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 Linda Thompson
We light a candle in the name of God who creates life, in the name of the Savior who loves life, in the name of the Spirit who is the fire of life. Be still and aware of God’s presence, within and all around. Amen.
Prelude Christopher Bunch
*Call to Worship (Responsive) Linda Thompson
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.
*Hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing #475
Prayer for New Beginnings (Unison) Linda Thompson
In whatever shelter I wake this morning I know this place is holy because you meet me here. As I wash my body and prepare for the day, I remember baptismal waters and the claim upon my life. Wherever darkness looms, Sovereign God, traffic in mercy this day. Traffic in mercy this day. 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 Linda Thompson
Holy One, move now in our hearts. Breathe through the words we hear, the songs we share, the burdens we carry, until we discover our purpose in your liberating love, for we long to join creation’s praise and to shine with the mercy of the Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
New Testament Reading Romans 8: 12-25 Linda Thompson
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Word in Music Christopher Bunch
Old Testament Reading Genesis 28:10-19a
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Jeff Sockwell
RESPONDING TO THE WORD
*Hymn In Christ There is No East or West #318
*Affirmation of Faith (Unison) Confession of 1967 (edited)
The reconciliation of humanity through Jesus Christ makes it plain that enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation of God’s good creation. Because Jesus identified himself with the needy and exploited, the cause of the world’s poor is the cause of his disciples. The church cannot condone poverty, whether it is the product of unjust social structures, exploitation of the defenseless, lack of national resources, absence of technological understanding, or rapid expansion of populations. The church calls every person to use their abilities, their possessions, and the fruits of technology as gifts entrusted to them by God for the maintenance of God’s family and the advancement of the common welfare.
Prayers of the People / Lord’s Prayer (Responsive)
…through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who taught us this 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.
Invitation to the Offering
Offertory Christopher Bunch
*Doxology #606
*Prayer of Dedication
WE GO OUT TO SERVE
*Hymn I Need Thee Every Hour #735
*Blessing
May you go forth in joy and be led back in peace this day and always. Amen.
Postlude Christopher Bunch