First Presbyterian Church
Worship for all God’s People
33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY November 13, 2016 10:30
We Gather in God’s Presence
PRELUDE J.S. Bach
I Stand at the Threshold
Lighting of the candles – Oliver Hagel, acolyte
As the worship leaders and acolyte process,
let us pause as we begin our worship.
OUR LIFE TOGETHER…
During the announcements, please fill out the
“Welcome Sheets” and any prayers you would like to
share this morning. Pass them to the outside of your pew
to be collected by the ushers during the Gathering Song.
SILENCE Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.
GATHERING SONG Ken Medema
(congregation and choir singing together)
Come Build a Church
Come build a church with soul and spirit,
come build a church of flesh and bone.
We need no tower rising skyward;
no house of wood or glass or stone.
Come build a church with human frailty,
come build a church of flesh and blood.
Jesus shall be its sure foundation.
It shall be built by the hand of God.
CALL TO WORSHIP
God is calling us today.
We gather to hear God’s call in our lives.
God needs your gifts and graces to help others.
May we use the blessings which God has given us to benefit others.
Let us worship and celebrate God’s love for us.
Let us show our faithfulness in our words and actions.
+ signifies, those who are able, please stand
+HYMN No. 401 Gather Us In
Here in This Place
+OPENING PRAYER AND CONFESSION
Let us pray. Loving God, you have shown your
love in works of healing, forgiveness,
and justice.
You have placed us in communities
and called us to love you and our neighbors.
But it is difficult for us.
How often, O Lord, have we believed that
the greatest commandment is our love for
ourselves solely.
We have not heard the cries of those in need;
we have turned our backs on opportunities to serve you by serving others.
Many times we have thought only of our own wants and desires and ignored the needs of others.
Help us to truly understand the commandments to love you with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.
Let us care for our neighbors both far and near. Bring us back to your loving light.
+ASSURANCE OF GOD’S GRACE
In the midst of our darkness and hard-
heartedness, the bright light of God’s love
shines through, healing our anguished souls.
Rejoice, beloved of God, for God’s love
and forgiveness are given to you this day.
Thanks be to God.
+RESPONSE We Are Forgiven Hymn No. 447
Congregation and choir singing together
We are forgiven. We are forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
+PASSING THE PEACE
Since God has forgiven us in Christ,
let us forgive one another.
The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
And also with you.
We Grow as We Listen to God’s Word
MESSAGE FOR OUR CHILDREN
Congregation and choir singing together
This, this is where children belong,
welcomed as part of the worshiping throng.
Water, God’s word, bread and cup,
prayer and song:
This is where children belong.
– James Ritchie
Following the message, all children will meet with the
Kushmauls to work on the Children’s Christmas message. Nursery care is available for our youngest children.
PRAYER BEFORE THE READING
Let us pray. Gracious God, write your law on our hearts and let your word of grace dwell in us so that no matter where we are, we may know we are forgiven and free.
Amen.
READING: Micah 6:6-8 (OT page 866)
ANTHEM Bob Burroughs
You Are My God
O God, though God of the universe, You are my God,
And with all my being, I seek You;
As one who thirsts seeks water, as bread is sought
in hunger, O God.
You are my God, and with all my being, I seek You.
In Your sanctuary I behold You; Your power
and glory enfold You.
I lift up my hands before You; My heart and my lips
shall praise You. You are my God.
O God, though God of the universe, You are my God,
And with all my being, I praise You;
To me, Your love is better than life itself,
far better, O God.
You are my God, and with all my being I praise You.
I praise you, I praise You, I praise You.
GOSPEL READING: Luke 10:25-37 (NT page 71)
THE SERMON
+RESPONSE
God, help me to understand the answer Jesus gave to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
About a man on the road who needed help. About those who refused it; and the one person who gave it.
Right: Make me more aware that whether
I know them or not, even whether
I like them or not, all people everywhere
are my neighbors.
Left:Make me more sensitive to the needs
of those I meet at home, at school,
at work, in a shop, along the street,
anywhere.
Jesus, as we are confronted by the needs of all our neighbors in this world, may we remember how you responded to the people you met everyday.
All:May we follow your example and
reach out to others offering friendship
and help in practical ways.
And in so doing, may we discover
you in the neighbors we serve. Amen
+HYMN No. 203 Chereponi
Jesu, Jesu Fill Us With Your Love
We Give in Response to God’s Love
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
For the blessing which is this community of faith
sanctuary and sermon, music and mission,
practices of hospitality, of education,
of discernment,
We pray to you, O God.
For the blessing we each bring to add to
others’ blessings – our personal hopes and
skills, the time we can share, the experiences
from which we offer tenderness, our willingness
to take responsibility or expose vulnerability,
We pray to you, O God.
For unexpected blessing in trouble’s face
that sustains us in hard times – diagnosis,
discouragement, downturn or despair – and the
way community granites that grace so that it is
strong enough for any situation,
We pray to you, O God.
For the showers of blessing in the spaces –
all those possibilities of next year – the new
People who will sit in these pews, the new
programs through which we will reach out,
the transitions completed and the transitions
begun,
We pray to you, O God.
For the blessing of prayer, the blessing of
scripture, the blessing of forgiveness,
the blessing of the resurrection promise,
the blessing of a single cup of cold water
for a child, a stranger or a friend,
We pray to you, O God.
All these we have and do and will receive
through Jesus Christ who opens our hearts
and hands so that grace may flow through us
to all the world.
For so many blessings we give you
thanks and praise. Amen
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
As the offertory is sung you are invited to bring
forward your offering and pledge card.
Offertory Don Michael Dicie
Arise, My Love, and Come Away
(Melanie Gritters, soloist)
Arise, my love, and come away, for winter is past,
winter is past.
The light of heaven shines in our hearts,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers adorn the bright new earth,
new blossoms appear, new blossoms appear.
The songs of doves are heard in our land,
their joyful music abounds.
The blossoms reach out, reach out to the sun,
Heaven and earth lift up their voice, Arise! Arise!
Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,
come away.
The light of heaven shines in our hearts,
the rain is over and gone.
Alleluia!
+Doxology No. 608 Praise God
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore.
+PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Let us pray.
Thank you, God, for this time of worship,
and for the way it feeds our souls,
changes our hearts, and unites us with you.
In our daily choices and relationships,
in our homes and communities,
May we align ourselves
with your love, O God.
In our citizenship and country,
in our national discourse and social participation,
May we align ourselves
with your love, O God.
In our world and on the earth,
in our care for the planet, and our sharing of its resources,
May we align ourselves
with your love, O God.
And may your love fill the globe,
so that followers and leaders,
poor and wealthy,
weak and powerful,
servant and served,
May live aligned to your love.
We go now to live as followers of Christ,
as people of compassion,
as those who seek to serve
and heal the world. Amen.
+THE LORD’S PRAYER
In unity and peace we pray as Christ taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven, …
We Go to Serve God’s World
+HYMN No 69 Here I Am, Lord
I, the Lord of Sea and Sky
+BLESSING
Go into the world in peace. Have courage.
Return no one evil for evil.
Strengthen the faint-hearted,
support the weak, help the suffering.
Honor all people. Love and serve the Lord
in the neighbors you meet.
Go knowing God’s presence, God’s love,
and God’s favor go with us, and remain
with us always.
Amen.
+CHORAL RESPONSE Schumann
We Give Thee but Thine Own
*POSTLUDE Anna Laura Page
How Firm a Foundation
This Morning’s Worship Leaders
Liturgist: Sharon Weiler
Greeter: Jane Lockwood (Parking Lot Door);
Julie Dudgeon (Cloister Door)
Ushers: Sylvia Faust, Stan Gallup,
Greg and Susan McLorg Moore
November 13, 2016