Preparation for Worship at Home
While worshipping at home, set aside a time and a place each week for worship. Light two candles to begin worship: one to represent Christ’s humanity and the other to represent Christ’s divinity. To celebrate communion, have something to eat and drink for everyone. The type of food and drink does not matter for they are merely symbols which help us celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
May the following serve as a guide in your worship of God.
The Worship of God
Lighting Two Candles
We begin worship by lighting candles to remind ourselves that the One whom we worship, Jesus, is the light of the world.
Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the peace of Christ be with you.”
And reply, “And, also with you.”
Opening Prayer
Today, Lord, we want everything to be for your glory.
We want our thoughts,
our words, our music,
our church, our community,
our resources, our time, our lives:
all to be for you.
Everything ours is yours,
and we come together to declare this to be so,
on this holy day of thanksgiving.
Bless our time together with your holy presence,
Amen.
~ written by Carol Penner
Hymn of Praise
We Sing the Mighty Power of God
Author: Isaac Watts
Tune: FOREST GREEN (trad. English Melody)
We sing the mighty power of God
that made the mountains rise,
that spread the flowing seas abroad
and built the lofty skies.
We sing the wisdom that ordained
the sun to rule the day;
the moon shines full at God’s command,
and all the stars obey.
We sing the goodness of the Lord
that filled the earth with food;
God formed the creatures with the word
and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how your wonders are displayed,
where’er we turn our eye,
if we survey the ground we tread
or gaze upon the skies.
There’s not a plant or flower below
but makes your glories known,
and clouds arise and tempests blow
by order from your throne;
while all that borrows life from you
is ever in your care,
and everywhere that we can be,
you, God, are present there.
Psalm 65
Praise awaits you,
O God of Zion;
O God of Zion, promises made to you will be fulfilled.
O Hearer of Prayer,
unto you all living things may come!
When sinful deeds overwhelm us,
pardon our rebellious acts.
How blessed is the one whom you choose and bring near;
the one who dwells in your courts.
May we be sated with the goodness of your house, your holy temple!
With awesome deeds which put things right, answer us,
O God of our salvation,
the one who is trusted by all the ends of the earth
and the distant seas.
Who by power sets the mountains in place;
who is clothed with might;
who stills the raging seas;
the raging of their waves, and the turmoil of the peoples.
So that those who dwell on the far edges stand in awe of your acts.
You make the gateways of morning and evening sing for joy.
You visit the land and give it abundance,
greatly enriching it.
God’s stream is full of water!
You provide grain by preparing the land.
Drench the earth’s furrows;
soak down its ridges.
Let showers soften it;
bless its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your paths drip fatness.
Even the dessert pastures drip with fatness,
and the hills cloth themselves with rejoicing.
The meadows are clothed with flocks,
the valleys dressed with grain;
they shout and sing for joy.
~ translated by Marvin Tate
Prayer for Others
Pause after each paragraph to give voice to prayers as prompted. Let us pray,
Merciful God, who shelters us and guides us,
we give you thanks for….
God who comforts,
receive those who are fearful and lonely….
God whose love is steadfast,
be refuge for the ill, the dying, and those who care about them.…
God of righteousness,
we ask for your wisdom and ways of justice to prevail
in our community, this nation, your world….
God who seeks our trust, grow us and guide us in your ways
that are life-giving in your world. Amen.
Choral Anthem
Now Thank We All Our God
Tune: MIDDLEBROOK
Composer: William A. Pasch
Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!
All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
Celebrating Communion
Communion celebrates our unity–our unity with God and with one another. At Cullowhee Baptist Church we practice an open communion which means anyone seeking to live the Way of Jesus Christ is invited to share in communion with us. Although we are not able to meet together, our bond still remains with one another and God through Jesus Christ.
Invitation to Communion
Imagine Jesus setting a table for us, a place where we may come together and share a meal. Before we “come to the table,” let us set our hearts aright and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our shortcomings.
Prayer for Ourselves and Others
For what we are about to receive,
may the Lord make us truly thankful.
We pray today for all who are too jealous to be thankful, who complain, “Why do they get everything?” and who are always comparing themselves with those who have more.
We pray for all who have forgotten how to say thank you; who have gotten used to saying, “I earned this,” and who truly feel they have only themselves to thank.
We pray for all who are too busy to be thankful; who asked themselves this morning, “Do I have time to go to church?” and who even in worship are thinking about their to-do lists.
We pray for all who are grudgingly thankful; who say, “I guess this will have to do,” while believing that God has given them a raw deal.
We pray for all who are too tired to be thankful, who sigh, “I just want to get through this day,” and who have no energy to open their eyes to the blessings around them.
We pray for all who are not thankful enough to be generous, who bargain with God, “I’ll be unselfish when you give me more,” or who are free with money, but are stingy in spending time with others.
We pray for all who are barely thankful; who say the words, but don’t feel grateful in their hearts who go through the motions, but think, “I don’t know how to be really thankful.”
Today we pray a simple prayer.
For what we have received,
what we are receiving,
and what we are about to receive,
Lord, make us truly thankful. Amen.
~ written by Carol Penner
silent prayer and medititation
Assurance of Pardon
2 Corinthians 5:17-18a, Common English Bible
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, to whom we have been reconciled through Christ. Amen.
Share the Meal
Share what you have to eat and before eating, have someone say, “This food represents the body of Christ. As we eat, we remember Jesus.”
Share what you have to drink and before drinking, have someone say, “This drink represents the covenant Christ made with us that our sins will be forgiven. As we drink, we remember Jesus.”
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Dear God, thank you for your abounding compassionate love. Thank you for guiding and leading us through these difficult times. Thank you for always being with us. Amen.
Song of Faith
Amazing Grace
Tune: NEW BRITAIN (from the Virginia Harmony, 1831)
Author: John Newton
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.
A Reading from 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Common English Bible
6 What I mean is this: the one who sows a small number of seeds will also reap a small crop, and the one who sows a generous amount of seeds will also reap a generous crop.
7 Everyone should give whatever they have decided in their heart. They shouldn’t give with hesitation or because of pressure. God loves a cheerful giver. 8 God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace. That way, you will have everything you need always and in everything to provide more than enough for every kind of good work. 9 As it is written, He scattered everywhere; he gave to the needy; his righteousness remains forever.
10 The one who supplies seed for planting and bread for eating will supply and multiply your seed and will increase your crop, which is righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous in every way. Such generosity produces thanksgiving to God through us. 12 Your ministry of this service to God’s people isn’t only fully meeting their needs but it is also multiplying in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. 13 They will give honor to God for your obedience to your confession of Christ’s gospel. They will do this because this service provides evidence of your obedience, and because of your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. 14 They will also pray for you, and they will care deeply for you because of the outstanding grace that God has given to you. 15 Thank God for his gift that words can’t describe!
Reflecting on the Word
Rev. Tonya Vickery
Listen and/or read below.
I got tickled two weeks ago when Jeffrey was working on his sermon for last Sunday. After reading through Matthew 25 he looked at me and said, “I feel like these parables keep saying the same thing over and over again.” I laughed and agreed. Well guess what. I’ve veered off the gospel course for today. And I’ve skipped ahead to the Thanksgiving text for Thanksgiving Day. Here we are in the New Testament, but yet again, we find the same message as last Sunday’s.
In case you missed last week’s reading from Matthew 25, let me summarize Jesus’ story in my own words. The parable goes like this. A land owner was going to travel the world for a bit, so he entrusted large sums of his money to his workers. He had a great and glorious trip. Now, when he finally returned home so thankful to once again sleep in his own bed, he brought each of the workers in to see how they had fared with his money. The first worker reported that he had doubled what had been entrusted to him. The second worker did as well. But the third one? This lazy worker didn’t do a thing with the landowner’s money. He tried to blame the landowner for his lack of trying . He whined, “It’s not my fault that the amount of money is the same. I just hid it because I was afraid that you would be so mad with me if I lost all of it or any of it. So here it is fair and square, nothing’s been lost. I thought you would be happy.” The landowner was anything but happy. The worker knew better. He knew the landowner was able to reap where he didn’t sow and harvest where he hadn’t even scattered seeds. His lack of trying was a disrespect of the One who had entrusted him with much.
Now the point of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 is that God trusts us. With a story about money and investments, Jesus makes this point: God trusts us. Here in 2 Corinthians, the same point is being made. In the context of planting seeds and harvesting crops, we glean again that God trusts us.
2 Corinthians 2:6 reads, “The one who sows a small number of seeds will also reap a small crop, and the one who sows generous amounts of seeds will also reap a generous crop.” Agriculturally speaking, this statement is true. If you plant one row of corn, you are going to reap one rows worth of ears of corn. If you plant a hundred rows of corn, you are going to reap one hundred rows worth of ears of corn. Same goes for tomato seeds. If you plant ten tomato seeds, you will have a few tomatoes to eat during the summer. But if you plant 99 tomato seeds, you will have a bountiful plenty of tomatoes so much that you will have more than you need.
God knows better than to trust me to be a gardener or to be a money investor, however, the money and the seeds are merely symbols. What are these seeds we are expected to sew liberally? What is the money we are to invest? Look back at verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 9. It reads, “God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace. That way, you will have everything you need always and in everything to provide more than enough for every kind of good work.” The seeds and the money are the grace which God gives us. It is the Greek term, charis. It is grace, kindness, blessing, and even gratitude.
“God is able to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace….” These are seeds and investments that bring joy, delight, and loveliness. These seeds bear good will and loving-kindness in situations and to people who do not deserve such grace. These seeds bring about thanksgiving and gratitude. These provisions are steeped in joy and gladness. These gifts from God are blessings. God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance….
Even before the Gratitude Journal movement began, the hymn Count Your Blessings taught us to be grateful. The refrain repeatedly says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.” The counting is not meant to turn the blessings of God into a competition of who has more. Numbering your blessings from God isn’t supposed to make you feel superior. Counting and naming blessings are a way for us to recognize how great and abundant God’s blessings towards us are. “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance….”
God is not stingy when it comes to loving and blessings us. God is not a hoarder of goodness and grace. God does not withhold from us but generously provides. 2 Corinthians says, God is able to provide and God will supply and multiply. The blessings of God are not scarce. There’s another hymn we sing, one that I love to play and sing, it’s There Shall Be Showers of Blessings by D.W. Whittle. The refrain sung with every verse ends with the words, “but for the showers we plead.” Now that refrain can sometimes leave us pondering if god might withhold blessings from us if we are having to plead for them. Fortunately most hymnals leave out the fifth verse of the Whittle’s hymn which would have us sing, “There will be showers of blessings if we just trust and obey.” That’s the wrong way to look at God’s blessings. The blessings of God are not rewards for our ability to trust, nor a payment for our obedience. I would say that if we do trust and obey God, we are more likely to recognize the blessings of God, but the giving of God’s gifts does not depend upon the piety of the person. They depend upon a generosity and love of God who trusts us, all of us. Remember, the workers did not earn the money that was entrusted to them. The seeds were given to the farmer, not bought for a price.
What blessings, what graces has God given you? given us? What blessings, what joys has God entrusted to you? to us? What kindness has God provided you? given us?
In our worship today we have spent a lot of time thanking God for all the many blessings. God says back to us, “You are welcome, but now go do something with those blessings.” We would completely miss the point of God’s blessings if we were to just to depart with a plan of naming and counting God’s blessings this week. For in doing so we make the mistake of believing that God’s blessings are solely meant for us. The parable from last week’s worship service and scripture passage today both clearly say God’s provisions are to be invested or sewn like seeds.
The blessings of God are not to be stored away. The gifts and graces God abundantly provides us are not to be collected or stockpiled. The kindness of God is not to be squirreled away. We don’t just put the blessings of God in our wallets, snap it shut, and pull it out in the end. We don’t just set the blessings of God on a shelf and admire them. Yes, God gives us blessings in abundance, but those blessings do not become memorials to how great we are or how great our lives are. We are taught and expected to move beyond just thanking God for the many blessings in our lives.
Here comes that Old Testament question. What does the Lord require of us? To be thankful? Yes, oh yes. Remember the story about the lepers whom Jesus healed. Only one came back to thank and praise the Lord. But in addition to being grateful, God also expects us to be generous. Some say it this way, the blessings from God that have been given to you are to become blessings to others. When we are generous with God’s blessings, we don’t just provide for someone in need, but our generosity with the gifts of God becomes a source of great thanksgiving to God. And the praise of God grows and grows.
The point first made by Jesus in the parables from Matthew’s gospel is made again here in 2 Corinthians. God trusts us. God showers us with blessings trusting that we will share the blessings. God abundantly provides for us trusting that we will be generous with those provisions. God trusts us, that we will take what God gives us and share it cheerfully, willingly, and abundantly. God trust that we care for others like God cares for all. Now, go make God proud and share what the Lord has given you in such a way that others will not thank you, but thank God!
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Thank you, God for constant love. Please help our church family grow deeper and deeper in your love. Amen.
Song of Faith
For the Fruits of All Creation, Thanks Be to God
Author: Fred Pratt Green
Tune: AR HYD Y NOS (Welsh melody)
For the fruits of all creation,
Thanks be to God.
For the gifts to ev’ry nation,
Thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth’s safe keeping,
Thanks be to God.
In the just reward of labor,
God’s will is done.
In the help we give our neighbor,
God’s will is done.
In our world-wide task of caring
For the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing,
God’s will is done.
For the harvests of the Spirit,
Thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
Thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
For the truths that still confound us,
Most of all, that love has found us,
Thanks be to God.
Sending Out
May the blessing and peace of God uphold you,
May the compassion and love of Christ enfold you,
and may the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit embolden you,
today and always.
Amen.
Closing Song
Blest Be the Tie
Tune: DENNIS (Nageli)
Author: John Fawcett
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
When we are called to part, it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives and waits to see the day.
Acknowledgements:
The anthem was played by Tonya and sung by Mindy, Tonya, and Ally. Tracy played the organ, Tonya played the piano, and Mindy sang the hymns. Aidan played the piano for Amazing Grace. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved. All writings have been used by permission from the posting sites or authors.
Cullowhee Baptist Church 
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