February 4 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+Mission u Virtual Winter Adult Study (for men and women) will meet on February 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. (MST). This study will offer spiritual tools and actions we can take to calm anxieties and employ our faith to serve as peacemakers in anxious times. It will be led by Rev. Su DeBree. Find the registration link in News You Can Use. The Mountain Sky Conference United Women in Faith did not change its district name, so please register that you are in the Peaks Pikes Peak District. Questions? Contact Belinda Alkula (Belinda.Alkula@gmail.com / 303-916-2349.) Online Registration.

+Breakfast Fellowship will meet on Saturday, February 10, at 8:00 a.m. at Le Peep (2525 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, next to McGuckin’s hardware). No reservations necessary. All are welcome!

+Sew What will meet on Friday, February 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Blue Room at church. Please R.S.V.P. by February 13 to Michele Matthews via text, email, or phone call (mlmatt@comcast.net / 303-817-2541).

+A list of area United Methodist churches offering Ash Wednesday services will be posted on this blog on Tuesday, February 13.

+You are invited to join the Mountain View UMC women for a soup, salad, cookies lunch, followed by a period-kit packing ‘party’ on behalf of the CU Wesley Foundation on Sunday, February 25, Starting at 11:15 a.m., 355 Ponca Place in Boulder in Barker Hall (downstairs fellowship hall). 

Please shop and donate:

• 2-gallon Ziploc bags

• Sandwich-size Ziploc bags

• Sanitary pads (regular and overnight)

• Tampons (regular)

• Baby wipes

• Women’s underwear (sizes 5-10)

 

Questions? Or to RSVP -- Please contact: Cheryl Runyon at 303-494-0434 or cheryl.runyon@comcast.net

February 4 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

Flowers from Sandra Jordan

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

(Link to today's worship service recording)

Today’s Meditation Verse: “Let’s head ... to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” —Mark 1:38 (CEB)

Welcome...Pastor Charles

Prelude...Hyeji Park / “Come into His Presence” by Lynn Baird

*Call to Worship (Psalm 147:1, 20c, CEB)...Bob Muckle

Praise the Lord! Because it is good to sing praise to our God. Because it is a pleasure to make beautiful praise! Praise the Lord!

*Hymn...“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (UMH #139)

Bread and Justice (UMH #639)...Bob Muckle -- To be read responsively:

O God, just as the disciples heard Christ’s words of promise and began to eat the bread and drink the wine in the suffering of a long remembrance and in the joy of a hope, grant that we may hear Your words, spoken in each thing of everyday affairs:   Coffee, on our table in the morning; the simple gesture of opening a door to go out, free; the shouts of children in the parks; a familiar song, sung by an unfamiliar face; a friendly tree that has not yet been cut down. May the simple things speak to us of Your mercy and tell us that life can be good.

And may these sacramental gifts make us remember those who do not receive them: Who have their lives cut every day, in the bread absent from the table; in the door of the hospital, the prison, the welfare home that does not open; in sad children, feet without shoes, eyes without hope; in war hymns that glorify death; in deserts where once there was life. 

Christ was also sacrificed; and may we learn that we participate in the saving sacrifice of Christ when we participate in the suffering of His little ones. Amen.

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations                   Pastoral Prayer...Pastor Charles

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23...Bob Muckle

Choral Anthem...“We Gather at Your Table, Lord” by Walter Ehret

Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 40:21-31...Pastor Charles

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Sermon...Pastor Charles / “What’s the point?”

Communion / The Lord’s Prayer (UMH pg. 13)

*Hymn...“We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations” (UMH #569)

*Words for the Journey...Pastor Charles

Postlude...Hyeji Park / “Majesty” by Jacki W. Hayford

Worship with us tomorrow!

Pastor Charles will be at the church at the regular time for worship at 10:15 AM for those able to make it to the church safely. The Zoom link will be available for those unable to come in person here. Preview Sunday's bulletin here.

We will celebrate communion. If you are participating at home, please provide yourself with bread or crackers (any type) and juice (any kind).  

Tell U.S. Congress to Support a Path to Citizenship for All Undocumented Immigrants

Each day 11 million undocumented immigrants contribute to our society in myriad ways, particularly Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders, and those working essential jobs in agriculture, health care, service industries, and many other frontline duties. Immigrants participate and sacrifice in our congregations and community as faith leaders, family, friends, and neighbors.

And yet, every day undocumented people live with uncertainty of the future and fear of being stripped away from family, home, and community.

Read more at this link.

A Prayer for Groundhog Day

God of all creatures,

​today we praise You for groundhogs,

unassuming rodents who carry

the tradition and mystery

of forecasting spring.

From their elaborate burrows they rise,

half dead: groggy from hibernation,

hungry, alone, stressed;

awakened by an inner clock

synchronized with the

rhythms of the seasons

that tells them it is time

to explore and prepare

for the next generation.

We pray for all creatures who

count the days until the weather

changes, until winter

loosens its grip, until

they can reconnect with others.

We pray for all who are tired,

who are hungry or dissatisfied,

who are lonely or isolated.

In this time between solstice

and equinox reassure us that

sooner or later spring will come.

Grant us patience to see the gifts

of this particular time, and to

savour the stillness.

In our exhaustion release us from stress

so that we might find rest.

In moments of hunger or dissatisfaction

remind us that there is enough.

In our isolation

be a comforting presence.

We pray that whether the sun shines

or the sky is grey, we will count

each day as a gift with

moments of wonder.

Let hope rise up in us, as we

align our bodies and spirits

to your greater purposes

beyond what we see this day.

Amen.

​- Rev. Wendy Janzen,

Burning Bush Forest Church

https://www.burningbushforestchurch.ca

Festive fellowship!

Eleven ladies came out today for the February gathering of The Ladies Lunch Bunch at Santa Fe Mexican Grille in Louisville. It is always a great time of food, fun, and fellowship as we gather to break bread together as a church family.

Our next gathering will be on March 7 at the Murphy's Tap House in Louisville.

United Women in Faith Unit’s Lunch and Period-Kit Packing for Wesley Foundation

You are invited to join the United Women in Faith at Mountain View UMC for a soup, salad, cookies lunch, followed by a period-kit packing ‘party’ on behalf of the CU Wesley Foundation. 

Mountain View United Methodist Church -- Sunday, February 25, starting at 11:15 a.m. @ Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place in Boulder in Barker Hall (downstairs fellowship hall). 

Please shop and donate:

• 2-gallon Ziploc bags

• Sandwich-size Ziploc bags

• Sanitary pads (regular and overnight)

• Tampons (regular)

• Baby wipes

• Women’s underwear (sizes 5-10)

Questions? Or to RSVP -- Please contact: Cheryl Runyon at 303-494-04 or  cheryl.runyon@comcast.net