Worship for Sunday, September 12, 2021

CONTACT INFORMATION Mailing Address: Pastor Larry: PO BOX 285 Buffalo, IL 62515 (217) 364-4275 (home phone) (217) 494-3208 (cell phone) (also text) gracepastor@outlook.com GRACE COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP WELCOMES YOU! September 12, 2021 You can find me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ gracepastor You can follow me on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ gracepastor You can find the church at 294 W. South Street—at the corner of South and West Streets in Buffalo. You can submit a Prayer Train request by calling Betty Dugger at (217) 741-1330 And you can find God anytime you want by: 1) acknowledging that you need a Savior 2) asking God to forgive your sins 3) accepting the forgiveness that He offers to you. Please let me know if you do this so that I can join the angels in heaven as they rejoice and can welcome you into the family of God as a brother or sister in Christ. Grace Community Fellowship is a body of believers, centered in the Tri-Cities, that is committed to being a conduit of God’s transforming power and presence as we live in loving, supportive relationships with one another. 12 Rev. Larry L Hanson, pastor THIS WEEK IN WORSHIP Gathering Preparing Our Hearts For Worship Call To Worship MY PRAYER LIST FOR THE WEEK OF September 12-19 Great Is The Lord (hymnal #140) Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (hymnal #90) Prayer of Praise and Adoration How Great Thou Art (hymnal #147) Time of Offering Offertory Doxology (hymnal #815)) Prayer of Dedication Sharing Our Blessings and Burdens Be Still and Know (hymnal #585) Pastoral Prayer Scripture Readings Proverbs 1:20–33 (page 527) James 3:1–12 (page 1012) Mark 8:27–38 (page 844) Message Waiting Is Hard Psalm 130 (page 518) What A Friend We Have In Jesus (hymnal #630) The Service of Hands Benediction Postlude 2 James 5:14 says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” If you want to be anointed and prayed over, simply come to the altar during the prayer song and indicate your desire to Pastor Larry 11 THIS WEEK IN MINISTRY SERMON NOTES (AND DOODLES) Waiting Is Hard Psalm 130 (page 518) TODAY TUES WED Circle of Prayer 8:30 a.m. Worship 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:45 a.m. Youth 6:00 p.m. Men’s Fellowship Breakfast 6:00 a.m. Pit Stop 7:30 a.m. Fellowship Meal 6:30 p.m. Bible Study 7:00 p.m. STEWARDSHIP FIGURES September 5, 2021 $1,045.00 10 3 SERVING IN MINISTRY THIS WEEK THE HEART OF WORSHIP The worship team is Elaine Burrus and Craig Anderson The worship center has been prepared by he Hanson family The greeter is The ushers are being provided by Chris Wolf The scriptures are being read by Mark Thompson The fellowship goodies have been provided by Chris Wolf The worship to which we are called in our renewed state is far too important to be left to personal preferences, to whims or to marketing strategies. It is the pleasing of God that is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our worship must be informed at every point by the Word of God as we seek God’s own instructions for worship that is pleasing to him. —R.C. Sproul MASKS, PLEASE SERVING IN MINISTRY September 19, 2021 The worship team will be Elaine Burrus and Craig Anderson The worship center will be prepared by Betty Dugger The greeters will be Terri and Craig Anderson The ushers will be provided by Chris Wolf The scriptures will be read by Betty Dugger The fellowship goodies will be provided by Betty Dugger 4 As you no doubt have heard, the dramatic increases in COVID-19 cases, the increased risks of the delta variant and the alarming decrease in hospital bed availability have combined to cause Gov. Pritzker to issue a return to indoor mask mandates. I know this is not our ideal situation, but I am respectfully requesting that we wear masks. I recognize that we exercise decent social distancing by default in worship, so I am especially focused on our times of congregating before and after, as well as at gatherings other than Sunday morning. Let us all do our part to demonstrate our care and concern for our fellow believers and our community. 9 TRI-CITY FOOD PANTRY NEXT SUNDAY Scriptures: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; Our Tri-City Food Pantry item for the month of September is cereal. We are told that there is plenty of oatmeal on the shelves, so please give generously of other kinds of cereal. James 3:13-4:3, 4:7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 The message will be titled Keeping My Eyes At The Right Level. It will be based on Psalm 131. As always, if you would prefer, you can donate money and Lori (thanks Lori!) will do the shopping for you. Giving to the Food Pantry is a wonderful way to meet the physical needs of those in our community who struggle to put food on the table. TITHE FOR MISSIONS COMING SOON Our Tithe For Missions project for the month of September is called Victory Guitar Outreach. Unfortunately, we were not able to schedule the Steve and Debbie Cartwright to be with us in person, but we will share a short video next Sunday that talks about the project. Sunday, October 24—Church Anniversary celebration. This is our 20th anniversary as a congregation. The Cartwright’s have expressed a willingness to gather with us in a Zoom meeting. If you are interested in participating in this, please let Pastor Larry know. If there are some who would like to do this a meeting will be set up. Sunday, November 21—Operation Christmas Child Shoebox ingathering 8 Sunday, November 14—Missionaries Titus and Jewel Romdenh will be with us. 5 CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 19:1-3 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Private prayer prepares us for public worship. Pray the following prayer and meditate on it during the time we prepare for worship. Perhaps it will ready you to pour yourself out to God in worship and to receive what God has in store for you this morning. O God of glory, you bless the poor in spirit with the richness of your eternal favor. You choose the meek to inherit the earth. You comfort those who mourn, the hungry and thirsty you satisfy. The pure in heart catch sight of your splendor, and those who make peace you call your own. We join with the merciful, who throughout the ages have lived by your graciousness and worshiped your name. James G. Kirk. When We Gather, Revised Edition: A Book of Prayers for Worship Responding to the Scripture readings At the end of the scripture readings, the reader will announce that, “This is the word of God for the people of God.” The congregation responds, “Thanks be to God.” At the end of the Gospel reading, the reader changes the announcement to say, “This is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The congregation responds, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 6 7