#Emmanuel UCC Online service

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January 10, 2021 Live Stream

New Post has been published on https://emmanuel-ucc.org/2021/01/31/january-10-2021-live-stream/

January 10, 2021 Live Stream

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June 14, 2020 – Live Stream

New Post has been published on http://www.emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/06/14/june-14-2020-live-stream/

June 14, 2020 – Live Stream

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May 17, 2020 Pastor Lou

New Post has been published on http://www.emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/05/17/may-17-2020-pastor-lou/

May 17, 2020 Pastor Lou

Call to Worship

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and we will tell what God has done for us. God is the Sovereign of heaven and earth, maker of this world and all within it. God has given to all mortals life and breath and every blessing. Bless our God, O peoples! Let the sound of God’s praise be heard. Blessed be God! Blessed be God! Blessed be God!

Prayer of Confession

Maker and giver of all, forgive us when we are too preoccupied to notice your presence in our lives: when we walk through this world and fail to see the wonder of you upholding our lives and all creation; when we walk through our lives and fail to see you abiding with, within, and around us; when we walk through holy moments and fail to savor your presence, instead feeling abandoned in the vast sweep of life as each day rushes at us with its demands. Open our eyes to your presence, God of love, that we may lean on you—for you uphold all of creation in tenderness and power. Amen.

Silent Reflection

Assurance of Pardon

When Jesus left the disciples, he gave us a promise: “I will not leave you orphaned!” For we, his disciples,

live in him and he in us—the presence of God within and around all. What a promise! Take courage! Take comfort! Blessed be God!

Scripture Readings

Epistle Lesson:                                                                     Acts 17: 22-31

Gospel Lesson:                                                                     John 14: 15-21                                                             

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; He descended into hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 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 holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction

Wherever we are, we are in God. Wherever we are, we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. Wherever we are, the Spirit abides with us and in us. We go forth in peace and hope, upheld by God in every way. Let us go forth in faithfulness and trust. May all see the Divine in and through us.  Amen.

If you would like to sponsor flowers for the Altar, please see the sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex and see Chris D with payment. They are $14 for 1 vase or $24 for 2 vases.   

We remember in prayer all who struggle with illness or recovery, including Regan Richmond; Alice Kender; Anna Mae Koons; Mary Horwath. 

We also pray for those who grieve the death of loved ones, all active military personnel, and all veterans.   

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May 10 , 2020

New Post has been published on http://www.emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/05/10/may-10-2020/

May 10 , 2020

Call to Worship

Jesus said, I go and prepare a place for you, 

and I will come again. We gather in this place to know your presence

and your love, now and always.

Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. If you know me, you know God. We pray to know you more deeply, that we may know God more intimately, now and always.

Jesus said, Ask me for anything, and I will do it. Help us to ask for the right things, Lord Jesus Christ, that we may fulfill your will, now and always.

Jesus said, Believe in me, and Follow me. Help us to worship you fully believing and following – now and always!

Prayer of Confession

Ever-gracious God, from generation to generation you call forth

faithful women and men to be willing servants of truth You fill us with strength and hope, Yet we find it is often

not enough. We pray both for great faith and for easy lives, But we know these things seldom exist together. We pray only to avoid the time of trial When we need also to pray for strength and confidence to face the challenges that come with faithfulness. Forgive us, God, for our limited vision and our feeble trust. Make us strong like Stephen, so that we may rejoice in your

unending grace even in the times of deepest suffering. In Christ we pray.  Amen.

Silent Reflection

Assurance of Pardon

Do not let your hearts be troubled, but share instead in Stephen’s vision of the heavens opened and Christ standing at the right hand of God. This glorious vision of hope is for all of us, for we are forgiven of all that separates us from the Holy One. Blessed be God, the giver of life and blessed be God’s people, who rejoice in Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

Scripture Readings

Psalter Lesson:                                                           Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16

Gospel Lesson:                                                                        John 14:1-14                                                               

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; He descended into hades;

the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on 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 holy Christian church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

oly                               

Benediction

Once you were not a people, but now you are a people bound together in God’s mercy and united in Christ’s service. Depart from this place in peace and confidence, to love and serve in the name of Jesus the Christ, the living representation of God – our way, our truth, our life. Amen.

If you would like to sponsor flowers for the Altar, please see the sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex and see Chris D with payment. They are $14 for 1 vase or $24 for 2 vases.   

We remember in prayer all who struggle with illness or recovery, including Regan Richmond; Alice Kender; Anna Mae Koons; Mary Horwath. 

We also pray for those who grieve the death of loved ones, all active military personnel, and all veterans.   

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April 19, 2020 – Pastor Lou

New Post has been published on http://www.emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/04/19/april-19-2020-pastor-lou/

April 19, 2020 – Pastor Lou

*Call to Worship

Sing a new song! A springtime shout-out to life!

Sing praise to our joyful Easter God Whose power brings new life out of death!

Immerse doubt and despair in the fountain of new birth Find refreshment and strength for a future of hope!

For God has taken ordinary things And made them extraordinary:

Sing a New Song!

Opening Prayer

Holy God,  Nothing is beyond your power to transform! In a gray dawn, you coax songs of Alleluia! From the tombs of despair we take refuge in You call us to wake up and work.  We praise you for this amazing day!  Come, Risen Christ, in newness and hope on this

Eastertide morning. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Redeeming God, with you there is always more life, more hope, more joy. 

When doubt assails us, and we fail to recognize you at work in our lives,  Lord, have mercy!

When fear impairs our faith, and our eyes and ears and hearts  do not know you, Christ, have mercy! 

When anger and sorrow stop us from doing the risky work of love,  Lord, have mercy!

Silent Reflection

Assurance of Pardon

Within every kernel of doubt, there is a spark of life and hope.  In those times when our faith falters,  when we cannot recognize the presence of the Holy among us,  God takes our faith and transforms it,  patiently showing us the many ways Christ walks among us.  Look around you:  as close as your own beating heart,  and in the eyes of your nearest neighbor,  grace abounds at the heart of all life.  You are all God’s children, loved without condition,  go in that peace. Amen.

Scripture Readings

Psalter Lesson:                                                                                 Psalm 16

Gospel Lesson:                                                                       John 20: 19-31                        

*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; He descended into hades;

the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on 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 holy Christian church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

*Benediction Follow God’s lead into new life! Recognize Jesus in unexpected places. Easter! Christ is Risen!  May you dance an alleluia dance, and sing a resurrection song.  Laugh with God and let joy reside in your hearts always. Amen.

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From The Pastor’s Desk

New Post has been published on https://emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/10/04/from-the-pastors-desk-40/

From The Pastor’s Desk

Hello to October and to the faithful members and friends of Emmanuel UCC!

There are many times that I visit a very interesting website of a company that does church research.  It is aptly named Pew Research.  This website gives the latest trends on churches and church attendance and can be found at https://www.pewresearch.org.  My recent visit was stimulated by the newest trend of watching church services on line in this pandemic era.

My message to you is to not lose heart when we as a congregation count 19 to 23 people per service.  Many congregation members and those who are not members do watch our service which is televised every Sunday.  I even have a few folks watching from New Jersey.

So, wondering if remote viewing and worshipping will be the new trend, I did some unearthing with the help of Pew research. I would like to share with you what I have found:

One-third of U.S. adults have watched religious services online or on television in the past month, and a little over half of them – or 18% of all adults – say they began doing this for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, if you’re worshipping remotely, you can’t hug the other members of your congregation or shake hands with your minister, priest, rabbi or imam. But you can wear whatever clothes you want, turn up (or down) the volume, forget about traffic in the parking lot, and easily check out that service you’ve heard about in a congregation across town or even across the country.

Whatever the reasons, lots of people like virtual worship. Nine out of 10 Americans who have watched services online or on TV in the past month say they are either “very” satisfied (54%) or “somewhat” satisfied (37%) with the experience; just 8% say they are “not too” or “not at all”  satisfied, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey conducted in mid-July.

So what does this bode for the future? By the time the COVID-19 pandemic has finally run its course, will Americans have lost the habit of going in person to a church, synagogue, temple or mosque? Some commentators have suggested that just as the pandemic has accelerated the trend toward shopping online and made Americans reliant on the internet for work, school, health and entertainment, so might many, if not all, varieties of religious experience move online in the 21st century.

But that’s not what the people who’ve been worshipping online see in their future. On the contrary, most U.S. adults overall say that when the pandemic is over, they expect to go back to attending religious services in person as often as they did before the coronavirus outbreak.

To be sure, a substantial share of Americans (43%) say they didn’t attend religious services in person before the pandemic struck and they don’t plan to start going to a church or other house of worship when it’s all over. But 42% of U.S. adults say they plan to resume going to religious services about as often as they did before the outbreak, while 10% say they will go more often than they used to, and just 5% anticipate going less often.

Similarly, a lot of Americans are not interested in virtual services: Two-thirds of U.S. adults say they have not watched religious services online or on TV in the past month. But of the one-third of U.S. adults who recently watched services online or on TV, relatively few (19% of this group, or 6% of all adults) say that once the pandemic is over, they intend to watch religious services more often than they did before it started.

Most online worshippers say that after COVID-19 has passed, they plan to revert to their pre-pandemic habits (18% of all adults) or watch online less often than they did before the outbreak (9%).

The forecast is even more striking if one looks just at regular attenders from pre-COVID times – the respondents who told us in a 2019 survey that they went to services at least once or twice a month. Of those congregational stalwarts, 92% expect that when the pandemic is fully behind us, they will attend physical services at least as often as they did in the past. This includes 10% who say they will also watch online or on TV more than in the past.  

Of course, it is impossible to predict how behavior will actually change after the pandemic, particularly if it extends further into the future than people expect. But, at the moment at least, very few U.S. adults anticipate substituting virtual participation for physical attendance at their church or other house of worship: Just 2% of the pre-pandemic regular attenders think that in the long run they will watch services online or on TV more often – and attend in person less often – than they used to.

Well…that’s a lot of numbers and percentages! I personally find it interesting, and I hope y0u do also. It’s a very sterile way of approaching the question of attending worship, yet, we are presented with the most up to date facts.

         Once more I say, do not lose heart! The pandemic is temporary.  We have managed to navigate waters that were deeper and more turbulent than these as a church and a society. Emmanuel UCC must continue to move forward with worship and of course the business end of the church.  As your minister, know that I will continue to upkeep the tradition we have of fruitful worship and outreach to the people of our church and the community. In Christian love,

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April 25, 2020 – Pastor Lou

New Post has been published on http://www.emmanuel-ucc.org/2020/04/26/april-25-2020-pastor-lou/

April 25, 2020 – Pastor Lou

Call to Worship

Travelers on the Way, what shall we do? We shall praise God who hears our prayers,  who draws near to us,  and brings new life out of death.

Dear Ones, how shall we live?  With the confidence of God’s beloved children,  with security and joy of God’s saving grace.

Friends old and new, what is the promise? New life, forgiveness of sin, the Spirit as gift! Beloved Siblings, how shall we praise?  We lift our voices and our hearts in love, thanks, and praise! We will praise the Lord as long as we live!

Opening Prayer

Loving God, we welcome your living presence in our midst.  Share our joy and our thanks for the life you give us.  with us! Dance among us! Pray with us!  Shower us with your love! Amen!

Prayer of Confession

Heavenly Stranger, our Companion on the Way, we yearn for your love and grace. We seek your wisdom and guidance.  We relish the joy which burns within our hearts when you are with us.  Yet, sometimes we would cling to you,  hoard the blessings of relationship with you, and not share your love with others.  Forgive us, Dear One.  Remind us that your love is to be carried throughout the world.  Press us to share the hope and joy of your love,  so that someone who hungers for spiritual food  may be filled by our witness to your grace. Shine the light of your Spirit through us,  so that we may show your Way those who long for peace and help to revive those in whom hope has died.  Amen.

Silent Reflection

Assurance of Pardon

God may come to us, unrecognized, as a stranger.  The Risen Christ reaches out to us in unexpected ways  as we travel our own Emmaus roads.  May the Word of our Still speaking God  continue to burn in our hearts.

Scripture Readings

Psalter Lesson:                                                              Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19

Gospel Lesson:                                                                        Luke 24:13-35                     

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; He descended into hades;

the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on 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 holy Christian church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction

Friends, rejoice in the mothering and fathering love of God! Rejoice in the victorious life of our Risen Savior! Rejoice in the power of the Spirit! Go, living in the love of Christ! Go, serving in the name of Christ! Let your love of God embrace  Your children Your family Your enemies Those who are afar off Those who are strangers met on the road May your lives praise the Lord!

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