Welcome to Worship
We gather to worship, we go out to serve.
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD
* Please rise in body or spirit
Tolling of the Bell
Welcome and Announcements
Visitors, fill out the connection card in the pew so we can send you a note
Opening Prayer Gary Kollman
In the silence before time began, in the quiet of the womb, in the stillness of early morning is your beauty. At the heart of all creation, at the birth of every creature, at the center of each moment is your splendor. Rekindle in me the sparks of your beauty that I may be part of the splendor of this moment. Rekindle in me the sparks of your beauty that I may be part of the blazing splendor of that burns from the heart of this moment. Amen.
Prelude Christopher Bunch
*Call to Worship (Responsive) Gary Kollman
Worship the Lord with gladness!
We come into God’s presence with singing.
For the Lord our God is good.
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
*Hymn O Jesus I Have Promised #724
Prayer for New Beginnings (Unison) Gary Kollmann
God of all power and peace, as Jesus sent his disciples out to heal the sick, cast out demons, gather the lost, raise the dead, and proclaim the nearness of your realm, make us ready to go and share the good news we have received; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Passing of the Peace (Responsive)
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
*Congregational Response In My Life #468 v.1,4
In my life, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In my life, Lord, be glorified today,
In your world, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In your world, Lord, be glorified today.
HEARING THE WORD
Prayer for Illumination Gary Kollman
Open our hearts this day as we seek the way of compassion. May your Word give us the confidence to live Christ’s love in the world. All this we ask in the name of God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.
Old Testament Reading Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19 Gary Kollman
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Word in Music Christopher Bunch
Gospel Reading Matthew 9: 35-38
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Jeff Sockwell
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
*Hymn Jesus Calls Us #720
*Affirmation of Faith (Unison) the Confession of Belhar
We believe that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ. We believe that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
We believe that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker. We believe that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Prayers of the People / Lord’s Prayer (Responsive)
…, who taught us this prayer:
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Invitation to the Offering
Offertory Christopher Bunch
*Doxology #606
*Prayer of Dedication
WE GO OUT TO SERVE
*Hymn To God Be the Glory #634
*Blessing
May God, who creates, redeems, and sustains, keep you steadfast in faith, buoyant in hope, and abounding in love. And the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
Postlude Christopher Bunch