Worship for Sunday, September 19, 2021

CONTACT INFORMATION Mailing Address: Pastor Larry: PO BOX 285 Buffalo, IL 62515 (217) 364-4275 (home phone) (217) 494-3208 (cell phone) (also text) gracepastor@outlook.com GRACE COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP WELCOMES YOU! September 19, 2021 You can find me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ gracepastor You can follow me on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ gracepastor You can find the church at 294 W. South Street—at the corner of South and West Streets in Buffalo. You can submit a Prayer Train request by calling Betty Dugger at (217) 741-1330 And you can find God anytime you want by: 1) acknowledging that you need a Savior 2) asking God to forgive your sins 3) accepting the forgiveness that He offers to you. Please let me know if you do this so that I can join the angels in heaven as they rejoice and can welcome you into the family of God as a brother or sister in Christ. Grace Community Fellowship is a body of believers, centered in the Tri-Cities, that is committed to being a conduit of God’s transforming power and presence as we live in loving, supportive relationships with one another. 12 Rev. Larry L Hanson, pastor THIS WEEK IN WORSHIP Gathering Preparing Our Hearts For Worship Call To Worship MY PRAYER LIST FOR THE WEEK OF September 19-26 As The Deer (hymnal #548) More Precious Than Silver (hymnal #88) Prayer of Praise and Adoration You Are My All In All (hymnal #583) Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (hymnal #340) Time of Offering Offertory Doxology (hymnal #815)) Prayer of Dedication Sharing Our Blessings and Burdens In Christ Alone (supplemental #14) Pastoral Prayer Scripture Readings Proverbs 31:10–31 (page 552) James 3:13–4:3, 4:7–8a (page 1012) Mark 9:30–37 (page 845) Message Keeping My Eyes At The Right Level Psalm 131 (page 519) Just As I Am (hymnal #488) The Service of Hands Benediction Postlude 2 James 5:14 says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” If you want to be anointed and prayed over, simply come to the altar during the prayer song and indicate your desire to Pastor Larry 11 THIS WEEK IN MINISTRY SERMON NOTES (AND DOODLES) Keeping My Eyes At The Right Level Psalm 131 (page 519) TODAY TUES WED Circle of Prayer 8:30 a.m. Worship 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:45 a.m. Youth 6:00 p.m. Men’s Fellowship Breakfast 6:00 a.m. Pit Stop 7:30 a.m. Fellowship Meal 6:30 p.m. Bible Study 7:00 p.m. STEWARDSHIP FIGURES September 12, 2021 $1,110.00 10 3 SERVING IN MINISTRY THIS WEEK ANOTHER PRAYER OPPORTUNITY The worship team is Elaine Burrus and Craig Anderson The worship center has been prepared by Betty Dugger The greeters are being proved by the Anderson family The ushers are being provided by Chris Wolf The scriptures are being read by Betty Dugger The fellowship goodies have been provided by Betty Dugger SERVING IN MINISTRY September 26, 2021 The worship team will be Jill Bowen and Craig Anderson The worship center will be prepared by The greeters will be Jeannine and Bill Westlake The ushers will be provided by Chris Wolf The scriptures will be read by Anne Barber The fellowship goodies will be provided by Jeannine Westlake 4 A new opportunity for prayer has been added to our life together as Grace Community Fellowship. A group, titled appropriately, Prayer Group, has been added to our church Faithlife page. If you are not currently connected you can follow these steps: 1) Find, download and install Faithlife from your phone’s app store. You can also access the site at Faithlife.com. 2) Create a free account 3) Search for and follow Grace Community Fellowship of the Tri Cities. You will know it is the right one by our logo 4) Send me a message requesting to be added to the private group—Prayer Group. If you have difficulty, I will be glad to attempt to assist you. This is a way for us to leverage technology to enhance what we are already doing in prayer. You will find the opportunity to share blessings and burdens and join your sisters and brothers in prayer. I will also post verse, quotes and short meditations periodically that relate to prayer. Let me assure you that this is not an attempt to replace anything we are currently doing, but to add another weapon to our prayer arsenal. You can also find the recording of the Sunday worship service and our Fall Bible Study on the app. 9 TRI-CITY FOOD PANTRY Our Tri-City Food Pantry item for the month of September is cereal. We are told that there is plenty of oatmeal on the shelves, so please give generously of other kinds of cereal. As always, if you would prefer, you can donate money and Lori (thanks Lori!) will do the shopping for you. NEXT SUNDAY Scriptures: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22; Psalm 124; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 The message will be titled The Dwelling Place of God. It will be based on Psalm 132. Noisy Offering Giving to the Food Pantry is a wonderful way to meet the physical needs of those in our community who struggle to put food on the table. TITHE FOR MISSIONS Our Tithe For Missions project for the month of September is called Victory Guitar Outreach. Unfortunately, we were not able to schedule Steve and Debbie Cartwright to be with us in person. The Cartwright’s have expressed a willingness to gather with us in a Zoom meeting. If you are interested in participating in this, please let Pastor Larry know. If there are some who would like to do this a meeting will be set up. 8 COMING SOON Sunday, October 24—Church Anniversary celebration. This is our 20th anniversary as a congregation. Sunday, October 31—Annual Congregational meeting Sunday, November 14—Missionaries Titus and Jewel Romdenh will be with us. Sunday, November 21—Operation Christmas Child Shoebox ingathering 5 CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 1 (NLT) Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. 6 Private prayer prepares us for public worship. Pray the following prayer and meditate on it during the time we prepare for worship. Perhaps it will ready you to pour yourself out to God in worship and to receive what God has in store for you this morning. We seek to dwell in your presence, 0 God, and behold evermore the warmth of your love. For you shelter your people during their time of adversity; you cradle them in your arms when they are afraid and lonely. You beckon us to embrace you and put an end to our fearfulness. Entering your sanctuary, we give you praise for your mercy. Be pleased with our worship as we honor your name. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. James G. Kirk. When We Gather, Revised Edition: A Book of Prayers for Worship Responding to the Scripture readings At the end of the scripture readings, the reader will announce that, “This is the word of God for the people of God.” The congregation responds, “Thanks be to God.” At the end of the Gospel reading, the reader changes the announcement to say, “This is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The congregation responds, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 7