Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 13, 2022
For a lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us everyday.
Evelyn Underhill
You are invited to participate during worship by speaking aloud the bolded text.
Please stand as you are able whenever an asterisk (*) precedes a heading.
Service Order
Welcome
Isaiah Fish
If this is your first time joining us, welcome to Park Avenue! Please fill out a visitor card so we know that you joined us today at paumcnyc.org/visitor.
*Christ’s Peace
The peace of the Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Please remain in your pew and greet one another with non-physical signs of peace.
*Gathering Hymn
United Methodist Hymnal #334
Sweet, Sweet Spirit
There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place,
and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord;
There are sweet expressions on each face,
and I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
Sweet, Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly Dove,
stay right here with us, filling us with your love;
And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise
without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived
when we shall leave this place.
Words & Music: Doris Akers, 1962; Tune: Sweet, Sweet Spirit; © 1962 Manna Music, Inc., from The United Methodist Hymnal, © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House; CCLI License #11377965; Streaming License #20189579
*Call to Worship
We gather in the name of the Lord our God, who created heaven and earth;
Who blesses the poor and satisfies the hungry; who comforts the weeping and embraces the excluded;
Who forgives our sin and heals our sickness; whose love and mercy are without end.
Let us bless the Lord our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Let us praise and give thanks to God now and forever!
*Opening Hymn
United Methodist Hymnal #733
Marching to Zion
and let our joys be known;
join in a song with sweet accord,
join in a song with sweet accord
and thus surround the throne,
and thus surround the throne.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Let those refuse to sing
who never knew our God;
but children of the heavenly King,
but children of the heavenly King
may speak their joys abroad,
may speak their joys abroad.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
The hill of Zion yields
a thousand sacred sweets
before we reach the heavenly fields,
before we reach the heavenly fields,
or walk the golden streets,
or walk the golden streets.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Then let our songs abound,
and every tear be dry;
we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,
we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,
to fairer worlds on high,
to fairer worlds on high.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Words: Isaac Watts, 1707; refrain by Robert Lowry, 1867; Music: Robert Lowry, 1867; Tune: Marching to Zion; from The United Methodist Hymnal, © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House; CCLI License #11377965; Streaming License #20189579
The Gospel Lesson
Hill Krishnan
Jeremiah 17:5-10 from The New Revised Standard Version
Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Sermon
The Reverend Thea Crites
The Reverend Thea Crites, M. Div., LMFT, began her journey in ordained ministry at Park Avenue United Methodist Church in the 1980s, when this congregation recommended her to the Board of Ordained Ministry. She is an ordained Deacon in the New York Annual Conference appointed to her practice of pastoral psychotherapy, Soul-care, in Manhattan, and has returned to PAUMC as a member. Thea received her M. Div from Union Seminary and Certificate in Pastoral Psychotherapy from Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute.
Musical Reflection
Prayers of the People
Lord, in your mercy; Hear our prayer.
If you have a prayer request that you wish to share with the church, you may submit one online at paumcnyc.org/prayer or by texting your name and request to (914) 627-9286. If you wish to have your request mentioned during Prayers of the People, please send it by 10:00am on Sunday.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be 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.
Solo
Benediction
Choral Benediction
“God Be With You” by Derrick Byars
Acknowledgements
All scripture quotations used during service and listed in this bulletin are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Call to Worship and Confession & Pardon reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion, copyright © 2015. Portions of The Great Thanksgiving adapted from The United Methodist Book of Worship, © 1992 The United Methodist Publishing House, and The Book of Common Prayer, © 1979 Seabury Press. Used by permission. All music and hymns from The United Methodist Hymnal, copyright © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House and The Faith We Sing, © 2001 Abingdon Press. Reprinted by permission. CCLI License #11377965; Streaming License #20189579