At DisciplesNet in this season after Pentecost, we are continuing to look at how God calls us to right relationships: with God, with each other, and with creation. This week we take a look at our relationship with our selves and God, specifically looking through the lens of persons who struggle with mental illness and other disabilities. The world is fond of saying that we are broken or defective---yet we read that we are made in the image of God. What do we do with this? We hope that you will join us in worship today as we explore God's message for us with special insight from Pastor Amy Grogan. Continue reading →
Welcome to the first Sunday in Advent--the time of waiting, longing for the coming of the Messiah into the world as it was for the people so long ago. And, as the Christ child did come all those years ago, we now look forward to this same Christ coming anew into our hearts and lives today.
The church traditionally looks at the four Sundays in Advent as ones of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. This year DisciplesNet is doing that, but using nature to help us. We will use the fours seasons of Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer to look at these weeks in our hearts. So this Sunday, we look at Hope that comes in a Season of Fall.
We know that the seasons that each of us experience around the world will vary----some of us live at the equator, some in arctic regions, some in opposite times of northern and southern hemisphere. Where ever you live and the weather there,, we invite you to go with us on a four week journey through the seasons of our hearts.
And this week? We invite you to come along o a place where it is Fall, or Autumn: the days of summer have left us, the hours of sunlight are getting shorter, tree leaves turn beautiful colors and fall from the trees, and the warm air cools off signaling winter's approach. How can this time remind us of God, and the coming of Jesus into the world? How can it remind us of our work here on earth in the Kingdom of God? Please join us and see.
Worship is 31 minutes with time for song, prayer, scripture, an inspiring, thoughtful message. An as we do every week, our time together includes a time of communion (breaking of the bread) where you may choose to participate, or simply meditate as we tell of Jesus' invitation to "do this in remembrance of me." If you would like to share with us at the table that goes beyond earthly boundaries of time, place, and structure, we ask that you prepare a piece of bread of some type and a drink such as grape juice, wine, or water. As we pray, our prayers are given to extend to where you are. If you are unable to eat or drink, you may want to use a symbolic gesture or mental symbol as you come together at this table of remembrance with us. (Scroll down for an Order of Worship)
We hope that as you join us for worship you will feel a blessing from being part. Please tell friends, family, and others you know about our online church that is here with doors that are always open, walls as wide as the world, and always room at the table.
ORDER OF WORSHIP:
1. Opening background music: “Holy Baby, Hold Child”
2. Call to Worship, Lighting of Advent Candle: Pastor Ann, with Isaiah 40:2-4, with chorus: " Holy Baby, Holy Child."
3. Opening Hymn: “In the Bulb There is a Flower”
4. Pastor's Prayer with Lord's Prayer: Susan McNeely. Background: Wind in the Olive Trees
5. Hymn: “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”
6. Scripture: Amy Grogan, Isaiah 2:1-5
7. Message: “Hope in a Season of Fall”
8. Hymn: “When God is a Child”
9. Communion: “Susan McNeely”
10. Hymn: “Jesus, Remember Me”
11. Sending out
If you would like to chat with one of our pastors, including talking more about belief in God, becoming a Christian or following Christ, or living as a disciple of Christ, please email us at pastor@disciplesnet.org, or contact us using the contact information on our website, disciplesnet.org, or our Facebook page, DisciplesNet Church.
ABOUT OUR DISCIPLES SHEEP:
You may notice in our videos that we have various stuffed sheep with us in worship. To us, these are not toys, but important parts of our church.
It happened this way: When we began producing worship as DisciplesNet in November 2010, one of the first problems we recognized was that when we are speaking to the people on the other end of a camera and internet, we cannot actually see the people to whom we were speaking. It was easy to speak to the other pastors in the room, but as we prayed and preached and spoke, we instead wanted to be reminded of the people for whom we were serving—including people whose best way to attend worship might be online. We wanted to be speaking to them---and as best we could hearing and telling their stories.
So, on a whim, we set some sheep that we’d used for a children’s sermon in front of our speakers, and found that helped! Before we knew it, their number was growing. They spilled over onto the table as we spoke. They have become dear to us and no longer children’s toys— but representations of all of the sheep of God’s pasture, all of God’s children—the real people like you, whom we may not be able to see in real life, but wish never to forget are there, and are each and everyone loved by God more than we can ever comprehend. Those sheep are why we are here.
INVITATION TO GIVING:
DisciplesNet Church is a not-for-profit church that exists to cross barriers and boundaries to share the Good News of God's redeeming love. We rely on the gifts of our online viewers as we continue to grow and extend our nets around the world.
We also extend the invitation for you to be part of the DisciplesNet ministry by giving a one-time gift, or ongoing, including a tithe. Even the smallest of gifts, like the mustard seed, has a way of growing in amazing ways to share God's word and the love of Jesus Christ. We have a giving page on our website, disciplesnet.org, and email address: giving@disciplesnet.org
What would make a person buy property in a land about to be seized by the enemy? It is an interesting story..and Rev. Bob Shaw shares this today from the book of Jeremiah [see intro to the book of Jeremiah].We hope that you will join us in worshipping God together, looking at how God helps us carry on even in times of trouble and despair. Worship is 30 minutes, including song, prayers, scripture, and considering God's word together. Continue reading →
Hoping things could change, she came to see Jesus. Would she always be an outcast in her community? Was there any hope? Jesus was moved by her situation, and she found a different kind of freedom than the world offers…as also is so with you and me. We hope that you’ll join us in worship this week. Our text comes from the Gospel of Luke 13:10-17, and our message from Rev. Bill Johnson. Worship today is about 27 minutes, a time of worshipping God together through song, prayers, scripture, and considering God's word together.
“The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”… Read the rest “Comfort and Hope in Conflict: a devotion by Marci McGowan”
It is an ancient, enduring question: “Why do the righteous suffer?” Our worship this week looks at this question through the eyes of Job, whose very name has linked with suffering.
Yet our worship and our preacher, Rev. Amy Grogan looks at this question framed in the sense of God’s soverignity and majesty. We hope that you will join us in worship this week as we work thorough Job’s question, our question, as people of God. Continue reading →
This past week has been one of heartbreaking violence, shootings, bombings, destruction in various places of the world, with hundreds killed. As our eyes turn to the sins of racism and violence against those with different religious beliefs, we wonder how the world could have gotten so far removed from Jesus’ teachings, “Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God.”
Our worship is designed to bring a sense of peace and hope amidst these times, with reminders of God’s peace that passes all human understanding. We hope that you will join us for this short time of inspiring message, song, and prayer. Continue reading →
Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection?
Sometimes when things in the world aren’t right, it’s hard to wait. It can be hard to even hope for a better day, to a day more like God’s kingdom, to the realm of God. Yet, that is just what the disciples of Christ are called to do. In our worship this week, we’ll be looking at how to do that, through worship, prayer, and songs lifted together to God. We sure hope that you will join us, and that you will be blessed in this short time of worshipping God together. Continue reading →