Sunday, September 4, 2022
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
THE COMMUNITY GATHERS
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST
GATHERING MUSIC / PRELUDE
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Christus der ist mein Leben” – “Jesus, who is my life”
~ Johann Pachelbel
CONGREGATIONAL CENTERING
Pastor Jeffrey
THE SACRAMENT OF SILENCE
INTROIT
Chancel Choir
“Sing, Praise and Bless the Lord” – “Laudate Dominum”
words: the Community of Taize
music: Jacques Berthier
WORDS OF WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastor Jeffrey
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Ken Kasper
L: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
P: And also with you.
L: The Word of Life is planted within our hearts.
P: May our hearts welcome the Word.
L: The Love of God rains down upon us.
P: May our souls soak in the wonder of God’s love.
L: The Breath of God blows among and within us.
P: May our lives be stirred by the power of the Spirit.
*OPENING PRAYER (In Unison)
Ken Kasper
Holy Source of Faith and Learning, Wisdom of the Ages, we gather once again as your Church. As the prophet Jeremiah reminds us, you have made a new covenant with us. You have written your law and love on our hearts. You have claimed us as your own, and we are your people. As we worship you today, fill us with your story, fill us with your song, fill us with your sacred presence. Amen.
*HYMN
“And Are We Yet Alive” ~ UMH #553
CHILDREN DEPART FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
Parents are invited to accompany their children to Sunday School, sign them in, and return to the sanctuary for worship. After the worship service, parents are asked to return to the classroom and sign their children out.
THE COMMUNITY PROCLAIMS AND HEARS THE WORD
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (In Unison)
Ken Kasper
Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
Ken Kasper
Jeremiah 31:27-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
L: The Word of Life.
P: Thanks be to God. Amen.
HYMN
“Leaning On the Everlasting Arms” ~ UMH #133
JOYS AND CONCERNS
Pastor Jeffrey
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Chancel Choir
Music by Jim Strathdee
Cantors: Sue Livingstone and Mike Crow
Responsively sung by cantors and congregation
WORSHIP WITH TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Ken Kasper
The law and love of God are being written on our hearts, opening us to the needs of others. Let us share what we have received with grateful hearts. Bless these gifts, O God, that others may be touched by the grace and tender mercy we have found in you. Amen.
OFFERTORY
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“More Love to Thee”
tune, W. H. Doane; arr. Van Denman Thompson
*DOXOLOGY
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” ~ UMH #95
ANTHEM
Chancel Choir
“The Road Home” – tune – “Prospect”
from Southern Harmony, 1835
adapted by Stephen Paulus
SCRIPTURE READING
Ken Kasper
Luke 14:25-33
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
L: The Word of Life.
P: Thanks be to God. Amen.
SERMON
Pastor Jeffrey
Written On Our Hearts
THE COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO THE WORD
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
INSTRUMENTAL
“For the Bread Which You Have Broken”
~ David Schelat
*HYMN
“As a Fire Is Meant for Burning” ~ TFWS #2237
*BENEDICTION
Pastor Jeffrey
*CHORAL BENEDICTION
Chancel Choir
“God Be in My Head”
~ John Rutter
POSTLUDE
Joyce Rhodes, organ
“Rondo Benvenuto”
~ John S. Dixon
* Stand as you are able