Sunday May 10, 2020 – Family Lovefeast
(In celebration of all the women in our lives and Mother’s Day)
Starting at 10:30 a.m. – Connect with us through Zoom https://zoom.us/j/673028163, Meeting ID: 673 028 163, OR for audio only, call +19292056099, (enter code 673028163). We also will post our service to our Facebook Calvary Moravian Church Allentown page later.
Thank you for listening, participating or worshipping with us at Calvary Moravian Church. If you are able to continue to support our ministries in any way we are most grateful!
You can mail the office a check (948 N. 21st St. Allentown 18104). We do have a giving portal through the Moravian Ministries foundation at https://mmfa.info/calvary-moravian-church-pa-donation-form/.
10:45 a.m. – Welcome and Announcements.
Call to Worship – A Letter to Philemon. (verses 1-7)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith towards the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
Hymn 675 What Brought us Together.
Liturgy for Christian Homes. pg. 119. (from the 1995 Moravian Book of Worship, used with permission)
Eternal God, Creator of our first home, and our only true Rest, we gather as your family to celebrate our diverse homes, and to seek your blessings on them. God of relationships, you have put within our hearts a longing that only you can satisfy. Yet we need each other to learn of your steadfast love throughout all generations.
Open our hearts, that we may learn from our biblical heritage how to manifest your love.
God our Creator, in the garden you formed our first parents, and found them good. At first in their innocence, they trusted you and helped each other, but they sinned and fell short of your purposes for them.
Forgive us our sins and give us grace to trust you in the goodness of your creation and your design.
You called Sarah and Abraham to go out from their homeland and begin a new nation in covenant with you. In their old age, you gave them a child whose name meant laughter. In our homes, may we live with their trust and courage, their humor, their sense of mission.
Increase our faith and give us grace to answer your call.
You strengthened Ruth and Naomi, in the face of grief and bitterness, to remain loyal to each other and to journey to new life.
Encourage us and give us grace to support each other.
When you came to earth, Incarnate God, you had no place to lay your head. God of the stable, bless the homeless, and bring them to a place of shelter.
Keep us aware and give us grace to be family to others.
Rejoicing Savior, you sanctified marriage by your presence at Cana in Galilee. You restored life and health and balance in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Be a holy guest within our homes, filling our ordinary days with newness of life and mutual joy.
Grant us the grace to recognize you as the Christ among us, and to be open to your miracles of change.
Suffering God, from the cross you cared for your loved ones, saying to Mary: Woman, behold your son! and to the disciple: Behold your mother! And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Bless all families and enable them to form new bonds of love.
Comfort us in our brokenness and give us grace to claim our relationship as your children.
Life-giving Spirit, you came in power to form and guide the church, a family with varied gifts and graces. Grant that church and home may model for each other the nurturing of individuals and the growth of community. We recognize the difficulty of forming family with those who are different from ourselves, and with those who are like ourselves. We confess our failure to love and grow, our impatience for others to change, our blindness to one another’s needs. Yet we rejoice that you have given us each other, and we dedicate ourselves to mutual support and love, trusting not in our own strength, but in your strong compassion.
Bless and guide us, triune God, and enable us to support and love each other.
Hymn 538. For the Beauty of the Earth. (verses 3 and 4)
Prayers of the People.
Pastoral Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Paul’s Plea for Onesimus (verses 8-20)
For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.
Hymn 401 Heart with Loving Heart United.
Reflection
Moravian Blessing – Sharing in Lovefeast.
Be Present at our table, Lord;
Be Here and Everywhere Adored
From thy all bounteous hand, our food
May we receive in Gratitude.
Sharing in Lovefeast – Some form of a simple meal, baked good, etc. and a beverage of your choice.
Musical Reflection on piano, Bob Kahle
“Exhale” by Lena Raine.
Special Music “Driftwood” written by Rich Pirone
On a river wild, in a current swift — As our souls are set adrift
Lost and tossed in the ebb and flow — At the whim of the winds that howl and blow
Chorus:
We are driftwood, As the river bends
We are driftwood, To the river’s end
We are as the river does intend, We are driftwood
On an ocean dire, a sea untamed — We are but vessels of clay
Lost and tossed in the swell and sway — The rise and fall of the tides and the waves
Chorus:
We are driftwood, In waters deep and dark
We are driftwood, On beaches wide and stark
We are what the waters will impart, We are driftwood
© 2015 R. Pirone (BMI)
Musical Reflection on piano, Bob Kahle “Great is the Lord” by Michael W Smith and Deborah D Smith, arr. by Jack Schrader
Blessing for Families – Hymn 445. Bless, O Lord, We Pray.
Prayer
Hymn 662 Jesus Makes my Heart Rejoice.
Benediction – Future Looking Hope (verses 21-25)
Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you. Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow-workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Calvary Moravian Church 