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Choir members singing in red robes

Second Sunday After Pentecost

  • Date: Sunday, June 11, 2023
  • Time: 9:30am10:30am
  • Location: Fellowship Hall

June 11, 2023 | Second Sunday After Pentecost


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Events and Announcements

Explore the calendar of events and recent announcements to take another step into our life together this week.


Prelude

“What God Ordains is Always Good,” Servus Gastorius, J. S. Bach; arr. Dan Forrest

Call to Worship

(The congregation responds aloud with the bold text)

Rejoice in the Lord, O you God’s beloved;
Sing to God a new song!

For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all God’s work is done in faithfulness.

Our God loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Come, let us worship God!

Hymn #65, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Prayer of Adoration

Call to Confession

Prayer of Confession

God of Calling, you called Abraham and Matthew and gave them the strength they needed to follow you.

You also called a people and cared for and nurtured that people so that they could live life in your abundance.

You also call us, but sometimes we prefer to close our eyes and cover our ears, turning our backs to your will. Forgive us, O God, and grant us the confidence and the hope that we need to follow when you call.

Silent prayer of confession

Silent Prayer

Assurance of pardon

Hear the good news!

Through Christ, God has poured out love upon us and made us whole. Claim this truth for your lives: in the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!

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

By your word, O God, everything was made. And your word continues to create and recreate us. Your word continues to transform our hearts. Speak to us today, O God. Open our hearts and minds to your renovating word and give us guidance and strength. In the name of Christ, we pray, amen.

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Hymn #450: “Be THou My Vision”

1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

3. Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou, mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

4. High King of Heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.

Sermon: “Becoming A stranger,” Kenneth E. Kovacs

Call to Offering

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Offertory: “Be Thou My Vision,” arr. John Rutter

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

Holy One, you call us not just to give us the blessing of being your people, but also to be a blessing for all people on this earth. Give us the wisdom and the courage to be a blessing to this community and to this world. Through these offerings may we be channels of your compassion and healing to others, for the sake of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Prayers of the People & 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 #853: “We Are Marching in the LIght of God”

We are marching in the light of God;
we are marching in the light of God.

Benediction

Friends, go forth in hope, faith and love.
Go forth to seek Christ’s face, for those who seek him will surely find.
Go forth to love and serve the Lord by loving and serving one another.
And as you go, may Christ’s grace uphold you,
may God’s love surround you,
and may the Spirit’s energy sustain you, now and forever.
Amen.

Postlude

“Jubilant Finale,” Michael Higgins


Participants

  • Dorothy L. Boulton, Associate Pastor
  • Keith and Kathy Glennan, Ruling Elders, video production
  • Greg Knauf, Director of Music
  • Kenneth E. Kovacs, Pastor
  • Vickie Lord, Social media support
  • Dottie Marshall, Sanctuary set up
  • Cynthia Schwanz, Ruling Elder, liturgist

Sources

  • Book of Common Worship (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018).
  • 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
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