“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42b).

The Old Testament reading is Psalm 119:33–40, a section that celebrates every opportunity to learn from God and to study the divine teaching.

Pastor Johnson went on from Bucyrus to First Church, Ashtabula. We welcome him back among us for this day. There will be a reception in his honor in the chapel following the service.

Our opening hymn will be #130, O for a thousand tongues to sing (Charles Wesley). The acclamations of praise are #137 Make us one, Lord, and #124 I live because he is risen. The pulpit hymn is #315, Break thou the bread of life—suitable both before the sermon and also for the communion liturgy. The communion hymn is Songs for Praise & Worship #39, In His time. We’ll close the service with #614, All the way my Savior leads me.

I’ll be conducting the service, Brad Bradford is the liturgist, and Martha Tidball will sing “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris. Susan Lower is organist. Since it is the first Sunday of the month, we will celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, served in the pews. Dave Hablitzel, convenor of the Worship Committee, is organizing the elders for serving. And if our blessings hold, we’ll also have Bob Thompson on percussion and Dan Brubaker on the trombone.

Next Sunday, the “gang of fifteen” will conduct our worship service in its entirety. These are the twelve young people and three adults who went to Harrodsburg, KY, as part of the summer workcamp program. Plan now to be here, to savor their testimonies, to praise God, and enjoy the singing. 9:30 AM.

I’ll return to Jonah on Aug. 15, bringing that series to a close with a sermon on Jonah 4, “Unfinished Story.” Since this will be the third Sunday of the month, we’ll hold the Communion and Healing Service at 6 PM as usual.