Little Falls United Methodist Church

 

Sunday Worship Service

 

November 16, 2025 - 10 am

 

 

 

139 Main Street, Little Falls, NJ 07424

Office Phone: (973) 256-0993

Website: www.LittleFallsUMC.org

Email: Info@LittleFallsUMC.org

 

We are “A Welcoming Community of Faith, Hope,

Mission and Outreach Sharing Christ’s Love”

Our Mission is “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World”

 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)

 

 

Called to Praise

 

⭻Prepare your heart and body for Worship

 

Greeting & Announcements
 

• We have ‘In-Person’ & ‘Online Worship’ on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 10am.

 

• You can join our Online Worship via YouTube or Facebook. Type “Little Falls United Methodist Church” in the search window on YouTube or Facebook. Please use the link below to join in Online Worship. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lfumc

 

• The New Worship Series: “Counterculture” – a Stewardship and Generosity Series

  • Nov. 16 – Authentic Loving, Authentic Giving (Matthew 22:15-22, 34-40)

 

• We will celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday on Sunday, November 23, 2025. Join Sunday Worship and let us give thanks to our God who gives us every blessings!

 

• Prayer Concerns & Joys – If you would like to share your concerns and joys with the congregation, please email Pastor Jin (jkim@littlefallsumc.org) or complete the online form, www.littlefallsumc.org/prayer.

 

• Altar Flowers – Thank you, Ken Griffin, for providing the Altar Flowers! If you would like to offer the altar flowers, please contact Janet (973) 896-8936 or ladyteddy@aol.com. 

 

• Fellowship Time after Worship – Thank you, Young Adults and Families for hosting the Coffee Hour! Let us enjoy a good fellowship time every Sunday after Worship. Please help us with hosting the coffee hour. The Sign-up board is on the table in the Narthex. Please contact Cheryle or Kathy F. if you have any questions about the coffee hour.

 

• Stewardship Campaign for the year 2026 – We are now having the Stewardship Campaign for our church ministry for the year 2026. Our offerings and tithes are an expression of our faith as we put our first priority in God’s ministry in our lives. Our offering and tithes are a form of self-denial, a form of worship, a means of serving, a way of recognizing that all of life is a gift, an attempt to give back, an expression of love and gratitude, and a means of following Jesus. Please participate in this campaign with your generous, faithful hearts. We will dedicate our pledge cards on Sunday, November 23. God Bless you as you fill out the pledge card and mail it back, drop it off at the church, put it in the offering plate, or add it to the Pledge Box on the Narthex. 

 

• Treasured Memories –The next meeting will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. “Treasured Memories” is a grief group for those who have lost their loved ones. The ongoing meeting gathers every 2nd Wednesday of the month in Lee Lounge at 7 pm. Contact Allison for details (973) 800-4152.

 

• Walk by Faith – Thank those who joined Walk by Faith Yesterday! The next schedule will be announced. Let us share the Good News with others and invite them to the church for a faith journey.

 

• The Annual Holiday Fair - Join us Saturday, November 22 from 10 am - 3 pm. There are so many booths to shop, including outside vendors. You can find a little something for everyone on your Christmas List. Featuring Jewelry, Christmas Decorations, Baked Goods, Children's items, Gifts and much more. And when you are done shopping, enjoy the delicious Lunch that will also be available.  Don't forget to pick up your lawn sign to promote this great Fundraising Event! Please see Dee Dee 973-768-8577  for more information.

 

• 2025-2026 Kids & Youths for Christ - ‘Kids & Youths For Christ’ is a fun Thursday night program for children (K-12th). We will have Christian education and fun activities such as games, crafts, cooking, biking, movies, mini sports, service projects, etc. The program will be held every first and third Thursday from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. The first day is September 18, 2025, and the last day will be June 4, 2026. This program is free of charge and open to all students. Everyone is welcome. Sign up now at the church website and spread the word to your neighbors!

 

• Online Donation – Online donation is available now. Please visit the church website and click ‘Donation.’ The link is https://www.littlefallsumc.org/donation.  Your financial support and generosity are greatly appreciated and essential for our church ministry and mission. Please consider sending your tithes and offerings to Little Falls UMC (139 Main St. Little Falls, NJ 07424). You can send your offerings and tithes to the church every week. Or you can send offerings and tithes for a month with a check. Thanks again for your generosity!

 

• Shoprite Gift Card – To purchase a Shoprite gift card, contact Pete (973) 595-5765 or detroit50@aol.com.

 

• LFUMC FOOD PANTRY ITEMS NEEDED - Many families depend on the Food Pantry on a regular basis. The Pantry needs the following non-perishable items; canned vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, adult/children’s cereal, pasta & sauce, instant potatoes/rice, tuna, chicken, sardines, fruit, apple sauce, juice, and granola bars.

 

• SOCKS FOR SOULS - Do your feet get cold? Please help Unity Circle to provide new or gently used socks to the homeless. There is a constant need. Please drop off your socks in the large white sock in the Narthex. 

 

• Ongoing Collection - UMW collects postmarked stamp and can pull tabs. Items are donated to different charities and organizations.

 

• 2025 Church Conference – We will the 2025 Church Conference at 3 pm on Sunday, November 23, 2025, via Zoom. We celebrate our ministries and think about the ministry the following year. Each committee will give us its reports. District Superintendent Rev. Williams will preside the conference. All are welcome to join the church conference. The Zoom link was emailed.

 

†Call to Worship

Leader: Come, people of God, created in God’s image and formed by God’s love.

People: We come to remember who we are and whose we are.

Leader: Let us live authentically — love with compassion, give with joy, and follow the way of Christ.

People: We come to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Leader: Bring your whole self — your gifts, your time, your worship, and your lives.

People: We come to offer ourselves to God, for we belong to God.

All: Let us worship God, who created us in love and calls us to live and give in love. AMEN.

 

†Praise Song          Come Now is The Time to Worship             Worship & Song 3176

 

[Chorus]  

Come now is the time to worship  

Come now is the time to give your heart  

Come just as you are to worship  

Come just as you are before your God  

Come  

  

1.  One day every tongue  

Will confess You are God  

One day every knee will bow  

Still the greatest treasure remains  

For those who gladly choose You now  

  

2. Willingly we choose to surrender our lives  

Willingly our knees will bow  

With all our heart soul mind and strength  

We gladly choose You now  

  

[Ending] 

Come come just as you are come come  

 

Children’s Time                           God Looks at the Heart                         Ken Griffin

 

Hymn of Prayer               What a Friends We Have in Jesus                          UMH 526

 

1. What a friend we have in Jesus, 
all our sins and griefs to bear! 
What a privilege to carry 
everything to God in prayer! 
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear, 
all because we do not carry 
everything to God in prayer. 

 

2. Have we trials and temptations? 
Is there trouble anywhere? 
We should never be discouraged; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 
Can we find a friend so faithful 
who will all our sorrows share? 
Jesus knows our every weakness; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 

 

3. Are we weak and heavy laden, 
cumbered with a load of care? 
Precious Savior, still our refuge; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? 
Take it to the Lord in prayer! 
In his arms he'll take and shield thee; 
thou wilt find a solace there.

 

Pausing for Silent Prayer and Confession

 

Prayers of the People (Response: God, in Your Mercy, hear our prayers.)

Loving God, We thank You for the joys You give us and for the ways You hold us in times of need. Be near to those who are sick, grieving, or searching for Your guidance. Strengthen our hearts and renew our spirits. Help us live as Your children — created in Your image, called to love, and invited to give generously from what You have given us. Make us more like Christ in all we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

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.

 

Called to the Word

Prayer for Illumination   

 

Leader: Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. 

All: Amen

 

OT Lesson                                                   Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humans in his image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.

 

This ends the OT Lesson. 
Let us turn to the Gospel Lesson. Please stand, if able.

 

†Gospel Lesson                                        Matthew 22:15-22, 34-40

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” 21 They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

 

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

 

This is the word of God for the people of God. 

All: Thanks be to God.

 

Message                   Authentic Loving, Authentic Giving                      Rev. Jin Kook Kim

 

Good morning, Church Family! I hope you had a blessed week in God’s love and grace last week. We have had the stewardship Worship series, Counterculture the last three weeks, and today is the last day, and we will conclude the worship series with the last theme, Authentic Loving, Authentic Giving.

 

Have you watched the animated movie titled, “K-Pop Demon Hunters”?  Or have you heard of it? You would see many girls wearing the costume of it on Halloween day. It is a story of a Korean-pop girl group. I watched an interview of EJae, who wrote several songs on the soundtrack of the movie and recorded the singing voice of the main character. In the interview, I heard a very interesting story from her that she hesitated to accept the offer to record the singing voice of the main character because she thought her voice was ugly to take the offer. And her thought came from her experience as she was a trainee at an agency for 12 years since she was 11 years old. Her natural singing voice was low and deep. And the voice that the agency wanted was soft and high as it is a girl’s group. She tried to sing songs changing her voice as much as soft and high although the identity of her voice was not. It was because the authority to debut whom was held by the agency. Rather than living her identity, she tried to sing with others’ voices because she thought the agency wanted that. Finally, she concluded her trainee time, not making a debut although she worked hard for 12 years to be a singer. And this was why she thought her voice was not good to record the singing voice of the main character. However, since the movie was released, the song she sang has been loved by a lot of people and it took the first place in Billboard for multiple weeks.

 

We usually say “Be yourself” to people who are facing a big interview or performance. Rather than being other people to be accepted or elected due to the expectations and standards of the world, we encourage them to live their identity. Church family, the words, “Be yourself” is not only for others but also for us. Let us live out our identity and let us be ourselves. As we read the scripture reading from Genesis, we are created by God in God’s image. We are God’s creatures, and this is our identity. Living our identity is to live our lives, claiming that we are God’s because we are God’s creatures. Living our identity is to live out our lives claiming we are God’s stewards for everything that we have, because everything comes from God. God is the creator of all the universe and everything in it. People in the world claim that they are theirs. They have the ownership of themselves and what they have so they use all that that they have for themselves and as they wish. However, our identity is not what people in the world say. If we follow them and live like them, we live others’ identity, a distorted identity, rather than our identity. Church family, let us live out our identity as God’s creatures claiming we are God’s and all our possessions are God’s. Let’s be ourselves as God’s creatures.

 

Live out our identity is to live God’s image and characteristics. As God created us in God’s image, we have God’s image and character, and that is our identity. One of God’s most defining characteristics is love, as we know well. We saw in the Bible how God loved people through the story of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and all people. We experienced God’s love through Jesus Christ, his sacrificial love. We were sinners, yet Jesus died for us, and God forgave us and made us a new creation. Not only through justification but also God’s love in our daily life, God shows us God’s love for us and proves God’s love for us. God loves us with God’s whole being. And we have love, the characteristic of God, along with other characteristics of God. In today’s scripture reading, the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbors as yourself.” This is Jesus’ calling for us to love God and neighbors. Also, this is Jesus’ calling for us to live out our identity, that is, love. Jesus’ words are like, “You have love in you already, so live out love. Love God and love your neighbors.” Church family, let us live out love. Let us love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and our neighbors as ourselves.

 

When we love someone, we love the one with our whole being and all that we have, as God loves us with God’s whole being and all God has.         Yes, we have love, God’s love that is our identity. One of my identities is the father of three children. I love them. The love for my children springs up from my heart naturally. Because I love them, I give myself to them. I give them whatever I have, such as my time, energy, care, protection, etc. I give them food, meals, and snacks and give them clothes every season. I give them a ride to school and other places. I give them my time to support them when they have games or celebrations. With love, I pay all costs that they need for them. All my giving to them comes from my love for them, and I am very happy and joyful for giving them what they need. I authentically love them, so I authentically give them what I have.

 

With the reflection, our authentic love for God and our neighbors should be expressed through our authentic giving to God and our neighbors. In fact, we are doing that. We express our love for God and our neighbors through our lives, giving ourselves out. We love God, so we come to God through worship, giving ourselves, our time, and presence. We love God, so we do God’s ministry, giving our strengths and skills. We love God, so we give God our whole beings for God’s ministry for God’s kingdom. We love our neighbors, so we give ourselves to them through our ministries, Food Pantry ministry, Walk by Faith, Thanksgiving Baskets, Shoeboxes as Christmas gifts for children, and countless ministries for the people in need. This ministry is a direct, authentic expression of the love of Christ that flows through this church. By doing this, we live out our identity and express our love to God and our neighbors. Let us keep working on it faithfully so that we keep living out our identity and loving God and our neighbors.

 

We love God so we authentically give God our finances. We have the stewardship campaign every year. It is not only because we want to see the budget for the next year but also to encourage and remind ourselves to live out our identity.  Offering and tithing is our faith that we are God’s creatures and we are God’s. Everything we have comes from God and everything we have God’s. So, we give not leftovers but the first fruits. So, we give God our finances as our gratitude with love for God. Our stewardship campaign is about the holy investment to God’s ministry which changes one’s life and transforms the world into the kingdom of God. By participating in it, we live out our identity, loving God and our neighbors and giving our whole being to God and our neighbors. Our offerings and tithes are our authentic giving from our authentic love.

 

Church family, I would like to encourage you to participate in the stewardship campaign for 2026 Church ministry. I am calling you to join in this holy investment to God’s ministry to change one’s life and transform the world into the kingdom of God. Our pledge are our authentic giving for our authentic love for God and our neighbors.  If you have not submitted the pledge card yet, please complete it and submit it. Before you complete it, I would like to ask you to pray first. What amount would be the best for us to express our love for God?  How much do we love God and our neighbors, so how much do we want to give God and our neighbors through our offerings and tithes? I usually encourage people to do tithing as a good spiritual discipline as we can see many bases of it in the Bible. If you are tithing and more than tithing, you are blessed and you are doing well so keep it up! However, do not feel shame or guilty if you cannot do tithing now or in the near future because God knows your hearts and situations well. Every household’s resources are limited and how to use and where you put your priority is your decision. If you want to do tithing but cannot make it now or in the near future, try to plan to increase 1% or more each year. Then you will get there.

 

Church Family, let us live out our identity as God’s creatures and love, live out god’s image and character, especially the characteristic of love. Let us authentically love God and our neighbors and authentically give ourselves to God and our neighbors! Amen.

 

Called to Share

Response to Our Generous God 

 

 †Doxology                 Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow                   UMH 95

 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

 

†Prayer of Dedication

All: Gracious God, You have created us in Your image and blessed us with gifts far beyond what we deserve. Out of love for You and for our neighbors, we return these gifts to You. Use our offerings — our time, our talents, and our financial gifts — to build Your kingdom and to bless those You love. Shape our giving to be authentic, joyful, and faithful, just as Your love for us is. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

Called to the World

 

†Closing Hymn                             More Love To Thee, O Christ                         UMH 453

 

1. More love to thee, O Christ, 
more love to thee! 
Hear thou the prayer I make 
on bended knee. 
This is my earnest plea: 
More love, O Christ, to thee; 
more love to thee, 
more love to thee! 

 

2. Once earthly joy I craved, 
sought peace and rest; 
now thee alone I seek, 
give what is best. 
This all my prayer shall be: 
More love, O Christ, to thee; 
more love to thee, 
more love to thee! 

 

3. Let sorrow do its work, 
come grief and pain; 
sweet are thy messengers, 
sweet their refrain, 
when they can sing with me: 
More love, O Christ, to thee; 
more love to thee, 
more love to thee! 

 

4. Then shall my latest breath 
whisper thy praise; 
this be the parting cry 
my heart shall raise; 
this still its prayer shall be: 
More love, O Christ, to thee; 
more love to thee,
more love to thee!

 

†Benediction                                                                                                         Rev. Jin Kook Kim

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.  Amen.