Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
GATHERING IN GOD’S PRESENCE
MUSIC FOR GATHERING & CENTERING
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Suite Gothique” ~ Leon Boellmann
I. Introduction – choral
II. Menuet gothique”
PRAYER
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Holy God, we come before you this day, and you know what it is we need before we ask, and what we want even before we do. Move in us and among us. Help us to hear you, to put ourselves aside, and to seek nothing but your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
*HYMN
“And Are We Yet Alive” ~ UMH 553
GREETING & COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastor Daniel F. Diss
TIME FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS
Before leaving for Kid’s Church & Sunday School, our students are invited to join Pastor Daniel at the front for a time of learning together. Parents are asked to escort children to their classroom and to pick-up their children following the service. Please sign your children in and out. Thank you.
As the children exit to Sunday school, they will be sent with the instrumental: “Where Children Belong” TFWS 2233.
LISTENING FOR THE WORD OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READING
Gail Hybarger
James 1:17-27
Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all. He chose to give us birth by his true word, and here is the result: we are like the first crop from the harvest of everything he created.
Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.
You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves. Those who hear but don’t do the word are like those who look at their faces in a mirror. They look at themselves, walk away, and immediately forget what they were like. But there are those who study the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continue to do it. They don’t listen and then forget, but they put it into practice in their lives. They will be blessed in whatever they do.
If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves. Their devotion is worthless. True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.
Reader: The Word of God for you the people of God.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
SPECIAL MUSIC
Jenna Baker, Sue Livingstone, and John Palmer
Joyce Rhodes, piano
“Danny Boy”
~ arr. by David Cullen
SCRIPTURE READING
Gail Hybarger
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The Pharisees and some legal experts from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They saw some of his disciples eating food with unclean hands. (They were eating without first ritually purifying their hands through washing. The Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat without first washing their hands carefully. This is a way of observing the rules handed down by the elders. Upon returning from the marketplace, they don’t eat without first immersing themselves. They observe many other rules that have been handed down, such as the washing of cups, jugs, pans, and sleeping mats.) So the Pharisees and legal experts asked Jesus, “Why are your disciples not living according to the rules handed down by the elders but instead eat food with ritually unclean hands?”
He replied, “Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you hypocrites. He wrote,
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
Their worship of me is empty
since they teach instructions that are human words.You ignore God’s commandment while holding on to rules created by humans and handed down to you.”
Reader: The Word of God for you the people of God.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
SERMON
Pastor Daniel
The Gospel of Straw
*HYMN
“Where Charity and Love Prevail” ~ UMH 549
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
CELEBRATION OF GIFTS
Invitation to Give
Leader: Scripture reminds us that every good gift we possess or experience comes to us as a gift from God. As we prepare to give and receive to the honor and glory of God, please complete your “Connections” cards, if you have not yet done so. Let us pray:
ALL: Our most precious and prized gifts come to us as gifts from you, O God: our families, our friends, and our place among those who are called out and gathered together, the church. Help us to cherish each other and to act with compassion. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.
OFFERTORY MUSIC
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Suite Gothique” ~ Leon Boellmann
III. “Priere a Notre-Dame”
*DOXOLOGY
“Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow” ~ UMH 95
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Leader: The peace of Christ be with you all.
PEOPLE: And also with you.
Leader: Let us offer one another signs of God’s peace and love.
Please be mindful that not everyone is comfortable with all signs of Christian affection, exchange signs of peace with others near you. Moving throughout the worship space is discouraged. Signs of peace might include: hugs, handshakes, fist bumps, a head nod, or a wave are all possibilities. Please be respectful of each other’s comfort levels with physical contact and closeness as we carefully bring this practice back to our worship service.
At the end of the time of sharing, we’ll be called to prayer with the instrumental: “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” TFWS 2193
GATHERING AT GOD’S TABLE
PRAYER OF GREAT THANKSGIVING
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
PEOPLE: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
PEOPLE: We lift them up the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to thanks to the Lord, our God.
PEOPLE: It is right so to do.
The pastor continues the prayer recalling God’s mighty acts of salvation culminating in Jesus, his ministry, institution of the Lord’s Supper, and recalling his passion, death and resurrection. The pastor concludes the prayer inviting the present working of the Holy Spirit among us giving praise to God and inviting us to pray the Lord’s Prayer together.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Pastor: … as we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us saying:
The Lord’s Prayer, UMH #895
SHARING THE BREAD AND THE CUP
We receive by intinction — dipping the bread into the cup. There are pre-packaged options available to your right behind the person serving the cup if you would prefer that option. As a note, pastor and the cup server do sanitize their hands before handling the elements at this point in the service. You may not notice them using the hand sanitizer but be assured they are using it before handling the bread and cup.
If movement is difficult for you, the elements will be brought to you in your place. If parents have not yet made the choice for their children to receive, pastor will pray a blessing for each child. Pastor will bless each animal companion brought forward if you have one with you.
COMMUNION MUSIC
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Fairest Lord Jesus”
~ arr. H. Alexander Matthews, Dennis R. Johnson
PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
Pastor: Let us pray.
ALL: Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
*HYMN
“”Blest Be the Tie That Binds” ~ UMH 557
SENDING FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE
DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING
Pastor Daniel
We United Methodists are guided by three simple principles:
Do no harm.
Do good.
Stay in love with God.
MUSIC TO INSPIRE THE JOURNEY
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Suite Gothique” ~ Leon Boellmann
IV. “Toccata”
- Please stand as you are able.