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 Kollmann
God of the covenant, your compassion reaches beyond the mere making and keeping of promises. Teach us to listen to one another with your heart, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prelude Christopher Bunch
*Call to Worship (Responsive) Gary Kollmann
All who are righteous, shout with joy to our God!
Let us sing a new song!
Praise God and give thanks, with organs, with guitars, with all kinds of instruments!
Play your best with joy!
Because our Creator’s word is right, and everything God does is done for our good.
Let your faithful love surround us, O God!
*Hymn When Peace Like a River #840
Prayer for New Beginnings (Unison) Gary Kollmann
Merciful God, you remind us through Scripture that you desire mercy and not sacrifice. You showed us an example of your mercy in the life and actions of Jesus Christ. Let your church live out that mercy for others, as the healing and compassionate presence that Jesus was in the world. In his name we pray. 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 Kollmann
O God, you have the power to make a desert a place of renewal and a cross a sign of redemption. Send your Holy Spirit so that we can hear you and entrust ourselves completely to you, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
Old Testament Reading Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 Gary Kollmann
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble, I call on you, for you will answer me. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving girl. Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Word in Music Christopher Bunch
New Testament Reading Galatians 1:11-24
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Jeff Sockwell
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
*Hymn Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine #839
*Affirmation of Faith (Unison) Confession of 1967 (edited)
The reconciliation of humanity through Jesus Christ makes it plain that enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation of God’s good creation. Because Jesus identified himself with the needy and exploited, the cause of the world’s poor is the cause of his disciples. The church cannot condone poverty, whether it is the product of unjust social structures, exploitation of the defenseless, lack of national resources, absence of technological understanding, or rapid expansion of populations. The church calls every person to use their abilities, their possessions, and the fruits of technology as gifts entrusted to them by God for the maintenance of God’s family and the advancement of the common welfare.
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 Amazing Grace #649
*Blessing
May God our Creator bless you so that you can be a blessing to others. May Christ bless you so that you can be healers of a world that is hurting. May the Holy Spirit bless you so that you can spread the love that God desires and gifts to this world.
Postlude Christopher Bunch