Live Stream Worship:
Facebook: Los Angeles First United Methodist Church - Home
Instagram: Los Angeles First UMC (@lafirstumc)
YouTube: Los Angeles First United Methodist Church
Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit
Amazing Grace - El Dorado
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
’Twas blind, but now I see
Was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace, my fears released
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun
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 2:37-47
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 today
Zoom Happy Hour: Wednesdays from 5:00-6:00 PM
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: We Don't Eat - El Dorado
If this is redemption, why do I bother at all
There's nothing to mention, and nothing has changed
Still I'd rather be working at something, than praying for the rain
So I wander on, till someone else is saved
I moved to the coast, under a mountain
Swam in the ocean, slept on my own
At dawn I would watch the sun cut ribbons through the bay
I'd remember all the things my mother wrote
CHORUS: That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust
Two thousand years, I've been in that water
Two thousand years, sunk like a stone
Desperately reaching for nets
That the fishermen have thrown
Trying to find, a little bit of hope
Me I was holding, all of my secrets soft and hid
Pages were folded, then there was nothing at all
So if in the future I might need myself a savior
I'll remember what was written on that wall
CHORUS: That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust
Am I an honest man and true
Have I been good to you at all
Oh I'm so tired of playing these games
We'd just be running down
The same old lines, the same old stories of
Breathless trains and, worn down glories
Houses burning, worlds that turn on their own
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.
GOSPEL READING: John 14:1-14
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
One: This is the word of God, for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
SERMON: Festival of the Christian Home - In My Father’s House, There Are Many Dwelling Places
Rev. Mandy Sloan McDow
BLESSING OF OUR INDIVIDUAL CREATION
Fathering God, you have searched us and known us. You know when we lie down and when we rise up; you discern our thoughts from far away.
Mothering God, it was you who formed our inward parts, you who knit us together in our mother’s womb. We praise you, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made!
Holy Son, you have come into the world as the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, as a constant and abiding reminder that God is always with us, even to the ends of the earth. You are the light that has shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Creating Spirit: Where can we go that you are not with us? If we ascend to heaven, you are there. If we make our bed in the depths, you are there. If we perceive the darkness overwhelming us, we know that even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. You hem us in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon us. When we come to the end, you are still with us.
Let us pray:
Loving God, in your wisdom you have created us and given us many gifts. Today, we thank you for all that we mean to each other and to our friends and families. We thank you for the love that has brought us to this time and place, and for your love which abides to tie us all together. Where you are, O God, there is love. Amen.
BLESSING OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS
God, in your wisdom and love, you have created us and called us good. You have created us in your image, and blessed us as men and women. Today we celebrate the joy that we have found in relationship with one another. As you have created us and called us good, so have you said that it is not good that we should be alone, so you have given us helpers as partners. You have given us choice in who we build our relationships with, and we are able to say to one another, as Ruth said to Naomi:
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
Let us pray:
God, your strength is sufficient for us all. We have committed ourselves one to the other in your presence, so we pray that you will continue to be with us in the unfolding of our future. Give us strength and courage in times of difficulty, wisdom and love in times of opportunity and challenge, and the sharing of joy in times of happiness and success. May we continue to grow in your love; through the power of Jesus Christ. Amen.
BLESSING OF OUR FRIENDSHIPS AND FAMILIES OF CHOICE
Incarnate Christ: You have modelled to us what it is to be in relationship with one another. You have broken bread with the weary, comforted the lonely, healed the sick, and wept with friends. We see in your witness what it means to love one another as God has loved us. We thank you for calling us friends, because you have made known to us everything that you have heard from our Father in heaven. Thank you for sharing in relationship with us as equals, and help us to continue to love our friends as you have loved us. Bless us as we form relationships with one another that, as we speak, our souls will be bound up in one another, so that we may love our friends as our own souls, just as Jonathan loved David.
Let us Pray:
God of friends and families, we are linked together in a community of friendship and support. We pray for one another. We remember those who cannot be with us today. May we all continue to share in your gifts of love, strength, courage and wisdom, and to know your joy. Give us growing understanding, sympathy with each other's difficulties, patience with each other's faults, and grace to walk in your ways. Amen.
BLESSING FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN
Creator Spirit: You have worked in us to make us open to loving one another in selfless and life-giving ways. For some of us this means the responsibility and joy of raising children. For these lives, which have touched us and blessed us, we thank you. Today we bring to you our children in order that they may be blessed as Christ blessed the children of his day saying, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” And he took them up in his arms and blessed them. Help us to bless them as they have blessed us.
Let us pray:
Loving God: We come today carrying children and youth in our hearts – the children we brought into this world, the children we parent, our grandchildren, nieces, nephews, Godchildren, mentees, the children we care for in our work, and the children we speak out for in our witness. Lord, help us not to be so preoccupied with our purposes that we fail to hear their voices or see their special vision of truth. Keep us with them, ready to listen and to love even as you have loved us, your grown-up and sometimes wayward children. Amen.
THE ANOINTING
All are welcome to come forward to be anointed individually. If you like, you may come as an individual, or with your spouse or partner, children, or with friends and family of choice. All are welcomed. All are loved.
HOLY COMMUNION
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 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 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: Blest Be The Tie That Binds
Vocals: Mandy McDow, Guitar: Salvador Villañueva, Viola: Katerina Lewis
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above
Before our Father's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
We share each other’s woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
When we asunder part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives
our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives
and longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin, we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.
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