Round Hill Community Church

ORDER OF SERVICE April 10, 2016

Third Sunday of Easter

PRELUDE Andante Schroeder Improvisation Biggs  

WORDS OF WELCOME INTROIT

CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: We have gathered here this morning to worship God.All: We have come seeking comfort, inspiration, community and

insight.Leader: We have come to open ourselves to the power of God’s

presence in our midst.All: We have come to offer up the seasons and the turnings in

our lives, and to ask God’s guidance in our learning and in our growing.

*HYMN No. 560 Leaning On the Everlasting Arms

*OPENING PRAYER O, living Christ, as the good news of Easter

energized your first disciples to establish dynamic Christian communities, so energize us to live with faith, hope and love. As your Spirit gave them courage to be ambassadors of compassion, so empower us also to proclaim your gospel and struggle for justice and peace. By your presence with us now, make us one in love and mission. Amen.

*The congregation is invited to stand*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 Connie BlundenChildren may now leave for Church School.

SCRIPTURE LESSON John 20: 24-31

Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

ANTHEM Come Down O Love Divine Vaughan Williams

SCRIPTURE LESSON Acts 1: 1-11In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon

you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

SERMON Something Worth Waiting For The Rev. Dr. Ed Horstmann

*HYMN No. 245 Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song

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 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 bythy might, Great God, our King.

PASTORAL PRAYER

*HYMN No. 490 Sister, Let Me Be Your Servant

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 Quodlibet J.S. Bach 

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 NEWSThank you to Bill and Julia Boysen for ushering this morning.

Thank you to Bill and Debbie Lipner for hosting coffee hour today. Please join them in the Parlor following the service.

Faith FormationOur next installment of the People of the Book series will take place on Sunday, April 17th, following the service. There are sixty-six books in the Bible, and one of them contains no explicit reference to God: that’s the Book of Esther.

The heroine of this short story is a woman who was queen in the house of a Persian king. At a crossroads in her life she found herself uniquely positioned to save her people from a malicious government official. But she could not raise her voice in protest without putting her own life at risk. How did she respond? How do we respond when faith puts our safety on the line? Join Rev. Ed Horstmann as we search this story for wisdom and hope.

OutreachThis morning, following worship, please join the Outreach Committee in welcoming Linda Autore, President and CEO of Laurel House.  Ms. Autore will present a forum on this Stamford-based organization which offers a variety of services to individuals living with mental illness and their families, in Fairfield county and beyond. RHCC has supported Laurel House for a number of years. 

REFLECTION

Waiting as we see it in the people on the first pages of the gospel is waiting with a sense of promise. “Zechariah, your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son.” “Mary, listen! You are to conceive and bear a son.” (Luke 1:13, 31, JB). People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. They have received something that is at work in them, like a seed that has started to grow. This is very important. We can only really wait if what we are waiting for has already begun for us. So waiting is never a movement from nothing to something. It is always a movement from something to something more.

- from “A Spirituality of Waiting” by Henri Nouwen

Cover Image: Ascension©, Jan Richardson

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