ORDER OF WORSHIP August 31, th Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 ORDER OF WORSHIP August 31, th Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper nd Sunday in Ordinary Time *Congregation Stands (If you prefer, It is acceptable to remain seated.) Welcome to Knox Presbyterian Church! We invite you to sign and pass the Friendship Book located at the end of your pew. God of life, thank you for calling us to belong to something so much bigger than ourselves. Thank you for your church in all times and places. We pray that all who come to worship today may sense that the gospel of Christ is so much bigger than this congregation. In Jesus name, Amen. WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS PRELUDE CALL TO WORSHIP John McCallum John McCallum Let us worship God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ. We are new creations; the old has gone, the new has come! Let us worship God as Christ s ambassadors. Through us and through our worship may we announce the good news to all. Let us worship God in spirit and in truth. Praise God! We are reconciled, redeemed, renewed! HEIDELBERG CATECHISM based on John 4:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 John McCallum QUESTIONS (LORD S DAY 35) 96 Q. What is God s will for us in the second commandment? A. That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than has been commanded in God s Word. 97 Q. May we then not make any image at all? A. God can not and may not

2 be visibly portrayed in any way. Although creatures may be portrayed, yet God forbids making or having such images if one s intention is to worship them or to serve God through them. 98 Q. But may not images be permitted in churches in place of books for the unlearned? A. No, we should not try to be wiser than God. God wants the Christian community instructed by the living preaching of his Word not by idols that cannot even talk. *SONG OF WORSHIP PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY (Hymn #77) (VERSE 1) Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near; join me in glad adoration! (VERSE 2) Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth, shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth! Hast thou not seen how all thy desires e re have been granted in what he ordaineth? (VERSE 3) Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee, surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee. Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, if with his love he befriend thee. (VERSE 4) Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore him! All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him! Let the Amen sound from his people again: gladly forever adore him. PRAYER OF ADORATION O God of all creation, you alone are God. Karen Colvin

3 And you alone can satisfy our longing for a support that earth cannot give and that heaven will not take away. Help us, in recognition of our common dependence on you, to acknowledge our need of one another. Let the oneness of our worship make us one in love and service. Amen. *SONG OF WORSHIP THE GIFT OF LOVE (Hymn #593) (VERSE 1) Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire, and have not love: my words are vain; as sounding brass, and hopeless gain. (VERSE 2) Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess, but not be given by love within, the profit soon turns strangely thin. (VERSE 3) Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control, our sprits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship, and are freed. Karen Colvin Holy God, your law shows the way of righteousness, but we often forsake your commandments. We have not always provided for the poor or aided the disabled. We have not always been truthful in our daily business; There are times when we have been unjust in our judgment of others. And yes, we have sought vengeance against our enemies; PRAYER OF CONFESSION

4 we have not always loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us our sins and rouse us to sincere repentance. By the power of your Holy Spirit, free us to live as your holy people with Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. based on Lev. 19:1 2, 9 18 [Silent Prayer] Karen Colvin Hear the good news! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Know that in Jesus, God embraces you, forgives you, and strengthens you to live a renewed life. Thanks be to God. ASSURANCE OF PARDON SCRIPTURE READING FROM THE EPISTLES: based on Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17 Ruby Bostrom 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 [from The Message] Because of this decision we don t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We re Christ s

5 representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God s work of making things right between them. We re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he s already a friend with you. 21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. Tommy Colvin Matthew 5:43-48 [from The Message] You re familiar with the old written law, Love your friend, and its unwritten companion, Hate your enemy. I m challenging that. I m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best the sun to warm and the rain to nourish to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. 48 In a word, what I m saying is, Grow up. You re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your Godcreated identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you. NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE READING: OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE READING: Faith McCallum Genesis 3:6-19 [from The Message] 6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it she d know everything! she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

6 7 Immediately the two of them did see what s really going on saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves. 8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God. 9 God called to the Man: Where are you? 10 He said, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid. 11 God said, Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from? 12 The Man said, The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it. God said to the Woman, What is this that you ve done? 13 The serpent seduced me, she said, and I ate God told the serpent: Because you ve done this, you re cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I m declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He ll wound your head, you ll wound his heel. 16 He told the Woman: I ll multiply your pains in childbirth; you ll give birth to your babies in pain. You ll want to please your husband, but he ll lord it over you He told the Man: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, Don t eat from this tree, The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;

7 you ll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you ll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you ll end up dirt. MESSAGE Richard Welch The Call to Reconciliation (Theme: what grieves God s heart.) *SONG OF WORSHIP COME, ALL CHRISTIANS, BE COMMITTED (Hymn #578) (VERSE 1) Come, all Christians, be committed to the service of the Lord; make your lives for him more fitted, tune your hearts with one accord. Come into his courts with gladness, all your sacred vows renew, turn away from sin and sadness, be transformed with life anew. (VERSE 2) Of your time and talents give ye, they are gifts from God above, to be used by Christians freely to proclaim his wondrous love. Come again to serve the Savior, tithes and offerings with you bring; in your work, with him find favor,

8 and with joy his praises sing. (VERSE 3) Come in praise and adoration, all who on Christ s name believe; worship him with consecration, grace and love will you receive. For his grace give him the glory, for the Spirit and the Word, and repeat the gospel story until all his name have heard. PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Rev. Don Meekhof OFFERING OF OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS: In response to all that God in Christ has done for us, let us offer ourselves and our gifts. *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 Dedication Debbie Welch Giving God, just as we love because you first loved us, we give because you first gave to us. Out of gratitude we bring gifts of money to be used for your kingdom work. With these gifts we also pledge to you our whole selves. We give you our bodies as living temples; may we be your hands and feet. We give you our minds; may our thoughts support others and glorify you. We give you our time; may our presence encourage others. We give you our relationships; may our interactions be a light to the world. We give you our work; may we always strive to do our best and help others do theirs.

9 We give you our play; may our leisure bring joy to many. We give you our hopes and our dreams; may our goals reflect your mission. Use these gifts, great God, through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen. Bringing our gifts forward and/or lighting a candle Offertory Piano *CLOSING SONG TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE CONSECRATED (Hymn #568) (VERSE 1) Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee; take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love, at the impulse of thy love (VERSE 2) Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee; take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King, always, only, for my King. (VERSE 3) Take my lips and let them be filled with messages for thee; take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold, not a mite would I withhold. (VERSE 4) Take my love, my God, I pour at thy feet its treasure store; take myself and I will be ever, only, all for thee, ever, only all for thee. Copyright: Public Domain * BENEDICTION Debbie Welch May the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with you on the road. May the Christ who serves with wounded hands stretch out your hands to serve.

10 May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart open your hearts to love. May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet, and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you. *POSTLUDE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Piano Today s Call to Worship, Prayer of Adoration, Assurance of Pardon, Prayer of Dedication, and Benediction are reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, 2013, Faith Alive Christian Resources. In the pulpit today: Richard and Debbie Welch have a long history with Knox, stretching back 24 years. They are currently serving with PC(USA) as educational consultants for indigenous peoples in Guatemala. In the specific ministry to which we are called, our hope is that our relational and organizational gifts and skills will help facilitate greater childhood, vocational, and theological educational opportunities among our partners, and that these opportunities provide a potential path out of poverty. Based in Cobán, they also seek to build bridges between Guatemalan education projects and U.S. supporters of Guatemalan education. Richard and Debbie are firmly committed to the concept of mission in partnership. They want the church in the United States to learn how churches in developing countries grow and prosper amid scarce resources and other adverse circumstances.