Round Hill Community Church

ORDER OF SERVICE October 11, 2015

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

PRELUDE Ballade Karg-Ellert Idyl Karg-Ellert

WORDS OF WELCOME

INTROIT

CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: Let us come to the sanctuary of prophets and angels -All: We share sacred time and holy song.Leader: Let us come to the gospel story of healing and call -All: We share our gifts and promises for living.Leader: Let us open our hearts and minds to an anointing of blessingAll: Let us open our souls and bodies to a healing of grace.

*HYMN No. 23 Praise, My Soul, the God of HeavenStanza 1 – All

Stanza 3 – ChoirStanzas 4 & 5 - All

*The congregation is invited to stand

*OPENING PRAYER Eternal God whose image lies in the hearts of all people,help us to remember that you love all people with your great love,that all religion is an attempt to respond to you,that the yearning of other hearts are much like our own and are known to you. Help us to recognize you in the words of truth,the things of beauty,the actions of love about us. We pray through Christ, who is a stranger to no one land more than another,and to every land no less than to another. Amen.

*GLORIA PATRI

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning,is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE The Rev. Dan HaughChildren may now leave for Church School.

ANTHEM Salmo 150 Aguiar

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with the trumpet sound; praise him with flute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let with everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

SCRIPTURE LESSON Genesis 18: 1-15

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on— since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.”

Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

SERMON Blessed Beginnings, a Second Time Around The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann

*HYMN No. 353 Come to Me, O Weary Traveler

PASTORAL PRAYEROFFERING

InvitationAnthem The Eyes of All Hope in Thee, O Lord

The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord and thougivest them meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand, and thou

fillest ev’ry living creature with thy blessing. Alleluia, I will sing and give praise to Thee, my glory!

*Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all

creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*Hymn My Country, ‘Tis of Thee (verse 4)Our fathers’ God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing;

long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light; protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.

*HYMN No. 24 The God of Abraham Praise

CHURCH PRAYEROur Heavenly Father, shed forth thy blessed spirit upon all our lives. Make each one of us an instrument in thy hands for good. Purify our hearts, strengthen our minds and bodies, fill us with Christian love. Let no pride, no self-conceit, no rivalry, no ill-will ever spring up among us. Make us earnest and true, wise and prudent, giving no just cause for offense and may thy holy peace rest upon us this day and every day throughout the coming week, sweetening our trials, cheering us in our work, and keeping us faithful to the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

BENEDICTION AND CHORAL RESPONSE

POSTLUDE Praise the Lord with Drum and Cymbal

ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH MISSION STATEMENTWe, the members of the Round Hill Community Church, a self-governing, non-denominational body, seek to foster a community of faith where people of all ages and backgrounds pursue spiritual growth; where God is worshipped in Word and praised in music; where friends are made and hurts are healed. We seek to be a community where individuals commit their time and resources to education, fellowship, and to helping those in need among our Church family and in the broader world. We are a church where faith, hope, justice and love are valued, and above all, Jesus is Lord.

ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH CREEDI believe in God, the one universal Father of all mankind, revealed supremely in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and present with us to guide, comfort and inspire in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Kingdom of God; and in the mission of the Christian Church to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, exalting the worship of the Lord our God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the promotion of righteousness, the reign of peace, and the realization of human brotherhood. United in Christian love, we pray and labor for the coming of the Kingdom, the triumph of righteousness and the life everlasting. Amen.

CHURCH NEWS

Thank you to Jake Kommer and Sharon Sun for ushering today.

Thank you to Bruce and Helen Dixon for hosting today’s Coffee Hour. Please join them in the parlor following the service for fellowship. Following this morning’s service, you are invited to join in the inaugural session of a Bible study series entitled “People of the Book.” In this series, participants will explore the lives of diverse characters from the Bible to gain a sense of their lives in the hopes of strengthening our own faith, increasing our love for one another, and helping us become a force for good. Subsequent sessions will take place on a monthly basis, following worship.

The Chamber Players of the Greenwich Symphony will perform a concert, “Vive la France”, in the RHCC Sanctuary today at 4pm. For tickets, call 203-637-4725.

Great opportunity for parents!! Tomorrow is the final day to sign up for the CPR class on Sunday October 18 at 11:30AM. Greenwich Emergency Medical Service will be offering a certification class that covers both adult and child CPR skills! Please register through the church office.

The Fall Women’s Gathering will take place on Friday, October. Featured guest will be Janeen Bjork, who will speak on “A History of American Newspapers: Ben Franklin to Rupert Murdoch. All the News that’s Fit to Print – But Where do Women Fit In?” Watch for your invitation in the mail…all are welcome!

A series of Round Table Pulpits will take place on November 4th from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and on Sunday, November 8 from 11:30-12 p.m. in the Parlor. Please join Ed Horstmann as he strives to make his sermon preparation process a more social activity. The group will discuss and explore texts and stories from which he will preach on a Sunday following the Round Table Pulpit.

Annual Harvest Supper

October 21, 20156:30-9:30 PM

Round Hill Community House397 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831

$10 per adult/ $5 per child(Please make checks payable to the Round Hill Community

Church)

There will be holiday items on sale from the Round Hill Craft Workshop

For further information or to volunteer with baking pies, prepping side dishes and set-up/clean-up: 203-869-1091 or

www.roundhillcommunitychurch.org

Space is limited. Please RSVP by October 16.

We welcome all to come and join us for this festive fall feast!!!

LAST CALL - ROUND HILL YOUTH!!!PAINTBALL EVENT – TOMORROW

7 a.m. to 5 p.m.www.libertypaintballny.com

Cost is $30/student, plus addtl. money for food, locker and extra

paintballs. (extra $50 recommended.) Register with Rev. Dan Haugh at

dan@roundhillcommunitychurch.org

Cover Image: Hospitality of Abraham, Via Latina Catacomb c. 300 CE

REFLECTION

The spiritual revolution, finding God in the world, is an invitation to a new birth, most especially for religion. There is no better place to start than in your synagogue, mosque, temple or church.

And that new birth is happening. You can hear it as the earth groans for salvation, as poets and philosophers tell its stories, as scientists search the soil and the cosmos for life, as the oppressed, poor, and marginalized push for dignity and economic justice. It is time for the church to wake up. There is nothing worse than sleeping through a revolution.

Diana Butler Bass, Grounded: Finding God in the World, A Spiritual Revolution

Senior Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Edward G. HorstmannAssociate Pastor: The Rev. Dan Haugh

Minister Emeritus: The Rev. Dr. Ralph AhlbergMinister of Music: Christopher Kabala

Church School Coordinator: Connie Blunden

Round Hill Community Church395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831

203.869.1091 roundhillcommunitychurch.org