We welcome you to either virtual or in-person worship on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 10am! You are welcome to join us for in-person worship in the Essex Center UMC sanctuary (please wear a mask), you may participate on Facebook Live by clicking here, or you may watch below. After worship concludes, a recording will be posted on this page.
“Practice the Pause. Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you’re about to react harshly”… – Lori Deschene
When tired, pause, when stressed, pause. And when you pause, PRAY.” -unknown
The Church Gathers
Welcome, Announcements & Passing of the Peace
ORGAN PRELUDE Kathryn Ammel Parker
*CALL TO WORSHIP adapted from Song of Solomon 2,
Psalm 45
Look to the mountains; look to the hills!
Love comes to us with joy!
The world is filled with beauty.
Flowers appear on the earth,
birdsong brightens the day.
Crops yield their produce in abundance,
the air is filled with sweetness.
The summer of God’s love is with us.
Let the oil of gladness anoint your souls.
Arise and sing for joy!
*HYMN OF PRAISE Fairest Lord Jesus No. 189
MORNING PRAYER (unison)
Lord, summer wanes and autumn draws close. Allow
us to be ready to learn and serve.
We have felt the refreshment of time away. Give us the spirit of joy for the times ahead.
As we join together to celebrate your boundless love and gifts, let us open our spirits to receive your direction and call. AMEN
YOUNG DISCIPLE’S TIME
The Sharing of God’s Holy Word
FIRST READING Psalm 15 (The Voice)
Eternal One, who is invited to stay in Your dwelling?
Who is granted passage to Your holy mountain?
2 Here is the answer: The one who lives with integrity, does what is right,
and speaks honestly with truth from the heart.
3 The one who doesn’t speak evil against others
or wrong his neighbor,
or slander his friends.
4 The one who loathes the loathsome,
honors those who fear the Eternal,
And keeps all promises no matter the cost.
5 The one who does not lend money with gain in mind
and cannot be bought to harm an innocent name.
If you live this way, you will not be shaken and will live together with the Lord.
*HYMNS OF RESPONSE Great is Thy Faithfulness No. 140
SECOND READING James 1:17-27(NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Message: Practicing the Pause Narda Carlson
Responding With Faith
*HYMN OF RESPONSE AND INVITATION
My Hope is Built No. 368
PRAYERS FOR GOD’S CHILDREN & THE WORLD
THE DISCIPLE’S PRAYER
THE GIVING OF GOD’S TITHE AND OUR OFFERINGS
The Church Goes Out in Mission
*BLESSING
*SUNG BENEDICTION His Eye is on the Sparrow
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
for his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
ORGAN POSTLUDE
For the full worship bulletin, including prayer requests and announcements, please click here.
