THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

Neillsville, Wisconsin

Pastor Jacoba Koppert

Church 715-743-2147

Pastor’s Office 715-743-2117

www.uccneillsville.org

November 13, 2016 10:00 a.m.

Stewardship Sunday

The Twenty-sixth Sunday After Pentecost

All who are comfortably able are invited to stand at those

places in the service indicated by an asterisk*

We ask you to please turn off all telephones and electronic devices.

We Gather to Worship God

PRELUDE Eileen Zank

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

GATHERING MUSIC “This Is the Day that Our God Has Made’

This is the day, this is the day that our God has made, that our God has made;

we will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it.

This is the day that our God has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it;

This is the day, this is the day that our God has made.

*CALL TO WORSHIP Marge Goestsch

Leader: Jesus was asked, “what must I do to gain eternal life.”

People: The lawyer replied, “you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Leader: Jesus responded, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.

People: We too want eternal life – relationship with Jesus in this life and in the life to come.

Leader: Come, let us worship God; let us remind ourselves how to follow Jesus.

*HYMN “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” #275

Seeking God’s Forgiveness We Confess Our Sin

*CALL TO CONFESSION

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION¹

God of all mercy, we confess before you and each other that we have been unfaithful to you. We lack love for our neighbors, we waste opportunities to do good, and we look the other way when you cry out to us in the suffering of our brothers and sisters in need. We are sincerely sorry for our sins, both those we commit deliberately and those that we allow to overtake us. We ask your forgiveness and pray for strength that we may follow in your way and love all your people with that perfect love which casts out all fear; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

*SILENCE FOR PERSONAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*PASSING THE PEACE

Leader: Each day God sets before us new opportunities. Each day we can reach out and bring peace to people we love and to strangers in our midst.

People: May our words and actions bring God's peace into the world.

Leader: The peace of God be with you.

People: And also with you.

(All are invited to greet others with handshakes or hugs while saying to them “The peace of God be with you” and responding “and also with you.”)

*OUR RESPONSE OF JOY “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love”

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,

And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son,

And all praise to the Spirit, who makes us one;

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,

Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We Listen for the Good News

THE CHILDREN’S TIME “Giving Gifts”

THE CHILDREN SING “This Little Light of Mine”

SCRIPTURE READING Luke 10:25-37 Marge Goetsch

SERMON “Go and Do Likewise” Pastor Jacoba Koppert

We Respond to the Good News

*HYMN “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love” (pg. 4&5 bulletin)

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

INVITATION TO OFFERING

OFFERTORY Eileen Zank

*THE DOXOLOGY

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God, all creatures here below;

Praise God for all that love had done;

Creator, Christ and Spirit One. Amen.

*LITANY OF DEDICATION The Stewardship Committee

One: The Creator of all life and love has endowed the earth with bountiful blessings.

Many: God has created humanity to share in the wonder and joy of these blessings.

One: We return to God portions of what God has given us. We offer our faith promises committing to the best of our ability to use our time, the fruits of our labor, and our treasure to support the mission of our church so that God’s children everywhere might know God’s love and our care.

Many: May our giving bring joy to God and give hope to a broken world.

One: May the gifts we offer and the promises we make be evidence of our faith that God’s rule is at hand, both now and in the future.

Pastor: God calls us to participate in the construction of a new reality. We now dedicate these our offerings and our faith promises toward the enrichment of our life as a covenant community – a community created by God who has brought us together to be UCC, Neillsville. May God bless our gifts and our promises, multiplying them so that God’s work is done in the world.

Many: We dedicate our gifts and faith promises toward the ministry God has given us now and in the future.

ALL: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

*HYMN “God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending” (pg. 5 & 6 Bulletin)

*THE BENEDICTION

*RESPONSE “Lead Us from Death to Life”

Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth,

From despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us from hate to love,

from war to peace fill our hearts,

let peace fill our world, let peace fill or universe.

*POSTLUDE

We Depart to Serve God in the World

Announcements

We welcome you to this service of worship. We hope you will experience the love of God and your neighbors. You are invited to join us in the Fellowship Hall downstairs for a light soup luncheon. Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

Note: You will find the attendance folders in the pews on the center racks of every pew – please take time to fill out the attendance sheet including your full address and return them to the side aisles, ushers will collect them during the last hymn. Thank you.

Radio Broadcast Sponsors – Today the radio broadcast portion of our worship service is given by the Vornholt family in loving memory of Fred Vornholt.

A BIG THANK YOU to all that took part and helped in anyway with the 52^nd Annual Holiday Fair yesterday.

Be sure to go downstairs and look around! – we still have some nice items for sale. Also, check out the “New to You’ Treasures you might find something in there that you could use.

Calendar

Monday, November 14 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. Nar-anon (Meet in the Church Lounge.)

Tuesday, November 15 – 5:30 p.m. Trustees meeting; 6:30 p.m. Deacons/Deaconesses meeting; 7:30 p.m. Church Council meeting.

Wednesday, November 16 – 10 a.m. Called to Care session; 3:30 p.m. CD’s and Confirmation.

Thursday, November 17 – 10-11:30 a.m. “Memory Café” meeting here at UCC; 1:30 p.m. Circle of Friends meeting.

Friday, Saturday & Saturday November 18,19 & 20- Pastor Jacoba and confirmand attending Knock-Knock retreat at Pilgrim Center.

Next Sunday, November 20 – 10 a.m. Campital Campaign Service; NOTE: We are looking for volunteers to HELP in setting up the Christmas tree and hanging of the greens right after the worship service. The Packers do not play until 7:30 p.m. today.

ADVENT FOLDERS – You will find ADVENT folders in the narthex for those of you that want one. (First Sunday of Advent begins on Sunday, November 27.) Advent monies are used for local missions. If you do not want to use the folder and just want to make out a check for Advent, please note on your check, in the memo line “Advent.”

Check out the Advent Devotion booklets – pick one up if you would like one.

Blue Christmas Service - There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board for those of you that are interested in having a “Blue Christmas” service. This service would be in the evening, on Thursday, December 15. The sign-up will help us decide if there is enough interest in offering this service. The Blue Christmas service intends to support anyone who finds Christmas difficult to celebrate this year.

Fellowship Coffee Hour: Looking for volunteers to fill up November, December and January. Sign-up sheet on the bulletin board. Thank you for helping.

We are also looking for more Radio Broadcast sponsors for 2017. Check out the dates that are still open.

Taking orders for Poinsettias. Order now. The cost is the same as last year. $13.00.

Please make checks out to Falls Florist. Order in memory of someone, in honor of someone or for any other reason you may have. Names will be printed in the Christmas Eve bulletins.