Johann and Jennifer provide an update on mask-optional worship and other covid practices.
Welcome to Worship!
Beginning Sunday, May 30, 2021, the church leadership is updating our Covid practices for in-person events, including worship:
Masks are optional for those who are vaccinated. In accordance with state guidelines, we request that those who are not vaccinated wear a mask in the building. (Staff/greeters will not be verifying vaccination status - it will be up to the individual to observe this request.)
Children, whether in Sunday School or worship, will be asked to wear masks. Sunday School teachers will be required to wear masks while with the children.
Temperature checks, social-distancing, and contract tracing are no longer required.
Air purifiers will continue to be used in the worship space.
The congregation will be invited to sing!
The congregation will continue to come to the front to place their offering in the plate. The plate will not be passed.
We will encourage people to interact and greet each other at their level of comfort.
Individual pre-packed elements will be used for Communion.
After-worship receptions will be held in the Chapel Lobby or outside, weather permitting. Refreshments will be individually wrapped.
Worship continues both in-person and online this Sunday and beyond:
In-Person: If you are joining us in the Sanctuary, please review our Covid guidelines and information below prior to Sunday morning.
At Home: If you aren't able to come to church, or aren't yet comfortable doing so, know that the online option will always be available. The live broadcast begins with a prelude and live chat at 10:20am, and there are three different ways to watch:
Facebook
Our website
YouTube
WHAT TO EXPECT
Worship is the heart of Community Church! It is an experience of the living God, through relevant messages that proclaim the Gospel, and is a time for connecting with God and others. Every service includes a sermon that is firmly based in scripture and rooted in right now. When we pray for all the people of God, we are invited to call out specific names aloud.
We celebrate in blended style - that means our band plays everything from your favorite old hymns to contemporary Christian music - and all kinds of good stuff in between! Enhanced by projected images and lyrics, music is led by a variety of instruments with contemporary-style worship leaders guiding us in singing God’s praise.
We share communion on the first Sunday of the month and, regardless of your background, we invite all followers of Jesus to participate.
Your gifts are received with gratitude during Worship. We dismiss with a blessing, and gather in Fellowship Hall for coffee and refreshments.
What to wear? We don't care! Whatever makes you comfortable is ok with us. Some people dress up, some wear jeans, and most land somewhere in the middle.
Sunday School takes place at the same time as Worship in the Chapel and childcare for infants and toddlers is available. Children of any age are also welcome to stay with you in worship.
All are welcome, whether in-person or online at 10:30am!
WORSHIP "ON-DEMAND"
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
Matthew 18:20
While Sunday worship takes place at 10:30am each week, we know that there are times you can't make it to the live broadcast - and we are so glad that you are choosing to participate in worship now! Below is the most recent Sunday worship (published here on Monday mornings), and it's available to you anytime you'd like to worship.
We don't know who watches worship unless you tell us, so please reach out! You can let us know by emailing or commenting in the chat on Facebook or YouTube. This helps us create a sense of community and connectedness with each other, even though we aren't in the same space as we worship.
We'd also love to be in prayer with you and for you. If you have a prayer request or would like to be in touch with one of our pastors, please contact us - we would love to hear from you so that we can support you on your faith journey. Email us at Church@CommunityChurch.org.
If you are moved to contribute to our ministry, please click here. Thank you for your support!
If you miss a service or would like to re-watch any portion of it, complete recordings are posted by noon the next day here on our Worship page and stored on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
CURRENT SUMMER SERIES: "FAVORITE PASSAGES"
MAY 30
Favorite Passages
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17)
Click below to watch the whole message from this week's Summer Sermon Series on Johann, Jennifer, and Brian's favorite passages.
"Through God’s spirit of life, we change the world, we shine as a light of God’s love to the nations, we live as a revelation for all those who cannot see God’s vision.
God’s spirit of life infuses us with a drive for justice, dignity, and respect for all."
Click below to watch the whole message from the second week in our sermon series on the Holy Spirit.
As you continue your Holy Week journey, experience this candlelit worship service on, consisting of scripture readings interspersed with special music. Blended musical selections, featuring violin, flute, keyboard, organ and guitar, spans the range of genres from classical, such as Dubois’ “Seven Last Words,” to the contemporary, such as “The Table” by Chris Tomlin.
On that first Palm Sunday, approximately 2000 years ago, as Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, the crowds that lined his path cried out “Hosanna!” This word comes from Hebrew and roughly translates to “Save us!” They recognized something in Jesus that they knew they needed - namely, saving. And, based on what is about to come in the week that follows, their cries were aptly placed!
During Palm Sunday worship, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and all that this entry means for the road to Easter and for our lives! Wave palms, cry out our own “Hosanna!” and welcome the triumphant Christ!
Jesus prepared a path for us to rise from what is ordinary - and to arrive at what is glorious! We know this path as "Lent," a Journey of spiritual regeneration that starts from the ashes of Ash Wednesday and that culminates in life rising forever on Easter Sunday!
This Lent, our sermon series invites you to let God's Word lift your spirit from whatever may weigh on you, so that you may rise to living daily in the joy of Easter!
FEBRUARY 21
The First Sunday in Lent
When we rise above our challenges we gain a sense of freedom from them. We also gain - or regain, a state of happiness and tranquility that we often find elusive.
What gives you the drive to battle through your struggles and to get to this place of peace? Would you call it “hope”? Is that what we mean when we say things like “I’m hoping for better days?”
Hope can give us mastery over life’s ups-and-downs! And the courage and inspiration to keep going! This is the topic of this sermon, the first in our sermon series, “Rise… above trouble to Glory!”
How often does this happen to you? An obstacle comes across your path that not only blocks your way, but seems totally insurmountable. Or you have to deal with a tricky personal situation for which a solution appears simply impossible.
A famous biblical couple faced similar odds until God opened a door - and provided them with a glorious way out! Their amazing story introduces the second sermon in our Lenten series “Rise… above trouble to Glory!”
As Jesus sat with his disciples in the days just before Holy Week, he offered this pearl of wisdom: love each other in the way that he loved them. The sentiment echoes through time as a description for the manner in which the children of God are to live together, long after Jesus walked the earth - loving each other as Jesus loved the disciples.
When we find ourselves in the midst of unrest and any number of personal challenges, how does this command inspire us? In this sermon, we’ll explore how we can rise to love and life - and find the joy that comes from living into this ancient command that brings light to our lives today!
Try new things, go with the flow and try to do some good.
These are the guiding principles in this message from church member Stephen Magee. Inspired by the book "The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life" by David Brooks, he shared that the search for deeper meaning may mean making conscious changes in our thoughts, to open ourselves to the path that God has chosen for us.
It can be a hard transition to make - finding your second mountain - but if you bear in mind Proverbs 3:5 - you will find comfort in the journey.
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
When we protect and manage (“keep”) our emotions and moods (“hearts”), we experience less stress and enjoy life more overall. Period. This line from Proverbs may be about 5,000 years old, but it can still increase your level of happiness and joy, while removing bitterness and anger from your life today.
This message proposes a three-step technique to keep (and remove) negative emotions, like bitterness, from your heart. Instead of being bitter, you can learn this skill and make a lot of things better for you!
