Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

The Worship of God · May 2, 2010

Litany of Praise

From Psalm 148

Praise the Lord in height and depth, on the inside and outside!

       Let all creation join in the song,

       The planets dancing with the stars.

Let every creature sing back to the Singer of it all!

       For God spoke and out of nothing came life.

Let us pray:                                                     

       We draw ourselves into the warmth of your fire, the sparks

       That find their way to each of our waiting hearts. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

World without end. Amen. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Jacob Thorne

Gracious God and Loving God, we give you thanks for the opportunity to worship you this morning. All of our gifts in life come from you. You are the One who created us, who created the world in which we live – the depths of the oceans, the soaring heights of the mountains, the refreshing spring showers, all that which nourishes us, that which feeds our souls, our hearts, and our relationships with one another. We praise you for your majestic power. 

Today we know we can count on you, as we do every day, for your power and your strength. We know that we can carry all of our burdens to you in prayer. You take us with you; you hold our hand; you journey with us in life. You ease our pains, and you join us as a community of one.

This morning, O God, we pray that you will pour out to us your holy power and your Holy Spirit on every person gathered here. Reveal to all of us your quiet strength, your power that lifts us up, your faithful love, and your enduring presence. Remind us, also, to praise you for the many gifts that have been given to us. Help us celebrate the many gifts we have as a community of Christ. Remind us that we are called to serve you, to live out your mission in the world.

Hear us now as we say together the prayer that your Son taught us…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory, forever. Amen.

New Testament Lesson

John 13:31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Message

On Broadway!

Written and Presented by:

Broadway Christian Church Puppet Ministry

Today’s puppet presentation is brought to you by the letter “T,” and the number “3,” for Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit.

To give generously and gratefully,

The three Ts is one of our eight Discipling Keys.

Treasure, time, and talent;

Let us use them generously.

God’s gifts to you and me.

Let us remember our three Ts.

Treasure, time, and talent

Are ours to be shared,

With those we meet out on the street.

Treasure, time, and talent;

Let us give them gratefully.

Let us give of our treasure, let us give.

Let us share of our talents, let us share.

Let us take time to do

What God wants us to do.

Have you shown what God has given

With the life that you are livin’?

Treasure, time, and talent;

Let us use them generously.

God’s gift to you and me;

Let us remember our three Ts.

Treasure, time, and talent

Are ours to be shared,

With those we meet out on the street.

Treasure, time, and talent;

Let us give them gratefully.

Written by John Rawlings

Sung by John Rawlings and Terry Overfelt

Matt the Lion the Lion: Hi, Kids.  I’m Matt, and I’m here to tell you about Mrs. Hymnbunny’s Sunday School Class. That’s her praying over there. She always prays before her class arrives. I’ll bet you want to see what her class is up to. Right?  Well, you’ll be excited, because they’ve been real busy, and I’m not “lion.”  Well I am…a lion, but I’m speaking the truth. I always tell the truth.

Matt the Lion: (directing his attention to Mrs. Hymnbunny) Oh, hi there. Excuse me, Mrs. Hymnbunny. Our guests here just came to see what’s happening in your Sunday School Class. Everyone, this is Mrs. Hymnbunny.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Oh, hello everyone. I am very excited to have you join this amazing class of mine here on Broadway Street.  Oh, I just love them.  Oh, here comes the gang now. (She sings as the kids arrive.)  Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; furry, feathered, blue and green, cutest critters I have seen.  Jesus loves the little critters of the world.

Kurt: Good morning, Mrs. Hymnbunny. Lovely day we’re having today.

Bernie: Hello to you, Mrs. Hymnbunny, nice to see you.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Hello, Kurt.  Hello, Bernie.  Where’s Blue Bird? He usually is with you.

Kurt: Oh, here he comes now. Hello, Blue Bird.

Blue Bird: Hello.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: He’s a bird of few words, kids, but I can tell, he’s a thinker.  Let’s see now.  We have Kurt and Bernie, and Blue Bird.  Where’s the rest of the Sunday School Gang?

All of the Gang: (Singing) Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Broadway Street?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Oh, here they come.  Well, take your seats.  Today is an exciting day here on Broadway Street. It is Stewardship Sunday. Who can tell me what “stewardship” means?

Tropical Bird 1: We can.

Tropical Bird 2: Yep, yep, we can, yep, yep!

Tropical Bird 1: Because since we’re twins, we know about sharing.

Tropical Bird 2: Yep, yep, we do.

Tropical Bird 1: Stewardship means sharing.

Tropical Bird 2: Shaaaaaring!

Both: Caw, caw, chickie, cooka roooooo!

Blue Bird: Really?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Really! That’s right, Blue Bird.  Really! Remember that two little birdies told you so. Stewardship is about sharing.  You two birdies, having grown up together, you know a lot about sharing. I bet you’ve shared many things. (sings) Side by side.

Tropical Bird 1: Yes, we have.

Tropical Bird 2: Yep, yep.

Tropical Bird 1: Nests.

Tropical Bird 2: Birdseed.

Tropical Bird 1: Worms.

Tropical Bird 2: Mmm, delicious.

Tropical Bird 1: Our thoughts.

Tropical Bird 2: Do we have any?

Tropical Bird 1: No.

Baby Bear: Mrs. Hymnbunny?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Yes, Baby Bear.

Baby Bear: I know one thing we share. We share our money with the church. We get a dollar a week for allowance, and we always bring a dime of it to church to share. Isn’t that right, Iddy-Biddy Bear?

Iddy Bitty Baby Bear: Oooaaa-aa

Baby Bear: Big Bear?

Big Bear: Huh?

Baby Bear: Isn’t that right?  We share our dime a week with the church?

Big Bear: Grrrrr. (Nods yes)

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Very good, Three Bears.  We share our treasure.  Our treasure is one of the things we can share with our church. Thank you for bringing your ten cents.

Donkey: Oh, ohh, ohhh! Pick me; pick me!

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Yes, Donkey, what do you think “stewardship” or “sharing” means?

Donkey: He-haw, he-haw, duh. I don’t know.  I just wanted Baby Bear’s dime.

All: Donkey!

Donkey: He-he-he said he brought it to church to share. I’m just saying… If he wants to share it, I’ll take it. I could think of a lot of things to do with a dime. A dime; now that could buy a gumball, some dental floss off your friends, or a sticker.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Hold on there, Donkey. Oh, I see what you thought, and you are right. The Three Bears did bring their dime to share, but we share our offering with the church, so that the church has enough money to do some work for God, here on earth.

Donkey: Oh! I get it. I don’t get it… I mean… the dime. That’s okay; no hard feelings.

Matt the Lion: So, while the class talked about how the Three Bears’ dime might help the church, and how giving of our treasures can always help the church, eventually even Donkey understood about the importance of giving our treasure, and he got some great ideas.

Donkey: That’s it, great ideas.  I’m going to bring in a dime, too – a mighty fine dime. It’ll be shiny, all silvery-like with the little rrrrrridges on the side.

Blue Bird: Ahh?

Donkey: I’m just saying, you could bring a dime, too, Blue Bird.

Blue Bird: Uh-huh.

Donkey: I’m just saying…

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Great, Donkey, thank you for listening and understanding about stewardship and sharing. Each person has to decide for themselves what to give.

Blue Bird: (Exhales.)

Doggie: Bruff… Stewardship or sharing can mean taking time to do what God wants us to do in our own lives and in the world. We should go for a walk every day with God. I love to go for a walk.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Good point, Doggie.  Give that dog a bone! We need to give God our time.

Sea Monster: But, Mrs. Hymnbunny, how do we give God our time?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Thank you, Sea Monster.  That is a very good question. It is so good to have a monster in Sunday School. Isn’t that right, Sunday School teachers out there?

Matt the Lion: How do we give our time to God? Well, Mrs. Hymnbunny is giving her time as a teacher, and her class is giving their time to come and learn in Sunday School. While they talked more about time, they talked about how Jesus spent lots of time with his friends and taught them a most important lesson about loving one another while they had time together.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: That is right, and in his last days on earth, Jesus asked his friends to love one another just as much as Jesus had loved them.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: (sings) Yes, they’ll know we are Christians…

All: …by our love.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Now back to what you said, Doggie. God wants our time, and back to what you said, Three Bears.  God wants us to give generously of our treasure, and there is one more thing God would love for us to share. Can anyone tell me what that would be?

Baby Bear: Oh, I know, I know…ememememem…. it’s, it’s, another T word, treasure, time, and... oh… uh… talent. That’s it. Talent. Right, Iddy-Biddy Bear?

Iddy-Bitty Bear: Oooaaa-aa.

Baby Bear: Big Bear?

Big Bear: Huh?

Baby Bear: Isn’t that right?  The third thing God wants is our talent!

Big Bear: Grrrrr. (nods yes)

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Some bunny loves you for trying so hard to remember, Three Bears. You are right. God gave us all talents.

Kurt and Bernie: T-treasure. T-time. T-talent. T words!

Blue Bird: Terrific.

Matt the Lion: So the friends had a good Sunday School lesson about how we are all invited to share the three Ts.  Let’s say them together kids, T- treasure, T-time, and T-talent with our church. Well done.  Now let’s see what they will do in Sunday School.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: (rockin’ out while students stare, stunned) Takin’ it to the streets! Come on now, takin’ it to the streets. Whoo whooo whooo. Oh, sorry, I got carried away by the Spirit.  You just made me think of a great homework assignment.

All: Homework! Ahhhhh?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Now, now, little critters. With God, with everything that needs to be done… we always carry around homework. Think of it as a chance to bring God’s home, which is heaven, to all the earth. It takes work… home…work!

Donkey: I don’t like homework. Donkeys don’t do homework.

Big Blue: Surprise.

Doggie: It’s OK, Donkey.  We can consider this homework, teamwork. I’ll work on something with you – the Doggie and the Donkey.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Perfect Doggie, we’ll all be in this together.  You and donkey can work as a team. Now what I want you to do is go out with your partner and families and see what you can do that is a showing of love, using one of the three T-words. Now, let’s say them again together, kids.

Kurt and Bernie: T-Treasure! T-Time! T-Talent.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Oh, that time, even Blue Bird said them.

Matt the Lion:   So that’s what they did. They roared out of here. We took it to the street. 

All: (singing) They say the light of God shines bright on Broadway. They say the Broadway Spirit’s in the air.

Matt the Lion:   And when we came back to Sunday School the next week, we had so much to share. 

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Good morning, little Disciple-ing critters. What a week we had. I can’t wait to share with you what each one did with our HOME-work. 

Donkey: He-haw, he-haw. Can we go first? Please, please, pick us, pick us!

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Yes, what a great way to start.  Donkey and Doggie, tell us about this picture. [Editor’s note: Pictures are projected showing the puppets doing various good deeds around Columbia.]

Doggie: We helped someone to know when to walk across the street. Remember how much I like to walk?

Donkey: There I am, standing in the crosswalk, reminding the walkers that the “Walk Sign” was on.

Doggie: That’s me walking them safely across.

Donkey: Now that took a little TIME!

Doggie: Time well spent!

Tropical Bird 2: Here’s ours.

Tropical Bird 1: It was his idea.

Tropical Bird 2: Waving at a person at HY-VEE.

Tropical Bird 2: The store is called Hi-V, so I thought it would be nice if we just waved and said “HI” to the busy shoppers. 

Blue Bird: Of course, you did.

Tropical Bird 1: Like I said; his idea.

Tropical Bird 2: Hi, Hi! It was nice.

Tropical Bird 1: Actually, it was nice. Look, we carried some groceries, too!

Sea Monster: And I helped a person who lives on Broadway plant some flowers for spring.  Yesterday was May Day, you know! I have a green thumb. See!

All: Awwww!

Matt the Lion: One by one, the Sunday School Gang showed the slides of the nice things they did on Broadway. They were happy about these things they did. The Bears even put an act together and sang for the festival out on Broadway.

Baby Bear: There we were performing.  I like Big Bears, and I cannot lie. You are the bears; can’t deny. When a bear walks in with an Iddy-Biddy Bear…

Blue Bird: Uhhhhhh.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Way to go, Bears. That’s a catchy tune. Way to share your talents out on Broadway!

Mrs. Hymnbunny: And Baby Bear, what did you do with the money people gave you for singing to them?

Baby Bear: Here; we bought some people who were parked on Broadway some extra time… with just one dime.

Bear: Grrrr.

Iddy-Biddy Bear: Goo-goo. Gaa-Gaa.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: What about you, Kurt and Bernie?

Kurt and Bernie: We spent some of our day picking up trash. Another T-word!

Blue Bird: Trashy…nice.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Takin’ it to the streets. Oh, look children, here is a new critter coming into our Sunday School Class. May I help you, Little Monkey?

Monkey: I’m looking for Blue Bird. He invited me to come to Sunday School. Oh, hi, Blue Bird, thanks for inviting me to Sunday School. Sorry I’m late.  I was out monkey-ing around.

All: Blue Bird! Way to go inviting a new friend to Sunday School!

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Blue Bird, way to go, inviting a friend to Sunday School.

Blue Bird: Don’t mention it.

Sea Monster: Hi, Monkey, come in. We’re glad you’re here! Nice one, Blue Bird.

Blue Bird: We have something for you, too. (Gives flowers) We want to thank you for being our teacher.

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Oh children, these are beautiful. It is my honor to share with you. Thank you. Class dismissed.  See you next Sunday! 

Students: Wait; what’s our homework?

Mrs. Hymnbunny: Homework? Well, you tell me.  You tell all of us next week where you saw or showed the love of Jesus. I’ll see you then. Oh, these flowers are delicious. Yum, yum! Quite Good. (She is eating the flowers as she exits).

Matt the Lion: As Mrs. Hymnbunny ate her beautiful flowers, all the friends knew that they had learned so much, and that’s the truth. That was the end of this day with the Sunday School Gang on Broadway. See you next week.

Blue Bird: Oh, and ah, bring a friend.

They say the light of God shines bright on Broadway.

They say the Broadway Spirit’s in the air.

And when we walk out on the street,

Though puppets don’t have any feet,

The love of God goes with us everywhere!

Puppeteers: James Fisher, Cole Flottman, Mitchell Flottman, Kelsy Johnston, Tyler McCutchen, Hannah Overfelt, C.J. Phillips, Pete Stansberry, Zander Sutherland, Cyrus Tague, Blake Wilson, Keegan Wilson. Directors: Terry Overfelt, Shawna Schulte.

Benediction

And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.