11:00 AM Sunday, February 1,2024
Greater Bethel
African Methodist Episcopal Church 140 Rose Street Athens, Georgia 30606
The Reverend Marben Bland, Pastor
www.gbaathens.org
JACKIE ROBINSON
THE SACRIFICE OF GIVING THE FIRST SUNDAY OF
Black History Month Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
Order Of Worship 11:00 AM, Sunday, February 4th, 2024 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany The First Sunday Of Black History Month
A Call To Worship (2) Opening Hymn ( 3) #571 Lift Every Voice and Sing The Invocation The Invocation Response #571 Lift Every Voice and Sing Song Of Praise Black History Trivia Announcements – Pastor’s Aid Ministry (9-14) Worship In Giving A Meditation On Tithing And Giving ( 4) The Apostles’ Creed ( 5) Song Of Praise Scripture Romans 12:1-8 (6) Summary Of The Decalogue (7) Song Of Preparation Message Jackie Robinson: The Sacrifice Of Giving (8) Invitation To Discipleship #364 My Hope Is Built (Page 15) Holy Communion (Page 16-18) Benediction
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A Call to Worship What A Morning A Celebration Of Black History
Leader: My Lord, what a morning! You have raised up a mighty nation and a mighty people People: And we are black, we are strong, we are proud, and we are yours. Leader: My Lord, what a morning! You have brought us through the dips and hollows, up and down the streets, over the hills and mountains and through the valleys. People: And we are black, we are strong, we are proud, and we are yours. Leader: My Lord, this morning, we have come to celebrate you, and to affirm ourselvesas images of you in all your glory and to say "Yes, Lord, we are black, we are strong, we are proud, and we are yours. People: So, let us rejoice, let us celebrate, let us lift every voice and sing!
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#571 Lift Every Voice and Sing James Weldon Johnson/J. Rosamond Johnson/ Edward B. Marks
1. Lift every voice and sing, Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun Of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won. 2. Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with 3. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way; Thou who hast by Thy might, Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, Our God where we, met Thee, Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land. 3
A Meditation On Tithing And Giving Reverend Nathaniel Veal
Leader: Please stand as you are able and raise your seed to the Lord and repeat these lines after me— Lord, I thank you for what you have given to me. Now God, I am giving back to you a tithe, a tenth, or a portion of what you have given to me. God, I am planting my seed into fertile ground. I cannot expect a harvest, if I do not plant any seeds. God, I am expecting my seeds to produce a harvest that is pressed down, shaken together and running over. Leader: Now, whatever you want God to do for you in your life, cross it over your chest and claim it. And Now Thank God For It! And let us all say…. Amen! Leader: Now, let us give our offering to the Lord Following the offering the congregation will rise at the direction of the Pastor and sing:
#588 All Things Come Of Thee All Things Come of thee, O Lord; and of thine own 4 have we given thee – Amen
The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead; and buried. The third day he arose from the dead’ he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Church Universal, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. 5
Romans 12:1-8 New Revised Standard Version
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 6
Summary Of The Decalogue The Congregation, Rise and Sings:
“From all that dwell below the skies, let the Creator’s praise arise; let the Redeemer’s name be sung, through every land by every tongue.” The Minister Says:
Hear what Christ our Saviour saith, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all my mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. THE GLORIA PATRI The Congregation, Rise and Sings:
“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.”
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BLACK HISTORY MOMENT
Jackie Robinson
By the 1940s, organized baseball had been racially segregated for many years. The black press and some of their white colleagues had long campaigned for the integration of baseball.
The player who would break the color line, Jack (John) Roosevelt Robinson, was born in Cairo, Georgia, on January 31, 1919. An outstanding athlete, he lettered in four sports at UCLA. Robinson's outstanding 10-year career included compiling a .311 lifetime batting average, playing in six World Series, and stealing home 19 times. He also won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1949, when he led the league with a .342 batting average and 37 stolen bases. His impressive running speed, powerful hitting, and strong fielding made Robinson a key player on a team with many stars. 8
February 2024
Candace Jones-Terrell 2nd
“This is the day the Lord acted; we will rejoice and celebrate in it!” The Good News: God created mankind and the Earth, so we owe him our utmost gratitude! Rejoice for another year of birth and give up a prayer of thanks. Psalm 118:24
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2024
PICTURE DAY Each year Greater Bethel members gather as we create a historical record for our church. This year we will also take individual headshots for the our new church directory. Brother Bryson Manzy will be our photographer.
NEXT SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH 2024
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#364 My Hope Is Built Edward Mote/William B. Bradbury 1. My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. Refrain On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. 2. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. Refrain On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. 3. His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my home and stay. Refrain On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. 4. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found! Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before that throne! Refrain On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
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Holy Communion The Call to Communion to be made by the Minister
You that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbor, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways, draw near in your seats with faith and take the holy sacrament to your comfort, and make your humble confession to Almighty God. The General Confession to be made by the Minister and people
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all people ,we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have committed by thought, word, and deed against your divine majesty, provoking most justly your wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful God for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake; forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 16
Prayer of Consecration to be made by the Minister
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of your tender mercy did give your only son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death on the cross for our redemption, who made there by his oblation of himself, once offered, a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and did institute and in his holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again; hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech you, and grant that we receiving these your creatures of bread and wine, according to your son, our Saviour Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood; who in the same night that he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, , and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take, eat this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.’ (The Minster says take, and eat the bread, the body of our Savor Jesus.) Likewise after supper he took the cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, ‘Drink all of it, for this is my blood of New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins; do this, as often as you shall drink it, in remembrance of me. (The Minster says take, and drink from the cup, the blood of our Savor Jesus Christ.) Amen.’
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The Lord’s Prayer To be made by the Minister and people
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 yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
#321 Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross Fanny J. Crosby/William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near the cross; There a precious fountain, Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calvary’s mountain. Refrain: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever, Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river. 18
BETHEL
Events
GREATER The Cross And The Lynching Tree Bible Study - Thursday, February 8th, 2024 7:00 PM On Zoom
Steward Meeting
Tuesday, February 6th, 2024 2:00 PM On Zoom
Trustee Meeting
Tuesday, February 6th, 2024 7:00 PM On Zoom
Ash Wednesday Service 12:00 Noon Wednesday, February 14th, 2024
Finance Committee Meeting Thursday, February 15th, 2024 10:00 AM On Zoom
Maddox Center Planning Meeting Friday, February 16th, 2024 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM On Zoom
Church Conference
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Mail: Post Office Box 49773 Athens, GA 30604
www.GBAAthens.org www.zoom.us Meeting ID: 903 988 1805 Passcode: 982846 Call 301 715 8592 ID :903 988 1805 Passcode: 982846