​Worship in the Sanctuary at Glen Cary Lutheran
Beginning November 1, 2020
9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
 
The weather is cooling and it is harder to stay in our vehicles and worship when snow is flying and the temperatures drop. If you are comfortable doing so, we invite you to join us in the Sanctuary, as we ease into a more normal worship experience.

With Covid-19 still impacting all that we do, we have guidelines that we will be following to do our best to keep everyone safe and healthy.

• If you feel sick or have been in contact with someone who has Covid symptoms, we ask you to not attend worship until it is safe to do so.
  
• When you enter the church, we will be asking for names and contact phone numbers.  If there is an outbreak, we need to be able to reach others who might have been in contact with an infected person.
  
• Please keep your coats with you so there is no overcrowding in the coat closet.
  
• Mask are mandatory.
  
• Social distancing will be maintained.
  
• We ask you to come just prior to worship, check in and immediately move into the Sanctuary.
  
• Every-other row will be empty to promote safe distancing. Marks noting where people (individuals, couples and families) can sit are marked on the pews.
  
• We will serve communion like we have been doing this summer, using pre-packaged communion wafers and wine (actually grape juice). Waste baskets will be outside the Narthex and we ask you to throw away the packaging as you leave.
  
• We will be projecting the service on our screens. Singing will be done by soloists or special groups (who will practice social distancing).
  
• When the service is over, everyone will be asked to leave the Sanctuary and move outside the building. After the first service the Sanctuary will be sanitized prior to the second service.

If you are uncomfortable entering the church, we will continue to broadcast the service to our parking lot on FM 87.9. Services will also be updated later on Facebook and YouTube.

Today's lesson is from 2 Samuel 7:1-7. You can also use a children’s storybook Bible or read the story retold below:

Has someone ever made a promise to you? What was the promise? Did they keep it? People don’t always keep their promises, but you know who does? God! Throughout the Bible we read about many promises that God made. In the book of 2 Samuel it is a promise God made to King David and some of the promised happened in David’s lifetime, and some of it is happening every day in us.

Story Summary: Before this chapter that was a lot of fighting and David had a lot of enemies. God has appointed him King but not everyone like it. But, God had strengthened David and given him victory over all his enemies. Finally, there was peace in Israel and David settled into his palace. As he looked at all the splendor around him he said to Nathan the prophet, “How can I possibly go on living in such a beautiful palace while the ark of God stays in a tent on the outskirts of the city?” The Ark of God was where the people of Israel worshipped God. David had brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, but there wasn’t yet a place for it to rest permanently. So the Ark remained in a tent that David had set up for it.

David wanted to build a house for God! If you were to build a house for God, what would it look like? What would be inside? Can any building or house truly contain God?

Even so, David wanted to build a house, or a temple, where God’s presence would dwell and the people could worship the Lord. David wanted to honor God by building a temple. That night the Lord spoke to Nathan telling him what to say to David. God said, “During all the years that Israel traveled in the wilderness I never asked anyone to build me a house. My presence was with you and I traveled in a tent so that I could be near to you. But now I will establish my people in this land and they will have peace at last. I will make David’s name great and I will bless him greatly.” God made an incredible promise to David. Let’s hear to God’s Word together, and as I read, listen for the promise that He made… Read 2 Samuel 7:11a-16:

"Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.  But I will not take[b] my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.  Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever."

• What was God’s promise to David? God promised that even though David would not be the one to build a house for him, David’s son would. God also promised that there would always be someone from David’s family on the throne ruling over Israel!
• If you were David and had just heard God promise all these wonderful things to you, how do you think you would feel? How would you respond to God? David responded by worshipping God. He was overwhelmed by God’s goodness toward Him and he prayed a prayer of thankfulness.
• Do you think God kept His promise to David? You bet He did! After David died his son Solomon became the next King over Israel. And just like God promised, Solomon built a beautiful temple for God.
• What was the other promise God made to David? (That someone from David’s family would always rule over Israel.) God also kept that promise!
• Did you know that Jesus was David’s great, great, great, great, great, great grandson? God’s promise is still being fulfilled even to this day, because Jesus is still the King over all creation. One thing that makes Jesus a wonderful King is that we are God’s children. At our baptism we were called God’s children by name and Jesus is always with us.

Just like David, Jesus promises to love us no matter what. Jesus promises to always know us and be with us. In the good times and in the hard times. We can thank God for inviting us to be part of His Kingdom by sending Jesus to be our forever King.

Remembering God's Promises:
On Sunday morning we will be making name bracelets with beads. This is just one way that we can remember everyday that God knows our name and keep the promise to always love us. How can your family find ways bless each other and remember how you are loved by God each day?

• bless each other with the sign of the cross at a meal or bedtime
  
• make signs with each persons name on them and hang them around the house
  
• make an acrostic poem (each letter is a line of a poem and each letter uses are word that begins with the letter to describe the persons name.)

Pray together:
God of hope, You promised to make David’s household great among the nations. Then you sent your son, Jesus, to transform this world so that all people are one in the great household of God. Show us how to live as your children, as sisters and brothers in your holy and blessed realm, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, who will one day welcome us all home. Amen.
Body Prayer:
God loves me (hands in prayer) I love God (hands up toward sky) God loves the world (hands wide like holding the world) God help the world (back to prayer)

Today’s story is the story of a woman from the Old Testament named Hannah. Hannah didn’t have an easy life. She was the loved wife of a man named Elkanah, but she hadn’t had any children. Elkhanah had another wife named Peninnah who had children and made Hannah’s life miserable.
​
You can read the story of Hannah’s life in 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10. You can also use a children’s storybook Bible or read the story retold below.

Hannah and her baby, Samuel.
The Bible is full of real stories about real people, who did good things and wrong things, who loved God and who didn’t love God. It also tells about the Jews God’s chosen people. Sometimes they followed God and other times they didn’t. Today’s story is about a woman who loved God in a time when not so many people in Israel did.

Hannah and her husband Elkanah, who we’ll just call Elk, did worship God and every year went to the temple to make a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins. Elk had married two wives, Hannah and Penninah, who we’ll just call Pen. This was not a happy family. Pen was jealous of Hannah who Elk loved more than her. Pen was very angry because she had all the children in the family and Hannah had none, yet still Elk favored Hannah. Pen took every chance she could to tease and put Hannah down because she had no children. After years and years of this Hannah began to despair. Elk tried to comfort her by reassuring her that he loved her best of his wives. When Hannah stopped eating Elk was worried and said to Hannah “why are you so upset aren’t I more important to you than having children”. Elk hoped this logic would help Hannah start focusing what was good in her life. But to Hannah, this made her feel that even Elk had lost hope in her ever having children. Didn’t he have hope in the God of Sarah and Abraham who had given them children when Sarah was an old lady? Hannah felt so alone in her hurt.

Yes the only One who truly understood her was God. The next year when the family went to the yearly sacrifice Hannah went to the temple by herself to pray. She was very bitter and sobbed and sobbed before God until finally she could pray. She asked God to notice her pain and to give her a son. She promised to give the child back to God to be raised as a special priest to serve God all the days of his life. Eli, the priest, was watching Hannah as she was crying and quietly pleading with God and he thought she had been drinking too much wine and was drunk. Hannah told Eli she hadn’t been drinking wine at all, she was just very upset and sad. Eli saw that this was so and he told her to “May God answer your request. Go now with the peace of God” . Hannah left the temple and she wasn’t sad anymore. She knew she had left her biggest desire with the God who ruled the whole world. She had faith that God would look after the situation in the best way. Pen and Elk must have been surprised to see the change in Hannah! She wasn’t angry or bitter or sad anymore. She was content in God’s care.

Guess what happened the next year? A miracle! Hannah and Elk had a baby boy, just like Hannah prayed for. Can you imagine how happy she and Elk were after waiting so many years to have a child? Hannah named the boy Samuel which means “I asked the Lord for Him” in the Hebrew language. Hannah cared for her wonderful baby boy until he was just old enough to toddle and eat and drink on his own and then she brought him to the temple and found Eli the priest to tell him about God’s answer to her prayer several years before. When Eli ask the boy’s name, do think he was surprised by the name “I asked the Lord for Him”? The Bible tells us that Hannah and Elk and Eli, the priest, all worshipped God together there with little Samuel.

​1. Do you think that there are people today who know how Hannah felt?
2. Are we sometimes sad and angry? How do people show that sadness and anger?
3. What made Hannah feel better? (before she found out about Samuel coming)
4. Do you think it is hard to trust God?  As a family talk about times you had a hard time trusting God. This could be a time to talk about the last 7 months of the pandemic and how we have to continue to trust God to bring us through this and keep those we love safe.
5. Hannah’s story ends with an answer to prayer. Through out the Bible God answers prayer, but not always how the person wants like Hannah’s was. How do we know God hears us and is with us?

Storytelling Comic Strip
Print off the attached comic strip template for each family member.
Have each person create a comic strip. Here are two options for telling the story:

1. Tells the story of Hannah
2. Tell of a time that your family had to trust in God

Pray together:  God- We know that each person has fears and hurts. We know that you hear our prayers and that you are with us in our hurts. Help us to trust that no matter what happens in world and with Covid that you hold us and that you love us. Amen

Body Prayer
God loves me (hands in prayer)
I love God (hands up toward sky)
God loves the world (hands wide like holding the world)
God help the world (back to prayer)
 

​Begin by giving each person a long piece of tin foil. Have each person use the tin foil to make an animal sculpture. This story takes place after God had used Moses and Aaron to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. They are led into the wilderness where they would wander for 40 years.  ​

You can find read the story from Exodus 32, or look for it in a story Bible, or use the following summary. Feel free to print off the pictures or pull them up on the screen as you tell the story. If you print them out, then see if you can put them in the right order as you listen to the story. 

When Moses was up on the mountain talking to God. He was up there a long time. Days and days.  

The Israelites got scared waiting for Moses and his brother Aaron had them bring all there gold and they made an idol. What’s an idol?  An idol is something you make and worship. One of God’s Ten Commandments is not to make idols. 

But that’s what the people did. They made a calf, a baby cow, out of gold and they worshipped it. 

God was very angry about this and He told Moses that He was going to kill all of the people as a punishment. But Moses pleaded with God to forgive the people. Moses reminded God that of God’s promise to bless Abraham’s ancestors so that they would number the stars. God agreed not to kill them. 

Then, Moses went down the mountain and destroyed the golden calf. He was so angry by what he saw that he broke the slabs of stone that he had been writing on when he was with God.  

To get control of the people, he said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” 

How do you think the people should decide if they’re on God’s side or not? Should they flip a coin and let the coin decide? Following God is a decision we all have to make every day. We will not always be good at it, kind of like the Israelites who made and idol when they were afraid. 

Only one group from the people of Israel came to Moses and said they were on God’s side. The rest of the people decided not to be on God’s side. That would be like one person deciding they were going to follow God when 11 others didn’t. (Demonstrate the numbers with the remaining coins.) 

Do you think it would be hard for that one person to follow God when the 11 others weren’t? 

It would be hard, but when we decide to follow God, we decide to follow Him no matter what. Even if our friends or our family or everyone else decides that they don’t want to follow God, we decided that we do. God is the most important thing to us.