September 17, 2023
WORDS OF GREETING AND NomoFomo
Chris Zepp
If you have children, check out our new “KidZone” - a supervised area within our worship space where kids can be kids - play with toys or games, draw and color, etc - and still be with the community for worship. Parents can choose to stay close and worship alongside their kids or sit more distantly and let our staff and volunteers give them their energy and attention for a time.
THANK YOU to everyone who came out yesterday afternoon to help out with our table at Shenandoah Valley Pride Festival! It was a beautiful day and a great time!
RISE Together at the Hburg Summer Concert Series - This Wednesday, September 20, 6-8 pm at Turner Pavilion
Join with RISE friends for a great night of free music, conveniently playing right across the street from our Ice House Homebase, featuring J & The Causeways, a soul/R&B band “that finds itself mentioned in the same breath as the likes of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and The Marcus King Band — all modern-day entities of passion and purpose, each summoning the pulsating, endless energy of soul/R&B music.”Plan to stay after worship for a brief meeting on Sunday, October 1
We've done it again! Our amazing MOO, Alexis Owens, has discerned that the time is right to explore credentialed ministry in the UMC! She has now officially begun that process and we need to have an official RISE meeting to affirm and approve her candidacy. (We'll explain the details more when we meet, BUT we can say that our beloved MOO has no immediate plans on leaving the area or attending seminary at this time). So if possible, please plan on joining us for a brief meeting after worship on October 1, 2023 (two Sundays from now). We will just stick around the University Commons (the old Common Grounds space) after worship - everyone is welcome and the entire meeting should last no more than 15-20 minutes. Cheers Alexis!Speaking of our resident MOO, Alexis would like to encourage everyone to BYOM (bring your own mug) to worship on Sunday mornings if possible to help reduce waste as much as we can.
We are always looking for persons willing to volunteer to assist and support our worship gatherings. If you’d be willing to help with set up/clean up, offering rides, providing a light breakfast, participating in the service, helping with music or the arts, etc, etc please let us know by filling out this short form: Worship Support Team Response.
Have a musical talent? Wanna just shake a box of cereal or hit a tambourine? Join the music team!! Will is looking for folks to help grow our music ministry. Talk to him after service today or find any RISE leader and let them know and we will get you connected.
If you would like to connect more deeply with RISE, you can start by submitting this short form to Get Connected!
Sign up for texting services:
Text “RISE” to 833-803-0868 to join the primary list and receive weekly community updates and alerts
Text “RISEcares” to receive prayer requests, care needs, and community concerns and celebrations
Please continue to check social media (Facebook & Instagram) and our website for all updates and information!
Requests for care and/or prayer can be sent via e-mail to cares@riseharrisonburg.org, texted to 833-803-0868, or submitted online via our RISE Cares form.
WELCOMING STATEMENT
RISE believes that God has open arms, and so should we. Our Creator wants us to love, accept and affirm every human being, including persons of every age, race, ethnic background, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, family or socioeconomic status, educational background, religion or creed, and physical or mental ability. We celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all. Everyone is invited and encouraged to join us as we seek to follow Jesus with mutual respect, understanding, and love.
*Read more about “Why Pronouns Matter” HERE.
Opening Music
Will Stutzman
“For the Beauty of the Earth”
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise
For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise
For each perfect gift and sign
to this world so freely giv’n
Graces human and divine
Love uniting earth and heav’n
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise
“Goodness of God”
I love You Lord
oh Your mercy never fails me
All my day I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God
CHORUS:
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
I love Your Voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night You are close like no other
I’ve known you as a father
I’ve known you as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God
CHORUS
Your goodness is running after it’s running after me
Your goodness is running after it’s running after me
With my life laid down I’m surrendered now
I give you everything
Your good is running after it’s running after me
CHORUS
Opening Prayer
Ashlyn Johns
Scripture Reading
Acts 10: 9-20 (The Message)
9-13 The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray. It was about noon. Peter got hungry and started thinking about lunch. While lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the skies open up. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at its four corners settled on the ground. Every kind of animal and reptile and bird you could think of was on it. Then a voice came: “Go to it, Peter—kill and eat.”
14 Peter said, “Oh, no, Lord. I’ve never so much as tasted food that was not kosher.”
15 The voice came a second time: “If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.”
16 This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the skies.
17-20 As Peter, puzzled, sat there trying to figure out what it all meant, the men sent by Cornelius showed up at Simon’s front door. They called in, asking if there was a Simon, also called Peter, staying there. Peter, lost in thought, didn’t hear them, so the Spirit whispered to him, “Three men are knocking at the door looking for you. Get down there and go with them. Don’t ask any questions. I sent them to get you.”
Theological Exploration
Pastor Amanda Miller Garber
“The Work of the People”
Table Discussions and FACEBOOK Live Chat Discussion Questions
What does belonging offer you and me? How does it change you and me?
Share a time when you felt like you truly belonged. What did that feel like? What specifically made you feel like you belonged?
When does “us” become dangerous? When could “us” cause harm?
What signs can we look for within our own communities to let us know when we are healthy, and also when we are becoming unhealthy?
COMMUNION
Pastor Amanda Miller Garber
Servers: Jennifer and Jennine Wood
SONG DURING COMMUNION
Will Stutzman
“Crowded Table”
You can hold my hand, when you need to let go
I can be your mountain, when you’re feeling valley low
I can be your streetlight, showing you the way home
If you can hold my hand, when you need to let go
CHORUS:
I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we’re young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
If we want a garden, we’re gonna have to sow the seeds
Plant a little happiness, let the roots run deep
If it’s love that we give, then it’s love that we reap
If we want a garden, we’re gonna have to sow the seed
CHORUS
The door is always open
Your picture’s on my wall
Everyone’s a little broken
And everyone belongs
Yeah, Everyone belongs
CHORUS
Offering
Adam King
Closing SONG
Will Stutzman
“Hold Us Together”
It don’t have a job, It don’t pay your bills
Won’t buy you a home in Beverly Hills
Won’t fix your life in five easy steps
Ain’t the law of the land or the government
But it’s all you need
CHORUS:
And love will hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I’ll be my brother’s keeper
So the whole world will know that we’re not alone
It’s waiting for you, knocking at your door
In the moment of truth, when your heart hits the floor
And you’re on your knees
CHORUS
This is the first day of the rest of your life
This is the first day of the rest of your life
‘Cause even in the dark, you can still see the light
This is the first day of the rest of your life
CHORUS
FINAL BLESSING
Adam King
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.