Welcome to Worship
We gather to worship, we go out to serve.
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD
* Please rise in body or spirit
Tolling of the Bell
Welcome and Announcements
Visitors, fill out the connection card in the pew so we can send you a note
Opening Prayer Becky Yaeckel
Savior and Friend, you call us to lay down our burdens and find rest in a relationship with you. Help us to learn from you how to be gentle and humble of heart, that our burdens may be light. Amen.
Prelude Christopher Bunch
*Call to Worship (Unison) Becky Yaeckel
Beloved of God, the winter is past, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come. Let us lift our voices in praise to our Creator.
*Hymn Be Thou My Vision #450
Prayer for New Beginnings (Unison) Becky Yaeckel
Loving God, we receive this new day as a gift from you. Help us to see signs today of your compassion, which is over all that you have made. Keep us mindful to watch for ways today in which we can ease others’ burdens and give them rest, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
*Passing of the Peace (Responsive)
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
*Congregational Response In My Life #468 v.1,4
In my life, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In my life, Lord, be glorified today,
In your world, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In your world, Lord, be glorified today.
HEARING THE WORD
Prayer for Illumination Becky Yaeckel
Gracious God, for generations, your Word has brought love and life to your people. Speak to us now; we pray that we may hear, and in hearing, we may be transformed. Amen.
Old Testament Reading Psalm 46 Becky Yaeckel
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Word in Music Christopher Bunch
New Testament Reading Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30
But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Jeff Sockwell
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
*Hymn This is My Song #340
*Affirmation of Faith (Unison) from a Brief Statement of Faith
We trust in God, whom Jesus called Abba, Father. In sovereign love God created the world good and makes everyone equally in God's image, male and female, of every race and people, to live as one community. In everlasting love, the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people to bless all families of the earth. Hearing their cry, God delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage. Loving us still, God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant. Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child, like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home, God is faithful still.
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer (Responsive)
Gracious God, in Jesus, we are invited to come to you with our burdens, with the wearying concerns of our lives. Hear us now as we pray for the world around us.
Our national news is filled with stories of violence and harm. We live in a world in which many are in danger, and many seem unmoved by that fact. Change our moral consciousness Lord to one in which safety and preservation of life is our most important concern. May we each look deep into your Word, Lord, to find the ethic we will live by and work for your kingdom to come.
We pray for the sick or suffering people in our world and our community. We pray for your grace to be found in the unwanted diagnosis or medical news; may your love saturate the grief that news brings. For those who suffer from pain and discomfort, we pray that you will ease their suffering and give them fresh hope in the face of illness.
Lord, we ask that you look upon our relationships and families and strengthen them. Build up our marriages, reinforce our friendships, and bless the ties that bind us. Enable us to be the parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters you have called us to be. Bless our families — whether they are families of blood or choice.
And we ask that you guide this church into new life and health. Teach us each to live in such a way that the power of God working in us is evident to all. May all that we do as a church community and all that we do as individuals glorify you. We ask this in Jesus’ name and join our voices in the prayer that he taught us, saying,
“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. “
Invitation to the Offering
Offertory Christopher Bunch
*Doxology #606
*Prayer of Dedication
WE GO OUT TO SERVE
*Hymn God of the Ages, Whose Almighty Hand #331
*Blessing
May you be strengthened for the week ahead by the joy we have shared this day. May the words of hope resonate the whole weeklong. May you live for the glory of God. And may the triune God surround us with love and care our whole lives long. Amen.
Postlude Christopher Bunch