*Gathering Hymn                                        Love will guide us, peace has tried us

                                                                       Hope inside us will lead the way

                                                                       On the road from greed to giving

                                                                       Love will guide us through the hard night.

 

Prelude                                                         Prelude in A, Well-Tempered Klavier II (9am)    Johann Sebastian Bach

                                                                       The Song of Kabir (11am)                                             Elizabeth Alexander

 

Welcome                                                       Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur

 

Chalice Lighting                                          Teri Bond

 

*Opening Hymn                                           #149 Lift Every Voice and Sing

 

*Covenant                                                     Love is the doctrine of this church.

                                                                        The quest for truth is its sacrament,

                                                                        And service is its prayer.

                                                                        To dwell together in peace,

                                                                        To seek knowledge in freedom,

                                                                        To serve humankind in fellowship,

                                                                        Thus do we covenant with each other.

 

*Hymn of Praise                                           From all that dwell below the skies

                                                                        Let songs of hope and faith arise

                                                                        Let peace, goodwill on earth be sung

                                                                        Through every land, by every tongue.

 

Offering for the Westside Food Bank and Turning Point

 

Time for All Ages                                          Prayer Shawl Blessing

                                                                         Karen Patch (9am)

                                                                         Melissa Weaver (11am)

 

Song of Blessing                                          We are the flow, we are the ebb.

                                                                        We are the weavers, we are the web.

 

Life Together

 

Offering                                                           Reflection III (9am)                                                                 Richard Wilder

                                                                         Recitative & Chorus, Rejoice in the Lamb (11am)      Benjamin Britten

 

Reading                                                         That Which Holds All                                                             Nancy Schaffer

 

Silence

 

Sung Response                                            Come Down, O Love Divine                              Ralph Vaughan Williams

                                                                         Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine,

                                                                         and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;

                                                                         O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,

                                                                         and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

 

Responsive Reading                                   #466 Religion

 

Music for the Morning                                  The Maker Makes                                                             Rufus Wainwright

 

Sermon                                                           The Image of God                                           Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur

 

*Closing Hymn                                               #343 A Firemist and a Planet

 

*Benediction                

 

Musical Response                                          Finlandia (9am)                                                                       Jean Sibelius

                                                                           May Love Be Your Guide (11am)                                            Clif Hardin

 

*Please stand in body or in spirit

 

 

Greeters:                                                            Dwight Flowers (9am)

                                                                            Glen Howell, Michael Young & Steve Young (11am)

Ushers:                                                              Bonnie Brae & Carrie Lauer (9am)

                                                                            Tom Foretich & Dan Patterson (11am)

Coffee:                                                               Sheila Bjornlie & Leah Moore (9am)

                                                                            Nancy Howell, Jila Nouroz & Sylvia Young (11am)

Bookstore:                                                         Nancy Babbitt

Backyard Bounty:                                             Sue Bickford

 

To honor Black History Month, in February our opening hymn will be Lift Every Voice and Sing . Often

called the Negro National Anthem, this hymn is a setting of a poem that was originally written to honor

President Lincoln in 1899. There is something profound about reciting this text anytime topics such as

oppression, justice, or activism enter the conversation. It is a text that calls us toward the pursuit of

liberty for all, while rejoicing in the progress we have made and honoring those lives that have been and

will be lost to the struggle.

 

This month, as part of our Supper Bowl Sunday campaign, 60% of our offering will go to the Westside

Food Bank to provide food to social service agencies serving preschool children, seniors, veterans,

and people who are homeless on the Westside of Los Angeles. The Food Bank acquires as much food

as possible through donations, and purchases food from wholesale merchants to consistently provide

our member agencies with the most nutritious food possible. Our Extra Helpings Westside Program,

which recovers food that would otherwise be thrown away from bakeries, restaurants, caterers and

food suppliers, provides about one third of the food we distribute. Thanks to the economies of scale

and our efficient operation, we can acquire five pounds of food for each donated dollar.