PRELUDE
In Dulci Jubilo, Johann Sebastian Bach
Puer Natus Est (A Boy is Born), Everett Titcomb
WELCOME
* CELEBRATION OF FRIENDSHIP
* Gloria Patri (pew card)
* CALL TO WORSHIP AND SALUTATION – from Ps. 8 Ray Durney
Leader: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
People: You have set your glory above the heavens.
Leader: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
People: What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Leader: Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
People: You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
* HYMN No. 182: Brightest and Best of the Stars
* PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sins. You alone know how often we have wandered from your ways, wasted your gifts, and forgotten your love. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Forgive us, and help us to live in your light and to walk in your ways. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
* KYRIE (pew card)
* ASSURANCE OF PARDON
* SUMMARY OF THE LAW
JUNIOR SERMON
ANTHEM: We Have Seen His Star, Everett Titcomb
We have seen His star in the East, and are come with our offerings to worship the Lord.
* HYMN No. 185: We Three Kings of Orient Are
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, Pew Bible, page 537
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
Revelation 21:1-6a, Pew Bible, page 1007
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
THE SERMON: Who Holds Your Future?, Rev. Douglas Estella
WORSHIP OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Offering
Offertory: There Shall a Star, Felix Mendelssohn
RECITATIVE: When Jesus, our Lord, was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea; behold, from the east to the city of Jerusalem there came wise men, and said:
TRIO: Say, where is He born, the King of Judaea? For we have seen His star, and are come to adore Him.
CHORUS: There shall a star from Jacob come forth, and a sceptre from Israel rise up, And dash in pieces princes and nations. As bright the star of morning gleams, So Jesus sheddeth glorious beams of light and consolation! Thy Word, O Lord, Radiance darting, Truth imparting, Gives salvation; Thine be praise and adoration!
* The Doxology (pew card)
* Prayer of Dedication
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
* Apostles’ Creed (pew card)
SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Remembering with Love and Hope (pew card)
Invitation
Communion Prayer
Sanctus (pew card)
Mystery of the Faith (unison)
Christ has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.
Words of Institution
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING & INTERCESSION
Lord’s Prayer (pew card)
Prayer Response, Felix Mendelssohn
As bright the star of morning gleams, So Jesus sheddeth glorious beams Of light and consolation! Thy Word, O Lord, Radiance darting, Truth imparting, Gives salvation; Thine be praise and adoration.
* HYMN No. 181: As With Gladness Men of Old
* BENEDICTION
Response: Fanfare for Christmas, Martin Shaw
Gloria in excelsis deo. (Glory to God in the highest!)
POSTLUDE: In Thee is Gladness, Johann Sebastian Bach
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WE WELCOME back the Rev. Douglas Estella to the pulpit. Rev. Estella served as pastor of the Sunnyside Reformed Church from 2000 to 2006. Currently he is a teacher at the Academy of Urban Planning in Brooklyn. Doug and his wife, Janet, live in Sunnyside with their daughter, Renee.
THE COFFEE HOUR is hosted by the Sunday School staff. “King Cakes” will be served to celebrate Epiphany Sunday.
2014 OFFERING ENVELOPES are at the back of the church. If you don't see your envelopes and would like a box, please sign the list and a set will be available for you next Sunday.
VAN SERVICE: If you need a ride to church on Sunday, speak with Gerry Mendler. The van service for grocery shopping will resume in the Spring.
OUR APPRECIATION FOR TODAY’S VOLUNTEERS:
Van Drivers: Gary LiBert (AM), Gerry Mendler (PM)
Greeters: Joan Pearson and Debra Rossi
Ushers: Ginny and Hong Chan, Jeanne and Steve Sarran and Jerry Good
Children and Worship: Kathy Bracken and Sharon Rivilli
YEAR-ROUND COLLECTIONS –
Donations for the Food for Kids Ministry should be brought to the Church office. This food will be given to families in need in Jamaica, New York.
Donations for pets brought to the church office will be given to Worthy Pause to be distributed to local animal shelters.
Christmas cards (with Forever Stamps on the envelopes) are collected in a basket in Gessner Hall. These cards will enable inmates at the Nassau County Correction Center to correspond with their loved ones.
PRAYER REQUESTS: Ruth Bailey, Letty Delgado, Ed Diercks, Dombrowski Family, Edythe Durney, Alfred Gessner, Lisa Gessner, Jenny Hampton, Robert Keller, Hope Kingman, Fritz Kunisch, Ann Martin, John Molino, Josephine Rivera, Janice Serra