Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Christmas Eve 2006

I cannot wait for Christmas Eve! This year we are going to have a wonderful service with lots of great music, great preaching a bit of drama, etc. It's going to be nice!

Travis Park UMC-Christmas Eve Worship
Sunday, December 24th, 2006
Christmas Eve
7:00 p.m.


CHORAL CALL TO WORSHIP: Lost in the Night
Text: Finnish Song, tr. Olav Lee; Music: arr. Kyle Haugen
Emmaus Youth Choir; Sanctuary Choir
Sarah Homer, soprano soloist

Lost in the night do the people yet languish,
Longing for morning the darkness to vanquish,
Plaintively heaving a sigh full of anguish.
Will not day come soon?
Will not day come soon?

Must we be vainly awaiting the morrow?
Shall those who have light no light let us borrow,
Giving no heed to our burden of sorrow?
Will you help us soon?
Will you help us soon?

Sorrowing wand’ers, in darkness yet dwelling,
Dawned has the day of a radiance excelling,
Death’s dreaded darkness forever dispelling.
Christ is coming soon, Christ is coming soon!

Will not day come soon?
Come and save us soon!
Christ is coming soon!

*OPENING PRAYER
God of starlight and holy nights, surprise us again with the miracle of birth, the glorious birth of Jesus. Help us see the wonder and delight of it all as the children enact the story.
Soften our hearts, touch our souls and fill us with love, for the birth of Jesus changed our world, changed our lives. Open us to receiving once again your love so that we may share your love with those in need. Amen
--Larry J. Peacock

*OPENING HYMN No. 234 O Come, All Ye Faithful st.1-4 All




CHILDREDN’S CHRISTMAS PAGENT Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:9-11
Scripture Passages read by Rev. Karen Vannoy and Rev. John Flowers

What Child is This? vs. 1
The First Noel, vs. 1
We Three Kings, vs. 1
Away in a Manger, vs. 1
Joy to the World, vs. 1
ANTHEM: Fum, Fum, Fum arr. S. Childs
Sacred Melodies; Jackie Shepherd, conductor; Mark Rubinstein, accompanist

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT AND CHRIST CANDLES
Rev. Joe Stobaugh and Mrs. Sarah Stobaugh and Eleanor Grace Stobaugh

Leader: Now we are all collected in the stable, where all people are gathered, each in their own dress of habits and flaws.
People: Here, we find the pain of Mary; the endurance of Joseph; the economics of the innkeeper; the not knowing of the shepherds.
Leader: Around our lonely hours and the crush of crowds, there still shines the manger presence.
People: What can we do, but kneel? And when we rise, straw dust on our knees, cobwebs in our hair, stars in our eyes, you have invaded our hearts, armed with love.
--Rev. Karen Vannoy

MESSAGE Christmas at the Manger Rev. John Flowers

MUSICAL RESPONSE: I Pray on Christmas
Text and Music by Harry Connick, Jr.
Celebration Singers; Clark Stevens, soloist; Mark Rubinstein, pianist

I pray on Christmas that the Lord will see my through.
I pray on Christmas He’ll show me what to do.
I pray on Christmas He’ll help me understand.
And I pray on Christmas He’ll take me by the hand.

I pray on Christmas that the sick will soon be strong.
I pray on Christmas the Lord will hear my song.
I pray on Christmas that God will lead the way.
And I pray on Christmas He’ll get me through another day.

I pray on Christmas all our problems gonna be worked out.
I pray on Christmas God’ll show us what love’s about.
I pray on Christmas to do your will each day.
And I pray on Christmas that I’ll be with you in heaven some day.

A WITNESS TO TRANSFORMATION ?????

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Maria Wiegenlied Max Reger
Camerata San Antonio
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to God.
Leader: Thank you, God, for giving yourself to the world, not in the powerful and
extraordinary,
People: but in weakness and the familiar: in a baby; in bread and
wine.
Leader: Than you for offering, at journey’s end, a new beginning;
People: for setting, in the poverty of a stable, the richest jewel of your
love;
Leader: for revealing, in a particular place, your light for all nations.
People: Thank you for bringing us to Bethlehem, House of Bread,
where the empty are filled, and the filled are emptied; and all join their voices together singing:
--Kate Compston, England, 1990; Matthew 2:1-12


SANCTUS No. 238 Angels We Have Heard on High All
(please ring your bells during the Gloria)

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Holy God, we praise you for this holy season of hints and whispers, when
you sent your best gift to us. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book


COMMUNION MUSIC: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
Music by Johannes Brahms; Performed by Camerata San Antonio

ANTHEM Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Text: Wzlobie Lezy, trans. Edith M.G. Reed (1885-1933)
Music: Polish Carol, arr. Mack Wilberg
Sanctuary Choir;
Lana Cartlidge Potts, organist; Camerata San Antonio

Infant Holy, Infant lowly, For his bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swifly winging angels singing, Nowells ringing,
Tidings bringing: Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping Vigil till the morning new
Saw the glory, heard the story, Tidings of a gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, Praises voicing, greet the morrow:
Christ the Babe was born for you.
Christ the Babe was born, for you.
Christ was born for you.

*LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS CANDLES No. 239 Silent Night ALL

BENEDICTION—text from Brian Wren

Advent 4 Liturgy

Tis' the season for pastoral musician chaos!!!!!!! Here's what we've got for this week, good stuff!

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, December 24th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

CALL TO WORSHIP*
We are waiting
We are searching
Looking for the way home
Staying alert to signs
Listening carefully for directions
On our journey home to God
--Alison Boone

OPENING HYMN* No. 211 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ALL

OPENING PRAYER
Mysterious God, you are both journey and destination, our companion and our goal. We thank you that you are as close as our very breath, always ready to guide, to nudge, to encourage. We thank you that you go before us, always leading, calling us onward. We thank you that you await us, standing with open arms, running to greet us as we make our way to you.
O God, may we remember that you do not call us only as individuals, but also as members of your family. Empower us to love and serve all members of your family – of our family – so that the hungry are filled and the lowly are lifted up and all are welcome. We pray in the name of the One who comes to show us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

CANDLE LIGHTING
Leader: God is light!
People: In whom there is no darkness at all.
Leader: Each of us shares in the divine light shining forth. We are called to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to release the captive, to bring about the dream of God.
People: For nothing will be impossible with God.
Candle Lighters: The Laborde/Steubing Family

CAROL MEDLEY No. 240 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
No. 230 O Little Town of Bethlehem
No. 221 In the Bleak Midwinter
No. 220 Angels from the Realms of Glory

MESSAGE Luke 1:39-45 Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Gabriel’s Message
Words by S. Baring-Gould; Music: Basque Carol, arr. Sir David Willcocks

The angel Gabriel from heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
‘All hail,’ said he, ‘thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

‘For known a blessed Mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honour thee,
Thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers fore-told,’
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
‘To me be as it pleaseth God,’ she said,
‘My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name.’
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
O God, we thank you for this homecoming feast, prepared for all to share. Send us out to proclaim the good news of our home with you, a home filled with mercy and justice and love. We pray in the name of Jesus, who came to show us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 246 Joy to the World ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Been a while....

Whew...tis' the season for lots of work! I know it's been a while since I last posted. Advent this year has been surprisingly full. Once I got done with my ordination paperwork and World AIDS Day I thought I'd have more time but, as usual, it was less than I wanted. I think that's a trick of the mind, we're always looking forward to breaks, vacations, etc. so that we can hold on and finish the work we have in front of us. (If one is lucky enough to have those luxuries.)
Right now I'm reading several interesting books...
I'm working through Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity, Diana Butler Bass's Christianity for the Rest of Us, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Golf by Design, and a devotional collection on Advent and Christmas music by an Anglican Priest. The Borg and Butler Bass books are proving to be the most interesting of the four. I'll post more if anything incredibly revelatory occurs in these works!

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Now What? A Homily for World AIDS Day

Here's the homily that I preached last Friday. I used the manuscript as a jumping off place and riffed a bit more in the actual spoken homily.

Now What?
A Homily for World AIDS Day 2006

Tonight, friends, we are here together. That is important! Tonight, even if only for an hour or two, we are in community. Tonight we have sung songs, prayed prayers, and we’ve listened to beautiful music. We have raised our voices against injustice. And all day long we’ve been exposed to horrible, mind-numbing statistics. Statistics that remind us that there are 39.5 million people living with AIDS and that 2.9 million people have died of AIDS related illnesses this year. We have heard that there have been 4.3 million new infections this year. But beyond that, we remember the faces that those statistics represent. Those numbers, and the faces we remember, can cause us to feel the heaviness that all too often engulfs the world. Tonight, we might be caught in the darkness that shrouds our planet.
But the good in this is, for tonight, at least, we are together! And our togetherness should give us hope. Because it is in our togetherness that we remember our dead, we mourn our friends, and we miss our family. But we don’t grieve alone, because tonight we are together. This is a good thing because God never wants us to be alone.
I want to get local with you for just a moment. This church has not always been a place that was about compassion, and dignity and respect for all. This church had a bit of a reputation for exuding jugement when it should have been exuding love, compassion, and working for justice. But now, it is doing those good things, as are many churches across the world.
In churches and in religious communities across the world where just ten to fifteen years ago HIV/AIDS was a horrible stigma for anyone to have, many of those same communities are now working to be in solidarity with those who have AIDS and to be in community with them. The church is working on treating everyone with dignity and respect.
As the sun rose in Washington D.C. this morning there was a live feed on CNN from Foundry UMC in Washington D.C. where their prayer vigil for World AIDS Day was beginning. As the sun passes from the east to the middle of our country, we have had events, prayers, and remembrance here at this church. As the sun continues its journey to the west, churches and religious communities from Texas to New Mexico, to Arizona, to Nevada, to California, and to Hawaii are having services to mark World AIDS Day and to remember those who have left us. Truly, the church and religious traditions of all kinds from all over the world are raising their voices to the heavens this day: this should give us hope as well!
But, if you are at all like me, you find yourself asking the question, now what? Some of you have been in this struggle since the beginning, over twenty-five years ago, and some of us are here for the first time.
All I can tell you is this: what we are doing tonight makes a difference and we need to continue this work. We must continue to lift our voices with our friends from around the world. Certainly we do this in remembrance of those who we have lost, but we also raise our voices to say that HIV/AIDS is the greatest pandemic humanity has ever faced. We raise our voices to remind the world that it is not o.k. to compartmentalize AIDS as just a “health” issue for “those people” because it is truly a “human” issue! We raise our voices to say that AIDS, along with global poverty, are the defining issues of our generation. We must remind the world that the global AIDS pandemic will not and cannot be solved without solving global poverty. It is a tragedy of the first order that thousands of children, women and men will die today because the world refuses to give them medicine! Together we have to remind the world that it cannot ignore these issues!
Let us remind the world, not only with our voices, but with our hearts, with our minds, with our hands and our feet as we leave this place. Let us show the world what it means to love unconditionally and to work for justice. Let us shine light into a world that is all too often filled with darkness.
We need to continue to open people’s eyes, so that they may truly see the cost of this horrible disease. The world needs to be reminded constantly that we are about to lose a generation of people in Africa, that AIDS is a very real pandemic in the United States and around the world. Not only do we need to educate, to teach, and to prevent this terrible disease but we must also remind the world of the intrinsic goodness of God’s creation.
We must remember that, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, that God, who is good, created us, all of us, that God has formed us, and that God loves us and redeems us. When we pass through the waters, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us. God has made you, and you are precious in God’s sight. Let us take this word into the world to love our friends and those who would oppose us. Let us shine light into the world, because God is with us!
Let all of God’s children say: Amen!

World AIDS Day Liturgy

Here's the liturgy from last week's World AIDS Day service.

WORLD AIDS DAY 2006
December 1st, 2006
7:00 p.m.

GATHERING

Prelude Psalm Prelude (Psalm 40:1-3) Craig Phillips Dr. David Heller, organist
I waited patiently upon the Lord;
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the desolate pit,
out of the mire and clay;
he set my feet upon a high cliff
and he made my footing sure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God;
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the Lord.

Invocation of the Spirit Come Holy Spirit Thornburg/Potts
Come, Holy Spirit,come, Holy Spirit;break the chains our fears create;teach us love and stifle hate;help us rest, but not escape.Come, Holy Spirit.

Soloist verses by Alison Boone
On a road in the wilderness Phillip saw the eunuch
who was searching for the wisdom of God,
and Phillip offered him understanding, good news and acceptance,
acceptance as a child of God.

To the house of the Roman guard
Peter went with a vision full of animals reptiles and birds,
and God said “Peter, don’t call anything unclean that I have made,
for I have made all things clean.”

To the outcast and alien seeking God’s communion,
God says, “I respect no distinctions or walls,
and I will gather up all who seek me into my holy mountain,
for all shall be welcome there.”

*Call to Worship
The One: Gracious God, tonight, we have gathered from across this city, from many
places, and for many reasons. We gather to remember:
The Many: May we never forget those who have been lost to us because of
HIV/AIDS, God, we commend our brothers and sisters to you.
The One: Loving God, we gather because of love:
The Many: Show us a glimpse of your love, O God, so that we can be empowered to
love one another.
The One: Eternal God, we are here to worship and to ask for justice!
The Many: Yahweh, you are our Creator, and we worship you! You desire your
creation to be made whole: send forth your justice to our hurting world.
The One: Source of all Light, we are here for hope!
The Many: Send us your light, Lord, for we live in an all too often dark world.
All: God, may we worship you tonight and always by being fully human, by
becoming what you would have us to be, and by loving you and our neighbors with the fullness of our being.
--Rev. Joe Stobaugh

*Hymn Be Tender with the Ones You Know Thornburg/Hawn
Solo: Be tender with the ones you knowwho hold their sadness deep inside;be reconciled for any meanness,insult, ridicule, or pride.
All: Say and do the things that strengthen;be the carriers of grace.Let us be the onesin whom our neighbors see God’s face.

Welcome & Introductions: Rev. Karen Vannoy & Rev. John Flowers

SONGS OF LOVE AND JUSTICE
Siyahamba
Freedom is Coming

WORDS OF LOVE AND JUSTICE

Homily: Dr. C. Michael Hawn

Sung Refrain:
Say and do the things that strengthen;be the carriers of grace.Let us be the onesin whom our neighbors see God’s face

A Time of Meditation
“The Peace may be exchanged” from Rubrics Dan Locklair Dr. David Heller, organist

Homily: Michelle Durham, Director of BEATAIDS

Sung Refrain:
Say and do the things that strengthen;be the carriers of grace.Let us be the onesin whom our neighbors see God’s face

Musical Presentation: Bridge Over Troubled Waters arr. Kirby Shaw
The Alamo City Men’s Chorale; under the direction of Jennifer Whatley

Homily: “Now What?” Rev. Joe Stobaugh

I Have Called You, You Are Mine Sanctuary Choir
Text: Isaiah 43:1-7; Music: Lana Cartlidge Potts

Benediction Evan Jones

Lighting of the Candles


Come, Holy Spirit & Be Tender with the Ones You Know © John Thornburg, All rights reserved. OneLicense.net #A-712713

Worship Leaders:
The Rev. Karen Vannoy, Travis Park United Methodist Church
The Rev. Dr. John Flowers, Travis Park United Methodist Church
The Rev Dr. C. Michael Hawn, Perkins School of Theology
Dr. David Heller, Trinity University
Lana Cartlidge Potts, Travis Park United Methodist Church
The Sanctuary Choir of Travis Park United Methodist Church
The Alamo City Men’s Chorale
Michelle Durham, BEATAIDS
Evan Jones, Travis Park United Methodist Church
The Rev. Joseph Stobaugh, Travis Park United Methodist Church

Monday, December 4, 2006

World AIDS Day

I was very fortunate this past week to lead in and participate in TPUMC's first annual World AIDS Day Service. One my esteemed colleagues, Evan Jones and I put it together. It was quite a learning expereince as we attempted to gather various agencies in the community together to host this service. What we had originally planned was to host an evening service and go from there.
Once we got on board with some of the San Antonio HIV/AIDS agencies things got a lot more complicated. Long story short, we ended up hosting the majority of the World AIDS Day events in San Antonio!
The schedule looked like this:

11:30: Die-in at Traivs Park/Press Conference (we were able to get three different news stations to cover the press conference)

12:30-6:45: Reading of the names of those who had died of AIDS in San Antonio
7:00-8:10: Service at Travis Park
8:10-9:00: Candelight vigil and procession to the Alamo.

I could spend a lot of time writing about this event, because it took a lot of time to plan but my primary interest was the service, so I'll stick to that.

For the service we enlisted the help of Dr. C. Michael Hawn, chair of the sacred music department at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (yes, my old professor!); Dr. David Heller, the organist at Trinity University, among many other things!; the Alamo City Men's Chorale, the Travis Park UMC Sanctuary choir, the director of BeatAIDS, our senior pastors, and Evan and myself. We also used some beautiful text by the wonderful John Thornburg.

The service began with a lovely prelude on the TPUMC organ by Dr. Heller and was followed by an Invocation to the Holy Spirit, with a congregational refrain provided by John Thornburg and a tremendous set of verses written by Alison Boone and concivied by Betty Curry. Tim Watt sang the solo verses and was incredible!
After that we had a call to worship written in haste by yours truly and then a welcome and introductions by the Revs Karen Vannoy and John Flowers.
Next, Dr. Hawn taught us an opening hymn (text also by John Thornburg) that he had put music to. (We used the refrain of that hymn as a reflection piece between each of the forthcoming homilies.) After teaching us the hymn, Dr. Hawn led us in singing pieces from South Africa, which was spectacular. Then he gave what I thought was a brilliant homily, interspersing kyrie's from around the world with reflections about HIV/AIDS in a global context. You'll see the rest when I post the order tomorrow...
Brief commentary: Michelle Durham, the director of BEATAIDS gave a very nice homily that involved her story as well as the affects of HIV/AIDS on the San Antonio community.
The Alamo City Men's Chorale sang Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters, arr. Kirby Shaw and David Heller played a really interesting piece. (I want to hear the rest of it!)
Following all of this, I preached a homily and then the choir sang a truly inspiring piece by Lana Cartlidge Potts, our awesome organist and composer-in-residence.
All in all, we had over 150 people in attendance, lots of good press covereage and so-so attendance from the church, which is to say, not bad for the first year! We'll see what happens next year!

It's been a while

Whew....it's December! What a crazy week last week was. I finished up all of my ordination paperwork flew it up to Dallas, had a meeting, dropped it off and then came home for two rehearsals and a huge service Friday night! It is good to be at home with the family!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

"Melody and Countermelody" John 1:1-18, a sermon by Joe

Ah! It is such a nice feeling to have a sermon ready and to feel good about it! I am preaching tomorrow at the 11:00 service at TPUMC over the John 1:1-18 passage. I am looking forward to it! Below you will find the sermon manuscript.

Melody and Countermelody: John 1:1-18

Let us pray: Gracious God, Lord of all Creation and author of all good things, open our hearts, our ears, and our minds to your Word this morning. I ask that your Spirit might run amongst your people so that we might be able to see your love for us in new ways and so that we might be about taking your Light into a dark world, as we leave this church a changed people. Oh God, may the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart be pleasing to you. If they be your words, let them be long remembered, if they are not, please let them be quickly forgotten. Let all of God’s children say: Amen!
This morning I want to share with you the most famous of all Christian poems, the prologue to the Gospel of John. Normally, I would ask you to open your Bibles and read along with me but our passage for this morning was originally a hymn! It’s meant to be sung first and read second. So I pray that you will open your ears, your hearts, and your minds to hear what God has to say to you this morning, because, make no mistake about it, God has a word in this passage of Scripture for you!
Read John 1:1-18
I love those words, don’t you? Parts of the passage are really stunning poetry. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Beautiful, hopeful words. These words are poetic and confessional, but more than that, they draw me, and I hope you, into mystery, awe, contemplation, and worship. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it.
The great preacher and author, Fredrick Buechner, along with many Johannine scholars (that is, those who study The Gospel of John for a living) have pointed out that, in essence, there are two voices speaking in this passage. I hope you’ll forgive the musician in me but to put it in musical terms, there is a melody and a counter-melody here. One voice speaks with beautiful poetry, singing for us lines of stunning theological beauty, while the other voice tends to interrupt that poetry with commentary. This morning we are going to look at these two voices and what they might be singing to us today.
At the very beginning of the Gospel, the voice of the poet is asking his community to sing some amazing claims! John the Evangelist, the one for whom the Gospel of John is named, is telling us who Jesus is and asking us to sing it! He asks us to affirm with our voices that the Word, before the universe was formed, was with God. More than that, he asks us to proclaim that Jesus is the incarnation of God and that not one thing came into being without the Word! He asks us to sing that Jesus brought not only light into the world in his human form but that he also brought true life, eternal life, with him, for all of the people of the world. Jesus is God’s Word! John is telling us something about Jesus that is very significant: Jesus is more than just a good guy, more than just an excellent moralist, more than just a person who was born, lived his beliefs to the fullest and was killed because of them, Jesus is the incarnation of God! Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King! Without the Word none of us comes into being, according to John. I find this to be beautiful, amazing, and, in my darker hours, a hard thing to sing! But sing them I do, because I believe them and I have experienced it. Have you?
In the original Greek, the term used for the Word is Logos. The poetic voice from John claims that Jesus was the Logos. In Greek thought, the Logos was the divine principle of reason that gives order to the universe and links the human mind to the mind of God. So this claim, that Jesus was the Logos, would be an incredible, almost incomprehensible statement in the fluid Hellenistic worldview. Many of you may struggle to believe this as well.
For many of us, this is where wrestling with faith, tradition, Scripture, and reason come in. I can tell you that I believe this because I have had a great many experiences in my life where I have known God is a personal, vibrant way. I grew up in and have studied the traditions of the church, that is the incarnated body of Christ, that show me that, throughout the course of human history, I am not alone in my experience of God. The Scriptures tell me many stories of God and of what God is like. I reason that all of this together has allowed me to accept and proclaim what John is asking of us here.
The amazing piece of all of this is that God chose to condescend, that is to say God chose to take on human form so that God could be in relationship with us, so that God could love us in a more complete way, and so that God could show us how to live so that the Reign of God could come about on earth. Jesus is the bringer of LIFE, something more than just life. He is our shining example of God, because he is God. Jesus shows us what God is like, what God is about, how God loves us and what God desires for us and of us. Can you imagine it? Have you experienced the state of knowing that God loves you so much, that God would take human form out of love for you and for God’s creation?
Because God desires us to be in relationship with God, and to be reconciled with our Creator, God became human so that God could reveal Godself fully to us. It is amazing, isn’t it?
The second voice jumps in next, the voice of one who seeks to clarify. Here, in verse 6, we hear a voice that is far less poetic and much more practical. This voice tells us that John the Baptist came “as a witness to testify to the light.” Clearly, there must have been some controversy in the latter part of the first century between those who followed John and those who followed Jesus. The controversy must have been such that John the Evangelist needed to address who was who and what was what. The author is telling us that John the Baptist was not the light. He tells us that Jesus was and is the light, and there should be no mistaking the two!
Certainly, in our lives we experience similar challenges, don’t we? There are so many good things in life to believe in, so many wonderful places to put our faith, our trust, our lives, and the lives of others. The most immediate example I can think of for me is The ONE Campaign. I’ve even got my ONE Campaign wrist band on. I contribute to their work and try to participate however I can. They are advocates for what I believe are the two biggest challenges facing humanity today: extreme global poverty and HIV/AIDS. The ONE Campaign is trying to unite Americans with one voice against global poverty and AIDS with the hope of eradicating both in our lifetimes. The campaign brings together people from across barriers that are usually insurmountable. Both George Clooney and Pat Robertson are members, if you can believe that! The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church supports The ONE Campaign. I love not only what they are doing but how they are doing it, and it would be easy for me to pour my life, my faith, and my resources into it, because it is a good thing!
The ONE Campaign is not, however, the greatest thing. It is merely good. It is an organization that is trying to improve life for the least of these and to spread a little light into the world. Jesus, on the other hand, the Logos, the Word of God, is the greatest! Jesus is not just trying to spread the light, Jesus is the LIGHT!!!! As a progressive church we live in the shadow of the danger that we might lose ourselves in the just causes that we are advocating. If and when we do this we lose not only Jesus but we lose our best selves! Have you ever done that?
I have to be honest with you, on my best days; I do what I do because I love Jesus. I live in this Christian Community because I love Jesus. My wife Sarah and I give money to the church because we love Jesus and we are commanded by the Scripture that Jesus loved to do that. I know many of you get up on Sunday morning’s and head to church for that exact reason. I know many of you work with Corazon ministries, or teach Sunday School, or sing in the choir because you love Jesus. I know many of you do what you do out of love for Jesus.
On my worst days, however, I try to do the right things for the wrong reasons. On my worst days I try to do the right things out of a sense of duty, or out of a sense of, “it’s just the right thing to do.” Here’s the problem with that: people are not transformed when you do something because it’s just the right thing to do. People are transformed because of an encounter with the living God! People are transformed because of the experience of the love of God given to them through others, so intentions matter! It’s important to do the right things for the right reasons! We must be vigilant and prayerful for it is easy to lose the Logos in the everyday things of the world.
In verse twelve the poetic voice jumps back in here with the pronouncement that to all who receive Jesus, to all who believe in his name, they are granted the power to become children of God, who are born of God. In essence, all who believe in Jesus Christ are given the gift of eternal life. This eternal life, though, doesn’t begin when you die; it begins now, in this life! It is the difference between life and LIFE!!!!
The passage concludes with our melody and countermelody bouncing off of one another. The poetic voice tells us that the Word became flesh and lived among us and that we have seen the glory of God’s only Son, full of grace and truth while the pragmatic voice reminds us that the Word is Jesus and not John. The poetic voice ends by telling us that, from Jesus, we have received grace upon grace. The earthy voice reminds us that the law came through Moses while grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and that no one has seen God but that it is through Jesus that God is fully revealed.
John gives us the basic essence of Jesus’ life and mission on earth in these 18 verses. Do you see what this mission is predicated upon? All of this, all that we are about to remember in the Advent and Christmas Seasons, and then in Lent and Holy Week and finally Easter, as we trace the life of Jesus Christ, all of this came about because of love!
Only love would make a deity do this! Only the desire to be in relationship with us would make a deity come to earth! Instead of wiping us out and starting over (something God had been rumored to do in the past) God chose to sacrifice, to come to us, to love us, to teach us a better way to live, and to begin to reclaim God’s creation through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and through us, one person, one system, one creature at a time. Jesus, God, did all of this out of love!!!!
Can you fathom that kind of love that you would give up everything for a relationship?
I pray that we all can recognize the light, that we can be with the light, and that we will not let the darkness overcome us! With Jesus, we can fight back the darkness!
Many of you have lived through darkness, you’ve walked through the shadow of the valley of death, many of you have dwelled in that valley for years. But Jesus, Jesus has been there to! Jesus cannot be overcome by the darkness, for Jesus is the light of the world! The Light of the Universe cannot be overcome by darkness, no matter how dark it gets!!!!!!! See the light, love the light, work with the light, and do not let the darkness overcome you!!!!!
I have prayers for you and I pray for you! I pray that you will look for the light in your life and in the lives of others. I pray that you will merge your life with the LIFE that only Jesus can offer you. I pray that you, with the help of God, will fight back the darkness in your light and that together, you and I can fight the darkness in this world and seek to spread the light of Christ to a world that desperately needs to see the light of Jesus made visible in us! Friends, we have light to offer the world! We have grace to extend to God’s creation. It is our responsibility to do this! Moreover, it is our honor and pleasure to send grace and love out into the world. People of Travis Park, children of God, please don’t hide your light under a bushel basket! Let us join together to bring more light, more peace, and more of God’s grace to the world! Let us be the hands and feet of Christ, restored and redeemed and ever seeking to be partners in helping bring about the Reign of God in the world!
Let all of God’s children say, Amen!

Friday, November 24, 2006

Sermon Prep for Sunday

I'm a big believer that your surroundings affect your work! This morning I'm sitting on a hotel balcony on the west beach of Galveston Island (Texas) thinking about the sermon I need to preach on Sunday. What a blessing it is to have a few minutes to be by myself and listen to the waves and think about God. (On a side note, I am suprised by how much my work on worship every week has become such a big part of my devotional life!)

We (my family and I) are celebrating Thanksigiving this week in Galveston. I'm a little bit sad that we've got to leave in a few hours to get back to the world, it was nice while it lasted!

So the text for that I have been assigend to preach on this week is John 1:1-18. The more I read the text, pray, study the commentaries, and read the text some more, I am struck by just how very correct I think most of the commentaries (and my own anaylsis, frankly) are. In essence, in the prolouge, there are two different voices speaking in this beautiful, in not strangely edited, hymn/poem.

For this week's sermon, I think I'm going to briefly explain the two voices and go with the following three points...(which is funny, as I haven't written any three point sermons in a long while!)
1. John is telling us in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all Creation and that God wants to be in relationship with us so much that God would come to earth in human form to seek us out, to show us what God is like, and to teach us how to live for the Reign of God.
2. John is also instructing us (via the community that he lived in) that John the Baptist is not, infact Jesus. I think we need a reminder similar to that in the progressive church that there are a lot of things out there that are good, but that are not the main thing. (i.e. The ONE Campaign, which I think is a good and worthy thing, is good, but it is not the Jesus, it is not the best that God has for God's people, it's not God!)
3. THe light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never overtaken it! (And expand on this from there.)

Is it three sermons? Most likely! Will I need to do some crazy cutting, most definitley. I look forward to getting in to this in the study and seeing what happens!


Voice 2 continues to tell us

Monday, November 20, 2006

11/26/06 11:00 Service

Whew, I'm preaching this one!

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, November 26th, 2006

OPENING MUSIC
The Presence of the Lord is Here
Friend of God
This Little Light of Mine

WELCOME (Registration Pads) Rev. John Flowers

Surely God is Able (wrap)

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Karen Vannoy

Surely God is Able (wrap)

A WITNESS TO THE FAITH ????

OFFERTORY There’s a Lifting of the Hands

SERMON John 1:1-18 Rev. Joe Stobaugh

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP/“If you are thinking about joining the church please meet us in the narthex after the service!”

I Saw the Light

POSTLUDE: This Little Light of Mine w/solo’s

11/26/06 Reign of God Sunday!

Hello Everyone!
Here's the order for this week's 9:00 service, it is going to be wonderful! In addition to Camerata San Antonio, Dr. David Heller of Trinity University will be joining us! (We will miss you, Lana!)

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, November 26th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Camerata San Antonio

CALL TO WORSHIP*
The reign of God is at hand
When prisoners are released
When the brokenhearted are healed
When the lowly are lifted up
When the hungry are filled with good things
The reign of God is among us
Let us rejoice and sing!

--Alison Boone

OPENING HYMN* No. 2190 Bring Forth the Kingdom ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
O God of power and might, the prophets tell us of a time when widows and orphans are cared for and when hospitality is extended to all. Jesus challenges us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick and visit the prisoners. We know that these are all signs of your kingdom.

Yet, we look around us and we see people who are hungry and who are sick and who have no place to sleep. We see children who need clothes and books and love. We see systems that thwart the purposes for which they were created. And we are overwhelmed, and we do nothing.

Compassionate God, open our eyes so that we see the needs we can satisfy. Open our ears so that we listen to the ones we meet each day. Open our arms so that we embrace all your children. In the name of Jesus who shows us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE John 18:33-37 Rev. Taylor Boone

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence Dr. David Heller Setting by Albert Travis

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS: Sanctus in D minor J.S. Bach, arr. William Hunt
Sanctuary Choir; Dr. David Heller, harpsichord; Camerata San Antonio

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Camerata San Antonio
Prayer After Receiving
God of glory, we thank you for this meal, a foretaste of the meal when all are fed and all are satisfied. As we leave this place, may we be nurtured to bring forth your Kingdom. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--Alison Boone

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 626 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Fugue in E-flat Major (St. Anne), BWV 552 Dr. David Heller
J.S. Bach

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

11:00 Liturgy for 11/19/06

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, November 19th, 2006

OPENING MUSIC
In the Sanctuary
Oh Happy Day
Open the Eyes of My Heart

WELCOME (Registration Pads) Rev. John Flowers

Surely God is Able (wrap)

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Willie Glaster

Surely God is Able (wrap)

A WITNESS TO THE FAITH ????

OFFERTORY Friend of God

SERMON Rev. Karen Vannoy

LITURGY OF THE LEAFS
Give Thanks

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP/“If you are thinking about joining the church please meet us in the narthex after the service!”
Sent Out in Jesus Name

POSTLUDE: Sent Out in Jesus Name (w/solos)

11/19/06 9:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

CALL TO WORSHIP*
All: All together now—applause for God! Sing songs to the tune of God’s glory, set glory to the rhythms of God’s praise. Say of Yahweh, “We’ve never seen anything like God!” Take a good look at God’s wonders—they’ll take your breath away. God converted sea to dry land; travelers crossed the river on foot. Now isn’t that cause for a song?
--Psalm 66:1-3, 5-6, 8 The Message, alt.

OPENING HYMN* No. 97 For the Fruits of This Creation ALL
(1st Stanza sung by choir, stanzas 2-3 all)

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Eternal God, from the beginning of time you have called your children into communion with you. Yet we confess that like the rest, we have turned to our own way and refused your love and grace. Restore us to the joy of knowing you, and of recognizing your reign among us, through Jesus Christ, bringer of your good news. Amen.
--Ruth Duck

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Celtic Morning Prayer
Text: Ancient Celtic Prayer; Music by Lana Cartlidge Potts
Sanctuary Choir, under the direction of Jackie Shepherd; accompanist Lana Cartlidge Potts

Thanks to Thee, O God,
That I have risen today,
To the rising of this life itself;
May it be to Thine own glory,
O God of every gift,
And to the glory
Of my soul likewise.

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 2170 God Made from One Blood ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

The Only Unquestionable Final Truth

I am finishing up a quick lunch break in the office while reading Dr. Donald Haynes article, entitled "Why I am not a fundamentalist" in the United Methodist Reporter. In the article, Haynes talks about his journey from Christian fundamentalism to his current state of evangelicalism. In the article he relates a letter written to him from Dr. E.J. Carnell, the first president of Fuller Theological Seminary. Here is, what I believe to be a beautiful quote from that letter, I plan on thinking on it today...
"Fundamentalists are prone to speak of 'final truth,; but the only unquestionably final truth is, 'Love your neigbhor as yourself.'" (Emphasis obviously mine.)
Beautiful, no?

Monday, November 13, 2006

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

I am so very close! The end is near! I can just about taste it! In a mere 14 days I have to turn in all of my ordination paperwork, from the ordination questions found in The United Methodist Book of Discipline (2000, for the true Methodist geeks out there) to two sermons, a Bible study and all sorts of other "fun" things.
Tonight I was finishing a paper that answered the following question:
"What is your understanding of (a) the Kingdom of God, (b) the Resurrection, (c) Eternal Life?" In the process of answering part b of that question I found myself continually coming back to the line "pratice resurrection" from Wendell Berry's poem: Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front. This is the poem in it's entierty:

MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
by Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay.
Want more of everything made.
Be afraid to know you neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery any more.
Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something they will call you.
When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something that won't compute.
Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace the flag.
Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.
Give you approval to all you cannot understand.
Praise ignorance,
for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium.
Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion--put your ear close,
and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap for power,
please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.
Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions
of your mind, lose it.
Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go.
Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Copyright Wendell Berry

AWESOME, ISN'T IT!

I first came across the last line of the poem in Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical (Zondervan, 2006) and then, a week later, I encountered the quote again in Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in Everyday Life (NAVPRESS, 2006) by Eugene Peterson. Perhaps we have a literary "Holy Spirit encounter" going here!

How can you not totally dig that last line: "practice resurrection"? Is that not part of the calling of the Christian? I am so struck by how we help folks to practice resurrection at Travis Park. To see life emerge from what is dead is truly miraculous!

Two weeks ago I had a meeting scheduled with one of my mentors who works in a very affluent suburban church in Plano. (In an effort of full disclosure I served there for two and a half years while in undergrad and in seminary and met many wonderful folks there.) I was only in the church for a 10 minutes before a giant wave of sadness began to cover me. There was a large whole there, something was radically incomplete. A few moments later it occured to me what I was missing: the poor. Not only where they not there it was fairley clear that they would not be welcome there. I began to wonder if this was still Jesus' church...Would he recognize it as a place filled with his followers? Would he want to be there? Could he find the folks he tended to hang with there on any given Sunday? Did I find Jesus there? I have to admit, the answer to all of those questions was a no. I don't mean to condemn them, the church is huge and reaches literally thousands of people each week. My time there was mostly good and I have friends from that church that I still keep up with to this day. They are good Christians (in the isolated upper middle class to wealthy kind of way).

These thoughts lead me to ask the following questions:
1. Will the mainline church die in the next 100 years?
2. Does it deserve to die?

Here's what I have in way of answers:
1. I don't think it will die in my lifetime but much beyond that, I'm not sure.
2. Some churches do!

I believe that the body of Christ is the church and that the body cannot be killed. I believe that Jesus loved the church and died for what was to come. I believe that I have a responsibility to do the same. So in that respect, I think the Church will be just fine.

It's the mainline demoninations that worry me.

I speak only as a United Methodist who loves his church and most of it's history. I think Methodism has many wonderful things to offer the world that world needs to hear (could be why I'm a Methodist!) but I am concerned that many of our churches have become so inwardly focused that we have lost our true mission: to make disciples for Jesus Christ. I can't speak for that on a national level but I look at many of our larger churches (having served in two of them) and I don't know that we are truly preaching the gospel.

I could go on and on about this but I can't solve the problem tonight (nor is it ultimately up to me to solve!).

All I can say is that lately, I have been wondering about what it might look like to practice resurrection in the mainline churches. I have just started Diana Butler-Basse's new book Christianity for the Rest of Us and am hopefuly to find a good, encouraging word in it!

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

2006 Mid-term Elections

Ahhh....the sweet taste of victory....

Ted Haggard

What a bummer...I tend to consider myself a progressive evangelical so I do not resonate or agree with many of the things that Ted Haggard said (or did, for that matter!) but my heart breaks for him and for his people. Jim Wallis in his God's Politics blog posted a good response to this whole thing. I certainly hope that all involved will treat one another with grace. The hypocrisy is terribly sad but I truly believe that God's grace extends to everyone and we should treat folks accordingly.

11:00 Lit for 11/12/06

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, November 12th, 2006

OPENING MUSIC:
My Soul Says Yes
All Around
Holy Ground

WELCOME (Registration Pads) Rev. Karen Vannoy

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (wrap)

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Taylor Boone

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (wrap)

A WITNESS TO THE FAITH ????

OFFERTORY God’s Got a Blessing

SERMON Rev. John Flowers

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Every Time I Feel the Spirit

POSTLUDE: My Soul Says Yes

9:00 Liturgy for 11/12/06

Hey there!
Wow, it's been a long time! Life is very full at the moment. (Work, finshing up ordination, etc.)
More is coming, for real!

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, November 12th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Emily Watkins, viola

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: Jesus, some of your first words to us where “Do not be afraid!”
People: You call us to a life of courage, to a life filled with love and grace, and to a
life dedicated to spreading light into the world.
Leader: O Sustainer, if only it were so simple! In the midst of the good times and the bad, you are
faithful in your presence with us, for You have called us to a life that is not easy.
People: Thank you, God, for staying with us and for giving us all that we need to
follow you.
All: We raise our voices to You in worship!
--Rev. Joe Stobaugh

OPENING HYMN* No. 2219 Goodness is Stronger than Evil ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Loving God, we know that goodness is stronger than evil. We know that you are good! Forgive us for all of the times we have participated in evil, for all of the times when we have allowed the darkness to penetrate our hearts and for when we have willfully separated ourselves from you. You call us back this morning, in this place, at this hour, to you.
--Rev. Joe Stobaugh

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Awake, My Soul
Words taken from Psalm 57:7b-11; Music by Craig Courtney
Sanctuary Choir accompanied by Lana Cartlidge Potts, organist
Awake, my soul!
Awake psalt’ry and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of You among the peoples.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let Your glory be over tall the earth.
Great is Your love unto the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Great is Your love unto the heavens.
I will sing and make melody,
and make melody, I will sing to the Lord.


(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Emily Watkins, viola

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 402 Lord, I Want to Be a Christian in My Heart ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Lana Cartlidge Potts

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

110/05/06 11:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, November 5th, 2006

OPENING MUSIC:
Victory Chant
The Gift of Love (Samba)

WELCOME (Registration Pads, Questions) Rev. John Flowers

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (wrap)

PRAYER CARDS Rev. Willie Glaster

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (wrap)

A WITNESS TO THE FAITH ????

OFFERTORY We Fall Down

SERMON Mark 12 Rev. Karen Vannoy

PROCESSION OF THE ELEMENTS: Here is Bread, Here is Wine

HOLY COMMUNION: What Wondrous Love is This?

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Guide My Feet (with varying tempo)

POSTLUDE: Guide My Feet (with solos)

11/05/06 9:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, November 5th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Camerata San Antonio?

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Jesus says, “I am the Way for you.”
And so we come to follow Christ.
Jesus says, “I am the Truth for you.”
And so we come to dwell in the light.
Jesus says, “I am the Life for you.”
And so we come, leaving behind all else to which we cling.
--Iona Abbey Worship Book

OPENING HYMN* No. 408 The Gift of Love ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
O God, we have come here today because we follow Christ. We are here because we want to grow in love of you and our neighbors. We are here because we find rest and renewal, comfort and challenge. We find transformation.

We have so much to offer those who are tired or worn, afflicted or bored. We can offer the new life found in living our lives with you at the center.

Empowering God, we pray that you will so infuse our lives that we can only act as your ambassadors, that we can only speak as your emissaries, that we can only love as you would love. In the name of the One who shows us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: In Remembrance of Me Buryl Red & Ragan Courtney
Sanctuary Choir

Please join the choir when cued by singing the hymn found on page 2254 in The Faith We Sing

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 549 Where Charity and Love Prevail ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Camerata San Antonio?

All Saints 11:00

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday October 29th, 2006

OPENING MUSIC
C-Band Medley

WELCOME (registration, explanation of service) Rev. Karen Vannoy

You Are My Hiding Place

NAMING OF THE SAINTS AND TOLLING OF THE BELLS
Oh God, the first gatherer of all good memories, gathered together are we, with our own histories and mysteries, and private bundle of memories. In our lives may each of us be a blessing from eternity passed on to those whose lives we touch. When we are discouraged, remind us of the times you come to us in our friends, in our families, and in the stranger, that having received so great a legacy, we, too, might fashion our lives to pass it on. Amen.
--More Than Words

WHO WE ARE CREED

CALL TO OFFERTORY Rev. Karen Vannoy

OFFERTORY: Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho Emmaus Youth Choir

MESSAGE Rev. John Flowers

HOLY COMMUNION

Band plays: Resting Place

INVITATION TO DISCIPLESHIP: When the Saints Go Marchin’ In

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: When the Saints (w/solos)

All Saints 9:00 Service

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, October 29th 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Karen Stiles

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: Come to the living God,
People: Come to stand alongside the poor.
Come to struggle with those who seek freedom.
Come to resist all that offends God’s justice.
Leader: Come to the living, disturbing God.
--Bread of Tomorrow, ed. Janet Morley

OPENING HYMN* No. 711 For All the Saints (v. 1,2,4,6) ALL
Come forward as you feel let to write on the index cards the name of a special person in your life still living who has been the face of Christ for you, walked part of your spiritual journey with you, or helped you know God better. Print the first name only on the card and place it on the altar during the singing of the hymn.

NAMING OF THE SAINTS AND TOLLING OF THE BELLS
Oh God, the first gatherer of all good memories, gathered together are we, with our own histories and mysteries, and private bundle of memories.

In our lives may each of us be a blessing from eternity passed on to those whose lives we touch.

When we are discouraged, remind us of the times you come to us in our friends, in our families, and in the stranger, that having received so great a legacy, we, too, might fashion our lives to pass it on. Amen.
--More Than Words

CHORAL REPSONSE: Hallelujah from Messiah G.F. Handel

MESSAGE Psalm 46 John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Lana Cartlidge Potts
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to God.
Leader: Let us give thanks to God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. You have promised that you will always be with us and that you love us. You offer us forgiveness and new life through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We commend to you the lives of the saints: may they forever rest in you and may their lives encourage, inspire, and strengthen us to pursue your path. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Same as last week.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Angela Caporale & Lana Cartlidge Potts

PRAYER AFTER RECEVING ALL
Loving and gracious Creator, we thank you for the gift of life as well as your desire to embrace us into your arms not only as we live, but also when we die. May the lives of the saints ever be before us as we seek to live the life you have for us. Amen.

HYMN OF INVITATION* #2283 For All the Saints ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Angela Caporale & Lana Cartlidge Potts

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Time in Dallas

This week I'm working in Dallas (Tues.-Sat.) on ordination items from meeting with my covenant group to mentor meetings, and all points in between. I'm currently at the Bridewell Library at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. I LOVE this library! Thinking can be worship and this place is a beautiful church of that!
Anyway, it's nice to be in here working on something that isn't due next door tomorrow! (A nice change from school.)
Well, that's probably all the time for a break I've got but, stay strong, friends!
Keep the faith!
Joe

Thursday, October 19, 2006

A Wesleyan Pilgrimage Part II (or, the adventures of a Calvinist and a Wesleyan)

So, this post iss a "bit later" than I intended it to be...(see A Wesleyan pilgrimage from earlier in the month).

After checking out East Lake and eating at an excellent Thai food place in Decatur, GA, Mr. Baer and I loaded up the Pontiac Vibe at 6:15 Thursday morning and hit the road! Our travels took us through Macon, GA and on into Savannah. I had never been to Savannah before and was quite excited to check it out. Unfortunately, the first thing that greeted us from Savannah wasn't the Intercostal Waterway, or the beautiful old buildings, or the incredibly charming squares, but the smell.

I'm talking a smell that was real bad. Not just bad, but terrible. There are all sorts of phrase that come to mind to describe it and, let's just say they involve something dying in a rectum of a large animal.

Fortunately, the smell didn't stay with us for the rest of the day.

After exiting the highway we found our way to Wesley Monumental UMC. Wesley Monumental was designed specifically to be a "catherdral" to John and Charles Wesley and size-wise, it certainly didn't disappoint. The church looked like it had the seating capacity for around 1200, or so, had a balcony and a recessed choir loft with what appeared to be a more recent pipe organ installation. (The nine-foot Steinway was pretty cool, too!) The distance from floor to ceiling was 43 feet. (That combined with all of the hard surfaces made for a really nice acoustical environment.)

The church was lovely but the ceiling was in obvious need of repair. I am continually struck by how very plain the great majority of Methodist churches are. They did have two pretty stained glass images of John and Charles with the dates they were in Savannah listed but that was really about it on the inside. (The church has two spires out front that are very impressive.)

All in all, it looks like a great place to sing. I was, I must say, pretty disappointed in one of the clergy members of the church. I had called him a few days before we left stating that I would be in Savannah and would love to chat with him for even just a few minutes about the church and any possibilities of having a choir sing there and he never called me back. If you won't return a call to a fellow clergy member, I can't imagine how you treat strangers in your community...Of course, when we got to the church every door was locked but a very gracious gentleman whom I assume had some connection to the church let us in as he saw us wandering about the outside.

It's a sad state of affairs when the church locks it's doors to the community. It is an even sadder commentary on things when you try to make an appointment just come in the church and the pastoral leadership won't even return your phone calls.

This lack of hospitality irritates me because we have a great many people who come to Travis Park and want to see the sanctuary and I am always honored to visit with them and to show them around. It's not like people are flocking to most down-town mainline Protestant churches these days, so if they call trying to make an appointment to come in, it couldn't hurt to return the call!

Oh well, anyway, Ryan and I then took the little self-guided tour of Wesley's sites (which include a square with a large statue of Wesley, several places where he lived, and the site of his first sermon, the text of which being I Corinthians 13) and had lunch on the Savannah River at Huey's (a New Orleans-style kinda place with good po-boys and bengiets).

After kicking it on the river for a bit we hopped back in the Vibe and drove to St. Simmons Island to check out Epworth-by-the-Sea, a 92 acre Methodist retreat center, replete with a motel, youth lodgings, softball and basketball areas, meeting rooms, and the largest annual conference museum dedicated to the Wesley's. We met with my new friend Tiffany and worked out a pretty sweet deal for things to come.

Following our time at Epworth-by-the-Sea (named after John and Charles boyhood home in old England) we set out to try to find a beach. After a several mis-guided attempts to find some sandals we came across a CVS and got directions from to the beach. The cashier at CVS, after giving me directions, promptly informed me that she "doesn't go to the beach." I found that to be really funny! If you live on an island and don't go to the beach, you've got a pretty narrow world-view, no?

On our way to the beach we stopped at the lighthouse on the island. This turned out to be a pretty cool stop because, for the low, low, price of $6 you can climb to the top of the lighthouse (104 feet later). I had never been in a lighthouse before. The view was incredible!

Well, to wrap this thing up, we finally found the beach and it was sweet! The water was cool but very tolerable for October. We soon split St. Simon's and headed back to Savannah and chilled a bit on Tybee Island before calling it a night.

The next morning we headed back to Atlanta and Ryan delivered an excellent sermon in the chapel at Columbia Seminary.

I think I would really enjoy the opportunity to go back to Savannah and really chill there for a few days. The weather was nice, the people friendly (except for the unnamed Methodist minister), and the architecture was fantastic!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Shane Claiborne: The Irresitable Revolution

I am reading The irresistible Revolution: Life as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne at the moment. The book is working on me in a big way. I'm only 1/2 though but I will be blogging more soon. In the interim, check out the link!

11:00 Liturgy

Below you will find this week's 11:00 order of service. Lovely material!
Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, October 22nd, 2006

OPENING MUSIC:
The Presence of the Lord is Here
Holy Ground
Be Thou My Vision
(LTQ arrangement)

WELCOME (Registration Pads) Rev. John Flowers

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Gene Hauser

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying

A WITNESS TO TRANSFORMATION: Carlos Guadarrama & Phil Watkins

OFFERTORY: Be Brave, Be Strong

SERMON: Luke 18:1-8 Rev. Karen Vannoy
INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Siyahamba

POSTLUDE: Be Brave, Be Strong (reprise)

October 22, 2006 9:00 Liturgy

Whew...what a week!
Below you will find the liturgy for the 9:00 service at Travis Park UMC for the week of October 22nd. (I'm really excited because our violist and cellist (the amazing Emily Watkins and Ken Freudigman from Camerata San Antonio and the San Antonio Symphony) are going to be performing the music of Astor Piazzolla: who was amazing! Tango Sunday!!!!



Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, October 22nd, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Milonga en Re Astor Piazzolla
Lana Cartlidge Potts, piano; Ken Freudigman, cello

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Make a joyful noise to Yahweh.
Worship God with gladness and singing.
Know that Yahweh is God and we are God’s people.
Give thanks to God and bless God’s holy name.
For God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Adapted from Psalm 100 by Alison Boone

OPENING HYMN* No. 352 It’s Me, It’s Me, O Lord All

PRAYER of CONFESSION
O God of all that is, we live in a binary, technological world where we are taught to think in terms of yes/no, on/off, black/white, right/wrong. We have come to believe that every question has an answer, and only one answer, if we only research or experiment or think enough. We have even tried to place you, O God, in tidy files and neat categories.
O Divine One, remind us that your ways are not our ways. Remind us that you are more ready to hear than we are to speak. Remind us that you stand ready to do for us more than we dare ask or imagine. Remind us that we are understood even when all we can pray are sighs too deep for words. Amen.
--Alison Boone

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Luke 18:1-8 Rev. Karen Vannoy

A Witness to Transformation Carlos Guadarrama & Phil Watkins

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Be Known to Us
Text: James Montgomery; Music: Austin Lovelace
Sanctuary Choir
Be known to us in breaking bread,
be known to us, but do not then depart.
Savior, abide with us,
And spread Thy table in our heart, our heart.
There sup with us in love divine,
Thy body and Thy blood,
that living bread, that heav’nly wine
be our immortal food.

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--From The United Methodist Hymnal

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 451 Be Thou My Vision All

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: La Calle 92 Astor Piazzolla Emily Watkins, viola; Ken Freudigman, cello

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

11:00 Liturgy Sheet

Well, here's the run sheet for the 11:00 service. Sorry about the lack of composers, etc. Let me know if you are interested!
Joe

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, October 15th, 2006
Children’s Sabbath

OPENING MUSIC:
You are Good
Oh Happy Day
Because of Who You Are

WELCOME (Registration Pads) Rev. John Flowers

Halle, Halle, Hallelujah Children’s Choir

READING OF THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN

AN ORDER FOR THE PRESENTATION OF BIBLES TO CHILDREN
Pastors, parents, teachers, and friends, facing the children say:
Receive the Word of God.
Learn its stories and study its words.
Its stories belong to us all, and these words speak to us all.
They tell us who we are.
The tell us that we belong to one another, for we are the people of God.

Children respond:
We receive these Bibles with our hands, our hearts, and our minds.
Thank you.
We will read and study the Bible together.
The children and leaders face the congregation.
Congregation to children:
We rejoice in this step in your journey with God.
We pray God will guide you, your family, and us
as you use this Holy Bible in your home,
in your church school classes, and in our worship.
We will learn together and grow in our love for God’s Word.
Children to congregation:
The Word of God is a lamp to our feet,
and a light to our path.
Thanks be to God.

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Gene Hauser

CALL FOR THE OFFERING Everett Glaster

OFFERTORY: Clarence Blueitt

SERMON: “???” Rev. Karen Vannoy

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: God is Good (All the Time)

POSTLUDE: Oh Happy Day reprise

Liturgy for the 9:00 Service, October 15th, 2006 at TPUMC

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, October 15th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Make a joyful noise to Yahweh.
Worship God with gladness and singing.
Know that Yahweh is God and we are God’s people.
Give thanks to God and bless God’s holy name.
For God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Adapted from Psalm 100 by Alison Boone

OPENING HYMN* No. 2236 Gather Us In All

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Look deep, Loving God, and see us as we really are – yearning to be close to you mixed with our fear of what you may ask, our desire to be faithful woven with our hesitancy to go the extra mile, our wanting to be loving and our resistance to caring in particular situations. Loving God, we are tangled vine. Prune us and train us to grow in your holy way. Amen.
Larry J. Peacock

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. Karen Vannoy

A Witness to Transformation ????
TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Text: Hymns for the Young, ca. 1830, alt.; Music: David Ashley White
Sanctuary Choir

Savior, like a shepherd lead us;
much we need thy tender care;
in thy pleasant pastures feed us;
for our use thy folds prepare.

Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus!
Thou has bought us, thine we are.

Early let us seek thy favor,
early let us learn thy will;
do thou, Lord, our only Savior,
with thy love our bosoms fill.

Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus!
Thou has bought us, thine we are.
Thou hast loved us;
Thou hast loved us;
love us still.
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Angela Caporale, violin

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
Generous God, we thank you for this meal in which we taste hope, hope for the time when all are fed and all are satisfied. Amen.
--Alison Boone

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 557 Blest Be the Tie that Binds

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Halle, Halle, Hallelujah Children’s Music Ministry