LARGE PRINT BULLETIN WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Knowing Christ..Making Christ Known February 17, 2019 9:45 A.M. Traditional GATHERING THOUGHT Wherever [Jesus ] spirit appears, the oppressed gather fresh courage; for he announced the good news that fear, hypocrisy, and hatred, the three hounds of hell that track the trail of the disinherited, need have no dominion over them. Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited
ORDER FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD February 17, 2019 9:45 A.M. PRELUDE Song of Elation, Genesis McChesney Allegro Spiritoso, Chancel Underwood WELCOME (Please sign and pass the Friendship Pad in your pew.) CHORAL INTROIT Holy, Holy, Holy Clausen Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity. Amen, Amen! CALL TO WORSHIP (inspired by Psalm 1) Leader: Happy are those who follow the ways of the LORD. People: God s ways are just and merciful. Leader: Those who follow God s ways are continually nourished in faith. People: In all that they do, they prosper. Leader: Come, let us open our hearts to God s compassionate love. People: Let us celebrate God s mercy and justice. Let us worship God!
HYMN #65 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (stand if able) Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art mighty. Hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more; Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield; Be thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside. Death of death, and hell s destruction, land me safe on Canaan s side. Songs of praises, songs of praises I will ever give to thee; I will ever give to thee. UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION Merciful God, Your call to discipleship is demanding. You call us to reorder our lives by the kingdom You are bringing in Jesus Christ. Yet, we still pass by the ones You especially notice: people who are poor and hungry; people who weep. We have not stood with those who are hated, bullied, and excluded. Comfortable with the way things are, we are too complacent, even complicit with injustice and prejudice. Forgive us, O God, and turn us back to Your gospel. We pray this now, for our sake, and for the sake of Your world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen....(time for us to offer silent prayers of confession) ASSURANCE OF PARDON Pastor: People: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
RESPONSE #582 Glory to God (please stand if able) Glory to God, whose goodness shines on me, and to the Son, Whose grace has pardoned me, And to the Spirit, whose love has set me free. World without end, without end. Amen. World without end, without end. Amen. World without end, without end. Amen. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen. APOSTLES CREED (please stand if able) I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. THOUGHT FOR CHILDREN CONGREGATIONAL GREETING The Peace of Christ PASTORAL PRAYER AND THE LORD S PRAYER.Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever, Amen.
OFFERTORY Set Me As A Seal Clausen Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death. Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it, neither can the floods drown it. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death. DOXOLOGY (please stand if able) Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. UNISON PRAYER OF DEDICATION (from Feasting on the Word) Holy One, bless and multiply these gifts we give as tokens of our trust in You. Use them to bless the poor, feed the hungry, and comfort those who weep; in Jesus name. Amen. FIRST SCRIPTURE LESSON Psalm 1: 1-6 (Page 424) Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
HYMN #773 Heaven Shall Not Wait (please remain seated) (verses 1-2: solo voice; verse 4: all sing) Heaven shall not wait for the poor to lose their patience, The scorned to smile, the despised to find a friend: Jesus is Lord; he has championed the unwanted; In him injustice confronts its timely end. Heaven shall not wait for the rich to share their fortunes, The proud to fall, the elite to tend the least: Jesus is Lord; he has shown the master s privilege: To kneel and wash servants feet before they feast. Heaven shall not wait for triumphant Hallelujahs, When earth has passed and we reach another shore: Jesus is Lord in our present imperfection; His power and love are for now and then for evermore. SECOND SCRIPTURE LESSON Luke 6: 17-26 (Page 838) He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their
ancestors did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. Pastor: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. SERMON Blessings and Woes Jon Frost HYMN #772 Live into Hope (please stand if able) Live into hope of captives freed, of sight regained, the end of greed. The oppressed shall be the first to see the year of God s own jubilee. Live into hope! The blind shall see with insight and with clarity, Removing shades of pride and fear, a vision of our God brought near. Live into hope of liberty, the right to speak, the right to be, The right to have one s daily bread, to hear God s word and thus be fed. Live into hope of captives freed from chains of fear or want or greed. God now proclaims our full release to faith and hope and joy and peace. BENEDICTION POSTLUDE Voluntary IX (from Ten English Voluntaries) Green Thank you for worshipping with us via live stream this morning.