2020-09-06 Worship Online
Worship Guide (v1) for September 06, 2020
Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for September 06, 2020
Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for September 06, 2020
This week is the perfect time to join in our worship online. We simplified our online service and made it even easier to participate, and viewing does not require a Facebook account! Join the video stream on Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/coldspringchurch) or, if you don’t have internet access, use our New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.
You have found a place to encounter God and people who care about you – just as you are, right where you are, anytime. Once you and your family are ready, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. You may want to subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!
Worship and Message theme:
Our worship theme this week is We Are All In This Together. You’ve read this affirmation on lawn signs and t-shirts, in shop windows, roadside displays, and on websites. You may have spoken these words to comfort or feel connected to others. It’s an almost universal response to the pandemic, We Are All In This Together! But if twenty-six weeks of quarantine restrictions have taught us anything as a nation, it’s that together does not fit what we are experiencing. Some have beautifully renovated beach houses with manicured lawns, and some of us live in public housing with broken elevators and no safe outdoor space. Some are safe and sound while others are staring at the devastation of Hurricane Laura, grieving lives lost to COVID-19, police abuse, or pervasive racial inequities. Many have managed to work from home and stay employed while others are either laid off or called “essential” and must report to work in unsafe and risky workplaces. Many children have access to the internet, while others do not and find it almost impossible to be successful in online learning. When we affirm, We Are All In This Together, let’s also ask ourselves how we can help make this statement real.
The message from God’s word in Exodus returns to Moses who also tells the enslaved people of Israel that We Are All In This Together. Moses explains that the Passover ritual is a group undertaking. If one household can’t afford a lamb, they are to join with their closest neighbor who can. God’s way means that provisions are made for everyone to participate in God’s freedom mission. In the Gospel reading, we learn that the community of faith is responsible for showing respect to everyone. When any of us misses the mark, trespasses, or sins, God’s way means that provisions are made through a loving process of redemption and restoration. Then, in our Epistle reading, God’s way means that conditions are made to tangibly show love to because when we love others as ourselves, we demonstrate the Lord Jesus Christ living among us. God is for us. God is with us. God sends us like Moses to prepare, protect, preserve, protest, and prevail together, to release the captive, enslaved, embittered, hurting, sick, lonely, and struggling.
This week, let’s be open to our togetherness that spans geographic, social, spiritual, racial, economic, age, gender, and political differences. God has made provisions to unite, not divide us. We are neighbors, nations, and human beings created in God’s image. Instead of taking sides, let’s take heart as Jesus’ peacemakers, ambassadors of reconciliation, heralds of hope, because Jesus came to save sinners and eat
Restricted In-Person Worship To Resume September 20:
We anticipate that a restricted 30-minute in-person worship will resume on September 20. We are designing a hybrid worship experience to enjoy either online or in-person, whichever venue you feel most comfortable in. For the safety of our in-person worshippers, mask or face coverings and physical distancing protocols will be followed. Also, for the safety of everyone, there will be no congregational singing. Our online participants can enjoy the live 30-minute service that begins at 10:40 AM, preceded and followed by several music videos with lyrics. More details will follow.
Music Preview:
We begin worship joining together with All Who Are Thirsty. return to our communion hymn, All Who Are Thirsty as we gather at the Lord’s Table. Worship Online concludes with the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:23-27 put to music in The Blessing. This song has been sung online simultaneously with the aim of spreading hope and encouragement during the COVID-19 pandemic.