Called to Praise

 

⭻Prepare your heart and body for Worship

 

Greeting & Announcements
 

• We have ‘In-Person’ & ‘Online Worship’ on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 10 am.
   

• 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: www.youtube.com/@lfumc

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• You can join the Online Worship by your phone. Call (646)-876-9923 and enter the Meeting ID, 917 9067 6301, and Passcode 139139.
   

• 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 – If you would like to offer the altar flowers, please contact Janet (973) 896-8936 or ladyteddy@aol.com. 
   

• Fellowship Time after Worship – 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.
   

• Coffee and Bible – We will have Bible Study every Thursday, March 30 to June 8, at 1 pm, at Lee Lounge. We will read the Book of Revelation in the New Testament in the Bible and have a conversation while having coffee. Jung Ae will lead the study.  Sign up online or contact Jung Ae (cclim92@gmail.com). Please join us!
   

• Treasured Memories – “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. 
   

• Kids For Christ - KFC is a Fun Thursday night program for Children (K-6th) that is held on the first and third Thursdays from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. This program is open to all children. The last meeting of the season 2022-2023 will be held on June 1. 

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• Young Adults and family group meeting – Sunday, June 4, after Coffee Hour.
   

• The Post Confirmation Class – Sunday, June 11, 5 pm, Lee Lounge. 

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• Church Council - A Church Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 30 at 7pm in Lee Lounge.

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• Church Forum – Thanks for joining the church forum! Church forum is a place where we share our ideas and thoughts for the church ministry to achieve our mission as a church community. Please join us at the next meeting!

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• Online Donation – Online donation is available now. Please visit the church website and click ‘Donation.’ The link is 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.
   

• Kohl’s Gift Card – To purchase a Kohl’s gift card, contact Allison (973) 800-4152.
   

• 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 stamps, can pull tabs, and the front of greeting cards (No Hallmark). Items are donated to different charities and organizations.

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⭻Call to Worship

 

Leader: Sometimes our hearts are shut up like the doors that imprisoned the disciples.
All: Come, Holy Spirit, with your mighty wind of justice, blow open these doors and release us!
Leader: Darkness floods our souls and we wonder if we will ever see the light again.
All: Come, Holy Spirit, let the flames of fire touch our hearts and our spirits and burn away our fears and frustrations.
Leader: We sit, huddled in our own worlds of alienation. When will we ever feel the power of your love again, O God?

All: Come, Holy Spirit, fill our lives with your love and free us to reach out to others with the good news of your eternal presence. AMEN.

 

⭻Praise Song                                  Holy Spirit                          Bryan & Kate Torwalt

 

There's nothing worth more
That will ever come close
Nothing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence

I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of love
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord

There's nothing worth more
That will ever come close
Nothing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord

I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of love
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord
Your presence

 

Children’s Time                 God Watches over Elijah                   1 Kings 16:29-17:7

 

After Solomon, many other kings ruled over Israel. One king was named Ahab. He did not love God. King Ahab Worshiped idols. God had a prophet named Elijah. God gave Elijah special messages to tell the people. Elijah told King Ahab, “God is angry with you because you do not serve him.” Then Elijah told the king, “It will not rain for a very long time. The crops will dry up, and your people will go hungry.” King Ahab was very angry with Elijah. God told Elijah to escape to the desert. He led Elijah to a brook. Each day, Elijah drank from it and each day, God sent birds with food. Elijah stayed there until the brook dried up. 

 

⭻Hymn of Prayer             Spirit of the Living God                                    UMH 393

 

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

 

Pausing for Silent Prayer and Confession

 

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

 

The bars of our prisons melt at the power of the Holy Spirit, O God. We praise and thank you for the fulfillment of the promise made by your Son Jesus that we would have a counselor, a guide. We thought we could feel no greater joy than we felt on Easter Day when the good news of Jesus’ resurrection greeted our ears! But this surpasses all that. You have come to us in our imprisonment and freed us. You have given to us a voice of power and hope to proclaim the good news! You have poured into our lives the Holy Spirit to be with us always! These things are so amazing to us. Thank you. We ask that you be with our dear ones who face illness, who mourn, who feel lost and alone, who hurt in so many ways. Help us to reach out to them with loving kindness, in the name of the Holy Spirit. Strengthen us for the times ahead. Give us courage to proclaim your love with our lives, for we ask this in Jesus’ Name. 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

 

NT Lesson                           Acts 2:1-13

 

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

 

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

 

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

 

Gospel Lesson                               John 7:37-39

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Rivers of Living Water

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37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

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

All: Thanks be to God.

 

Message                               Sacrifice                  Rev. Jin Kook Kim

 

Good morning, Church Family! I hope you had a blessed week in God’s love and grace last week. Last week, we considered helping people to know God is giving them Eternal life. Jesus defined eternal life in his prayer for his disciples. Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ who God sent. I see a possibility of growth of the church when I see the new residential building constructions. I encourage you to join the Steering Team for the possibility. Let us work together to help people know God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Let us work together to let people know God’s love and grace for them. Let us gather ideas for reaching out to the new residents, make plans, and carry them out together. I believe the new residential building constructions are a chance for us to give them eternal life in God and to grow as disciples and the body of Christ.

 

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. We celebrate Memorial Day every year to commemorate those who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. It is very important to remember them, and we should remember them because they sacrificed themselves to protect us and our nation. They protected not only people in the U.S. and people in the world until they died. Sacrifice is not a light word. It is a very heavy word. Is it easy to die for someone? No, not at all. However, many people gave out their lives for the U.S. and the world. How could they give out their lives for others? Of course, they would not join the armed forces to die but protect people in the nation. They would know that there was a possibility that they would get hurt or die in their service. I believe that they could sacrifice their lives because they wanted to protect their loved ones. Their love for others made them give out their lives. And their love for others made them courageous to give out their lives. 

 

Did you know that the Korean War is not yet finished? The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The Korean War has been paused till now for 70 years. Technically, the Korean War is not over yet. And all Korean men are required to join the Armed forces for a certain period and to have continuing training for years after the service period. When I joined the service, there was mental education along with basic training. The points of mental education were two. First, the war is not over although it has been suspended for decades. It was important for us to know that because war can be resumed anytime, we have to be ready. At that time, young people didn’t have anxiety regarding the war because it had been suspended for many years and we didn’t experience the war directly. Our parents and grandparents experienced the war. Second, our service is protecting our loved ones, our family, and friends. And people in the nation will be safe when we do the service. The educators kept saying, our family, friends, and people in the nation can have a normal life because of our service. Our service is protecting them and making sure of their safety. Protecting our loved ones was the motivation for us to carry out the service and sacrifice our time and energy, even our lives. 

 

Sacrifice was not an easy task for Jesus. As we know, he prayed to God to let him avoid the task if it was possible. Although he knew that it was God’s will and God’s way to save people in the world, the task was hard for him to carry out. Jesus wanted to follow God’s will, so he sacrificed himself on the cross for all people in the world. However, following God’s will was not the only reason or motivation for him to choose sacrifice. There was another reason and motivation. It was love for people. Jesus loved people so he chose to give out his life to us. Both Jesus’ intention to follow God’s will and Jesus’ love for people in the world were the motivation to sacrifice himself on the cross.

 

Church Family, are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for others? Is it easy or hard? For whom would we like to sacrifice ourselves? How much can we sacrifice ourselves for others? Can we give out our lives to others? We may sacrifice ourselves for our family and friends. How about our neighbors? How about people in our local community and the world?

 

Do we want to sacrifice ourselves for God and God’s will? God sacrificed Jesus for us to give us forgiveness, salvation, and a new life. God sacrificed all for us to love and care for us. Are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for God and God’s people?

 

Going out to the people and proclaiming the Gospel to them was a sacrifice for the congregation of the first church in the Bible because it was a big risk for them. They were with the resurrected Jesus for forty days and believed that Jesus was the son of God and the Messiah who God sent to them. However, many people in the local community regarded Jesus as a criminal who died on the cross along with other criminals. So it was very risky for them to say about Jesus as the savior in public and to urge people to repent their sins and believe Jesus as Savior. However, they took the risk and proclaimed the Gospel. 

 

Why did they take the risk? There could be many reasons. It was the order of Jesus. Jesus commanded them to be his witnesses. It was Jesus’ will, so they followed. Another reason was that they loved Jesus who died on the cross for them. Their love for Jesus made them willing to proclaim the Gospel to people in the local community, taking the risk. However, that was not all. They could be witnesses of Jesus because the Holy Spirit came upon them. Their attitude toward proclaiming the Gospel changed when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They became active to proclaim the Gospel after the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Holy Spirit gave them the courage to sacrifice themselves for Jesus’ will. 

 

Little Falls Church family, 

I know that you love God, and you love Jesus so much. I know that you have sacrificed yourself for God’s will and God’s ministry through the church ministry. You have given to God your energy, time, finance, spiritual gifts, and talents because you love God, and you want to follow God’s will. Little Falls UMC has continued its ministry for God’s glory and Kingdom because you have worked on it, sacrificing yourselves. All ministry that we carry out is for proclaiming God’s love and grace, the Good News, to others so that they know God’s love and grace. We proclaim God the Creator, Jesus the Savior, and the Holy Spirit the Sustainer, and Advocate through our Sunday worship and Bible Study. Our mission projects are ways to help them experience God’s love and grace. We are carrying out many ministries through each committee, team, circle, and small group. We are good at following God’s will and working on God’s ministry.

 

Church family, can we go further? Can we move a step forward beyond our current ministry? Let us reach out to the people in the local community to proclaim the Gospel. Can we work on that together? Reaching out to the people and saying to them about God’s love for them is a very important mission of the church and it is the mission of the church. Have you ever considered joining the steering team after I asked and encouraged you to join and help the team? What do we need to reach out to the people in our local community, especially the new residents? Do we need the courage to go out to reach out to them? Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Spirit is with us. As the Holy Spirit gave courage to the congregation of the first church in the Bible, the Holy Spirit will give us the courage to proclaim the Gospel to the people in our local community and in the world. The Holy Spirit will give us wisdom and inspiration for our outreach when we ask God for God’s help, guidance, and provision for the ministry. 

 

Church family,

Let us reach out to the people bringing the Gospel as we love God and God’s people who don’t know God’s love yet. Let us reach out to the people sharing God’s love for them, as we are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us reach out to the people taking a risk if we need, as we remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to make us courageous in proclaiming the Gospel. Amen.

Called to Share

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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: God of wind and flame: set us on fire this morning as we celebrate the explosion of your Holy Spirit coming into the world on the Day of Pentecost! Remind us that the gift you gave that day was not just the gift to speak in different tongues, but also the gift of hearing and comprehension. May your Holy Spirit keep us attuned to the voices all around us, to those who need us to be bearers of your love and compassion, and may these gifts we give help us, through your church, meet those needs. In the holy name of Jesus we pray. Amen. 

 

Called to the World

 

⭻Closing Hymn                 Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart                 UMH 500

 

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;

wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;

stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,

and make me love thee as I ought to love.

 

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,

no sudden rending of the veil of clay,

no angel visitant, no opening skies;

but take the dimness of my soul away.

 

Has thou not bid me love thee, God and King?

All, all thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.

I see thy cross; there teach my heart to cling.

O let me seek thee, and O let me find.

 

Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh;

teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.

To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,

teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

 

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,

one holy passion filling all my frame;

the kindling of the heaven-descended Dove,

my heart an altar, and thy love the flame.

 

⭻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.