Order of Worship for Sunday, May 3: Impact on Innocence - Shedding light on the plight of children & families of the incarcerated

May 3  “Impact on Innocence - Shedding light on the plight of children & families of the incarcerated”

Live Stream Worship: 
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Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit

Come Thou Fount: Come Thou Fount - El Dorado (Robert Robinson)

Come Thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let that goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Passing of the Peace: Through the act of passing the peace of Christ, we offer our sincere desire to love our neighbor.

You are invited to greet one another in the live stream chat on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. 

Announcements: 

Stewardship Campaign: Our goal is to raise $20,000/month for payroll, so that we can continue to employ all the people who are working tirelessly to bring the Good News to all who need to hear it. My prayer is that we can raise enough money to cover our church’s payroll over the next three months. This allows the congregation to use any money we have on hand to directly support our ministries.

We have converted our parsonage into a co-housing community, which now has 6 residents living safely and affordably together. We have been able to support people who might not have been able to find sustainable housing in the current market, and we can ensure that they will stay housed during the pandemic. It would be an additional hope to raise $3,000/month to support the utilities and expenses of the co-housing community.

Jubilee Fund: This fund is designated to helping reduce the burden of debt in our community. As we make our way through the pandemic, the economic pressures are going to be challenging. If you feel led, you can now donate through Venmo!

VENMO: You can find us here: https://venmo.com/LAFirstUMC

Bishop Hagiya’s Update on a Worship Sabbath (May 24, 2020)

The Appointive Cabinet and I realize how much dedication our clergy, worship teams and staffs have been putting into our online Sunday worship services.  In order to honor them and give them a much needed Sabbath, we will be recording and producing a full worship service as a video, of which each church can use all or part, as our local church leaders take a much needed Sunday Sabbath for themselves.  The service will be available on Friday, May 15, 2020 at calpacumc.org/sabbath or via the button below and will use the Lectionary passages for Sunday, May 17, 2020.  Of course, a local church may use this worship service at another time if the 17th is not convenient.  

We would like to ask all local church clergy, worship teams, and church staffs to set aside one to three days of Sabbath in order to renew, recharge, and rejuvenate for the long haul that is ahead of us.  Whereas the worship service use is optional, taking time for a Sabbath is not.  So, we really want every local church to work on a date on which this happens.  We need you for the long haul of this pandemic and we need you at your very best.  So, please catch your breath, recharge your energy and renew your faith!

Be the Hope!

Bishop Grant J. Hagiya
Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop

As your pastor, I ask that you take some Sabbath time, as well. Sabbath isn’t truly a “day off.” It is time to return to God. Our musicians, technical producers, and administrator have been working so hard to help us transition to a digital platform and to stay connected. Sabbath isn’t a vacation. It’s the duty we have to pause, reflect, and cultivate the Spirit’s care for our next steps. I am so thankful that we will have the chance to worship together with our conference leaders. It’s a gift to receive some spiritual renewal in a season that has been so draining. I invite you to read more about Sabbath and how we can fully understand and practice it here.

Zoom Bible Study: LA First UMC Bible Study - Acts 2: 14-36
Time: Monday evenings at 6:30 PM PST 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/598868178?pwd=U1B2YjZYWURDRXJXMStKajI3L1RWZz09

Praying with the Daily Examen: What is the Examen? 

St. Ignatius of Loyola created the Examen to be a very short prayer that can be prayed at any time. In the Examen, we review our recent past to find God and his blessings in our daily life. Ignatius would say that the Examen should be the most important moment of our day, because this moment affects every other moment.

  • Relish the moments that went well and all of the gifts you have today.

  • Request that the Spirit lead you through your review of the day.

  • Review your day.

  • Repent of any mistakes or failures.

  • Resolve, in concrete ways, to live tomorrow well.

Zoom Fellowship Coffee Hour: Immediately following worship on Zoom

Church Council Meeting: Tuesday at 6:30 PM

Zoom Happy Hour: Wednesdays from 5:00-6:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/910730196?pwd=cmVYTEhadmJiRThJTlhhcXlCd04yUT09

Stay Connected: 
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LAFirstUMC/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lafirstumc
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/LAFirstUMC/ 
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLh1AQKTgxTXSwwXr-J9qvA 
Text Updates:
https://slkt.io/5BMn 

CALL TO PRAYER: Open Your Eyes - El Dorado

Open your eyes open your heart
Open your eyes open your heart
Open your heart open your eyes

Open your heart open your eyes
Open your heart open your eyes
Na na na na na

Joys and Concerns: We believe that the best way to bear our burdens is to share them with one another. You are invited to share your joys and concerns so that our community can hold these things in our hearts as we lift them to God together. 

You are invited to share your prayers in the Facebook Live Chat, or on the YouTube Live chat.  

EPISTLE READING: 1 Peter 2:13-25

For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution,whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor.

For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 

 ‘He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ 
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

One: This is the word of God, for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God! 

SERMON: Impact on Innocence
Rev. Mandy Sloan McDow

Jennifer Gutierrez’s introduction to Deborah McDuff’s Poetry and Artwork at the Museum of Social Justice (Link to the full museum exhbit can be found here.)

  • Grandmother and Child: Deborah McDuff
     
    I raised my adult children
    Now I am nurturing my grand child
    He was discarded and disregarded
    Without consent and to his detriment
    Foster care, on the streets, or my care
    Forsaking him a home is a thought I cannot bare
    I am living on a fixed income
    The challenge of providing for us is very
    worrisome But I cherish holding my little one close
    So he can hear the heart beat of my unending love This connection between us is a special gift
    ​That comes from the Lord above

  • I Pray: Deborah McDuff

    Prayer can heal a soul, nation
    and disappointing effects of any human situation
    Look into the eyes of people, hear them cry
    Affected communities feel ancestral pain
    Triggered by horrendous actions and disdain
    I pray for children separated from their parents
    I pray for the mother who loses her parental rights
    I pray for the abandoned child whose life is unstable I pray for the grandmother and her grandchild’s survival
    I pray for those who came and are now deportees
    Let’s pray for the man who lacks hope and freedom Let’s pray for families who are left behind
    Let’s pray for the day you will not say we are nothing
    Let’s pray for people to be all they can be
    Let’s pray for peace and human coexistence

Invitation to the Table: As we understand the Body of Christ to be inclusive, we understand God’s table of grace and fellowship can extend into our homes. As you’re able, bring your own elements to this time. Bread, Juice, Coffee, Muffins… the Body of Christ is comprised of wonder and mystery. Today, we celebrate that God can reach us where we are, even if we are not together.

The Great Mystery of our Faith
All
: Christ has died
Christ is risen. 
Christ will come again.

The Lord’s PrayerOur 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 trespasses, 
as we forgive those
who trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil. 

For thine is the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, 
for ever and ever. Amen.
Music During Communion: Great is Thy Faithfulness: El Dorado

Great is Thy faithfulness
O God, my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not
Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been
Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
And all I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me

Pardon for sin
And a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer
And to guide
Strength for today
and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord every morning new mercies I see
And all I have needed Thy hands hath
provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Lord unto me

Benediction Remember:
God is with you,
God is for you, 
God refuses to be God without you. 
And may all of God’s people say: Amen. 

Virtual Coffee Hour Begins now! Immediately following worship on Zoom