ORDER OF WORSHIP July 17, th Sunday after Pentecost 16 th Sunday in Ordinary Time / Proper 11

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1 ORDER OF WORSHIP July 17, th Sunday after Pentecost 16 th Sunday in Ordinary Time / Proper 11 *Congregation Stands (If you prefer, it is acceptable to remain seated.) Welcome to Knox Presbyterian Church! Please sign and pass the Friendship Book ( pew pad ) if you have not already done so. Our prayer is that you will experience the presence of the eternal, as we worship our God together. We invite you to take the time during the prelude to focus your heart and mind in worship. Please silence your cell phones. WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Ryan Moore PRELUDE Aria (Verdant Meadows) Organ G. F. Handel Ryan Moore God is good and loving to the faithful. Give thanks and praise for all that God has done for us. God is good! Praise the Lord! CALL TO WORSHIP Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion *SONGS OF WORSHIP: PRAISE, MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN (Hymn #26) (VERSE 1) Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, to his feet your tribute bring; ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing. Alleluia! Alleluia!! Praise the everlasting King! (VERSE 2) Praise Him for his grace and favor to all people in distress. Praise him, still the same forever, slow to chide and swift to bless. Alleluia! Alleluia!! Glorious in his faithfulness!

2 (VERSE 3) Father-like, he tends and spares us; all our hopes and fears he knows. In his hands he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia! Alleluia!! Widely as his mercy flows! (VERSE 4) Angels, help us to adore him, you behold him face to face. Sun and moon bow down before him; all who dwell in time and space. Alleluia! Alleluia!! Praise with us the God of grace! STANDING ON THE PROMISES (Hymn #306) (VERSE 1) Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God. (REFRAIN) Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior; standing, standing I m standing on the promises of God. (VERSE 2) Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God. (REPEAT REFRAIN) (VERSE 3) Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, bound to him eternally by love s strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit s sword, standing on the promises of God.

3 TIME OF PRAYER (REPEAT REFRAIN) (VERSE 4) Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit s call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God. (REPEAT REFRAIN) Misty Rowley Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion Call to Confession We live with this reality: God never forgets what we have done but, in mercy, forgives those whose hearts are full of repentance. Let us confess those things that break our relationship with God, assured that God will never break relationship with us. [Silent Confession] Declaration of Forgiveness Before, because of your evil thoughts and actions, you were strangers and enemies of God. Now, you have been reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Christ. Now, you can live in peace, restored by the blood shed on the cross. Live thankfully! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Thanks be to God! Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Rev. Don Meekhof OFFERING OF OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS

4 *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below Praise him above ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Prayer of Thanksgiving/Dedication O God, receive these gifts, which are the product of our labors, and let us not forget the better part of our offering, which is our devotion to the words of life we have received from Christ our Lord. Amen. Bringing our gifts and / or lighting a candle Please feel free to go to either the front or the rear of the sanctuary. Offertory In the Stillness Organ Steven Scott READING OF THE SCRIPTURES Chenayla Welch Genesis 15:1 6 (NIV) 1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. 2 But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir. 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir. 5 He took him outside and said, Look up at the sky and count the stars if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Joshua 2:1 21 (NIV)

5 1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. Go, look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them and that you will save us from death. 14 Our lives for your lives! the men assured her. If you don t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.

6 15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 She said to them, Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way. 17 Now the men had said to her, This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear. 21 Agreed, she replied. Let it be as you say. So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Colossians 3:1 17 (NIV) 1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

7 12 Therefore, as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. James 2:14 26 (NIV) 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different

8 direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. MESSAGE Believe and Act! Caber Welch *SONG OF WORSHIP: RISE UP, O SAINTS OF GOD! (Hymn #670) (VERSE 1) Rise up, O saints of God! From vain ambitions turn; Christ rose triumphant that your hearts with nobler zeal might burn. (VERSE 2) Rise up, O saints of God! His kingdom s task embrace; redress sin s cruel consequence; give justice larger place. (VERSE 3) Give heed, O saints of God! Creation cries in pain; stretch forth your hand of healing now, with love the weak sustain.

9 (VERSE 4) Commit your hearts to seek the paths which Christ has trod, and, quickened by the Spirit s power, rise up, O saints of God! BENEDICTION Caber Welch POSTLUDE Postlude on Mendon Organ Flor Peeters * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the pulpit today: Caber Welch is an elder currently serving on the Knox Session. He graduated from Montana State University with his bachelors in mechanical engineering and he currently works as a maintenance mechanic at Triumph Composite Systems. Caber enjoys taking apart complex machinery and understanding how it works. He also enjoys long walks in Nine Mile Falls with his wife Chenayla and their three dogs. When he s not doing any of the above or working on his honey-do list, he and Chenayla can be found playing 221 B Baker Street and watching Ask This Old House.