ORDER OF WORSHIP May 8, 2016 Seventh Sunday of Easter

Transcription

1 ORDER OF WORSHIP May 8, 2016 Seventh Sunday of Easter *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. WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Sam Palpant PRELUDE Prelude on O Perfect Love Organ Gordon Young CALL TO WORSHIP Sam Palpant The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let everyone who hears say, Come. Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. Let everyone who is thirsty come. Come to the tree of life, the Alpha and the Omega. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion *SONGS OF WORSHIP: FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH (Hymn #353) (VERSE 1) For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, (VERSE 2) For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree, and flower, sun and moon and stars of light, (VERSE 3)

2 For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind s delight, for the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight, (VERSE 4) For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child, friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild, (VERSE 5) For the Church that evermore lifteth holy hands above, offering up on every shore her pure sacrifice of love, (VERSE 6) For thyself, best gift divine, to the world so freely given; for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven, OPEN OUR EYES, LORD (Hymn #536) Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen, open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Alex Colvin O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of the bread: open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming works, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. --John Wallace Suter ( ) ANTHEM God So Loved the World Choir John Stainer/ Arr. by Benjamin Harlan

3 TIME OF PRAYER Karen Colvin Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion Call to Confession Trusting in the promise of grace, let us tell the whole truth about ourselves and beg God s mercy for the renewal and amendment of our lives. Prayer of Confession Gracious Power, you call us to your everlasting springs to be drenched and reformed, but we fail to heed you. We do not turn with love to our neighbors to ourselves, or to you. Forgive us for our failings, shield us from our due, and guide us into unity with all for the sake of the whole world. Amen. [Silent Prayer] Declaration of Forgiveness In the compassion of the God who prays for us, with us, and in us, you are forgiven, for the sake of the one who was sent to show us the face of love and who died and rose, one with the Father and with us. PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Rev. Don Meekhof OFFERING OF OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS Invitation to the Offering Give now with generous hearts that all people may hear God s Word James Colvin

4 and be helped by the work of this church. Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion *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 Eternal God, who brings joy out of sorrow, plenty out of want, life out of death: we thank you for the treasures of the earth, your creation, filled with your blessing, for it was in company with these earthly things that your Son came to dwell, showing us the enormity of your love. Because of Jesus resurrection from the dead, we, too, are brought to new life, called to pray and work for the renewal of others. Take these offerings for the sake of the one without whom our poverty would be extreme, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word worship Companion Bringing our gifts and / or lighting a candle Please feel free to go to either the front or the rear of the sanctuary. At this time the children are excused to attend Junior Chapel. Offertory To a Wild Rose Organ Edward MacDowell READING OF THE SCRIPTURES Deuteronomy 29:29 30:20 Kristen & Lois Robertson 29 God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.

5 Here s what will happen. While you re out among the nations where God has dispersed you and the blessings and curses come in just the way I have set them before you, and you and your children take them seriously and come back to God, your God, and obey him with your whole heart and soul according to everything that I command you today, God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he ll have compassion on you; he ll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors. 6-7 God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children s hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. God, your God, will put all these curses on your enemies who hated you and were out to get you. 8-9 And you will make a new start, listening obediently to God, keeping all his commandments that I m commanding you today. God, your God, will outdo himself in making things go well for you: you ll have babies, get calves, grow crops, and enjoy an all-around good life. Yes, God will start enjoying you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for your ancestors. 10 But only if you listen obediently to God, your God, and keep the commandments and regulations written in this Book of Revelation. Nothing halfhearted here; you must return to God, your God, totally, heart and soul, holding nothing back This commandment that I m commanding you today isn t too much for you, it s not out of your reach. It s not on a high mountain you don t have to get mountaineers to climb the peak and bring it down to your level and explain it before you can live it. And it s not across the ocean you don t have to send sailors out to get it, bring it back, and then explain it before you can live it. No. The word is right here and now as near as the tongue in your mouth, as near as the heart in your chest. Just do it!

6 15 Look at what I ve done for you today: I ve placed in front of you Life and Good Death and Evil. 16 And I command you today: Love God, your God. Walk in his ways. Keep his commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live, live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God, in the land you are about to enter and possess But I warn you: If you have a change of heart, refuse to listen obediently, and willfully go off to serve and worship other gods, you will most certainly die. You won t last long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Romans 12: 1 2 Camille & Dawn Troxel 1-2 So here s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life your sleeping, eating, going-towork, and walking-around life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (The Message) Romans 12: With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and

7 acceptable by him. Don t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity. (PHILLIPS) *SONG OF WORSHIP: GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY (Hymn #73) (VERSE 1) God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. (VERSE 2) Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. (VERSE 3) You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. (VERSE 4) His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. (VERSE 5) Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain: God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. MESSAGE With Eyes Wide Open Judy Palpant *SONG OF WORSHIP BE THOU MY VISION (Hymn #532) (VERSE 1) Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me, save that thou art thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. (VERSE 2)

8 Be thou my Wisdom, and thou my true Word, I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord; thou and thou only, first in my heart, high King of heaven, my Treasure thou art. (VERSE 3) High King of heaven, my victory won, may I reach heaven s joys, O bright heaven s Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. BENEDICTION Judy Palpant POSTLUDE For All the Saints Organ Ralph Vaughan Williams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the pulpit today: Judy Palpant is a well-known and beloved presence at Knox. She has been a bookworm since her childhood, fascinated especially with historic Christian biographies. The story we will hear today is one of many that she has taught as Nana to 11 grandchildren. Judy writes regularly for two publications of the Christian Medical & Dental Association, one directed to students interested in medical missions and the other for medical missionary families around the world. She draws stories out of her 6 years in Kenya during the 1980s along with experiences relating with African nationals as the co-director of the Africa Fund mission project over the past 30 years. In addition to writing, she enjoys gardening, making quilts, and playing sacred songs weekly on the piano in the Sacred Heart lobby.