When I was sixteen years old, I prayed the scariest prayer and told God, “Here I am. Send me.” Little did I know all the things that prayer would bring. From joining the Army straight out of high school to preaching my first sermon and interning during a pandemic, I have been sent in all sorts of directions that I didn’t even know existed. After praying that prayer, I immediately felt a strong calling into ministry. I knew I was called to preach and work with youth. Since then, CBF and CBFVA have blessed me with countless opportunities to fulfill this call. This summer was my second year as a CBF Student.Church intern. I had the honor of working with Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond, VA. My former youth pastor described this as a once in a lifetime opportunity that I needed to get involved with as soon as possible. She was so right. Despite the chaos of social distancing, the Tabernacle family still managed to welcome with open arms through their screens. I worked with and alongside the youth and pastoral staff. I participated in weekly staff meetings and worship prep. I hosted Thursday game nights with our youth on Zoom. My last week with Tabernacle was spent participating in “Camp Corona” with our youth. Tabernacle really knows how to have fun, even with social distancing. Tabernacle recently gave me what they like to call “Bread for the Journey.” It is their beautiful way of sending members of their church family onto their next adventure. This had me replaying the entire summer over in my head. This summer was not easy for anyone, but Tabernacle shaped my call and helped me learn more about who God wants me to be. Their congregation supported me wholeheartedly, without ever seeing me in person. Their youth, who are wise beyond their years touched my heart and often left me teary eyed. The staff gave me a platform to share my testimony and guided me through my walk with Christ in a time where I needed it most. I’ve learned a lot this summer. I learned to meet people where they’re at and to love first. I was reminded of the importance of giving everyone a place at the table, even if we are six feet apart. This is what beloved community looks like. This is ministry.
We would love for you to let us know you’re here. This worship guide is meant to be a companion to our Livestream service. You can join us live at 11am on Sunday morning or watch the recorded service later, following along with the words to hymns, etc. in a separate window or on your phone, or print this guide out if you like!
CALL TO WORSHIP: 1 Kings 19:1-14
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
HYMN #383: “Near to the Heart of God”
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Jeremiah 29:10-14, Romans 12:1-3, Luke 6:46-49
Tab Members and Visitors are invited to join us on July 26 as we meet to take a look at how God has been at work in our midst this year. You can read reports from staff and key leaders in advance of the meeting, and will have an opportunity to ask questions during the meeting.
The Ad Hoc Constitution Revision Committee will be presenting the revised Constitution and Bylaws at the Quarterly Meeting on July 26th. This will just be an information sharing opportunity with a vote by ballot to accept the document being held two weeks later. They will also share a page of items that may require Constitution and Bylaws changes later and also topics discussed at the Town Hall meetings that did not involved changes in the document, but were important for follow up later.
We want to hear from you as we make plans for what church will look like in the coming months! If you call Tab home in any way, please take some time to complete our survey about your experience engaging with the church during the pandemic and how we can best support one another in our faith journeys moving forward. The survey will be open for you to offer your thoughts through July 30.
Following the Worship Service, we encourage you to continue visiting with friends in the Livestream Chat, or join a Talk-Back moderated by Sandi Lowery and Beth McMahon. Share your laughter and tears, along with your prayer needs, as we discuss the sermon of the week.
This summer, we will actively covenant together in multiple ways, particularly in our physical gatherings in one another’s homes. You can find more details related to our expectations, hopes, and practices here.
Our Community Ministry is actively serving neighbors on a weekly basis. We have consistently seen about 50 families each week, and sometimes up to 100! If you would like to support this key ministry to our neighbors, our current needs include:
I hope this finds you well. Or well enough considering. Please know you are doing enough. There is enough newness going on in every home that it is going to be a challenge, no matter what. Now IS the time to slow the pace, look deeply into today’s activity, and be present. Children everywhere are experiencing the same lack of routine, lack of academics, lack of socialization. So there is not a hill for them to slide down. It’s a level, inclusive field. Teachers will meet the children where they are. It will be ok.
Your children need your love, joy, and company. Be mindful to show delight on your face when they walk in the room, even if frustration or defeat is the reality. Fake it if you have to because they will remember how you felt. How your expressions and tone made them feel. Not the letters you practiced after breakfast, the dishwasher yet to be emptied (again), or the laundry forgotten in the washer (again).
…For tomorrow shall care for itself.
Struggle is universal. We all have bad: days, moments, meetings, failures, bedtimes, car rides, heartbreak, workouts, and illness. Every single one of us has a story. And no one gets out of life scot-free without the struggle. Two things: do not Compare Your Struggles and sometimes the best thing you can do is Compare Your Struggles. Here’s what I mean.
Daily bad days, pain, trials, and disappointments loom. For you, today may be one of the darkest hours or the deepest of melancholy. So go ahead, wallow in it. Wrap yourself up in it and live it. For two minutes a day.
Yep, all you get is two minutes each day. Scream, cry, whine, or kick people in the shin. Make these two minutes count. Go ahead and make some noise. Because you get two minutes and then you are done. Then it is time to move on and put a pin in it for tomorrow. Tomorrow if the pain is still there–go ahead; wallow in it. Wrap yourself up in it. For two minutes.
And when the two minute timer goes off and you can’t stop the despair? If once the tears start, you can’t turn it off? Well, then it is actually time to compare. It is time to look over at the Joneses or toward the greener grasses and consider their two minutes. Have they lost a loved one? Are their children hungry or hurting? Are they alone? Are they at risk simply doing their job? Is their pain irreparable? Consider another, saying two prayers. One for others and one of gratitude. Then put a pin in til tomorrow.
I know it’s not easy. But it is possible. Moving on daily may be tiny, but it’s a huge step you have to retake everyday. In this pandemic, you deserve your two minutes, to scream, cry, whine, or kick people in the shin. Allow it and then regard the two minutes of others. You will find humility and grace recognizing we all have bad: days, moments, meetings, failures, bedtimes, car rides, heartbreak, workouts, and illness. Your prayers for tomorrow are always at hand, but worry is wasted.
Care not then for tomorrow. For tomorrow shall care for itself. The day has enough with its own grief. Matthew 6:34
This worship guide is meant to be a companion to the Livestream service. You can join us live at 11am on Sunday morning, or watch the recorded service later, following along with the words to hymns, etc. in a separate window or on your phone, or print this guide out if you like!
PRELUDE: “In the Garden,” Judy Fiske
This hymn is a favorite from 1912, about the time our 1st building was built on this corner of Grove Avenue and Meadow Street. The hymn is often criticized because he does not mention the name of Jesus in the text, but rather relies on the capital H in he and him to let us know that Jesus is the central person in this song. This song does paint a beautiful picture of encountering Jesus in the garden. “In the Garden” V. 1 I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses; and the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. Chorus: And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. V. 2 He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing; and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing. V. 3 I’d stay in the garden with Him, though the night around me be falling; but He bids me go; through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling.
CALL TO WORSHIP: “I’ve Just Seen Jesus” (Gaither/Daniels)
This song was presented by Susan Braden on April 1, 2018. This was one of the few times, if not the only time, that she stood at the pulpit at Tabernacle to sing with Ryan Corbitt accompanying her. She usually sang from the piano accompanying herself. This is a powerful reminder of what Mary Magdalene was feeling as she left the empty tomb and encountered the risen Jesus Christ. Susan was deep into her cancer treatment when she sang this song for worship. She lost that battle this year, 2020, on March 27. We are blessed to have these recordings of her powerful testimony.
POEM: The Magdalene’s Blessing for Easter Day
You hardly imagined standing here, everything you ever loved suddenly returned to you, looking you in the eye and calling your name. And now you do not know how to abide this hole in the center of your chest, where a door slams shut and swings open at the same time, turning on the hinge of your aching and hopeful heart. I tell you, this is not a banishment from the garden. This is an invitation, a choice, a threshold, a gate. This is your life calling to you from a place you could never have dreamed, but now that you have glimpsed its edge, you can not imagine choosing any other way. So let the tears come as anointing, as consecration and then let them go. Let this blessing gather itself around you. Let it give you what you will need for this journey. You will not remember the words—-they do not matter. All you need to remember is how it sounded when you stood in the place of death and heard the living call your name.
HYMN #223: “Crown Him with Many Crowns”
V. 1 Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own: awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee, and hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
V. 2 Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave, and rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save; His glories now we sing who died, and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
V. 3 Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways from pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise: His reign shall know no end, and round His pierced feet fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
V. 4 Crown Him the Lord of love! Behold His hands and side, those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified: all hail, Redeemer, hail! for Thou hast died for me! Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Gospel Reading: John 20:11-17
HYMN #196: “Alleluia No. 1”
Chorus: Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord. Alleluia, alleluia! Give praise to His name.
V.1: Jesus is Lord of all the earth. He is the King of creation.
Chorus: Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord. Alleluia, alleluia! Give praise to His name.
V. 2: Spread the good news o’er all the earth; Jesus has died and has risen.
Chorus: Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord. Alleluia, alleluia! Give praise to His name.
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
We know many of you are longing for deeper connections and spiritual sustenance during this season of isolation. In order to help you find the right places to connect, we have created an online interest form. Whether you regularly attend TBC, or have found us online more recently, we would love for you to join us for some of these opportunities!
Our Community Ministry is currently open for no-contact emergency food pickup each Saturday morning. Volunteers are packing bags on Fridays, and there are also opportunities to help from home! Sign up if you’d like to help, and email April Kennedy with any questions.
