Younger Children’s
Bulletin
Older Children’s
Bulletin
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.
Notes and Reminders
We will continue to use offering boxes to receive offerings. These boxes will be placed at the entrances to the sanctuary, and we invite you to place your offerings in them as you come in.
After you have been seated by the ushers, please remain in your seat. This will help others to come in while still maintaining social distancing. Visiting can take place outside after the service is complete.
Our guidelines for indoor worship continue to be posted on the church website and can be accessed at https://pleasantvalleyalive.org/wp/guidelines-for-indoor-worship/.
There have been some inquiries about Sunday School in the past week. While the Church Board decided not to immediately start indoor Sunday School classes as we re-entered the building this past Sunday, we are actively working towards this goal. Focus Teams are contacting teachers, and we will see where we are at the November Church Board meeting.
In two weeks time, on November the 8th, instead of our normal worship service, we will be participating in a service that I have been working on with other Shenandoah District Leadership for the past few months. We will hear stories and music from around the district, and a message will be delivered by our District Executive John Jantzi. We will gather during our normal worship time for this service. This is a prerecorded service and will be available online. When we gather on November 8th, we will begin with a time for congregational sharing and prayer, so the service will take slightly longer than an hour.
If we were in normal times, we would have been gathering for our District Conference that weekend. Instead, the business of District Conference will be handled by the District Leadership Team, with a time for questions and input during District Zoom calls scheduled for October 28 and 29. To register for these calls, please visit https://shencob.org/event/state-of-the-district-teleconferences/.
Western State Christmas Collection will be starting for the month of November. Gift suggestions went out via email this past week. All unwrapped gifts will need to be put in the box in the narthex at church. Please call Sarah Ritchie with any questions. Thanks for your help, it means so much to the patients.
Our search process is progressing for a new Office/Communications Director. The email regarding the listing for that position was sent this week.
We hope that you are well, and encourage you to continue to pray for each other. This is a challenging time for many and, in Christian love, we do not want any of you to be bearing those burdens alone. Please be quick to reach out to your pastors, deacons, and neighbors when you are in need of support. Please be praying for those who are around you, because it can often be hard to reach out when we are hurting. This is a difficult time, but we are not alone, and God will lead us through.
The Strife is O'er
Reading from Psalm 27
The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I ask of the LORD, that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Then my spirit will be exalted above the adversity that surrounds me.
At his tabernacle will I worship with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger;
You have been my strength. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.
Though others abandon me, the LORD will receive me.
Teach me your way LORD; lead me in a straight path away from my oppressions.
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
I will wait for the LORD. I will be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Come, Ye Disconsolate
Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish.
Earth has no sorrows that heav’n cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate, Light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrows that heav’n cannot cure.”
Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrows but heav’n can remove.
CCLI License #: 1699256
Come, ye disconsolate
We give thanks to you, Lord,
for you have done marvelous things!
When we were walking in darkness;
You were there.
When we were kneeling in weakness;
You were there.
When we drew near feeling worthless;
You were there.
When we were needing forgiveness;
You were there.
When we were searching for your grace;
You were there.
We come to you now, needing to know;
You are here!
Receive our prayers, our worship, our love.
Renew our hearts in Jesus’ way.
Fill us with your Spirit and remind us
You are here!
Amen.
Adapted from a prayer by John Birch. http://www.faithandworship.com/
Exodus 13:17-22
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, ‘If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle. And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, ‘God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.’ They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
In the Bulb There Is A Flower
In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
Butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence,
seeking word and melody.
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me. From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning;
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
CCLI License # 1699256
In the Bulb
Today’s harvest was planted by the generations that came before us. They told their stories, taught in Sunday School, welcomed cheerfully and compassionately, and shared in love. They knew that what they planted would bear fruit in the generations to come. We thank God for them today. May God similarly bless the gifts we share now, that they, too, will bear fruit fit for heaven. Amen.
Holy and Gracious God,
you call us by name,
Beloved One,
and beckon us to follow you.
May we do so through your grace.
In your Name we pray,
Hear our prayer.
Like a shepherd tending the flock
you tend to our needs.
Be present with those who struggle, suffer,
are in pain or sorrow.
Guide those who are lost, or filled with worry and fear.
Protect those who are in harm’s way
heal those who are ill,
mend those who are broken,
as only your love can.
God of peace, watch over those who lead us
in our various governments and churches.
Fill our leaders with wisdom, patience, insight, and mercy.
Help them to lead with kindness and strength.
God of love,
fill our hearts with the knowledge of You
that we can turn from the distractions of life
and be more like You.
May we be agents of your compassion,
offering kindness to those we meet this day.
God of all blessings,
we thank you for all the gifts of life.
For your Son, our Savior, our great Good Shepherd,
the one who stands at the gate
of all life’s challenges and joys,
calling out to us in love.
Naming us, Beloved.
For all this, and more we pray.
Amen.
– by Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, http://expansivelanguage.blogspot.ca/
Oceans (When Waters Rise)
You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown where feet may fail, and there I find you in the mystery.
In oceans deep, my faith will stand.
Chorus:
And I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves.
When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace.
For I am yours and you are mine.
Your grace abounds in deepest waters; your sov’reign hand will be my guide.
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me, you’ve never failed and you won’t start now.
Chorus
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.
Let me walk upon the waters
wherever you would call me.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger
in the presence of my Saviour.
Chorus
I will call upon your name,
keep my eyes above the waves.
My soul will rest in your embrace.
I am yours and you are mine.
CCLI License # 1699256
Oceans
God invites us to find our peace in him.
May we see God, wherever we are.
May God’s quiet strength
dwell in our hearts.
May the quiet blessing of God
drown out our incessant noise.
May we go and work and love,
sharing God’s peace. Amen.
