Danville Congregational Church United Church of Christ 989 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Danville, CA 94526-4020 Phone: (925) 837-6944 Danvillechurch.Org
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United Church of Christ FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY February 7, 2021 Zoom Worship WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD PRELUDE There is a Balm in Gilead African-American Performed by Abraham Boyd at The Riverside Church Spiritual There is a balm in Gilead 2 Don’t ever be discouraged, To make the wounded whole; For Jesus is your friend; There is a balm in Gilead And if you lack for knowledge, To heal the sin-sick soul. He’ll ne'er refuse to lend. [Refrain] 1 Sometimes I feel discouraged 3 If you cannot preach like Peter, And think my work’s in vain, If you cannot pray like Paul, But then the Holy Spirit You can tell the love of Jesus Revives my soul again. [Refrain] and say, “He died for all!” [Refrain] WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Rev. Eric Sherlock CALL TO WORSHIP1 Deborah Daily *(Ase (or às̩e̩ or ashe; pronounced ah-shay) is a West African philosophical concept through which the Yoruba of Nigeria conceive the power to make things happen and produce change.) One: In a beginning before humans were formed and nature knew God’s great presence, the Spirit moved over the universe. All: Ashe! The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for God has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. One: In quiet peace God created humans, women and men, colorful, balanced and creatively diverse and the beauty of God’s love filled the earth All: Ashe! One: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. In honor of Black History Month we remember names because of the ancestors who made a way out of no way with God before them, beside them, and lovingly guiding succeeding generations: Nana Yaa Asantewa of Ashanti, Taharqa, ruler of Napatan Kush, Queen Nzingha, West African military ruler, Mansa Musa I, Emperor of the West African Islamic Empire All: Ashe! One: Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, Gabriele Prosser, Nate Turner and Denmark Vesey, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Jerena Lee, WEB DuBois, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ella Baker. These and more represent the great cloud of witnesses. Their spirits linger with us creating new generations of warriors, preachers, prophets, teachers, activists, organizers, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters of the African Diaspora. All: Ashe! After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed with palm branches in their hands. One: Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! All: Ashe and Amen. PASSING THE PEACE Mary Courtenay One: Peace be with you. All: And also with you. One: Let us greet one another with waves and smiles and pass the peace of Christ using the chat feature. OPENING HYMN Oh Christ the Healer, We Have Come 1 Call to Worship for Black History Month was written by Rev. Dr. Velda Love, Minister for Racial Justice UCC. Copyright 2020, Justice and Local Church Ministries, Faith INFO Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100 TIME WITH CHILDREN Rev. Todd Atkins-Whitley SCRIPTURE LESSON Mark 1:29-39 Mary Courtenay SERMON Confronting Our Demons Pastor Eric ANTHEM I Shall Not Walk Alone Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama Battered and torn When I'm tired and weary still I can see the light and a long way from home tattered and worn I reach for Mother Mary but I must kneel to fight and I shall not walk alone Friend of mine Beauty that what can't you spare we left behind I know some times how shall we it gets cold in there tomorrow find When my legs no longer carry Set aside and the warm wind chills my bones our weight in sin I reach for Mother Mary so that we and I shall not walk alone can live again Hope is alive When my legs no longer carry while we're apart and the warm wind chills my bones only tears I reach for Mother Mary speak from my heart and I shall not walk alone break the chains that hold us down —Ben C. Harper and we shall be forever bound TIME OF PRAYER Pastor Todd Sharing our Joys and Concerns (Email your requests to Pastor Eric or type them in the chat window.) All: Hear our prayer Pastoral Prayer The Lord’s Prayer (using these words or the words most familiar to you) Our Loving God, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your 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 yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen TIME OF GIVING Deborah Daily Invitation to Giving During this time of virtual worship, we invite you to give online via our web site and clicking “Donate” in the upper right of the screen. Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. Amen Offertory Prayer THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION INVITATION2 Brothers, Sisters, and Siblings, this is the mighty feast, the joyful feast, the holy feast of and for the people of God. This table represents a level of welcome, inclusion, and imagery which can only be experienced through the power of the Holy Spirit. We have come from all walks of life. We have come from a life of privilege. We have come from a life of poverty. We have either come from a life of oppression or we are oppressors. We have come as financially stable. We have come with nothing. We have come with opportunity and new mercies. The one thing we all share at this table is that we come. Our prayer is that we come together because we are invited not by the church or the leaders but by Jesus Christ himself. This is God’s table. Our Savior invites all who trust him to come. SURSUM CORDA One: God be with you. All: And also with you. One: Lift up your hearts. All: We lift them to God. One: Let us give thanks to God. All: It is right to give our thanks and praise. THE GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy. For you have called forth the creation and raising us from dust by your ruach. We bless you for the beauty and bounty by which each of us was wonderfully made in your image. We thank you God for the gift of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe, Mali, Ghana, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Libya, Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Zambia, and Haiti. There are many other places not mentioned but acknowledged for your astounding creation. It is in our rejoicing that we give thanks for your creation of these, your Black children for their contributions to our being; Dr. Shirley Jackson for fiber-optic cable, for Lewis Latimer for carbon filament (inner light bulb), for Marie Van Brittan Brown for closed-circuit television security, for Otis Boykin for the pacemaker, for Lonnie Johnson for the Super Soaker and thermoelectric energy converters, for Charles Drew for the blood bank, for Marian Croak for VoIP, for Lisa Gelobter for animated Gifs on the web, for Philip Emeagwali—a drop out—for the world’s fastest computer, for Jesse Wilkins, Jr., for the math behind gamma radiation, for Garrett Morgan for the gas mask and the traffic signal, for Mary and Mildred Davidson for women’s feminine products, the walker, and the tissue holder, and for Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, an American immunologist at the forefront of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Above all, we give thanks for the gift of Jesus, your son and our Savior. Because we are thankful we join our voices together in praise Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna in the highest! Christ was born fully human and fully divine. He shares in our joys and sorrows. He shared in the joy of our resilience despite the deathly terror of the African enslavement, and shared in the sorrow that his gospel didn’t compel transformation and quick abolition. He shared in the joy of the Emancipation Proclamation but equally shared in the sorrow of a people who have 2 Black History Month Communion Liturgy borrowed and adapted with gratitude from More Light Presbyterian Network. Special thanks to authors, Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown and Rev. Amanda Barbee. https://mlp.org/document/black-history-month- communion-liturgy/ worked so hard to override, overturn, and recreate that which it was designed to eradicate. Yet and still he offered his life in obedience and trust in God. We bless you, O God, for the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit leads us into truth, fights for justice and equality, continues to gather us as believers even in the face of adversity, and moves us to be empowered by your love.