Calendar
- This event has passed.
Worship (In Person and Online)
- Date: Sunday, October 15, 2023
- Time: 10:30am–11:30am
- Location: Sanctuary
Order of Worship
October 15, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.
Prelude
The Peace May be Exchanged, Dan Locklair
This lovely aria features a solo diapason accompanied by strings doubled in the pedal. The richness and warmth of the accompaniment stems from the four independent and intertwining voices, with an abundance of dissonant suspensions, resolving to peaceful consonance. In this music, one can hear the clasping of hands and intermingling of voices sharing and wishing peace. This piece was performed at the funeral service at the National Cathedral of President Ronald Reagan.
*Call to Worship
(The congregation responds aloud with the bold text)
You have been called to the banquet.
This is the feast.
You have been summoned to the wedding.
This is the feast of life and light.
From the streets and byways, God has invited us.
We have come to the banquet that knows no end.
Come, let us celebrate. Come, let us worship God!
*Hymn #645: “Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above”
1. Sing praise to God who reigns above,
the God of all creation,
the God of power, the God of love,
the God of our salvation.
With healing balm my soul is filled,
and every faithless murmur stilled:
to God all praise and glory!
2. What God’s almighty power has made
God’s gracious mercy keepeth;
by morning glow or evening shade
God’s watchful eye ne’er sleepeth.
Within the kingdom of God’s might,
lo! all is just and all is right:
to God all praise and glory!
3. The Lord is never far away,
but, through all grief distressing,
an ever-present help and stay,
our peace and joy and blessing,
as with a mother’s tender hand
God gently leads the chosen band:
to God all praise and glory!
4. Thus all my toilsome way along
I sing aloud thy praises,
that all may hear the grateful song
my voice unwearied raises.
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart;
both soul and body, take your part:
to God all praise and glory!
Prayer of Adoration
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession
You invite us to your feast, O God, and yet we do not come. You beg us to give thanks for life, and we fail in our thanksgiving. You have made us this wonderful earth, and we neglect the gift. Forgive us for what we have done and for abandoning the pathway you desire for us. Be our guide and conscience. Turn our feet and hands to your will, that all we do might give glory to you.
Silent prayer of confession
Assurance of pardon
The God of peace, who calls all creation to live in unity, hears our plea. In the spirit of feasting and thanksgiving, in the mercy of Almighty God, you are forgiven!
For the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior—who died and rose from the dead to destroy the shroud of despair—rejoice!
Thanks be to God!
*Response of Praise: Hymn #582, “Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me”
1. 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.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.
2. 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.
*Passing of the Peace
Life in Community
Thank you for joining us for worship! Explore the calendar of events and recent announcements to take another step into our life together this week. If you’re joining us for the first time or would like to learn more about Catonsville Presbyterian, you’re welcome to share your email with us. We’ll send some information that will help you get connected.
Children’s Message
Prayer for Illumination
Your word, O God, is a feast all its own. Let your Holy Spirit open our minds to your call to listen, for we know your holy Word heals and reconciles your people. Amen.
Scripture: Isaiah 25:1-9
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of foreigners is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the covering that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“See, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Hymn #769
1. For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,
Refrain:
and God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice, justice and joy!
2. For woman and man, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding the share,
with wisdom and grace, dividing the power,
for woman and man, a system that’s fair, (Refrain)
3. For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong, (Refrain)
4. For just and unjust, a place at the table,
abuser, abused, with need to forgive,
in anger, in hurt, a mindset of mercy,
for just and unjust, a new way to live, (Refrain)
5. For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free, (Refrain)
Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Sermon
“The Wedding Crasher”, Ken Kovacs
Call to Offering
Give online (opens in new tab)
Offertory: Benediction, Mack Wilberg
Come to us this night, console our souls,
becalm our fears, and bless our sleeping.
Come to us this day, awake our hearts,
renew our minds, and bless our rising.
Come to us this hour, restore our hope,
confirm our faith, and bless our living.
Come to us we pray, receive our love,
behold our joy, And bless our praising.
Amen.
*Doxology #607, “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.
*Prayer of Dedication
We praise and glorify your name, O God. You have given us more than we could have imagined! For tidings of joy, for wholeness received, for the gift of belonging, we thank you. Make of us, as well as these gifts, offerings of good news to the poor, hope to the hopeless, and signs of your power to welcome, reconcile, and redeem. We ask all things in the name of Christ. Amen.
Prayers of the People 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.
*Hymn #804: “I’m Gonna Eat at the Welcome Table”
1. Rejoice, ye pure in heart!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
Your festal banner wave on high,
the cross of Christ your King.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
2. With voice as full and strong
as ocean’s surging praise,
send forth the sturdy hymns of old,
the psalms of ancient days. (Refrain)
3. Yes, on through life’s long path,
still chanting as ye go,
from youth to age, by night and day,
in gladness and in woe:
4. At last the march shall end;
the wearied ones shall rest;
the pilgrims find their home at last,
Jerusalem the blest. (Refrain)
5. Then on, ye pure in heart!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
Your festal banner wave on high,
the cross of Christ your King. (Refrain)
*Benediction
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
Do not worry.
With thanksgiving, speak to God your needs and the needs of the world.
Ponder what is pleasing and excellent.
Rejoice always.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
*Postlude
The People Respond — Amen!, Dan Locklair
Today’s selections for the prelude and postlude come from Rubrics, A Liturgical Suite for Organ in Five Movements, by American composer Dan Locklair. “The people respond – Amen!” is an energetic and highly rhythmic toccata, primarily based on the transposition of four pitches, E-flat, F, A-flat, and B-flat, eventually including all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale.
Participants
- Dorothy L. Boulton,
Associate Pastor - Wendy Johnston,
Organist and Assistant Director of Music - Greg Knauf,
Director of Music - Ken Kovacs,
Pastor - Vickie Lord,
Social media support - Cynthia Schwanz,
Liturgist
Sources
- Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
- Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-734388; CCLI Copyright License B 20481088 + Streaming License B 481071