LIVERMORE FALLS — At the July 31 First Baptist Church of Livermore Falls service many members are vacationing out of town and pews began to fill slowly as we prepared for worship. Pastor Russ Thayer returned to us after a week spent with family. He was rested and filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, determined to revive us with God’s message of love.

Kay King Watson opened the service with welcome and announcements: During August, we will collect peanut butter for the Food Cupboard and The American Baptist Women Summer Conference will take place at China Lake Camp, August 11 – 13.

Pastor Russ held the first Disciple Class today. The classes are for those who are interested in Baptism, becoming a member of the church or want to grow in knowledge of the church and Christianity. The class will meet each Sunday morning at 9:00 A.M. Anyone interested is urged to attend.

The Soap ‘N More Store will be open on Saturday, August 27, 9 a.m. to noon.

The next Hymnsing will take place on August 28 at 7:00 P.M.

Pastor Russ gave the Call to Worship, Psalm 133. Kay led the singing of the Praise Songs: “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “Seeds of Prayer”. Our first Hymn was “Set My Soul Afire”. Maggie and Margaret played “Shepherd of Love” during the Offertory. Special Music was provided by Pastor Russ, who sang a stirring solo of “His Eye Is On the Sparrow”, accompanied by Maggie on the organ. A beautiful performance, it brought a tear to many eyes!

Pastor Thayer based his Sermon on Scripture from the Book of Matthew 6:9. The Sermon was titled, Sermon on the Mount – “Father”. The Pastor began by saying he fears that as Christians, we have been saying “The Lord’s Prayer” for most of our lives, and it has become a ritual that we recite but don’t think about the true meaning of each word we say during the prayer. What did Jesus mean when he taught this prayer to his disciples? Did he want them to say it over and over until it became a meaningless ritual? No! Pastor Russ contends that Jesus was showing the Disciples “how to pray”. He told us that the first section of the Prayer is all about God: “Our FATHER, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be THY name. THY kingdom come, THY will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” This is just the beginning of a wonderful “deep dive” into the words we are saying when we recite this beautiful prayer. We will have much better understandings of it’s meaning and and how we think and feel about those words in the weeks to come as we explore all of “The Lord’s Prayer”. Very exciting. Our last Hymn, was “O Happy Day” and after the Benediction we sang “Down In My Heart”.

Sunday Service begins at 10:30 a.m. Please join us and be renewed.

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