ORDER OF WORSHIP August 23, 2015 13 th Sunday after Pentecost 21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time / Proper 16 *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 Dick Raymond PRELUDE On Eagles Wings Piano Based on Psalm 91 Joncas/Carter Dick Raymond There is none like you, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things, you alone are God. from Psalm 86:8-10, NRSV ) Reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources CALL TO WORSHIP PRAYER OF ADORATION Dick Raymond We respond to God s invitation with words of praise. O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart. Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke through his servant Moses. The LORD our God be with us,
as he was with our ancestors; may he not leave us or abandon us, but incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. *SONGS OF WORSHIP: 1 Kings 8:23, 56-58, NRSV When Morning Gilds the Skies first appeared in a German hymnbook in 1744. One hundred years later, in 1847, it was translated into English by a Roman Catholic priest. The original English version had 28 stanzas. Rest easy we aren t singing them all today but the added fifth verse of the hymn (below) is one of the 28 that did not make it into our hymnal. WHEN MORNING GILDS THE SKIES (Hymn #99) (VERSE 1) When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair, (VERSE 2) Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find, Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this, (VERSE 3) The night becomes as day, when from the heart we say, The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear, (VERSE 4) Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine,, Be this th eternal song through all the ages long, (VERSE 5)
When you begin the day, O never fail to say! May Jesus Christ be praised And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice; THE LORD S MY SHEPHERD, I LL NOT WANT (Hymn #330) (VERSE 1) The Lord s my Shepherd, I ll not want; he makes me down to lie in pastures green; he leadeth me the quiet waters by. (VERSE 2) My soul he doth restore again; and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness, e en for his own name s sake. (VERSE 3) Yea, though I walk through death s dark vale, yet will I fear no ill: for thou art with me, and thy rod and staff me comfort still. (VERSE 4) My table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes; my head thou dowst with oil anoint, and my cup overflows. (VERSE 5) Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me; and in God s house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. TIME OF PRAYER Call to Confession We cannot come before God unless we are first honest with ourselves about who we are, Judy Palpant
about the mistakes we make, and about how well or poorly we care for others. In this spirit, let us offer our prayers to God. [Silent Prayer] Assurance of Pardon Hear the good news: This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might be dead to sin, and alive to all that is good. I declare to you in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Thanks be to God. based on 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Peter 2:24 HYMN: Reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD (Hymn #611) (REFRAIN)) There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. (VERSE 1) Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. (VERSE 2) If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, and say, He died for all. (VERSE 3) Don t ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend; and if you lack for knowledge he ll ne er refuse to lend. OFFERING OF OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS: *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below Praise him above ye heavenly host; Judy Palpant
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Offertory Prayer Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty. All that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours, and you rule over all. Therefore, Lord, receive these offerings, our tangible expressions of love and gratitude. Transform them into a source of life for many, so that your kingdom may grow in the hearts of all. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources Bringing our gifts forward and/or lighting a candle Offertory Largo Piano G. F. Handel PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE READING OF THE SCRIPTURES: Rev. Don Meekhof 1 Kings 8:41 43 (NIV) Sam Palpant 41 As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. Psalm 84 (NIV) 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Sam Palpant
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob. 9 Look on our shield, [e] O God; look with favor on your anointed one. 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. John 6:56 69 (NIV) Pat Tucker 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them. 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God. MESSAGE Patrick Striker Our God is an Awesome God *CLOSING SONG HOW GREAT THOU ART (Hymn #21) (VERSE 1) O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed.
(VERSE 2) When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. (VERSE 3) And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin. (VERSE 4) When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, My God, how great thou art. BENEDICTION Patrick Striker POSTLUDE Sleepers, Wake Piano J.S.Bach * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A special thank you to Faith McCallum for planning the hymns and playing the piano for us today!