ORDER OF WORSHIP
PRELUDE
CALL TO WORSHIP
When the world is no longer a paradise and creation shows its full power over us still, and we are brought down to size on this small planet of ours, we worship.
When the memories linger of the past and war shapes us beyond our knowing and conflict becomes a story of life, we worship.
When the way is more barren than beautiful when the path is more a climb than a stroll when the desert expands and the horizon stretches we worship.
We worship because we can; we worship because we hope; we worship because we know our vulnerability. When things shift and we need to hold on we worship. It is the only strength we have for the journey.
OPENING PRAYER
All-knowing and all-caring God, we gather this day drained by another week. We are like a parched desert, empty and in need of replenishment. Visit us with your presence, saturate us with your Spirit, and bathe us in your streams of living water, that our lives might acknowledge and worship you to the praise and honor of Jesus Christ. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done
To God be the glory, great things he hath done! So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done!
O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (Refrain)
Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. (Refrain)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Ephesians 2:1-10
You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
SCRIPTURE John 3:14-21
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
SERMON
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH A Modern Affirmation
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children’s good. We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father’s unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need. We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen.
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HYMN OF PRAYER Breathe on Me, Breath of God
Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN OF PROMISE Just As I Am, Without One Plea
Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
BLESSING
POSTLUDE
PRELUDE
CALL TO WORSHIP
When the world is no longer a paradise and creation shows its full power over us still, and we are brought down to size on this small planet of ours, we worship.
When the memories linger of the past and war shapes us beyond our knowing and conflict becomes a story of life, we worship.
When the way is more barren than beautiful when the path is more a climb than a stroll when the desert expands and the horizon stretches we worship.
We worship because we can; we worship because we hope; we worship because we know our vulnerability. When things shift and we need to hold on we worship. It is the only strength we have for the journey.
OPENING PRAYER
All-knowing and all-caring God, we gather this day drained by another week. We are like a parched desert, empty and in need of replenishment. Visit us with your presence, saturate us with your Spirit, and bathe us in your streams of living water, that our lives might acknowledge and worship you to the praise and honor of Jesus Christ. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done
To God be the glory, great things he hath done! So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done!
O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (Refrain)
Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. (Refrain)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Ephesians 2:1-10
You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
SCRIPTURE John 3:14-21
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
SERMON
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH A Modern Affirmation
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children’s good. We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father’s unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need. We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen.
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HYMN OF PRAYER Breathe on Me, Breath of God
Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN OF PROMISE Just As I Am, Without One Plea
Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
BLESSING
POSTLUDE