September 16, 2018 – Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

WE COME TOGETHER AS GOD’S PEOPLE

Prelude    Benedictus, Op. 59, No. 9    Max Reger
Dr. John Allegar, organ (1873-1916)

+ Welcome     Dr. David A. Chaddock

Call to Worship     A Mighty Fortress Is Our God     EIN’ FESTE BURG
Sanctuary Choir
Dr. Michelle Louer, Director of Music and Fine Arts

A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;
Protecting us with staff and rod, And power all prevailing.
What if the nations rage And surging seas rampage;
What though the mountains fall, The Lord is God of all;
The Lord of hosts is with us.

One: O God, you are our strength and our deliverer.

All: The Lord is our fortress and our rock;

One: Our stronghold in whom we take refuge;

All: Therefore, we will sing and praise your holy name.

One: Let us gather now in worship and adoration.

Prayer of Adoration

*+Processional Hymn #313     Come Down, O Love Divine     DOWN AMPNEY

Call to Confession

Silent Confession

Prayer of Confession

Holy God, we carry the burdens of words said that we wish we had not said; of acts done in anger or pride that we wish we could undo. We hold grudges for a long time, and we do not seek reconciliation with those from whom we are estranged. Pride consumes us, and we refuse to extend the grace you freely give. Forgive us. Forgive those words and deeds and inactions that cause you and others sorrow. Restore us, renew us, and give us the strength, courage, and love we need to be your gracious people. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

* Response of Praise     Gloria Patri     (Hymn #579)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.

* Passing of the Peace

Leader: The peace of Christ be with you.

People: And also with you.

* Hymn #450     O Day of Peace     JERUSALEM

Ritual of Friendship and the Concerns of the Church      Jasiel Hernandez

Minute for Mission      Jennifer Murphy
New Day

WE EXPERIENCE GOD’S WORD

Time with Children (11:00)

Prayer of Illumination    
Elder Blake Neubauer (9:30)
Deacon Jack Stafford (11:00)

First Lesson       Isaiah 58:1-12       (p. 674)

Anthem     And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth      Felix Mendelssohn
(from Elijah) (1809-1847)

And then shall your light break forth as the light of morning breaketh,
and your health shall speedily spring forth then;
And the glory of the Lord ever shall reward you.
Lord our Creator, how excellent Thy Name is in all the nations!
Thou fillest heaven with Thy glory. Amen!

Second Lesson      Luke 18:9-14      (p. 955)

Response

Leader: This is the word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon     Rev. Christopher A. Henry

“The Problem with Piety”
“...for all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:14)

WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD

Invitation to Discipleship

* Affirmation of Faith     A Song of Faith (2006)     The United Church of Canada

We sing of God the Spirit,
who from the beginning has swept over the face of creation,
animating all energy and matter
and movingin the human heart.

We sing of God the Spirit,
faithful and untameable,
who is creatively and redemptively active in the world.

The Spirit challenges us to celebrate the holy
not only in what is familiar,
but also in that which seems foreign.

We sing of God the Spirit,
who speaks our prayers of deepest longing
and enfolds our concerns and confessions,
transforming us and the world. Amen.

Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

Offertory     Trio on ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now’, BWV 655     J.S. Bach
(1685-1750)

* Doxology      (Hymn #592)

* Prayer of Thanksgiving

WE GO FORTH TO SERVE

* Closing Hymn #411     Arise, Your Light Is Come!     FESTAL SONG

* Charge and Benediction

* Benediction Response     Send Forth Thy Light     Mily Balakirev
(1837-1910)

Send forth Thy light, send forth Thy truth,
and let them lead me to Thy holy hill,
even unto Thy holy hill.

* Postlude     Toccata, Op. 59, No. 5     Max Reger

September 16, 2018 — Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Welcome! We are so glad to have you with us this evening. If you are worshiping with us for the first time, please fill out one of the “welcome” cards in the pew rack so we may welcome you and respond to any questions you might have.

Gathering Music

Call to Worship     John Franke

One: We are the church; gathered together, we are the body of Christ in word and in deed.

All: We are the church; though we are not perfect, we proclaim that God works through us all.

One: As the church, we seek to sustain our spirits and deepen our faith. We desire to know our Creator.

All: As the church, we are strengthened by our faith to go into the world and to serve God’s people in every place and every way.

One: We are the body of Christ. We are the church. God meets us here.

All: Let us worship the living God!

* Opening Hymn     For the Fruit of All Creation    AR HYD Y NOS

Call to Confession

Silent Confession

Prayer of Confession

Holy God, you call us to a life of faithful togetherness:
to serve one another with generosity,
to teach and to learn with one another,
to love and be loved.
Yet our desire to be the church is challenged by our desire to serve ourselves.
Forgive us, God,
for moments we lackenergy to do your will,
for seasons we lack creativity in our faith,
for times we confuse our selfish desires with your desire to love all people.
This we pray in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Response of Praise     Give Thanks     Henry Smith

* Passing of the Peace

Leader: The peace of Christ be with you.

People: And also with you.

Welcome and Concerns of the Church

Offering

Offertory     God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending      arr . Michael Larkin
(b. 1951)

Prayer of Illumination      Jasiel Hernandez

First Scripture Reading     Psalm 19     (p. 488)

Second Scripture Reading     James 1:17-27     (p. 1100)

Message      Owen Gray

“Was Jesus Spiritual or Religious?”
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
To care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
(James 1:27)

* Affirmation of Faith     (from The Confession of 1967)

One: The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus
Christ has set the pattern for the church’s mission. His life as
man involves the church in the common life of all people.

All: His service to humanity commits the church to work for
every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the
church sensitive to all the sufferings of humankind so that it
sees the face of Christ in the faces of men and women in
every kind of need. His crucifixion discloses to the church
God’s judgment on our inhumanity to others, and the awful
consequences of our complicity in injustice.

One: In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, the
church sees the promise of God’s renewal of humanity in society
and of God’s victory over all wrong.

All: The church follows this pattern in the form of its life and in
the method of its action. So to live and serve is to confess
Christ as Lord.

Communion      Owen Gray and Jasiel Hernandez

Invitation to the Table

Prayer of Thanksgiving and The Lord’s Prayer

Breaking of the Bread

Music       How Beautiful       arr . Mark Hayes
(b. 1953)

Prayers of the People

* Closing Hymn #268      God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens      HOLY MANNA

* Benediction