Announcements 10-15-23
Announcements:
PROGRAM OF HOPE: October is our month for the Program of Hope. We will be making sandwiches and bagging lunches at 2:00 PM every Tuesday in October except Oct. 31st.
MATTHEW 25: Tuesdays in October we will be presenting another program on the Matthew 25 initiative. Join us for this wonderful program at 12:30 PM in the Library. After the program you are welcome to join us in making sandwiches for Program of Hope. More information to come so mark your calendar now.
Books On Gratitude: As Fall approaches, our thoughts begin to turn to the upcoming Holidays. As we start to prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving and Christmas this is the perfect time to reflect on Gratitude. How do we live a life of Gratitude for what God has done for us? As Christians our gratitude goes beyond a list of things we are thankful for and turns our hearts to action. The first three books recommended by Christian Education Director for this month will help us to learn to live a life of Gratitude and the last two books will help us to understand that being thankful leads to action to give back to God through our time, tallents, and tithe. TOct. 15th God’s Abundant Table by Cynthia M. Campbell Goodnough (Editor) According to John Calvin, the true church was wherever the Word was rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered. Put another way, church happens when believers gather to tell the story and break the bread. In God’s Abundant Table, Cynthia Campbell begins with the premise that the Eucharist (the ‘thanksgiving meal’ of the church) is far more than a re-enactment of the meal in the Upper Room. Rightly understood, the Lord’s Supper is connected to Jesus’ entire ministry, to the entire story of God’s relationship with God’s people, to our everyday meals and to the ministry to which each of us is called as Christ’s followers.
This reflection on key biblical texts and a six-session study guide, will invite you to discover the many connections in the Bible between what we do in the Lord’s Supper, what it means to be in relationship with God, and how God would have us live every day.
Pledge Drive: The Annual Pledge drive is starting soon. Be on the lookout for your pledge letter and card in the mail. Please send in your pledge card by November 5th, even if you are unable to pledge at this time.
Pictures: Do you have pictures of recent church events? We would love to have a copy too. Please share your pictures with Louise via email or text so we can add them to the slides.
PLAYSCHOOL: As always the Playschool is keeping busy. Here are few ways you can get involved:
- We are collecting candy and snacks in the narthex, church office, and playschool office for Trunk or Treat on Oct. 27th.
- Oct 18th Cane’s fundraiser at the Canes 4036 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie, LA 70002 Just say you are with John Calvin and the playschool will receive a portion of the sales that day.
- The Annual gift wrap and cookie fundraiser will be starting on Oct. 20th. So be on the lookout for more information soon.
Food Drive: The Presbyterian Women are sponsoring a Fall Food Drive from Sunday, Oct 15th – Sunday Oct 22nd. This year the food will be given to Jefferson Presbyterian Church Food Bank, an USDA certified food bank. The food is distributed twice a month – the first and third Saturdays, servicing between 120 and 140 clients each Saturday. This is the only food bank in the area that is open on Saturday. Donations come mainly from Second Harvest with other churches, groups and individuals contributing. We would appreciate your support.Boxes will be provided to receive your donations. Should you choose to make a monetary donation please make the check out to the church and indicate that it is for the Food Drive.
CONTINUING EDUCATION: Pastor Aaron will be attending Homebrewed Christianity’s Theology Conference: the God-Pods Strike Back, October 19th to the 22nd.
CANTATA REHEARSAL: While Christmas still seems far off, rehearsals for the Christmas Canta are just around the corner. We will be starting Wednesday evening rehearsals in November so be on the lookout for more information and plan to join us.
CALENDAR
10/15 – 10:30 AM – Worship W/Children’s Church
10/16 – 9:00 PM – Bible Time for 3’s in their classroom
1:00 PM – Staff Meeting
6:30 PM – Session Meeting
10/17 – 9:30 AM – Bible Time PreK – TK
10:00 AM – Grace Circle
12:30 PM – Mathew 25
2:00 PM – Making Sandwiches for Program of Hope
10/18 – 8:00 AM – Program of Hope
Noon – 8:00 PM – Playschool Cane’s Fundraiser
2:30 PM – EJICA
10/19 – 10:00 AM – COM Nola Cluster
10/20 – Office Closed
10/22 – 9:15 AM – Sunday School – Adults in the Library / Fellowship Time for Elementary Youth
10:30 AM – Worship Children’s Church
Order of Worship 10-08-23
SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
October 8th, 2023 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: Rev. Aaron Ochart
Lay Leader: Carolyn Calvin
Please silence all cell phones.
Bold face indicates congregational participation.
Please stand, in body or spirit
THE PEOPLE ARE GATHERED IN
PRELUDE Improvisation on TWO OAKS
PROCESSIONAL HYMN [BLUE#326] [GTG#688]
“Spirit Of God, Descend Upon My Heart”
1 Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,
2 I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no opening skies;
but take the dimness of my soul away.
WORDS OF WELCOME
MINUTE FOR THE CHURCH Linda Lowry Pledge Campaign
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP Hab. 2:1, 4
ONE: Keep watch for a word from the Lord.
MANY:The righteous will live by their faith.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving Lord, you gave commandments to your people as a gift. Teach us to be obedient to your word and to care for each other as we do your will. Amen.
HYMN OF THE MONTH [BLUE#330] [GTG #50]
“Deep in the Shadows of the Past”
1 Deep in the shadows of the past,
far out from settled lands,
some nomads traveled with their God
across the desert sands.
The dawning hope of humankind
by them was sensed and shown:
a promise calling them ahead,
a future yet unknown.
2 While others bowed to changeless gods,
they met a mystery,
invisible, without a name:
“I AM WHAT I WILL BE”;
and by their tents, around their fires
in story, song, and law,
they praised, remembered, handed on
a past that promised more.
3 From Exodus to Pentecost
the promise changed and grew,
while some, remembering the past,
recorded what they knew,
or with their letters and laments,
their prophecy and praise,
recovered, kindled, and expressed
new hope for changing days.
4 For all the writings that survived,
for leaders, long ago,
who sifted, copied, and preserved
the Bible that we know,
give thanks, and find its story yet
our promise, strength, and call,
the model of emerging faith,
alive with hope for all.
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN
RESPONSE HYMN [GTG #453]
“Open Your Ears, O Faithful People (453)”
Open your ears, O faithful people,
open your ears and hear God’s word.
Open your hearts, O royal priesthood,
God has come to you.
God has spoken to the people, Hallelujah!
God has spoken words of wisdom, Hallelujah!
God has spoken to the people, Hallelujah!
God has spoken words of wisdom, Hallelujah!
REPENTANCE
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
O Lord our God, you call us to proclaim your gospel, but we remain silent in the presence of evil. You call us to be reconciled to you and one another, but we are content to live in separation. You call us to seek the good of all, but we fail to resist the powers of oppression. You call us to bring liberty for the oppressed, but we do not insist on freedom for all. You call us to fight pretensions and injustice, but we sit idly by, endangering the lives of people far and near.
Forgive us, Lord. Reconcile us to you by your Spirit, and give us the courage and strength to be reconciled to others; through Jesus Christ. Amen
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI [BLUE#579] [GTG#581]
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end, Amen, Amen.
THE WORD READ AND PROCLAIMED
SCRIPTURE [Pew Bible OT 156 or 162] Deut. 5:1-21; 6:4-9
Moses convened all Israel, and said to them:
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I am addressing to you today; you shall learn them and observe them diligently. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire. (At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to declare to you the words of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
Neither shall you commit adultery.
Neither shall you steal.
Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife.
Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
ONE: The Word of the Lord
MANY: Thanks be to God
SERMON: “Big Ten” Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Heidelberg Catechism: BOC 4.001
ONE: What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
MANY: That I belong body and soul, in life and in death not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by the Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY You Shall Love the Lord Your God
by Victoria Davison and Rudy Lupinski
You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart and soul and mind and strength:
This is the greatest commandment. (Repeat)
And the second commandment is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments
the whole law is based, and the prophets as well.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
Therefore, you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.
This is the greatest commandment. (Repeat)
And the second commandment is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
DOXOLOGY [*BLUE#592] [GTG#606]
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
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.
HYMN [GTG#519] “You are My Strength When I Am Weak”
You are my strength when I am weak; you are the treasure that I seek;
you are my all in all.
When I fall down you pick me up.
When I am dry you fill my cup.
You are my all in all.
Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name.
Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name.
PARTING PRAYER Based on a prayer of Origen (c. 185-254)
O come to me, O servant Lord, pour water in your bowl, and wash my feet. I am bold to ask this because of my longing for fellowship with you. Wash my feet, then, and be my companion. Amen.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
RESPONSE [GTG#406] “We Are Standing On Holy Ground”
We are standing on holy ground
And I know there are angels all around
Let us praise Jesus now
We are standing in his presence On holy ground
POSTLUDE “You Are My All” in All by Jernigan, arr. Tornquist
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcements 10-08-23
Announcements:
PROGRAM OF HOPE: October is our month for the Program of Hope. We will be making sandwiches and bagging lunches at 2:00 PM every Tuesday in October except Oct. 31st.
MATTHEW 25: Tuesdays in October we will be presenting another program on the Matthew 25 initiative. Join us for this wonderful program at 12:30 PM in the Library. After the program you are welcome to join us in making sandwiches for Program of Hope. More information to come so mark your calendar now.
Books On Gratitude: As Fall approaches, our thoughts begin to turn to the upcoming Holidays. As we start to prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving and Christmas this is the perfect time to reflect on Gratitude. How do we live a life of Gratitude for what God has done for us? As Christians our gratitude goes beyond a list of things we are thankful for and turns our hearts to action. The first three books recommended by Christian Education Director for this month will help us to learn to live a life of Gratitude and the last two books will help us to understand that being thankful leads to action to give back to God through our time, tallents, and tithe. The Way of Gratitude: Readings for a Joyful Life – by Michael Leach (Editor), James Keane (Editor), Doris Goodnough (Editor) A hundred famous writers share their experiences, essays, fiction, poems, meditations, and inspired ideas on the joy of being thankful. These honest and heartfelt writings will add gladness to your days. Contributors include Wendell Berry, David Brooks, Joan Chittister, James Martin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Henri Nouwen, Mary Oliver, Richard Rohr, Joyce Rupp, David Steindl-Rast, Rowan Williams, and many others whose spiritual perceptions already bring joy and faith to millions
BLOOD DRIVE: We are excited to be hosting a Blood Drive for Vivian Peranio. Vivian is a 3 year old girl who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia last year. This drive will be around the one-year anniversary of her diagnosis. She is now in the maintenance phase, meaning the worst of the chemo is over, but the blood center and her family are continuing to host blood drives to help not only Viv, but other children in similar circumstances. Even if you cannot give blood we can use your help with snacks or registration. Please speak with Sharon or Sue about volunteering. To sign up ahead of time please use the QR code on the bulletin board.
Pledge Drive: The Annual Pledge drive is starting soon. Be on the lookout for your pledge letter and card in the mail. Please send in your pledge card by November 5th, even if you are unable to pledge at this time.
BIRTHDAYS: Joan Albright 10/7, Larry Wise 10/9, Brendan Isham 10/9, Suzanne 10/15
PLAYSCHOOL: As usual the Playschool is keeping busy. Here are few ways you can get involved and activities to be aware of:
- Trunk Or Treat is right around the corner on Oct 27th. We are collecting candy and snacks in the narthex, church office, and playschool office.
- Oct 18th Cane’s fundraiser at the Canes 4036 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie, LA 70002 Just say you are with John Calvin and the playschool will receive a portion of the sales that day.
- The Annual gift wrap and cookie fundraiser will be starting on Oct. 20th. So be on the lookout for more information soon.
- The playschool will be hosting a Firetruck in the parking lot on Oct. 11th for fire safety week.
Pictures: Do you have pictures of recent church events? We would love to have a copy too. Please share your pictures with Louise via email or text so we can add them to the slides.
Food Drive: The Presbyterian Women are sponsoring a Fall Food Drive from Sunday, Oct 15th – Sunday Oct 22nd. This year the food will be given to Jefferson Presbyterian Church Food Bank, an USDA certified food bank. The food is distributed twice a month – the first and third Saturdays, servicing between 120 and 140 clients each Saturday. This is the only food bank in the area that is open on Saturday. Donations come mainly from Second Harvest with other churches, groups and individuals contributing. We would appreciate your support.
Boxes will be provided to receive your donations. Should you choose to make a monetary donation please make the check out to the church and indicate that it is for the Food Drive.
Calendar
10/8 – 10:30 AM – Worship W/Children’s Church
10/9 – 2:00 PM – Outreach Committee Meeting
10/10 – 9:30 AM – Bible Time PreK – TK
12:30 PM – Mathew 25
2:00 PM – Making Sandwiches for Program of Hope
10/11 – 8:00 AM – Program of Hope
– Fire Truck Visiting the playschool for Fire Safety week.
10/12 – 10:00 AM – Game Day
10/6 – Set-up for Blood Drive in Evening
10/14 – 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM Blood Drive in Fellowship Hall
10/15 – 9:15 AM – Sunday School – Adults in the Library
Fellowship Time for Elementary Youth
9:30 PM – Sunday School for Youth in Fellowship Hall
10:30 AM – Worship Children’s Church
2:00 PM – Fellowship Hall in Use
