VERDUGO COMMUNITY CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

We open our service with song. Pastor Gail Linstrom welcomes all to worship and to participate in the life of our church family. Nick Baltazar opens use with a prayer and Michelle Hensley calls us to worship with a reading of Psalm 24. Nick Baltazar, Mike Minasyan, and Ed Manacop lead us in our praise singing. Greg Hart takes up the praises and concerns of the church and our world in the Prayers of the People.

 

In her sermon, “God’s Love Abides in Open Hearts,” Pastor Gail looks at John 15 to explore what Jesus meant when he says that he is the true vine and we are to be his fruitful branches. The relationship was one his listeners understood and were familiar with. By appreciating the life cycle of the grapevine, we see how branches that can no longer bear fruit must be pruned so that the healthy ones can thrive. Jesus affirms that his believers have been chosen by him. As disciples we are to abide in Jesus and obey his commandment to love one another, so we will bear much fruit. To conclude this part of the service, there is a period of personal reflection on what this means to each of us.

 

Pastor Gail then leads us in the sacrament of communion, and you are invited to participate as well.

 

Verdugo makes its Sunday sermons available to you on Facebook and posts audio copies of the service and sermon at https://verdugochurch.podbean.com.

 

Prayers of the People has been edited to respect the privacy and confidentiality of individual prayer requests. All CCLI songs are performed under Verdugo Community Church’s license with CCLI.

 

Verdugo Community Church is a Free Methodist congregation serving the Glassell Park, Eagle Rock, and Glendale areas in Los Angeles. It is located at 4300 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Our email address is verdugofmc@gmail.com. Contact Pastor Gail at (323) 500-3343.

 

Worship service copyright 2023 by Verdugo Community Church. Sermon copyright 2023 by Gail Whitcome Linstrom and Verdugo Community Church.