Worship Connection for April 25, 2021

Good morning!  This page is intended to both serve as a continuing worship option for those participating in our worship service from home, and to serve in place of print resources during our in-person worship.  Following the worship service on Sunday, one or more video recordings from the service will be placed on this page, including the sermon.  This may take several hours, due to the time needed to process the videos.  We will email the congregation when the recordings have been posted.  If you would like to be added to our congregational email list, please contact pvcob.alive@gmail.com.

• We anticipate continuing to worship outdoors through the summer, as the weather allows. The service will begin at 11:00 AM, for now, to allow the air to be a little warmer. We will likely move the service earlier as we get into the heat of summer.
  • Social distancing and mask use will need to follow state regulations. Currently, masks are required outdoors, when you cannot keep a 6-foot separation between yourself and others. However, this allows for a great deal more relaxation than we have been able to experience indoors. We also will be able to resume congregational singing. We are taking steps to be able to live stream worship from the pavilion and expect that to be ready by Easter Sunday. We also will have the radio broadcaster set up for people to be able to listen in their cars again.
  • Finally, if the weather is not cooperating, we will be able to move back inside again, on short notice if necessary, but continuing to observe state and CDC regulations. More details can be found at https://pleasantvalleyalive.org/wp/outdoor-worship-plan-starting-easter-2021/
• We are holding Youth and Children’s Sunday School classes on Sundays, at 10 AM.Classes will meet in their normal classrooms, but teachers can decide to move outside if they want to take advantage of beautiful weather.
  • Logistical plans will be reviewed when the worship schedule shifts for the warmth of summer.
  • Social distancing and mask use will follow state Covid regulations, which include face coverings for all people 5 years and older. Masks are required indoors. Currently, they are also required outdoors, when you cannot keep a 6 foot separation between yourself and others.
• The youth will be cooking and selling Chicken BBQ on May 15, 2021.
  Look forward to some finger lickin’ good food! This is the first youth fundraiser we have had in over a year, and we could use your help! We will need help with cooking and wrapping the chicken at the Mt. Sidney Ruritan pit. We would love for some adults from the congregation to help out alongside our youth. We also need to borrow some coolers to transport chicken after it is cooked. If you can help out in any way, please contact Pastor Rebecca.
• Adult Sunday School classes are setting their own plans of time and location for resuming meeting.
• The 2021 Church Directories have been published and are available for you to pick up.
• The Shenandoah District Disaster Auction Coordinating Committee has decided to hold in-person auctions at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds (4808 S ValleyPike,Harrisonburg) on May 21-22 in the Barn Complex. The recent change in outdoor gathering restrictions has now made it possible for the Friday evening livestock and Saturday morning auctions to take place, although with social distancing and mask-wearing required. Unfortunately, the oyster and ham dinner and the Saturday morning breakfast and lunch offerings will not be available. However, the committee is evaluating ideas for making meals available outdoors using a drive-by method for pick up.
  
• Softball is coming! We are anticipating the season starting May 10 and practices are scheduled for 6 pm on April 18, 25, May 2, and May 9.  Anyone that is interested can just show up to a practice or  contact Kyle Meyers.
• The Disaster Kit committee is preparing to receive groups of volunteers to assemble buckets and kits for Church World Service. Congregations or groups are challenged to provide 10 to 20 volunteers to come at a pre-arranged time to fill buckets or kits with supplies. The assembly will take place in the Disaster Ministries building in Weyers Cave, where the roll-up doors will be open and proper spacing can be achieved. CDC guidelines will be followed, with temperature checks and mask-wearing. Each packing session should last about two hours.
  • The District hosts the region’s Church World Service depot, and a tractor-trailer is expected to arrive in late May to pick up buckets, kits and other supplies. The committee has set a goal to have at least half of the buckets filled before the truck comes to load items. People interested in volunteering may contact Sarah Long at the District office to connect with an upcoming opportunity for assembling buckets and kits.

Please remember in your prayers the many in and around our congregation who have been fighting illness.

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We are invited, to enter God’s sanctuary
with grass as carpet
and for roof a sky.

We are invited
by the word of healing grace
And the touch of Jesus hand

To come and pause and rest
To feel the solidity of the rock on which we sit
To know that our God is faithful
Steadfastly loving to every generation

Let us come to lift our hands and hearts
To pray for our brothers and sisters
To be washed of the dust of sin that cakes our souls

Our Lord welcomes us
In the fellowship of grace
In the humility of faith
In the diversity and care
of Christ’s holy body.

Let us come and worship!

Open The Eyes of My Heart

CCLI #1699256

 2 Timothy 2:1-10 NRSV

You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer. And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Blessed Assurance

Verse 1
Blessed assurance Jesus is mine
O what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation purchase of God
Born of His Spirit washed in His blood

Verse 2
Perfect submission all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest
Watching and waiting looking above
Filled with His goodness lost in His love

CCLI #1699256

Renew our hope, increase our courage,
and keep us watchful for the signs
of your just and peaceful reign that is to come;
Open our eye, to see every reason you give
to live in joyful thanksgiving.
Help us to live holy and joyful lives,
befitting people you love and save.
We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

-Based on prayers from Feasting on the Word

We walk on ground that God has created and blessed
to produce beauty and nourishment.
All the world is God’s throneroom
and the place of his dwelling with us.
So go knowing, you are accompanied
by the steadfast love of God.