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2330 South Jefferson Street
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2330 South Jefferson Street
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FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT MARCH 21, 2004
As Christ cares, we care…
We care about
all people. ORDER OF SERVICE-11:00 A.M. + Indicates the people standing ENTRANCE
Words of Welcome, Registration of
Attendance and Announcements
Bill Davidson +Indicates the people standing
THOSE SERVING TODAY:
The Altar Flowers are
Given *CHILDREN (AGES 3 through 1st GRADE), may meet the acolyte to recess to Children’s Church. Please ask your child to line up behind the acolyte who will lead all children out together. After the worship service, parents must pick up their child in the Children’s Department; children will not be allowed to leave the room until their parents arrive. THE LENTEN WREATH OF THORNS: Each Sunday during Lent one candle is extinguished as the day of Jesus’ crucifixion and death draws near. The Christ Candle is extinguished on Holy Thursday during Holy Week. The wreath’s growing darkness signifies the sacrifice our Lord made for each of us and focuses our personal and spiritual preparation during this Season of Lent. THE ROSE ON THE ALTAR is in honor of the birth of David Chase Cumins, born Saturday, March 13, 2004 to David and Nancy Cumins. The proud grandparents are Ken and Linda Cumins. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Walter and Phyllis Dickey who will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary on March 23. WELCOME! We're glad to have all who have joined us for this time of worship. Especially to our guests and visitors, we welcome you to South Roanoke and to our fellowship. We invite those who have no church home to make South Roanoke your church and add your witness to ours. NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS are collected on a regular basis for RAM (Roanoke Area Ministries). Please place your contributions in the wooden box located in the hallway at the 24th Street entrance to the THIS IS “ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING” SUNDAY in the United Methodist Church. In order for us to give our full support to our 2004 Lenten Offering the “One Great Hour of Sharing” offering in support of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) will be received on a later Sunday. THE FRIENDSHIP AND UPPER ROOM CIRCLES will meet together on Tuesday, March 23 at 10:30 a.m. to continue their study of the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. They will meet in the Wimmer classroom. YOUR NEXT OPPORTUNITY FOR WORSHIP will be Wednesday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. for the Lenten Service. The Reverend Bernard S. Via, Jr. will speak on By Whose Standards?, based on 2 Timothy 1:3-14. THE CHANCEL CHOIR, soloists, and an instrumental ensemble will present Theodore Dubois’ The Seven last Words of Christ during our service on March 28. This dramatic presentation on the last Sunday before Holy Week prepares us for the events leading to Easter Sunday. THE CHURCH SOFTBALL SEASON is upon us and you are invited to be a part of the team. Your support is needed! Games will be on Monday and Wednesday nights, and practice will begin on March 28 at 3:00 p.m. at Fallon Park. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Todd Abbott at 427-2409. DURING LENT THE SENIOR PASTOR is teaching a workshop entitled, “Healthy Congregations,” with our church leaders (Lay Leader, Lay Member of Annual Conference, and Chairs of Administrative Board, Council on Ministries, Finance, Trustees, Staff-Parish Relations, and staff.) “Healthy Congregations,” developed by Dr. Peter Steinke based upon the family systems theory of Dr. Murray Bowen and as applied to congregations by Dr. Edwin Freidman, is a series of six workshops which have proven to be effective in promoting communication and unity within a congregation. FAMILY MINISTRIES will host the annual Easter Egg Dye and Hunt this year. All young children and families are invited to dye eggs on Wednesday, April 7 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall during the Lenten dinner. Bring one dozen hard boiled eggs and let the fun begin. The Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, April 10 at 11:00 a.m., followed by a pizza lunch and pictures with the Easter Bunny. What a fun way for families to celebrate together the joys of Easter. ON HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 8 at 7:00 p.m. you are invited to commemorate the supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his resurrection, when he washed the disciples’ feet and instituted the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The congregation is invited to sit 12 at a time at the Lord’s table. PRAYER VIGIL SHEET! The church sanctuary will be open on Good Friday, April 9, from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. for prayer and meditation. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex. We ask that you sign up for 30 minute intervals. More than one can sign up for a particular time. THE WOODEN CROSS which will be draped in black on Good Friday will be covered with fresh flowers in celebration of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The congregation is invited to bring fresh flowers to make the cross come alive as we gather in the sanctuary entrance courtyard at 11:00 a.m. for the Easter Processional. A NURSERY WORKER IS NEEDED for Sunday mornings. Pay is $10.00 per hour. If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested please call Colleen Marston, 989-0623.
2004
Lenten Offering South
Roanoke Church has made a significant impact in our community through the
years by our support through our church budget of a number of local
agencies and organizations that lift the quality of life in our area. This
year most of these organizations were removed from our 2004 church budget
for financial reasons. In order to continue our significant contribution
to those in need at a time when these agencies are also feeling
significant economic pressures, our 2004 Lenten Offering supports the
following: During this season of sacrifice you are invited to contribute “over and above” your regular offering in support of this effort.
WEDNESDAY LENTEN SERVICES
CHURCH CALENDAR _________________________________ March 21, 2004
4th Sunday in Lent
Two Robes— Two robes—one a favorite, well-worn robe; the other the best one in the house. These two robes were worn by two children of God. Two robes—the favorite robe; the best robe. Which one is yours? Every family it seems
in one generation or another has a “second-born” child. Psychologists and
social scientists who study the family have defined the characteristics of
a “second-born” child. Studies have shown that, whereas the “first-born”
child tends to be loyal, obedient, and walks the straight-line of
behavior, it is the “second-born” who This may well resonate with you this morning as you consider the family of your origin and your own place in it or as you consider your own children. Some just seem to follow the “straight and narrow” while others just have to go their own way. Now it must be said when psychologists and social scientists talk about “first-born” and “second-born” children they are not necessarily referring to birth order. Studies do confirm it is usually the child born second that is the more unconventional and that observation, therefore, gave rise to the term “second-born child.” But studies also confirm that, regardless of the actual order of birth, every family in one generation or another has a “second-born child”. The question this morning is, which one are you? Now I can rant and rave all I want this morning about the shortcomings and misbehaviors of second-born children because I was born first, three years before my only other sibling, my brother, Kevin. Furthermore, I am the eldest of an eldest son, so I ought to be pretty safe in this analysis, right? The straight and narrow path…dependable…I became a minister for goodness sake! How much more straight and narrow can you get? But Jesus tells the
story of two sons. The younger one acts just like a “second-born child”
is supposed to—unpredictable, irrational, unconventional, rebellious. He
takes his share of the property and But then, Jesus says,
the younger son came to himself and realized that his father’s hired hands
are so much more provided for than he, himself, his father’s own son, who
is now starving to death. He resolves to return and all the way home he
rehearses to himself what he will do and what he will say when he gets
home. Is this robe yours? Is this a description of your life? Have you spent time away from God, seeking after lots of other things in life and finding that they ultimately just don’t satisfy? Have you ever squandered your inheritance, taking the precious gift of life that God has graciously given you and thrown it away on things that don’t mean very much at all? Are you tired and hungry and want to come back home? You know your life—only you can answer. Is this robe yours? God says it’s time you came to yourself, wear this robe proudly, and come back home. Or maybe this other robe (display well-worn robe) is yours. Is it? It’s a favorite robe, a well-worn robe. It is the robe worn by the eldest son. It is a favorite robe because his father give it to him a long time ago. It is the one the son who stood faithfully by his father wore every day as he carefully and faithfully attended to the responsibilities and hard work of the household. He is the classic “first-born child”—loyal, obedient, walking the straight and narrow, dependable, conventional, destined for success in life. After the younger son
returns, the older son, the one who wore this robe, hears music and
dancing coming from the house and he asks a slave what was going on. The
slave replies, Being the “first-born” is maybe not so easy after all. What is life like, this predictable, conventional, successful life? Well, its hard work. It takes discipline and stamina to make it the right way in life, doesn’t it? You have to stick with it, do it for a long time. If you work long enough and hard enough you might even get the feeling that you deserve exactly everything you’ve got and nobody else better try to claim that same place as you unless they earn it just like you did. You got where you are by your own determined effort. If somebody else made the wrong choices and squandered away his chance then too bad for him, even if he is your own brother. What makes the older son really mad is that the younger one got back his place in the family and it was just given to him. The father gives it to him as a gift—he didn’t do a thing to earn it. What the older son forgets is that everything he has is always a gift of his father. He didn’t earn his place in the family any more than his younger brother did. What Jesus decries the most in the protest of the eldest son is not so much that he wants to claim a higher place than his brother but that he, if he had his way, would not let his wayward brother claim his own place at all. This robe, this favorite, well-worn robe, a gift of the father a long time ago—is this robe yours? Is this a description of your life? Have you worked hard all your life, setting goals, following the straight and narrow path, building on your inheritance and claiming for yourself a good place in life? Are you among the faithful 20% that always to 80% of the work? Are you resentful of those who, having gone their own way, having made other choices, now come back home and are given a place of grace and honor just like yours? Do you even feel unappreciated and unloved in response to the lavish grace of God poured over one who was once lost but now is found? You know your life—only you can answer. Is this robe yours? God says it’s time you come to yourself, wear this robe proudly, and come back home. Jesus, you see, the teller of this story, wore another robe—the robe draped across the table this morning. A robe of dishonor put on his shoulders by the soldiers who arrested him; a robe stained by his own blood; a robe that was stripped from him and gambled away among his tormentors. Jesus wore this robe that children of God might wear these and find acceptance and love in the household of God. Jesus gave his life that “first-born” and “second-born” and all God’s children may have life. Jesus rose from the dead that you might rise above your wrong choices and your graceless, narrow exclusiveness to eternal life. This robe, you see, this robe that Jesus wore is the robe of a God who, like a loving parent who comes out to welcome the unfaithful who seek forgiveness and who comes out to welcome the faithful to the reconciliation party. God wore this robe that you might wear these with joy. Two robes—one a
favorite, well-worn robe; the other the best one in the house. These two
robes were worn by two children of God. Two robes—the favorite robe; the
best robe. Which one is yours? Put it on; wear it; it is a gift.
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