabeth Mahowald
Leader: O come, let us sing to the Lord;
People: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Leader: Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
People: Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Leader: O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
ALL: For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
ALL: Amen.
* HYMN No. 40: Let the Whole Creation Cry
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Have mercy upon us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercies, blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin. For we know our transgressions, and our sin is ever before us. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within us. Cast us not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and uphold us with a willing spirit. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
* KYRIE (pew card)
* ASSURANCE OF PARDON
* SUMMARY OF THE LAW
* Gloria Patri (pew card)
JUNIOR SERMON
ANTHEM: O For a Closer Walk With God, Charles Villiers Stanford
O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame; a light to sine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb!
Return, O holy Dove, return! I hate the sins that made thee mourn, and drove thee from my breast.
So shall my walk be close with God, calm and serene my frame; so purer light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.
MORNING PRAYER AND LORD’S PRAYER
Lord’s Prayer (pew card)
Prayer response, John Yarrington
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
* HYMN No. 461: Jesus, Lover of My Soul
SCRIPTURE READINGS
1 Corinthians 2:1-12, Pew Bible, page 927
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
Matthew 5:13-20, Pew Bible, page 786
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Word of God for the people of God. Let the people of God say - AMEN!
THE SERMON: Let Your Light Shine, Rev. Douglas Estella
WORSHIP OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Offering
Offertory: Praise, Alec Rowley
To the Master of music and loveliness: praise, power, dominion forever. To the Lord of the Word of Creation be praise, power, dominion forever. To the Maker of movement, colour and light: praise, power, dominion forever. To the Builder, designer, creator, be praise, power, dominion forever. To the theme of all song, inspiration of love: to the artist of life, to the greatest and least: Praise, power, dominion forever.
For He is the greatest upon His high throne, and He was the least as the child of a maiden: praise, then to Jesus whose Mother was Mary, and praise now to Christ who is God in the midst of us. Praise.
Lord of all beauty, adoring we come to Thee: give us Thyself both in time and eternity. Lord of all beauty, adoring we come to Thee, offering all that we are or can hope to be, Lord of all beauty praise, power, dominion forever.
* The Doxology (pew card)
* Prayer of Dedication
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
* Apostles’ Creed (pew card)
* HYMN No. 661: Be Strong in the Lord
* BENEDICTION
Response: Sevenfold Amen, John Stainer
POSTLUDE: Recessional, Frank Asper
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: Next Sunday, February 16th after church service the Youth Group will have a Valentine’s Day themed bake sale – it’s never too late to celebrate Valentine’s Day! – during coffee hour to benefit our 2014 mission trips. Thank you so much for all of your generous support of our service projects.
VALENTINES FOR VETS: Put your valentine cards in the box at the church entrance. These cards will be delivered today to the Veteran’s Hospital in St. Albans. We want our vets to know that they are not forgotten.
LENTEN BIBLE STUDY: An Adult Bible Study will meet on Monday evenings during Lent to help us in our journey to grow closer to God. If you are interested, speak with Sally Ann Castle or call the church office.
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.
OUR APPRECIATION FOR TODAY’S VOLUNTEERS:
Van Drivers: Gerry and Jean Mendler
Coffee Hour Host: Joanne McCreary and Rhoda Jabbour
Greeters: Joan Pearson and Joan Werbel
Ushers: Wai and Richard Chu, Cathy and Tom Doyle and Jerry Good
Children and Worship: Judie Kellaway and Yessinia Iovale-Perez
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).
COFFEE HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – To host a coffee hour after church, speak with Rhoda Jabbour.
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