Musical Service with Nancy, Randy and friends

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PRELUDE:                Chenaniah
PROCESSIONAL: Thy Word     (#496 — Blue Hymnal)
INTROIT:                "Sing A New Song"            (Choir)
OPENING PRAYER:   Creator God, You have made us in Your image to reflect Your goodness. You have called us to use our gifts to build Your kingdom. Help us to focus on how to develop our creativity and, at the same time, to seek the wisdom to use our skills to Your glory, and for the building up of the people we serve. In the name of Christ and through the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP:
ONE: 0 give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known His deeds among the peoples.
ALL: Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonderful works.
ONE: Come let us worship the Lord.

OPENING HYMN: #466 "Praise The Lord With The Sound Of Trumpet"

WELCOME: All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this special musical day. You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace and joy.

SPECIAL MUSIC: Norm Rennie & Rob Ireland     "Let's Walk Along/Shoutin' On The Hills"

THE MUSICIANS PRAYER:    Oh Lord, please bless the music which we share today, that itmight glorify Your name. May the talent that You have bestowed upon us be used only to serve You. Let this music be a witness to Your majesty and love, and remind us that You are always watching, and listening, from Your throne above. May Your presence and beauty be found in every note, and may the words that are sung reach the hearts of Your people so they will draw closer to You. May Your Spirit guide us through every measure so that we might be the instruments of Your peace, and proclaim Your glory with glad voices. Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC:                Kevin Harvey    "Be Thou My Vision"

RESPONSIVE READING:            Psalm 96   (Page 934)

SPECIAL MUSIC:      Quinn Burrows "The Midnight Special"

PRAYER & THE LORD'S PRAYER:      Creator God, because You make all that draws forth our praise and the forms in which to express it, we praise You. Because You make artists of us all, awakening courage to look again at what is taken for granted, grace to share these insights
with others, vision to reveal the future already in being, we praise You. Because You form Your Word among us, and in Your great work embrace all human experience, even death itself, inspiring our resurrection song, we praise You. Lord, You have called us to worship You. We gladly gather. As we praise You, though, our own inadequacy reminds us of how we have broken our relationship with You. Because we have sinned against You, even our worship fails to be what it could. We often treat it as a show. We simply go through the motions, failing to recognize that You want to engage us deeply.

Renew us, we pray, according to Your steadfast love. Remind us of Your
covenant faithfulness and have mercy on us. Now let us pray together the prayer Jesus taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

HYMN:                       #422  "Sing A New Song Unto The Lord"

SPECIAL MUSIC:                    Kim Graham            "Hands"

ANNOUNCEMENTS, BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES:                  (Betty)

SPECIAL MUSIC: Stewart Burrows  "Jesus Met The Woman At The Well"

SCRIPTURE READING: 2 Peter 1:3-11         Page 1893

SPECIAL MUSIC:                    Yvonne Langlois  "A Time To Gather"


PRAYER OF INTERCESSION:        (Choir sings right before prayer- Take, 0 Take Me As I Am)

Creator God, You have made us in Your image to reflect Your goodness. You have called us to us our gifts to build Your kingdom. As we worship this day, we seek to reflect Your image in our daily routine. Help us not only to focus on how to develop our creativity, but also to seek the wisdom to use our skills to Your glory, and for the building up
of the people we serve. In the name of Christ and through the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC:      Diane Morrison    "The Rose" annuled

HYMN:                       #412         "Come Let Us Sing"

OFFERING:   This is the time where we make our love visible through the giving of our  offerings. Let's give with cheerful hearts.

Offering Received:           "Let's Just Praise"            Choir
Offertory Hymn            #79    (Blue Hymnal)

Offertory Prayer:
Generous God; over and over Your grace sustains us, over and over Your
Love provides for us, and over and over Your arm steadies us. We give You these gifts, with gratitude and joy, thankful that You are God over all. Amen

SPECIAL MUSIC:             Howard Welburn    "Gonna Build A Mountain"

MEDITATION:        Using God's Gifts
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USING GOD'S GIFTS

A church bulletin ran this notice; "Someone has taken the paper cutter
from the church office and we are in dire need of it. Please bear in mind that without the paper cutter, the sermons will get longer and longer." Well please don't worry, I haven't lost my paper cutter!

We're all here today because we love music. It's been wonderful hearing
everyone sing and the instruments being played. It's been said that music is food for the soul, and I agree. We sing when we're happy. We whistle or hum while we work. We clap our hands or stomp our feet when we hear a lively tune, and we sway to the rhythm of a lilting ballad. I Corinthians 7:7 says "Each man has his own gift from God," and we've enjoyed the musical gifts He has given today.

There's an old joke about a man who, when asked if he could play a violin, answered, "I don't know. I've never tried." This is psychologically a very wise reply. Those who have never tried to play a violin really don't know whether or not they can. Those who say too early in life, and too firmly, "No, I'm not at all musical," shut themselves off permanently from whole areas of life that may have proved rewarding.

Each of us has unknown possibilities, undiscovered potentialities. One big advantage of having an open self-concept rather than a rigid one, is that we will continue to expose ourselves to new experiences and therefore continue to discover more and more about ourselves as we grow older.
This afternoon we have listened to beautiful voices, and heard the sound of guitars, flutes, violins, a euphonium, a saxophone, drums and piano. I remember the first time I picked up my saxophone. I put the mouthpiece between my lips and blew. The most horrifying sound came out and I was convinced this was not the instrument for me. But after several tries and instruction from my Dad, the sound improved. And eventually, after a few weeks of practicing, I was part of the saxophone section in the Ormstown Band.

It's the same for any person wanting to play an instrument or sing. First, we need instruction, a teacher to show us what to do. Then we need to practice, practice, practice. That reminds me of four year Jimmy who was thrilled when he family got a piano. He immediately went to the instrument, got up on the bench and began pounding the keys. After a while he got down from the piano bench in total frustration. "It's no use," he cried. "Jesus Loves Me just isn't in that piano." The moral: You get out what you put in. After some instruction and practice, little Jimmy would be able to play Jesus Loves Me.

The same can be said for anything. You get out of worship what you put into it. You get out of discipleship what you put into it. You get out of prayer,faith, etc. What you put into it. All these things need practice, dedication, devotion and desire to always try to do better.

I want you to think with me, just for a moment, about life as a great
musical instrument and we are all required to play. There are so many people who don't know how to get any music out of this instrument of life. They find fault with life itself. They put the blame on God when they should be blaming themselves. It isn't life that is to blame and neither is it God, if we get no music.  It's you and I. 

If we want to get music out of life, we must have a teacher, and the world's greatest teacher is Jesus Christ. He gives us our lessons, but we must practice, practice, practice. 

Are you getting music out of life? And if you are, what kind of music is it? Is Christ your teacher? Do you practice? When we let Christ teach us and when we follow his teachings and practice what 1-le has taught, our lives will be filled with the most beautiful music which we can share with others. That is our gift from God and we should use it every day.

Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, our souls are filled with the power and joy of Your song of Creation. Our hearts dance to the beat of Your rhythm as we raise our voices in response to Your call. Wrapped in the arms of Your sustaining Love, we offer our gift of music. In the presence of Your Holy Spirit, hearts are stilled to hear, minds are stirred to action and lives may be transformed.

We pray that all who listen will hear with understanding, and open
themselves to feel You presence through the joy in our voices and the passion in our hearts. We pray that all who listen will feel their spirits touched by the wonder of Your mystery, and add their own voices to our joyful noise.
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​SPECIAL MUSIC:             Elisabeth Churchill      "You Raise Me Up"

CLOSING HYMN:             #410     "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You"

CLOSING PRAYER:  God of majesty, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven; be with Your servants who make art and music for Your people, that with joy we on earth may glimpse Your beauty and bring us to the fulfillment of that hope of perfection which will be ours as we stand before Your glory. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. And now

BENEDICTION & CHORAL AMEN:  May the blessing of God, the giver of every good and perfect gift, and of Christ, who summons us to service, and of the Holy Spirit who inspires generosity and love, be with us all.
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POSTLUDE:            Chenaniah

"Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is
one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us."
- Martin Luther