Round Hill Community Church

ORDER OF SERVICESeptember 11, 2016

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

PRELUDE

WORDS OF WELCOME

INTROIT

CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: Let us worship God in the community called church.

All: We can worship God on a seashore or on a mountaintop, but it gives us joy to be together.

Leader: Let us pray to God in the community called church.

All: We can pray by dinner tables or hospital beds, while we are working or taking a walk, but we feel peace when we pray together.

Leader: Let us serve God in the community called church.

All: We can serve God at the homeless shelter or the ballot box, or every time we help a neighbor, but we are stronger when we serve together.

*HYMN No. 64 We Sing Your Mighty Power, O God

*The congregation is invited to stand

*OPENING PRAYER Spirit of God,Lord and Giver of life,moving between us and around,like wind or water or fire;breathe into us your freshness that we may awake;cleanse our vision that we may see more clearly;kindle our senses that we may feel more sharply;and give us the courage to liveas you would have us live,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

*THE LORD’S PRAYER Our Father who art in heaven,hallowed be Thy name.Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us,and lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.For Thine is the kingdom,and the power, and the glory,forever and ever. Amen.

*GLORIA PATRIGlory 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 Children may now leave for Church School.

ANTHEM At the River Copland

SCRIPTURE LESSON Matthew 14: 13-21 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

SERMON Gratitude: Where Miracles Are Born The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann *HYMN No. 62 Creator God, Creating Still

OFFERINGInvitationAnthem With a Voice of Singing Shaw *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 O Beautiful for Spacious Skies O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber

waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed full grace on thee, and crown thy good with servanthood from sea to shining sea.

PASTORAL PRAYER

*HYMN No. 431 Go, My Children, With My Blessing

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

CHORAL RESPONSE

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.

ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH MISSON 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.

CHURCH NEWS

Thank you to Charles Lee and Harold Kuplesky for ushering this morning.

The flowers in the Sanctuary today are given by Helen Dixon in loving

memory of Arthur “Sandy” McCulley.

Please join the congregation outside underneath the tent immediately after the service today for Rally Day, our traditional celebration of homecoming after the summer! A picnic, lawn games and obstacle course for kids organized by Nicolae’s Fun Soccer Club, a bouncy house and welcoming fellowship await you!

We welcome Jon Hunt to our congregation today as the guest organist and thank him for providing us with the beautiful music to accompany our worship this morning.

Youth It is with great excitement that we share the good news that Jenny Byxbee has been hired as our new Director of Children’s Ministries. Jenny is well-known and regarded in our local community and also came to us highly recommended by a number of town leaders and friends, notably our own Connie Blunden. We are thrilled to have Jenny’s leadership experience, energy, and creativity to build upon our faithful foundation of children’s ministries here at RHCC. Please join us in welcoming her this morning!

Faith Formation

A Life Worth Living

Jesus said: “I have come that you may have life, and have it in abundance.” Beginning today, the Center for Faith Development of Round Hill Community Church has launched a yearlong exploration of the theme, A Life Worth Living. From month to month we will explore different dimensions of this theme. Through worship, classes, speakers, and resources to be made available on our website, we will give you many ways to engage your thinking about A Life Worth Living.

As we embark on this program of learning we will provide you with ongoing announcements and updates through our church website, church Facebook page, and e-blasts, so that you will know how to join in the varied opportunities for study and reflection.

The theme for the month of September will be Gratitude, and it is in a spirit of gratefulness for our life together that we look forward to joining you on this journey of faith!

Our Meditation Stress Reduction group will resume on Thursday, September 15. The group seeks to draw men and women closer to God through spiritual studies and the practice of “mindfulness.” They will meet every other Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room.

Outreach

Please join us this year in the Inspirica Youth Center! Volunteers are needed every Tuesday starting September 6 from 4 pm - 6 pm. Children arrive off the bus, have some free time, are fed a snack and then begin homework. Please talk with Jenny Rye or Caroline Lazzara if you are inter-ested.

We are currently looking for meal providers for Inspiricas’s Early Childhood and Parenting Program [ECPP] beginning in September. The program runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights with the meal being served at 7p.m. You can either cook on site or drop off a prepared meal, whatever is easiest for you! Please look for available dates that you would be able to fill at www.inspiricact.org/meal-calendar/

Neighbor to Neighbor …..With school back in full swing, we are initiating a special Lunchbox Collection in September! Please help fill lunch boxes (and hungry tummies!) with healthy and nutritious elements such as granola bars, single serve boxes of dried fruit, 100% real fruit juice boxes/pouches, fruit roll-ups, peanut butter or cheese crackers, beef jerky, pouches of trail

mix, fruit or pudding cups, etc.  Also, canned tuna is a welcome addition for sandwich fillers. Please leave donations in the food wagon located in the Narthex.

Les Beaux Arts Gallery

To open the season, Les Beaux Arts Gallery will feature a collection of landscapes and drawings by Yukio Ishizuka. The exhibit opens today and runs through October 19. Dr. Ishizuka, a Harvard trained psychiatrist, brings to the art field a fresh, positive outlook on landscape painting with vivid bold colors. As for his drawings, they are masterful and painstakingly detailed. Dr. Ishuzuka was born in Japan and in 1965 left for the United States to complete his medical studies. He has been a member and a resident artist of Salmagundi Art Club in New York City since 1976.

CHILDREN’S CORNER

REFLECTIONS

Jewish tradition gives us a goal: We should say one hundred blessings each day. When we try it, we discover that it’s quite difficult to find one hundred things each day for which to be thankful. So difficult, in fact, that we spend most of our time looking.

Dannel I. Schwartz and Mark Hass

French impressionist Claude Monet’s series of paintings of the waterlily pond on his property are blessings of the natural world and blessings to viewers. The artist’s gratitude for a special place seems to pulse through these scenes, embracing the water, the floating flowers, the reflected sky and clouds. Monet painted this water garden extensively during the last 30 years of his life, catching it in different seasons and times of day, his appreciation of its pleasures apparent in every brushstroke.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spiritual Rx: Prescriptions for Living a Meaningful Life

Cover Image: Seerosen and Schilf, Claude Monet

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

Guest Organist: Jon Hunt Director of Children’s Ministries: Jenny Byxbee

Minister Emeritus: The Rev. Dr. Ralph AhlbergRound Hill Community Church

395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831203.869.1091 roundhillcommunitychurch.org