March 2, 2014 "PIETY TAKES PRACTICE"

*THE APOSTLES’ CREED REVISITED**
I believe in God, the all-powerful Sovereign of the Universe, the loving Abba Father, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, God’s only Son, who was conceived by The Spirit of God and born of Mary.
Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate. He was crucified, died and was buried.
On the third day God raised Jesus from the dead.
I believe the risen Christ ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God Almighty.
From this throne Jesus shall come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the church universal and the communion of saints.
I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and eternal life.
Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Wondrous and Loving Lord, it is a joy to be gathered here in the company of old and new friends. We relish this Sunday ritual of raising our voices in song praising your name and offering our thanks for your love and compassion. We have readied ourselves answering the call to worship, singing with gusto the opening hymn. We have testified to our faith, reciting the words of the creed, which attests to your power and presence, asserts the truth of Jesus and assures us of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the world today. We are moved and comforted by the words of familiar and much beloved hymns and confess our desire to better appreciate the prayerful content of the newer less familiar ones. Make each one of us a powerful witness to your presence, today, as we seek our own spiritual transformation in Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
When we read about Jesus and his disciples we don’t spend a great deal of time wondering how they supported themselves. We may assume that they, like Blanche Dubois, depended on the “kindness of strangers” or thought they had their own means of support. Luke tells us how women whose lives were transformed: Mary called Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and many others provided for Jesus out of their own resources. They, like the male disciples, accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow. These women didn’t only support the ministry financially; they became an essential part of it proving that the growth of any ministry requires, first, an invitation to be transformed and become part of something greater than oneself.