We welcome you to either virtual or in-person worship on Sunday, September 5, 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.
Dear Guests – WELCOME!
We are thankful for your presence with us this morning.
We pray that you will be blessed and strengthened
by the Holy Spirit in our time together and you will continue to
join us for worship and ministry in the weeks to come.
Welcome, Announcements & Passing of the Peace
ORGAN PRELUDE Kathryn Ammel Parker
*CALL TO WORSHIP Proverbs 22 1-2 8-9 22-23
Praise the Lord!
A good name is to be better chosen rather than great riches
And favor is better then silver or gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common
The Lord is the maker of them all
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity
And the rod of anger will fail
Those who are generous are blessed
For they share their bread with the poor
Do not rob the poor because they are poor
Or crush the afflicted at the gate
For the Lord pleads their cause and despoils
Of life those who despoil them.
*HYMN OF PRAISE No. 2086 FWS
Open our Eyes Lord
God who made us, your sunrise wakes us.
Your sunset amazes us. We come to praise you.
God of hope, your promise sustains us.
Your power upholds us. We gather in thanks.
God of love, your patience humbles us.
Your touch heals us. We pray to be closer to you.
God of peace, you break down barriers and walls that divide us.
Help us walk in your ways.
God of eternity, you have always loved us,
And by grace you save us. We praise your holy name. AmenYOUNG DISCIPLE’S TIME
All the children are invited to come to the Chancel for a time of discipling!SONG OF RESPONSE Peoples Choice
Four choices 2 verses each 3 from in church and 1 from on lineThe Sharing of God’s Holy Word
FIRST READING James 2 vs 1- 7
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism
really believe in our glorious Lord, Jesus Christ? For if a person
with fine clothes and gold rings comes into your assembly and if
a person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of
the one wearing the fine clothes and say” Have a seat here please”
and while to the one who is poor you say you may stand there or
you may sit at “my feet” have you not made distinctions among
yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen
my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that
He has promised to those who love him. But you have dishonored
the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who
drag people into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
*HYMNS OF RESPONSE No. 367 UMH He Touched Me
SECOND READING James 8-17+
You do well if you really fulfill the holy law according to the
Scripture,” You shall love your neighbor as yourself” But if you
show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as
transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it .For the one who said
thou shall not commit adultery also said thou shall not commit murder. Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder
you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so
act as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown
no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgement.
What good is it my brothers and sisters, if you say you have
Faith but do no good works? Can faith save you? If a
brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you
says to them “go in peace;
keep warm and eat your fill and
yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
So faith by itself, if it has no works. Is dead.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
Faith Works
Responding With Faith
*HYMN OF RESPONSE NO 273 UMH
Jesus Hands were Kind Hands
PRAYERS FOR GOD’S CHILDREN AND 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
To view the full bulletin, which contains announcements and prayer requests, click here.
