June 19, 2016: 5th Sunday after Pentecost (Father's Day)

MINISTERS:
Rev. Billy Hester
Rev. Jeanette Purvis

MUSICIANS:
Piano: Ray Ellis and Kay Deffley
Organ: Kay Deffley
Keyboard: Randy Canady

PRODUCTION:
Videographer: Patrick Prokop
Video Editor: Patrick Prokop
Audio: Wesley Hester
Lighting: Barry Parker

FLOWERS FOR THE SERVICE:
The flowers for the service were given in honor of David and Kathryn Murph's 19th anniversary.

SPECIAL THANKS:
Every Sunday at Asbury, there are people who work behind the scenes to help make the day so meaningful and wonderful for us and our visitors. We thank those unsung heroes of faith — our Hospitality Team, our Ushers and Greeters, our Nursery Workers, and our Children's Church Teachers.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW: With "Dr. Einstein"
Rev. Billy Hester
Einstein Puppet: Ray Ellis

RIBBONS FOR A REASON:
We hung the 28th ribbon for a victim of gun violence in Savannah in 2016
Rev. Jeanette Purvis remembered: Jason Wood, age 43, who died June 16, 2016

SERMON: "Einstein's Thin Places"
The Rev. Billy Hester sermon tells us that God's creation is full of "thin places," where the veil between the seen and the unseen in particularly thin, allowing us to experience the majesty of the spiritual realm from within the material realm. We can find thin places on a trip to the beach, in the mountains, by a river, or looking at the stars in the heavens. We also can find them in hospital rooms, nursing homes, or jail cells. His encourages us to seek out the thin places in our life and marvel at God's creation and our place within it.
Scripture: Psalm 8, Matthew 6:25-34 [NIV Translation; others available at the link]

Audio Version (mp3)
 

OFFERTORY: "Let Us Usher in the Morning"
Asbury Memorial UMC Choir
Words and Music by: Dana Mengel
Director: Ray Ellis
Piano: Kay Deffley

BENEDICTION
Rev. Billy Hester and Cheri Hester

Rev. Billy Hester recommended that congregants use the words of the last hymn we sang, "Praise the Source of Faith and Learning," in their prayer and meditation life:

Verse 1
Praise the source of faith and learning
that has sparked and stoked the mind
with a passion for discerning
how the world has been designed.
Let the sense of wonder flowing
from the wonders we survey
keep our faith forever growing
and renew our need to pray.
Verse 2
God of wisdom we acknowledge
that our science and our art
and the breadth of human knowledge
only partial truth impart.
Far beyond our calculation
lies a depth we cannot sound
where your purpose for creation
and the pulse of life are found.
Verse 3
May our faith redeem the blunder
of believing that our thought
has displace the grounds for wonder
which the ancient prophets taught.
May our learning curb the error
which unthinking faith can breed
lest we justify some terror
with an antiquated creed.
Verse 4
As two currents in a river
fight each other’s undertow
till converging they deliver
one coherent steady flow.
Blend, O God, our faith and learning
till they carve a single course,
till they join as one, returning
praise and thanks to you, their Source.

From the supplemental United Methodist Church hymnal, The Faith We Sing

We hope you feel blessed by this service!

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