The Gathering
Tolling of the Hour
Welcome and Announcements ** Indicates, please stand.
Whether we are old or young, whether we are first-time or longtime worshipers, whether we come full of doubts or confidence, joy or sorrow, in this place we are all family, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Welcome to all of you today!
Prelude
Prayer of Invocation
In Christ, the God of heaven has made his home on earth. Christ dwells among us and is one with us. Highest of all creation, he lives among the least. He journeys with the rejected and welcomes the weary. Come now, all who thirst, and drink the water of life. Come now, all who hunger, and be filled with good things. Come now, all who seek, and be warmed by the fire of love.
**Responsive Call to Worship Please stand in body or spirit as you are able.
Worship is a place to rest.
We breathe deeply here. We still our aching bones. We sit in the quiet. We surround ourselves with music. Worship is a place to rest.
Worship is a place to grow.
We listen for God’s word. We invite it to challenge us. We lean in with curiosity. We ask questions. Worship is a place to grow.
So come into this space. Come rest and grow here. For where two or more are gathered, God is always there.
Let us worship our gracious God.
**Opening Hymn Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me #366
Call to Confession and Silent Prayer
Friends, we carve out time for confession in worship because it is not enough to hear about God’s grace once. We need that reminder again, and again, and again. So join me in speaking the truth of our lives, and join me in receiving God’s grace again. Let us in silence confess our sin to God.
Unison Prayer of Confession
Holy God, There are days when we fail to rest. We stretch ourselves too thin. We say “yes” to every invitation. We run a million miles a minute. We ignore your command to rest. There are also days when we fail to act. We wait for someone else. We take the easy road. We find excuses and justify our inaction. God, forgive our imbalance. Remind us that birds rest, and they also fly. Show us how to do the same. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Family of faith, I have good news! Our God does not keep score. Our God does not hold
grudges. Our God does not assume the worst about us. No, our God offers grace, and
endless second chances, and boundless love. So join me in proclaiming the good news of the
gospel: God’s grace is deeper than the ocean. God’s love is wider than the sky.
We are seen. We are claimed. We are forgiven.
May this realization change and inspire us.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
** Passing the Peace
The Peace of Christ be with you…
And also with you.
**Gloria Patri #579
Hearing the Word
Prayer of Illumination
Creator God, Your Word is like soil, something we can root ourselves in. Your Word is like the sun, big enough to touch everything with its warmth. And your Word is like a gardener, a love that prunes and encourages, waters and delights, seeds and tends. So as we turn to your text today, warm our bones, tend to our broken pieces, and show us how to grow. With hope we pray, Amen.
Scripture
Old Testament Reading Psalm 63:1-8
Instrumental Anthem
New Testament Reading Luke 13:6-9
Sermon Everything in Between – Rest and Growth Rev. Morris
**Hymn Let All Things Now Living #554
**Affirmation of Faith
We believe in a God who loves and tends to us like a gardener. We believe that like the trees, some seasons are for growth, and some seasons are for rest. Some days require pruning, and some require planting. Fortunately, we believe that our green-thumbed God sees us and cultivates the sweetest fruit. So may we plant roots, reach for the sky, grow where we can, and rest when we need, for we believe there is holiness in the pruning and in the planting. And we do not grow alone. Thanks be to God, amen.
Invitation to Offering
The willingness to give is a sign of life. The fruit tree gives of its fruit, and we know it is alive. When it no longer gives, we know real life has gone out of it. The heart that hoards the blessings of God is no longer alive with spiritual power. To give is to live.
Offertory
**Doxology #592
**Unison Prayer of Dedication
God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever. You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine. Nourish us with these gifts, that we might be for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Words of Institution
God meets us in the sacraments, holy acts in which his deeds elicit our response. In the supper our Lord offers the bread and cup to believers to guarantee our share in his death and resurrection, and to unite us to him and to each other. We take this food gladly, announcing as we eat that Jesus is our life and that he shall come again to call us to the Supper of the Lamb. Come to this table: you who have much faith, and you who would like to have more; you who have been to this sacrament often, and you who have not been for a long time; you who have tried to follow Jesus, and you who have failed. Come. It is Christ who invites us to meet him here.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving and the Lord’s Prayer
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right for us to give thanks and praise.
It is our joy and our peace, at all times and in all places to give thanks to you, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, through Christ, our Lord.
With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us— even when we fell into sin. We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, by whose grace we may triumph over temptation, be more fervent in prayer, and be more generous in love. Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.
#562 Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full, full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.
You are holy, O God of majesty, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He took upon himself the weight of our sin and carried the burden of our guilt. He shared our life in every way, and, though tempted, was sinless to the end. Baptized as your own, he went willingly to his death and by your power was raised to new life.
#563 Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
In his dying and rising, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
#564 Amen, amen, amen. Amen, amen.
Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we pray: Our Father who art in Heaven…
Preparing the Bread and Cup
We celebrate this feast in obedience to Christ’s example and mandate.
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord until he comes.
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
Unison Prayer after Communion
Loving God, we thank you that you have fed us in this sacrament, united us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet in your eternal kingdom. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
We Go Out to Serve
**Hymn For the Bread Which You Have Broken #509
**Charge and Blessing
As you have been fed at this table,
We go to feed the hungry.
As you have been set free,
We go to set free the imprisoned.
As you have received,
We give.
As you have heard,
We proclaim.
And the blessing that you have received from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be always with you. Amen.
Postlude