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Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
- Date: Sunday, July 2, 2023
- Time: 9:30am–10:30am
- Location: Fellowship Hall
Participate In worship
Events and Announcements
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Order of Worship
Prelude
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” arr. Martha Mier
*Call to Worship
(The congregation responds aloud with the bold text)
Praise the Lord, all you nations! Praise God, all you peoples!
For great is God’s steadfast love toward us.
The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Come, let us worship God!
*Hymn #327, “From All that dwell below the skies”
1. From all that dwell below the skies
let the Creator’s praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung
through every land, in every tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2. In every land begin the song;
to every land the strains belong:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In cheerful sound all voices raise
and fill the world with joyful praise.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
3. Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
eternal truth attends thy word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
till suns shall rise and set no more.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Prayer of invocation
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession: Hymn #345
Please remain seated. Verse 1 will be sung by the soloist. The congregation is invited to join on verses 2 through 4. Following the hymn, silence will be kept for silent prayers of confession.
1. In an age of twisted values
we have lost the truth we need.
In sophisticated language
we have justified our greed.
By our struggle for possessions
we have robbed the poor and weak.
Hear our cry and heal our nation;
your forgiveness, Lord, we seek.
2. We have built discrimination
on our prejudice and fear.
Hatred swiftly turns to cruelty
if we hold resentments dear.
For communities divided
by the walls of class and race,
hear our cry and heal our nation;
show us, Lord, your love and grace.
3. When our families are broken,
when our homes are full of strife,
when our children are bewildered,
when they lose their way in life,
when we fail to give the aged
all the care we know they need,
hear our cry and heal our nation;
help us show more love, we plead.
4. We who hear your word so often
choose so rarely to obey.
Turn us from our willful wandering;
give us truth to light our way.
In the power of your Spirit
come to cleanse us, make us new;
hear our cry and heal our nation
till our nation honors you.
Silent Prayer
Assurance of pardon
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and set free to begin anew.
Thanks be to God!
*Response of Praise: Hymn #328, “Praise God, All You Nations”
Praise God, all you nations.
People of God, sing praise!
Praise God, all you nations.
People of God, sing praise:
God’s love is great and endures forever.
Praise God, all you nations.
People of God, sing praise!
*Passing of the Peace
Life in Community
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Children’s Message
Prayer for Illumination
Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit,
that in your light we may see light,
in your truth find freedom,
and in your will discover your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.
Sermon: “Entangled,” Rev. Dorothy L. Boulton
Call to Offering
Offertory: “Simple Gifts,” Traditional Shaker Melody,
arr. Mark Hayes
*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 God, you have made us in your image, and we belong to you alone.
Therefore, we offer ourselves and our gifts to you in service, love, and praise.
Use us for the glory of your realm and the good of your people;
through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
Prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition
Mighty God, the earth is yours and nations are your people. Take away our pride and bring to mind your goodness, so that, living together in this land, we may enjoy your gifts and be thankful.
Amen.
For clouded mountains, fields and woodland; for shoreline and running streams; for all that makes our nation good and lovely;
We thank you, God.
For farms and villages where food is gathered to feed our people;
We thank you, God.
For cities and towns where people talk and work together in factories, shops, offices, or schools to shape those things we need for living;
We thank you, God.
For explorers, planners, leaders; for prophets who speak out, and for silent faithful people, for all who love our land and guard freedom;
We thank you, God.
For vision to see your purpose in our nation’s history, and courage to seek it lived out in love;
We thank you, God.
O God: your justice is like rock, and your mercy like pure flowing water. Judge and forgive us. If we have turned from you, return us to your way; for without you we are lost people.
From brassy patriotism and a blind trust in power;
Deliver us, O God.
From public deceptions that weaken trust; from self-seeking in high political places;
Deliver us, O God.
From division among us of class or race; from wealth that will not share, and poverty that feeds on food of bitterness;
Deliver us, O God.
From a lack of concern for other lands and peoples; from narrowness of national purpose; from failure to welcome the peace you promise on earth;
Deliver us, O God.
Eternal God: before you, nations rise and fall; they grow strong or wither by your design. Help us to repent our country’s wrong, and to choose your right in reunion and renewal.
Great God, renew this nation.
Talk sense to us, so that we may wisely end all prejudice, and may put a stop to cruelty, which divides or wounds the human family.
Great God, renew this nation.
Great God, eternal Lord: show us there is no law or liberty apart from you; and let us serve you modestly, as devoted people. We pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord, using the words Christ taught us:
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.
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 #338: “o Beautiful for spacious skies”
1. O beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain,
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with servanthood
from sea to shining sea!
2. O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw;
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law!
3. O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam,
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
till all success be nobleness
and every gain divine!
Benediction
Postlude
“America, the Beautiful,” arr. Phillip Keveren
Participants
- Dorothy L. Boulton, Associate Pastor
- Keith and Kathy Glennan, Ruling Elders, video production
- Wendy Johnston, Organist and Assistant Director of Music
- Greg Knauf, Director of Music
- Vickie Lord, Social media support
- Dottie Marshall, Sanctuary set up
- Howie Nixon Ruling Elder, liturgist
Sources
- The Worshipbook: Services and Hymns, published for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970).
- Feasting On the Word: Year A (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014).
- 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