Online Worship - Sunday, September 6, 2020
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
~ Romans 13:14
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This morning we are going to consider what it means to "Put on Jesus Christ." While what we are wearing on a day to day basis may have changed, the one thing we should be putting on everyday is Jesus Christ. Our scriptures are Romans 13:8-14 and Matthew 18:15-20.
This Sunday, we will also be participating in a Love Feast to close out our worship service. A Love Feast is a shared meal among the faithful that is taken in place of communion. Have crackers/bread and water ready, or bring your lunch. This will be a time for us to connect after worship, check-in, and to have a time of conversation about worship. Click here to join.
Please register your attendance here! You can also list prayer requests as well. To be added to the Prayer Chain click here.
See below for the Order of Worship.
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Sunday Worship
Sunday after Pentecost
September 6, 2020 - 11 AM
The Order of Service
Welcome to Trinity online.
As we prepare for a time of worship, we invite you to find an intentional space in your home for worship. We encourage you to light a candle or place something
that reminds you of Trinity or your connection with God nearby.
Preparation for Worship: Marchin’ On Up - R. Lowry/I. Watts arr. Mark Hayes
Carol Bowers, soprano; Paul Taylor, baritone
Marchin’ on up, marchin’ to the city of God, why don’t you come along? Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known; join in a song with sweet accord and thus surround the throne. We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we’re marching on upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God. Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God; but children of the heavenly King may speak their joys abroad. We’re marching…. The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the golden streets. Marchin’ on up…. We must let our songs abound ‘til ev’ry tear be dry; we're marching through Emmanuel’s ground to fairer worlds on high. We’re marching…
Welcome
As we light our candles in the sanctuary, I invite you to join us in lighting your own candle at home. As we place the cross in the holder, we invite you to place something that reminds you of Trinity or your connection with God in front of you.
Call to Worship:
Let us rejoice in the Lord, clothed in garments of salvation.
Let us clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us love one another, for love is the fulfilling of the law.
Let us clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us live honorably as in the day.
Let us clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hymn: All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord - Hymnal no. 554
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Prayer of Confession and Pardon:
Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Time for Silence and Prayer)
Hear the good news:
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;
that proves God's love toward us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Glory to God. Amen.
Passing of the Peace: We’d love to know you worshiped with us! Please register your attendance here. We also encourage you to comment during the service so we can be in community with you!
Children’s Time: Jill Robinson
We invite the children who are worshiping at home to pay extra special attention. Each week Hannah Day Donoghue will send out Worship Bulletin and Coloring Page for the children to do at home during this time.
Pastoral Prayer
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.
Duet: Steal Away to Heaven - Traditional Spirituals - arr. Mark Hayes
Carol Bowers, soprano; Paul Taylor, baritone
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. Glory hallelujah! Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down. Oh yes, Lord. Sometimes I’m almost to the ground. Oh, nobody knows the trouble…. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,…a long way from home. Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone,…way up in the heav’nly land,…where I’ll steal away to Jesus. Steal away home. I ain’t got long to stay here.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God.
15 “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon: Put on the Lord Jesus
Invitation to the Offering: We invite you to consider giving on-line or giving by text! To give on-line, click here. To give by text, text “GIVE” to 703-783-3034. For further information about online giving see below.
Offertory Prayer
All good gifts come from you, dear Lord,
and from these riches we bring this offering.
Help us to use it for the furtherance of your purpose in this place,
and for the benefit of those in need. Amen.
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Introduction and Prayer for Love Feast:
Postlude: Voluntary on Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now - J.G. Walther
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Music Notes
Today’s Prelude: “Marchin’ On Up” is a spirited arrangement by Mark Hayes of the Robert Lowry/Isaac Watts gospel favorite, “We’re Marching to Zion.” The text, based primarily on Hebrews 12:22 (with references also to Psalms 2:6, Psalms 149, and Revelation 14:1-5), celebrates the promise of God’s heavenly kingdom to His faithful servants who sing His praise. On this Labor Day weekend, we dedicate this performance to Stephen Blood, in grateful appreciation of the many years he has performed comparable duet arrangements of “old favorite” hymns during Labor Day weekends with Paul Taylor and their accompanist, Sharon Taylor, a much-loved annual Trinity tradition. (Notes on the music are based on program notes in the published edition of the arrangement.)
Today’s Duet: “Steal Away to Heaven,” like “Marchin’ On Up,” is an arrangement by Mark Hayes. In this arrangement, originally for soloist but adapted here for duet, Hayes combines three traditional spirituals: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” and “Steal Away.” The texts of these three spirituals trace a journey from the troubles of life to the promise of deliverance to a heavenly home with Jesus. “Mark Hayes is an award-winning concert pianist, composer and arranger of choral, piano and orchestral music. With over 500 published works to his credit, Mark has also recorded numerous solo piano albums and has received the Gospel Music Association's prestigious Dove Award, which is equivalent to a Grammy in gospel music.” (Quoted from the program notes to the published edition of “Marchin’ On Up.”)
Sunday Morning at Trinity Church
The flowers on the Altar are given to the glory of God.
The Rosebud on the Altar is given to the glory of God and in celebration of the birth of Olivia Jean Jensen, who was born to parents Nicole and Chris Jensen on September 1st.
Worship Online this Sunday: While we aren’t meeting in person, we will be worshiping online via livestream on Trinity’s Facebook page and through our website. Each Saturday evening, we will send out an email with links to the worship sites and the bulletin for worship that Sunday. This Sunday, we will invite you to be intentional about finding a space in your home to worship and to be truly present in a time of worship. For additional questions about how to worship online, please contact the Church Office.
Zoom Love Feast After Worship: After worship this morning, we invite you to join us for a Love Feast via Zoom. A Love Feast is a shared meal among the faithful that is taken in place of communion. Have crackers/bread and a drink ready, or bring your lunch! This will be a time for us to connect after worship, check-in, and to have a time of conversation about worship. Click here to join. For additional questions, contact Program Director Hannah.
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Trinity Church’s Weekly News
Outdoor Blessing of the Chromebooks & Ice cream Social (social distanced edition): Tonight at 5:30 PM, we invite you to join Pastor Grace and Hannah Day Donoghue for an end of the summer celebration. Anyone starting any kind of school is welcome to bring their Chromebook, or an item from their desk/school working space to be blessed for the new school year. We will pair this with individually wrapped ice cream, to take home with you! Click here to join us! For more information contact our Program Director, Hannah Day Donoghue.
Fall Sermon Series - Living in In-Between Times September 13, 2020 -- October 18, 2020: We are living in In-Between Times. Since the challenges of COVID-19 have become a reality, our old world no longer looks very familiar. We have faced changes to almost every aspect of our lives--school, work, home, church, and community.
While we know and hope this reality won’t be forever and we trust that we will arrive at a better future, in the meanwhile, we find ourselves in an “In-Between time.” An In-Between time a is a time of wilderness, of expectant waiting, but also a time when life continues. How do we live in this In-Between time? How do we hold onto hope in an unfamiliar place? How do we look forward to the future without fear and anxiety, knowing there are so many uncertainties? Through this 6 week sermon series, we will follow the story of the Israelites in Exodus and Joshua, as they lived in an In-Between time after the Israelites left Egypt but before entering into the Promised land. While they didn’t always get it right, God never gave up on them, and God doesn’t give up on us.
- 9/13 - Living by Promise, not by Prediction
- 9/20 - Remember Who you Are & Whose You Are
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9/27 - Building for Something Beautiful
- 10/4 - Living in the Disruption
- 10/11 - Facing the Future with Faith
- 10/18 - Learning Resilience
United Methodist Women Meeting: This Tuesday, September 8th, we invite you to join us for our first UMW meeting of the fall at 7:00 PM via Zoom. We will be catching up with each other and share our summer stories. We are continuing to support the Alexandria Domestic Violence Shelter. They are still requesting grocery store gift cards instead of specific items. Please purchase dollar amounts of $25 or less to one of the local grocery stores: Harris Teeter, Safeway, Giant and Aldi. Mail the gift cards to their office: Alexandria Domestic Violence Shelter, 123 N. Pitt Street #225, Alexandria, VA 22314. For Meeting ID and Password contact, Alva Smircina.
Join us for Outdoor Prayer and Communion Services! This Wednesday, we continue to gather at 7 PM for our Outdoor Prayer and Communion Services. We will meet in our Courtyard (the grassy area between the Parsonage and the Church). You are invited to bring your lawn chairs to sit comfortably, or feel free to stand! All participants will need to fill out a Health Acknowledgement form, wear a mask, and practice appropriate social distancing. We are limiting registration to 30 participants each Wednesday. You can sign up here! For questions contact, Jenessa in the Church Office.
Virginia Annual Conference - September 19th: The Virginia Annual Conference will be held virtually on Saturday, September 19th from 9-12 PM. Annual Conference is a yearly meeting of all the United Methodist Churches, Clergy, and Lay Delegates. This year’s theme is “See All the People.” In addition to your Clergy Representatives, Trinity’s Lay Delegate to Annual Conference is Tom Tyler. Guests of the conference can view the proceedings live here. For more information contact Pastor Grace.
Blessing of the Animals, Saturday, September 26th at 9 AM in the Courtyard on Cameron Mills Road side of the church: ALL Creatures Great and Small are to be individually blessed by Pastor Grace. Each pet receives a certificate with its name on it, signed by Pastor Grace. Bring a picture of pets unable to attend. Dog treats and water are provided. Masks and 6 ft distancing required. No retractable leashes, please. If you have questions, please contact Lucelle O’Flaherty at 703-408-4008.
Charge Conference - September 27th at 1 PM: You are invited to participate in Trinity’s Charge Conference on Sunday, September 27th at 1 PM via ZOOM. Charge
Conference is the basic governing body of each local United Methodist Church and is composed of all members of the Church Council. The Charge Conference directs the work of the Church and gives general oversight to the Church Council, reviews and evaluates the mission and ministry of the Church, sets the salary for the Pastor, elects the members of the Church Council, and recommends candidates for Ordained Ministry. Our District Superintendent Rev. Jeff Mickle will lead us in a time of holy conferencing, worship and reports. For more information contact the Church Office.
All are welcome to join!
Please help Trinity support Alexandria City Public School’s 2020 virtual backpack drive. This year’s drive focuses on providing students and teachers with the tools they need to be successful in a virtual learning environment. Funds will be used to provide school supplies and internet access to students in need as well as to help teachers obtain tools that will bring their virtual classrooms to life. To donate, go to Trinity’s Online Giving Portal, select Missions fund and write in “school supply drive” in the comments section. We will be collected donations through the end of September. For questions please contact Jennifer Deibert.
Sign up for Text Alerts from Trinity! We are working on improving our communications! One way we’d like to connect with you is to be able to send you texts alerts with updates about the church. Especially in a season of time sensitive changes, we want to be able to communicate with you quickly and easily. To receive text messages, sign up here!
Join the Trinity Prayer Chain: During times of trial and uncertainty, we pray to grow in our faith and encourage one another. To respond to our growing prayer needs, we will be starting an email prayer chain to share our prayer concerns with one another. We will share joys as well as concerns and needs. If you are interested in being part of this prayer chain or have a prayer request, please email us here.
Drive-through Food Drive for Rising Hope Mission Church: As more and more people are out of work, the demand on food pantries has increased exponentially.
Rising Hope Mission Church, one of our ministry partners, is looking for non-perishable food items (canned meats, pasta, canned tomato products, cereal, coffee, peanut butter, jelly) as well as personal hygiene items (toothpaste, deodorant). Saturdays from 10 AM-Noon, we are hosting a drive through drop off food drive. Just come by the church parking lot (off Cameron Mills). For the sake of safety for all involved, we ask you to stay in your car, so we can have people drop off food one at a time. For additional questions contact Mary Gillman. For future food drive dates, please see here.
Centering Prayer meets weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, via Zoom. Centering Prayer is a 20 minute practice to sit in quiet prayer to make ourselves open to God. A reading is shared by the leader with a short discussion prior to the prayer time. Click here to connect. For more information contact, Alva Smircina.
Inova Blood Drive: Want to do something to help people during the COVID crisis?
Missing the Trinity Semi-Annual Blood Drive? We are all in this together! Every day over 200 blood donors are needed to give patients a chance to heal. Help fight area blood shortages by donating at one of Inova’s three donor centers or contact Inova to set up an event with your local neighborhood association. Visit www.inovablood.org or call 1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256- 6372) to schedule an appointment or for more
information. To learn more about COVID-19 precautions Inova is taking click here. For more information contact Carol Bowers at cw_bowers@outlook.com. And please Save the Date – Saturday, November 14 from 8 am – Noon for Trinity’s next semi-annual Blood Drive. (This Blood Drive will only occur if the church has re-opened by that date.)
Join us for “Family Fun Food Trucks” Wednesdays from 4-7 PM. In partnership with the North Ridge Civic Association, join us Wednesdays in August, September and October for Family Fun Food Trucks in our blacktop parking lot! Stay tuned to North Ridge’s Facebook page for which trucks will be available on which days. This is a way for us to support local restaurants as well as raise donations for “Meals for Alexandria Heroes” (to provide meals for first responders, medical professionals and others). We will practice safe social distancing as regulated by the county! Come, eat, support local businesses and be in fellowship (from afar) with one another!
The Lazarus Food Pantry is looking for delivery volunteers. In partnership with Trinity, Fairlington UMC, and ALIVE! the Christ Church Lazarus Ministry has been delivering groceries, Monday through Saturday to Alexandria families in need. Volunteers pick up pre-packed bags of groceries at Trinity and then deliver to around 3 families each time. The date and time of deliveries is flexible. Clients are asked to meet the volunteer outside for a contact-free hand off. For more information, contact Liz Denson.
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Tithes and offerings may be sent to Trinity via normal mail (checks only) or via the online donation portal here. You may make online donations directly from your checking account with no check required to be mailed. This will help us immensely as our office will have limited hours to receive and process the checks. However, you may still give by mailing a check - whatever donation you want to provide will be very welcome. We also have the capability to give by text. Just send a text that says “Give” to: 703-783-3034.
If you want more information on giving by texting works read on:
Step 1. Text the word “Give” - to 703-783-3034. Don’t worry - nothing will be charged to you until you enter your credit card or bank information.
Step 2. You will receive a text back to you saying, “It looks like you are a new giver ; to begin (a link to the text giving site will appear), click on it.
Step 3: A form will appear that will clearly say “Trinity United Methodist Church” at the top left. It will ask you to fill in the following information:
- Amount you want to give and the fund you want to give to. If you want to give a general offering, you don’t need to write anything! If you want to give to a specific fund, you can use the following funds: Lent; Flowers; Music; Pastor's Helping Fund
- How you want to give - credit card or direct deposit from your bank (called ACH bank transfer)
- If you select credit card, it will ask for your name, address, email address and credit card information.
- If you select ACH - it will ask for you name, address, email address and bank routing and bank account information
- At the bottom you can select one time gift or a recurring period. Suggest you select one time gift for the first time.
- That is it. Then click on Donate Now!
If you made a mistake or change your mind - no worries just send the word “refund” to the same number the last amount you sent them will be refunded to you!
Also you can send the word “commands” that will give you a list of options on how to change your account or update your giving amounts.
If all else fails - please contact Rich McKinney. Thank you again for your giving - no matter how you give!
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