WELCOME TO
Princeton United Methodist Church We are a diverse faith community, engaged in enlivening spiritually thirsty people to joyfully respond to God’s love and grow as disciples of Christ, so that together we may experience the fullness of life.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
SCAN TO GIVE OR TEXT YOUR GIFT AMOUNT TO 609-554-1128
SCAN TO CONNECT WITH US OR TEXT 'PUMC' TO 609-542-2192
ANNOUNCEMENTS
INSPIRED BOOK STUDY STARTING WED., SEPT. 28 Join us on an eight-week journey reading Inspired by Rachel Held Evans. This book study will have two sessions, a Sunday session from 9:15–10:15 at KUMC and a Wednesday session at 7 pm via Zoom. Email Pastor Tayler or see Happenings to sign up. CORNERSTONE COMMUNITY KITCHEN THIS MONTH After two years of being closed because of the pandemic, the Cornerstone Community Kitchen reopened this past Wednesday and had a great turnout! Sign up to volunteer in next week's Happenings! ALL-CHURCH COOKOUT TODAY! Don't miss today's church cookout at Mercer County Park West! EMBODIED FAITH Beginning September 26th at 7:30 pm, in the SDR and on Zoom, every other Monday we will have "Embodied Faith" by Spiritual Director Annalise Hume, who will lead us in movement and prayer practices. There will be four sessions. Email Pastor Tayler for registration details.
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"THE FIRST TWO DISCIPLES" BY JESUS MAFA
THE CHURCH GATHERS Pre-Service Music
Prelude in D Minor
J. S. Bach
Call to Worship adapted from Thom Shuman We come today, our curiosity piqued as we seek the one who offers love and hope. We find ourselves drawn to the one who clears a path and invites us to travel with him We are ready to follow this one who lights the way through the world. Hymn We Have Come at Christ's Own Bidding TFWS #2103 Prayer of Confession adapted from Thom Shuman Called to follow, we often stumble our way down the path. But God picks us up, sets us on the solid ground of grace, and shapes us into God's covenant people. Let us confess our sins and our needs to the one who is always faithful. God, you shaped and formed us in your image. You created out of us a community, your church, meant to love you and one another. Yet we spend so much time focused on ourselves. Called to love, we struggle with, at times even despise, those with whom we disagree. Called to share your good news of love and belonging with others, we keep silent, keeping the stories of joy and hope for ourselves. Forgive us. And give us open ears, that we might hear your words of pardon; give us clear sight, that we might notice those you would have us serve; give us expanding hearts, that we might welcome others, just as Jesus has welcomed us, inviting us always, to come and dwell with him. silence for prayer SHARING IN WORSHIP TODAY Acolyte - Anna Griffiths Liturgists - Adeola Fagbewesa, Elyse Horn Reader - Kweku Ampong Musicians - Kevin Daly, Mary Ciccone, Joan Nuse Ushers - Ralph Newhall, Steve Wong, James Frisbee, Ulanda Frisbee, Douglas Fullman
TODAY'S FLOWERS ARE GIVEN BY THE DISTASE FAMILY In loving memory of Barbara AND BY VINETTE JONES AND LORI PANTALEO In loving memory of our dear friend Cindy Gordon
Words of Assurance Listen! Before you were born, God called you by name, claiming you as God's own. We open our souls to receive this grace, this good news today. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Amen.
TO HEAR THE WORD AND REFLECT Music Ministry Children's Time
Great is Thy Faithfulness
arr. Douglas Wagner
Where Children Belong
TFWS #2233
Scripture Reading John 1:35–42 This is the Word of Life. Thanks be to God. Sermon Hymn
Rev. Jenny Smith-Walz
TO RESPOND IN FAITH Where He Leads Me
UMH #338
Prayers of the People 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, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Offertory
Korean Folk Tune
Hymn
Doxology
Joy E. Koning UMH #94
Prayer of Thanksgiving
AND SCATTERS TO BE IN THE WORLD
Hymn
The Summons
TFWS #2130
Benediction Postlude
Fugue in D Minor
J. S. Bach
PRAYER CONCERNS
Donald Jones, Ian Griffiths, Larry and Helen Curtis, the Shelton/Lawrence family, Vicki Lepore, Lori Butterfield and family, Heather Donaldson, Jim Harris, The people of Ukraine, Victims of gun violence, The CDMSM Picnic today, Donna
HAVE PRAYER CONCERNS? For our Prayer Chain, call Mary Lib Stewart at 609-632-1973 or contact Yvonne Macdonald at yvonnee.mac@verizon.net. Email Pastor Jae Hong at jae@princetonumc.org when you or a family member is in the hospital or in need of a pastoral call.
Come and See
Write down (or otherwise record or share) a story about a way following Jesus has affected the course of your life. When those first two disciples in John 1:35–42 accepted Jesus's invitation to "come and see" what Jesus was about, their lives took a turn.
They had no way of knowing that would be the case or what kind of life change was beginning in that moment. They would never see the world, themselves, one another the same way again. That doesn't mean they always saw things the same way or even the same way as Jesus. But the more they came and saw what Jesus was about, the more they followed, the more they gained a Kingdom perspective, which impacted and reordered just about everything: relationships, values, understandings, habits, practices, conversations, and more. Maybe you remember what your life was like before you followed Jesus, and your story is about the difference between before and after. Maybe it's a story about a pivotal moment in your faith where something changed. Perhaps it's a story about a choice, a relationship, a revelation, an experience that happened because you went the way of Jesus. What happened? What changed? What difference did it make?
ACTION This week do something to "Come and See" what Jesus is up to. Recall the types of things Jesus did, the kinds of places Jesus went, the kinds of people Jesus talked to and ate with, the ways that Jesus moved through the world. What draws you? What questions do you have? How is God nudging you to "come and see" what Jesus is about in our world today? After you do something to "Come and See", reflect on that experience below.
REFLECTION
1. Did anything you experienced or discovered challenge or stretch you?
2. Did you experience God's presence, grace, and abundance in your experience? Did you catch a glimpse of God's kingdom? Describe it.
3. What impact, if any, did this experience have on your perspective? about Jesus and his way? about yourself? about others? about the world?