We are honored you have chosen to join us in worship. There is a time in our service when we will welcome guests; we will not, however, ask you to stand, raise your hand or do anything that makes you feel awkward. We would like to know you were here, however. Please fill out the information request below and place it in the offering plate or hand it to an usher or minister. We promise to use it only to contact you about our church.

This is my (our)…

___ First visit to First Baptist Church

___ Second (+) visit

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___ I am new to Rome.

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Sunday, August 18 8:30 a.m. Adult Faith Development Committee - Conference Room 8:30 a.m. Missions Committee - Dining Room 9:00 a.m. Scrap Iron Broadcast (WLAQ 1410) 9:45 a.m. Bible Study 11:00 a.m. Worship 12:00 p.m. Youth International Mission Trip Interest Meeting - Youth Room

Monday, August 19 1:00 p.m. Women of the Church Book Group - Conference Room 5:30 p.m. Women’s Small Group - Community Room Together We, Serve - Dining Room

Tuesday, August 20 12:00 p.m. Men’s Bible Study - Dining Room

Wednesday, August 21 3:00 p.m. Senior Adult San Antonio Information Meeting - Dining Room 5:00 p.m. First Choice Dinner - Fellowship Hall 5:45 p.m. Children’s Choirs Youth Hang Out - Youth Room 6:00 p.m. Prayer Time & Church Conference - Fellowship Hall 6:15 p.m. Youth Wednesday Connection - Youth Room 6:30 p.m. Children on Mission 6:45 p.m. Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal - Choir Suite

The flowers in the Narthex are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Wayne Dempsey on the occasion of our wedding anniversary by Marsha Dempsey.

The flowers in the Sanctuary are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Ruland and Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Wilson on the occasion of their wedding anniversaries by Hal and Debbie Ruland and Family.

TLC WORSHIP CARE Volunteers are needed in our nursery during worship. Please contact Kristen to help. This is a commitment to serve only four times a year. If you won't be available on your scheduled Sunday, it's easy to switch. Please consider helping out!

WEDNESDAY NIGHT & CHURCH CONFERENCE Dinner at 5 p.m. and church conference is at 6 p.m. Agenda items include hearing a review of the 2020 budget, reports from the Committee on Committees and church membership, and help connecting to the ShelbyNext app. Children’s choir and missions education and youth activities resume. Dinner for adults and teens $7; Children (ages 3-12) $4 and family maximum $22.

FIRST CHOICE DINNER MINISTRY TEAM Serving food and offering fellowship is an important ministry as we CONNECT with each other across generations. Volunteers are needed to receive money, pour tea, serve children, and scoop ice cream. Serving one Wednesday a month is a huge help! Please contact Tamara Smathers or Mary Rolan to learn more.

SHELBYNEXT - GET CONNECTED! Get connected to your FBC church family through the ShelbyNext Membership App. This app can be downloaded on your smart phone, or on your home computer. For access, contact Melinda Duke at mduke@fbcrome.org. Teenagers will be available after church conference next Wednesday to offer help.

HYMN FESTIVAL The downtown churches will sponsor a hymn festival hosted by St. Peter’s Episcopal church on Sunday, September 15 at 3:00 p.m. All of the choirs will be leading as the congregation joins with us. Make an extra effort to be a part of this beautiful service.

YOUTH CHOIR RESUMES Youth Choir will resume Sunday, August 25 at 9 a.m. in the Choir Room.

First Baptist Church, 100 East Fourth Avenue, Rome, GA 30161 Phone: 706.291.6850 Website: www.fbcrome.org

WELCOME CHURCH CALENDAR WELCOME

First Baptist Church of Rome A Service of Christian Worship

August 18, 2019

Parable of the Dinner Party She entered the party like a caped queen her heels lifting herself up to thinner air almost to where she wanted to be she saw the table spread with boutique finery charcuterie and artisanal cheeses and duck liver pate red and white and bubbling wine for every course she approached the gathering and saw on the far end the out-of-fashioned, the rough handed and wrong spoken the servants and migrants who picked the butter lettuce on the near end she saw well-labeled suits handbags with leather and metal clasps that look of confidence in the eyes of the highly educated she saw one chair near her with those of her kind she sat and mingled and sipped wine and laughed controllably and knew which fork to use for the appetizer the host came and thanked her for taking the seat at this end and assured her warm voiced that someday, she too, could join him at the other end

—Michael Coffey

First Baptist Church

Rome, Georgia August 18, 2019 11:00 p.m.

To help maintain a spirit of worship, please silence phones. We welcome a larger congregation

through Comcast Channel 44 and through the livestream over the church website.

Chiming of the Hour Prelude . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Hill

“Prelude on DEO GRACIAS”...Brenda Portman Welcome to Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kristen Pope

Call to Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HOLY MANNA

“Come to the Table” Come to the table, all who hunger, those who seek the Bread of Life.

Come to the table, all who are thirsty, those who are seeking living wine. At the table, leave your burdens; lean upon the Savior's breast.

Come to the table, all who are weary, come and find your promised rest.

Come to the table, bring your troubles; lay them at the feet of Christ. Come to the table, all who are needy; God Himself has paid the price.

To the table bring your sorrow; wipe each teardrop from your eye. Come to the table, God is calling, All who come are satisfied.

Come to the table, all are welcome; Christ invites the world to dine.

Come to the table, Christian pilgrims, come and taste the bread and wine. At the table there is plenty; every need will be supplied.

Come to the table, Christ is waiting, come and celebrate new life. (© 1997 Timespann CCLI#1416587)

Call to Confession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Kearns, lay leader

God of grace, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

A Time for Silent Prayer

Assurance of Forgiveness No. 445. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLEANSING FOUNTAIN

“There Is a Fountain” (Please sing Stanzas 1, 2 and 4.)

Samantha Lester, violin

Morning Prayer (with The Lord’s Prayer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tamara Tillman Smathers Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

*Reading of Holy Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luke 14:1, 7-14 (The text may be found on page 1034 in the Bibles in the pew racks.)

Matt DuVall, reader Reader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Children’s Worship Children in kindergarten through second grade are invited to Children’s Worship on the second floor of the Education Building. Parents may pick up their children there following worship.

Lord’s Supper. Today, we observe the ordinance of communion. The bread will be passed to the entire congregation and we will eat it together when the pastor indicates it is time. A gluten-free alternative is available on each tray. Next, the cup will be taken in the same way. The table set before us is not the property of our church; it is the Lord’s table. We invite all who call Jesus “Lord” to join us.

Joining First Baptist We receive new members in several ways. Those who have never publicly acknowledged Christ as Lord join by public profession of faith. Baptism is scheduled for a later date. Members of other Baptist congregations may transfer their membership to our congregation. We handle the details of contacting your current church. Members of other Christian faith traditions are invited to join by “statement of faith.” Because other traditions vary in belief and practice, those joining by statement of faith are invited to speak with a minister before joining so that they might answer questions.

Safety Safe zones for severe weather are in preschool hallways for children and the Fellowship Hall for the congregation. If there is a need to evacuate, parents should pick up children at the bus parking lot on the far side of First Presbyterian Church.

Prayer Concerns (Please place in offering plate or hand to an usher or minister.) ____________________________________ ____________________________________

Matt DuVall, Pastor

Keith A. Reaves Senior Associate/Minister of Worship

Tamara Tillman Smathers Minister of Education/Administration

John H. Uldrick Minister to Students and Missions

Kristen Pope, Minister of Faith Development

Gwen Stephens, Ministry Assistant

Beverly Harris, Pianist Joan Hill, Organist

A SERVICE OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP FOR YOUR INFORMATION

*Gloria Patri (Hymn 704)

(Children ages kindergarten through second grade may depart for Children’s Worship.)

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. Sermon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rev. DuVall

“Who Are You Honoring?”

Anthem of Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sanctuary Choir “Let Us Break Bread Together”...arr. Jay Rouse

(The text to this anthem may be found in Hymn 461.) Ordinance of the Lord’s Supper The table set before us is not the property of our church; it is the Lord’s table. We invite all who call Jesus “Lord” to join us.

The Bread (a gluten-free alternative is available on each tray) The Cup *Hymn of Response No. 267. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DENNIS

“Blest Be the Tie” Prayer of Stewardship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Uldrick Offertory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Hill/Samantha Lester

“Praise to the Lord”...arr. Charles Callahan Meditation Text: So here is Jesus’ word to his listeners, to the church to which Luke wrote ... and to us: If you are one of those people who thinks you deserve the best place at the banquet, think again. You need to be humbled. And if you are one of those people who thinks (or you’ve been told) you only deserve the lowest place at the banquet, think again. You need to be strengthened—you need to accept your own privileged status as a child of God. At God’s table, every place is the same. There is always enough to go around. There is al-ways room for you. Be strong and be humble. They are not mutually exclu-sive. —Melissa Bane Sevier

The Work of the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Uldrick

Welcome to New Members of the Church Family *Pastoral Blessing *Passing of the Peace *Commissioning Hymn No. 457 (Stanza Four). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REGENT SQUARE

With the Spirit-blessed commission, “Go and serve this meal to all,” Take its love and peaceful vision

into every banquet hall. Go and serve as nourished people,

gladly feeding one and all! *Postlude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joan Hill

“Postlude on Hymn to Joy”...Grimoaldo Macchia