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326 Years
1677-2003
Webmaster:
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Order of
Service
3 August
2003
Proper 13
(13th
Sunday
after Pentecost)
LO!
God is here! let us adore
by Gerhard
Tersteegen
Translated by John Wesley
LO! God is here! let us adore.
How awe inspiring is this
place!
Let all within us feel God's
power,
And silent bow before God's
face;
Who know this power, God's
grace who prove,
Serve God with fear, with
reverence love.
Who know this power, God's
grace who prove,
Serve God with fear, with
reverence love.
Gladly the things of earth we
leave,
Wealth, honor, fame, for you
alone;
To you our will, soul, flesh,
we give,
O take, and seal them for
your own!
You are the God, you are the
Lord;
We know by all your works
adored.
You are the God, you are the
Lord;
We know by all your works
adored.
Being of beings! may our
praise
Your courts with grateful
fragrance fill;
Still may we stand before
your face,
Still hear and do your
sovereign will;
To you may all our thoughts
arise,
Ceaseless, accepted sacrifice.
To you may all our thoughts
arise,
Ceaseless, accepted sacrifice.
Opening
Hearts Sacred Story Bible Study
Led by Bette
Johnson Sohm,
licensed preacher in the Methodist Church
and member of Faith United
Methodist Church, Staten Island.
Sacred Story: John 6:24-35
In
this exercise you will read the text, write in your journal and listen
to each other's reflections. You thus search your heart and discern
what God is saying to you. This is not a discussion. Instead, the study
emphasizes listening and reflecting on the scripture.
Divide into small circles of four or five. Choose people you know the
least. Circle your chairs so you are sitting knee to knee. Space the
groups around the room.
Read
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Read
the Sacred
Story slowly. In a group, one person reads aloud. (2-3 minutes)
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Write
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As
you reflect on the story, write briefly in your journal your thoughts
on these question: What do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel?
Respond as your heart leads you. Your response is unique to you and may
differ from others. (2 minutes)
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Talk
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Briefly
share your response. Don't explain. Listen and do not comment on what
others say. Receive each person's offering as a gift. (4-5 minutes)
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Read
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Close
your eyes and listen as a different person reads the Sacred
Story aloud a second time. (2-3 minutes)
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Write
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How
does the Sacred Story -- and what others have shared -- touched your
heart? Complete this line in your journal: "My heart is touched..." (2
minutes)
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Talk
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Briefly
share your responses. Others are not to comment on what you share. They
are to serve as Christ's presence by listening and receiving until it
is their turn. (3-4 minutes)
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Read
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A
different person reads the Sacred
Story aloud a third time. (2-3 minutes)
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Write
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As
your heart is touched by all that you have seen, heard, and felt, how
can you now describe God's wish for your life? How is God inviting you
to live differently? Write your reflection on these questions in your
journal. (2 minutes)
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Talk
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Share
your reflections using "I" statements. "I" cares for the mote in your
own eye, leaving the splinter in the other person's eye to God's care.
You may wish to write a word or two as the person on your right is
speaking so you can pray for them in the next step. (4-5 minutes)
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Pray
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One
at a time, pray aloud for the person on your right. Say the person's
name and a brief prayer focused on what they shared. The group may wish
to join hands. When you finish, you may talk quietly until all the
groups are done. (3-4 minutes)
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Adapted
from From the Heart Journal
Patricia D. Brown, 1999
Dimensions for Living
Nashville
Closing
Hymn: Take
My Life, and Let it Be
WORDS: Frances R. Havergal, 1873 (Rom
12:1)
MUSIC: Louis J.F. Hérold, 1839; arr. by George Kingsley, 1839
1. Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.
2. Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
3. Take my will, and make it
thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
News
- July 2003
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