Gathering hymn “I sing the mighty power of God” HWB #46
; rendition by the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus, 2003 Spring Concert
Call to worship (unison) from WW2, #28
Dear Lord, we come before you eager to praise you,
ready to set aside our thoughts and musings of the week to come.
Guide us into worship as we year to see, hear and feel your presence this hour. Amen.
Children’s Time {video} –Jeremy & Steph Entz family
Scripture Matthew 7:1-6, Romans 2:1-4
Meditation “Results of judging” {video} –Rosie Epp
Response Hymn “Lead me, Lord” HWB #538
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwxmEKdIQw
>; as performed by the Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, England
Offering Mennonite Central Committee
Thanks to those who’ve mailed in donations or dropped them by the church; when preparing checks, please make to “Zion Mennonite Church,” and then indicate the designation in the memo line.
Sharing (Please communicate to the pastors any sharing you’d like distributed in the future.
• As best we’re aware, members and friends of our church family continue to be reasonably healthy at present.
• WDC pastors and congregation members facing financial stress due to the impact of coronavirus.
• a Virginia Mennonite Missions team that helped build a community center in Peru, partnering with Mennonite Mission Network. Pray for Elena and Freddy Buckwalter de Satalaya, jointly sponsored by the two agencies, and for the leadership team in Peru as they use the center for kids’ activities and worship services.
• Mennonite World Conference notes that planting and harvesting is disrupted by the global pandemic, and some farmers are eating their seed stock out of necessity; pray for an equitable distribution of food in the months to come, and that wealthy countries would not look only to their own interests.
• Help us all to practice social distancing and have the discipline to stay home as much as possible, encouraging others to do the same (without shaming them). And may we have hope even in the face of daunting headlines.
Video Sharing: (We are posting a link to several short video clips from Zion families, offering prayer requests, greetings, perspective on their recent activities, challenges and celebrations during this period, favorite movies/reading/recipes, etc.).
Prayer –Ray Reimer
Great God, we hear the good news that your love endures forever, and we rejoice.
But dear God, your ways are sometimes inscrutable, your judgments unsearchable--
and your patience defies all understanding.
We thank you, dear God, for meeting us where we are, and for respecting our human condition,
We confess, dear Lord, that we are not always the creatures you created us to be.
We rush to judge others… or we hold back in offering the discernment we might.
For this we ask your—and each others'—forgiveness.
Because we are not sufficient of ourselves,
provide the requisite wisdom, we pray,
to guide our lives, especially in these rapidly-changing, challenging days.
Give us the grace to weigh our actions in light of their consequences on others.
Calm our anxieties, Lord; and remind us of our ultimate trust.
We pray for others as much as we pray for ourselves:
for the lonely and the home-bound and the quarantined, who can no longer go where they would like; and for those suddenly un- or under-employed;
we pray that love and practical support will come from others to sustain them.
for the sick in need of relief from bodily pain;
we pray for their recovery, if it be your will.
for those who grieve the death of ones they have dearly loved;
we pray good memories endure, and new hope be grasped.
May our prayers and our actions sustain our sisters and brothers, and bind us together in your name—even if we are not able to be physically close to each other.
Yes, make your church an example of love at work with reverence both for you and the humanity that you've created.
God of yesterday, today, and forever,
you have given us hope for what we do not yet see, so grant us patience to wait for it.
May we live each day in expectation of the fulfillment of your promises.
Thus we pray, hallowing your name,
today and in all eternity. Amen.
Sending Hymn “The peace of the earth be with you” SJ #77
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYsTzXby4vU
>; rendition by John L. Bell, There Is One Among Us: Shorter Songs for Worship (1999).
Benediction from WW2, #155
May there be love and understanding in our hearts and in our world.
May peace and friendship offer shelter from life's storms.
May we be released from our deep fears and our fruitless guilt.
May we have the courage to speak truth against violence and suffering.
Guiding Spirt, bless our journey with these good companions,
that we may be drenched with the longing for peace, to make justice blossom on earth. Amen.
; rendition by the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus, 2003 Spring Concert
Call to worship (unison) from WW2, #28
Dear Lord, we come before you eager to praise you,
ready to set aside our thoughts and musings of the week to come.
Guide us into worship as we year to see, hear and feel your presence this hour. Amen.
Children’s Time {video} –Jeremy & Steph Entz family
Scripture Matthew 7:1-6, Romans 2:1-4
Meditation “Results of judging” {video} –Rosie Epp
Response Hymn “Lead me, Lord” HWB #538
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwxmEKdIQw
>; as performed by the Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, England
Offering Mennonite Central Committee
Thanks to those who’ve mailed in donations or dropped them by the church; when preparing checks, please make to “Zion Mennonite Church,” and then indicate the designation in the memo line.
Sharing (Please communicate to the pastors any sharing you’d like distributed in the future.
• As best we’re aware, members and friends of our church family continue to be reasonably healthy at present.
• WDC pastors and congregation members facing financial stress due to the impact of coronavirus.
• a Virginia Mennonite Missions team that helped build a community center in Peru, partnering with Mennonite Mission Network. Pray for Elena and Freddy Buckwalter de Satalaya, jointly sponsored by the two agencies, and for the leadership team in Peru as they use the center for kids’ activities and worship services.
• Mennonite World Conference notes that planting and harvesting is disrupted by the global pandemic, and some farmers are eating their seed stock out of necessity; pray for an equitable distribution of food in the months to come, and that wealthy countries would not look only to their own interests.
• Help us all to practice social distancing and have the discipline to stay home as much as possible, encouraging others to do the same (without shaming them). And may we have hope even in the face of daunting headlines.
Video Sharing: (We are posting a link to several short video clips from Zion families, offering prayer requests, greetings, perspective on their recent activities, challenges and celebrations during this period, favorite movies/reading/recipes, etc.).
Prayer –Ray Reimer
Great God, we hear the good news that your love endures forever, and we rejoice.
But dear God, your ways are sometimes inscrutable, your judgments unsearchable--
and your patience defies all understanding.
We thank you, dear God, for meeting us where we are, and for respecting our human condition,
We confess, dear Lord, that we are not always the creatures you created us to be.
We rush to judge others… or we hold back in offering the discernment we might.
For this we ask your—and each others'—forgiveness.
Because we are not sufficient of ourselves,
provide the requisite wisdom, we pray,
to guide our lives, especially in these rapidly-changing, challenging days.
Give us the grace to weigh our actions in light of their consequences on others.
Calm our anxieties, Lord; and remind us of our ultimate trust.
We pray for others as much as we pray for ourselves:
for the lonely and the home-bound and the quarantined, who can no longer go where they would like; and for those suddenly un- or under-employed;
we pray that love and practical support will come from others to sustain them.
for the sick in need of relief from bodily pain;
we pray for their recovery, if it be your will.
for those who grieve the death of ones they have dearly loved;
we pray good memories endure, and new hope be grasped.
May our prayers and our actions sustain our sisters and brothers, and bind us together in your name—even if we are not able to be physically close to each other.
Yes, make your church an example of love at work with reverence both for you and the humanity that you've created.
God of yesterday, today, and forever,
you have given us hope for what we do not yet see, so grant us patience to wait for it.
May we live each day in expectation of the fulfillment of your promises.
Thus we pray, hallowing your name,
today and in all eternity. Amen.
Sending Hymn “The peace of the earth be with you” SJ #77
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYsTzXby4vU
>; rendition by John L. Bell, There Is One Among Us: Shorter Songs for Worship (1999).
Benediction from WW2, #155
May there be love and understanding in our hearts and in our world.
May peace and friendship offer shelter from life's storms.
May we be released from our deep fears and our fruitless guilt.
May we have the courage to speak truth against violence and suffering.
Guiding Spirt, bless our journey with these good companions,
that we may be drenched with the longing for peace, to make justice blossom on earth. Amen.
Video Links
1) Children's Time, focusing on Matthew 18.21-35 (re forgiveness), led by the Jeremy & Steph Entz family: <https://youtu.be/mFWfUfZlcI0>.
2) Meditation, focusing on Matthew 7:1-6, Romans 2:1-4 (re judging), by Rosie Epp: <https://youtu.be/bmcz3Kkn5KI
>.
3) Video Sharing, featuring—Ben & Halie Duerksen's family; Thelma Wedel; Wes & Bonnie Brewer’s family: <https://youtu.be/R8feFIEhLc0
>.
2) Meditation, focusing on Matthew 7:1-6, Romans 2:1-4 (re judging), by Rosie Epp: <https://youtu.be/bmcz3Kkn5KI
>.
3) Video Sharing, featuring—Ben & Halie Duerksen's family; Thelma Wedel; Wes & Bonnie Brewer’s family: <https://youtu.be/R8feFIEhLc0
>.
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