Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 23, 2022 9:00 am
Welcome & Announcements Rae Nenninger
The Memory Verse
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
Hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty” (V. 1-3) # 64
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love and purity.
The Call to Worship
L: God's glory is pouring forth from the heavens.
P: Earth below receives the good news with great joy.
L: The promise is sure and true, that Jesus has come to show us
the best ways to serve God.
P: By serving and caring for others, we truly serve God.
L: Come, let us prepare ourselves for joyful service.
P: Lord, make us ready for great service in your name. AMEN.
Sharing of Joys, Prayers, and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer Rev. James Nenninger, Ret Elder
1st Scripture Psalm 19
1. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5. which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
7. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
14. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Congregational Prayer (In Unison)
Leading and Guiding God, you have opened the doors to us for true service. We are encouraged to become involved in ministries of peace and justice. The light of promise is reflected in your Spirit which rests in each one of us. Get us ready to serve you. Guide our lives, as we learn more of what you would have us do. AMEN.
2nd Scripture Genesis 12:1-3
1. The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Genesis 13:14-18
14. The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.
15. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.
16. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
17. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
18. So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD
.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Today’s Message Genesis Sermon Series (6) Rev. Sean Kang
“You Will Be a Blessing”
Hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (#400)
Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Offering Prayer
The Dismissal with Blessing
L: The promise has been given to us.
P: God says you will be a blessing.
L: Let us believe in this wonderful promise.
P: Go in peace.
AMEN.
“You Will Be a Blessing”
Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-18 / Jan 23 Genesis Series 6
Incredible Promise of God
In the Ashburn Korean church, there is a couple that has a five-year-old son. When the child was born, I received a call from the child’s father and rushed to the hospital. The couple had tried to have a child for 10 years, so they became pregnant through artificial insemination. As I headed to the hospital, I thought of that. ‘The birth of a life itself is a very precious thing, but how precious is a child born after 10 years of a difficult process for the couple?
When I entered the hospital room with such an emotional heart and prayed for the baby who was just born, I remember praying by quoting what God said to Abraham in today’s text. “Lord, bless those who bless this child, and whoever curses those who curse this child; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him. Let this child be a blessing!” I wanted to truly bless the baby, who was born precious.
But does it mean that another child is not precious? Is it only the baby who was born after 10 years of trying to have a child precious? I don't think so. We are all precious beings. We were all born with noble values when we were born in this world. Each of us was a miracle to our parents and family when we were born. No one is born by chance, and no one is worthless. And the ‘precious value of our existence’ we were born with is our true essence and our genuine identity.
If the promise of blessing God gave to Abraham in today’s text was only to one man, Abraham, then this word has no meaning for us. But this is a promise to everyone in the world. We call this a ‘promise,’ but it’s actually a ‘declaration,’ and God wants us to remember it. This is because when we live with the identity of being a blessing and valuable being, we can live our lives fully. So, God declares to us. You are the blessings!
Another important reason why we should have an identity of “we are blessed and precious” is that all the suffering and misery that human beings experience begins with forgetting this identity or not believing in our own preciousness. Psychological and mental problems such as depression, insomnia, panic disorder, anxiety attack, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction that many people experience today are deeply related to the ‘unstable self-awareness,’ in that they do not believe in their own worth. Why don't we believe that we are blessed and precious beings?
Obstacles to Believe the Promise
People live with goals in life. Some people work hard to make a lot of money, and others study hard to become scholars. Some go through a difficult training process to become a professional, and others leave their countries, their people, and their father’s household with a dream of great success. And people only see their worth when their dreams or goals in life are achieved.
But the problem arises when the plans we have set for our life goals run into obstacles or fail. The reason Abraham risked everything he had to leave his country, his people, and his father’s house to move to Canaan was because of his life's goal of living in the Promised Land. However, when he arrived in the land of Canaan, believing that it was the promised land, he found that it was not the promised land but the land of famine. Genesis 12:10 describes it very briefly
. “Now there was a famine in the land.”
Abraham must have felt great frustration. It is at this point that we do not believe in God’s promises and begin to doubt that we are blessed. We devalue ourselves and begin to feel anxious and depressed. In this uneasy state, we usually doubt God’s promise rather than trust it, and we try to find a way out on our own, relying on our own wisdom rather than God. It was such an act that Abraham went down to Egypt.
What happened in Egypt after all? To save his life, Abraham told the people that his wife was his sister. He was very timid and cowardly. He tried to forcibly build the Promised Land in Egypt, but he became even more miserable, and was even considered a cause for a terrible disaster, and was eventually expelled from it. He failed again. He would have blamed God. God’s promise of “you will be a blessing” became more and more difficult to believe, and the more he did it, the more his distrust of himself grew, and he must have become more and more depressed.
There was another obstacle that prevented him from believing in God’s promise. He had a difficult relationship with a person close to him. There is nothing that causes people difficulty, deprives them of their will for life, and lowers their self-esteem as much as a broken relationship. Broken relationships with one’s closest family members affect us more than broken relationships with neighbors, friends, or co-workers. We get hurt the most by broken relationships in our family. We feel our greatest unhappiness when we have problems in close relationships where we expect to be loved, to be respected, and to trust each other, and it is difficult to believe that we are blessed.
Lot, Abraham’s nephew, whom Abraham had been with since he left his hometown, was a precious family member to Abraham. But Lot was an extremely selfish person who cared about nothing but himself. To Abraham, he was a burden and a troublemaker. As his uncomfortable relationship with Lot continued, Abraham doubted and complained about why God had given him Lot. On the other hand, he must have felt guilty that he could not love his nephew properly as an uncle. He would have thought of himself as a ‘bad being’ rather than a ‘blessed being.’
Difficulties in human relationships are practical obstacles that keep us from believing in the promise that we are blessed. Through relationships with parents and siblings in childhood, relationships between couples, relationships with neighbors or co-workers, and all kinds of relationships that cannot be avoided every day, we are hurt. Those wounds say to us that we are bad, useless, and unvaluable. They prevent us from loving and trusting ourselves. When our relationships are broken, it's actually very difficult to believe in God's promise that we are blessed. What should we do?
Still, Believing the Promise
Nevertheless, we must believe in God’s promise. Abraham knew that the land he had arrived at from his hometown was the land of God’s promise, but was disappointed to learn that it was the land of famine. He went to Egypt to make up for that failure, but returned with a bigger failure. When his life was somewhat stable, he had to watch bitterly as his nephew took half of his wealth and left to choose fertile land. Please see what God said to him when he was left in a wasteland of stones and weeds.
“The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” (13:14-16)
This was a promise that Abraham could never believe in his situation. The core message of this promise is not the specific content itself, but the ‘declaration of comfort, hope, and blessing’ God gives Abraham. What message is that declaration? It is to believe that we are blessed under any circumstances. Yes. We should not doubt God’s promise that we are blessed even when what we dreamed of comes to nothing, failures continue, and we are hurt by someone from whom we expected love and trust.
Just because the goal of our lives has not been achieved does not mean that the value of our existence collapses. Even if we fall down and fail again and again, the fact that we are blessed beings does not disappear. Even if we are not loved by people who expect love, are ignored by people who from whom we expected trust, and are constantly hurt in close relationships, the fact that never changes is that we are fundamentally precious and blessed. Even if the failures and wounds you have experienced keep you from believing this, you must believe what God has told you. “You will be a blessing.”
Finally, there is one thing I want to emphasize. When God said to Abraham, ‘you will be a blessing’, it was not because he met any qualifications or conditions. The Bible shows that God declares blessings upon Abraham without any conditions. We do not have to meet certain qualifications or conditions to become a blessed being. We are precious and blessed in our existence itself. That’s the core of God’s promise. Let's remember. In any situation, we are precious and blessed in our existence itself.
Amen!
third sunday after epiphany
Please wear masks, practice social distance, and follow CDC requirements.
Use the Lectionary readings as preparation for your worship.
Sermons are fashioned to help us become better equipped
to live on earth
January 23, 3rd Sunday after epiphany
January 30, 4th Sunday after Epiphany
February 6th, 5th Sunday after Epiphany
February 13th, 6th Sunday after Epiphany
February 20th, 7th Sunday after Epiphany
February 27th, Last Sunday after the Epiphany
March 6th, First Sunday in Lent
January 23, 2022 / Announcements
WELCOME TO WORSHIP.
- Please register & include your email on the “registration form.”
- We are seeking two volunteers to read the scripture lessons.
- Please use the Prayer Book to record special prayer concerns.
EVENTS
- Genesis Bible Study will continue on Feb 6 after worship with Pastor Kang. Power Point presentation will assist self study during the week.
- Council Meeting not necessary during January.
- Rehobeth will continue broadcasting worship on zoom in January (and probably February) due to Covid
PRAYER CONCERNS
- Our sister parishes: Bethel UMC & Ashburn Korean UMC
- Remembering those grieving and in despair today.
- Pray for each other’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
- The mission of the UMC is to make disciples of Jesus Christ
for the transformation of the world. The first step is to learn as
a disciple learns about the gospel and the Christ Event.
Bishop: Rev. Sharma D. Lewis
District Superintendent: Rev. Victor Gomez
Pastor: Rev. Sean Kang
Website: www.rehobethchurch.org
- Send Articles, Notices, Items of Interest to our congregation to the website manager: james@nenningers.org Thank you.
Pastor’s email: kanghyunsik@gmail.com
january 2022
OUR CONFERENCE.
PARISH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Worship on January 9th is at 11:00 am
CONTACTS:
PASTOR: Rev Sean Kang hyunsikkang@vaumc.org
WEBSITE NEWS and notices james@nenningers.net
Sunday WORSHIP at 9 am - on Zoom
Communion
Saturday Morning Work Projects
Conference on Zoom
Conference on Zoom
Saturday Morning Work Projects
Conference on Zoom
Saturday Morning Work Projects
Saturday Morning Work Projects
Saturday Morning Work Projects
Our Pastor
Meet Our Pastor, Rev. Sean Kang
Rev. Sean Kang graduated from the Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul and became an ordained minister from the Eastern Conference of the Korean Methodist Church. He served as an Associate Pastor in a Methodist Church in Seoul, then moved to Canada in 2000, where he studied Spiritual Theology and Spiritual Direction at the University of Toronto. While studying there, he began a new church for college students and young adults and served there for five years.
Rev. Kang accepted an invitation by the Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington and moved to Virginia in 2006; where he served as an Associate Pastor for seven years. In the spring of 2013, he started a new church in Ashburn, Virginia, and spent six years as it's Leading Pastor. Rev. Kang is very interested in Contemplative Spirituality and Spiritual Formation. In this context, his pastoral focus is geared toward spiritual sermons, spiritual exercises, and prayer practices.
We look forward to Rev. Kang's ministry with us ... as our journey continues.
Home Worship for Rehobeth & Bethel
Rehobeth UMC and .....
Rehobeth United Methodist, 14085 Rehobeth Church Road, Lovettsville Join us on Zoom for worship and fellowship.
..... Bethel UMC
Join us on zoom, Sunday's at 9:00 am. If you miss the service, you can find them on the website.
Your offerings may be sent to respective Churches.
OUR COOPERATIVE Parish
Ashburn Korean UMC
Ashburn Korean United Methodist Church
(Currently the congregation is looking for a facility to hold services.)
Rehobeth UMC
Rehobeth United Methodist Church
14095 Rehobeth Church Road, Lovettsville, VA 20180
Bethel UMC
Meet Our Local Clergy
Lovettsville Ministers' meet monthly
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
(Standing) Rev Andreas Armstrong, Zion & Bethel Lutheran Church; Rev Mark Jagoe, (Mark has moved to South Carolina)
(Sitting) Rev. James D Nenninger, Retired UMC; Rev. Tiffany Towberman, Zion Lutheran; Rev. Stephen King, Mt. Olivet & Mt. Pleasant UMC;
Rev. Krista Vingelis, New Jerusalem Lutheran; Rev. David Douthett, Catoctin Presbyterian, Waterford; Rev. Roland England, Christian Community at St. Paul's, UCC;
(Absent) Rev. Sean Kang, Rehobeth UMC
(Absent) Pastor Ralph Carver, Hillsboro UMC
*Thanks to Sandy, Tiffany's mom,
for taking the picture)
About Our Facilities -- lot's to do
Current Projects on Docket
2019 CEMETERY & CHURCH PROPERTY UPKEEP
- ON GOING Mowing & Trimming
- COMPLETED Fire Inspection – Passed 4/26/18
- COMPLETED Termite Inspection: Passed 4/20/18
- COMPLETED Replace Sub-floor in vestibule 8/22/18
- IN PROCESS Repairing Lentil, complete main entrance
- IN PROCESS Refinish Sanctuary Door & add Landing
- COMPLETED A complete cemetery grounds renovation
- COMPLETED Beautify church lawn edging
- Paint Outside Trim (postponed)
- Upgrade A/V system, 2019
- Water Testing
- Furnace & Oil Tank Plans
- Storage Shed, re-shingle or replace
- Replace Carpet
- Pew cushions
- Upright Cemetery Headstones
- Repair Broken Stained Glass Window
Future Projects (To be scheduled)
D - Air Conditioning
R - Pointing of bricks
E - Belfry Lighting
A - Storm windows
M - Belfry Inspection & Greasing Bell
S
REHOBETH CEMETERY is a major MISSION of our Church, requiring much work, expense, and upkeep. Our intent is to maintain our cemetery that honors the many Methodist's and others who gave of their resources to support our Church. We do honor to ourselves to honor our history and those who have graced us with this facility. Thanks be to God.
THANK YOU TRUSTEES ...
Rehobeth is fortunate to have a very active team of Trustees. If you are interested in joining our Team, we are interested in you !!!
- Jeremy Nenninger, Chairman
- David Thompson, Financial Sec
_ Jim Nenninger, Ret'd UMC Clergy
- Scott Brock
.......................................... , (sign on the dotted line)
our story
Welcome
Welcome! For the past 225 years Rehobeth United Methodist Church has been a place where people could come to learn, be in community and grow as people of God. Even as the world has changed and we have changed, we are still committed to being a community that reaches out to our neighbors and our world so that all can know the love of God. We hope you will join us and make yourself at home here as we sincerely welcome you to Rehobeth United Methodist Church.
Location
Rehobeth UMC is located at 14085 Rehobeth Church Road, Lovettsville VA 20180. The pastor is the Rev. Sean Hyunsik Kang. The Pastor's email is hyunsikkang@vaumc.org; and cell phone: 703-336-3679. Our website is www.rehobethchurch.org Sunday worship is at 9 am and a Scripture - Prayer Class (Contemplative Dialogue) Meeting at 9:50 am. The Class is open to everyone.
Directions
On Rt. 7 go to the exit for Rt. 287; at the underpass, turn left and go north 6.2 mi on Rt. 287 (Berlin Turnpike) toward Purcellville and Lovettsville. Turn right onto Rickard Road and go 0.4 mi east. Take the 1st right onto Rehobeth Church Road; the turn is 0.2 mi on the left.