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Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
- Date: Sunday, July 16, 2023
- Time: 9:30am–10:30am
- Location: Fellowship Hall
Order of Worship
Prelude
“Be Thou My Vision,” arr. Joel Raney
*Call to Worship
(The congregation responds aloud with the bold text)
God’s creation delights and astonishes.
Let the people pause and wonder!
God, the Creator, has made it all.
Let all creation shout for joy and sing.
Come, let us worship God!
*Hymn #611, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
1. Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love!
Hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.
2. All thy works with joy surround thee;
earth and heaven reflect thy rays;
stars and angels sing around thee,
center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain,
call us to rejoice in thee.
3. Mortals, join the happy chorus
which the morning stars began.
Love divine is reigning o’er us,
joining all in heaven’s plan.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife.
Joyful music leads us sunward
in the triumph song of life.
Prayer of Adoration
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession
Faithful One, your Word falls on hardened ground when our anxiety and attachment to wealth crowd out your place in our lives. Forgive our frail and human ways and cultivate in us a spirit of trust and faithfulness, for you are our hope for deliverance.
Silent prayer of confession.
Assurance of pardon
Siblings in Christ, hear the good news!
When our sin and regrets of the past overwhelm us, God forgives.
Be at peace, for God restores and strengthens you and waters your soul in its parched and hardened places.
Happy are those who come into God’s courts, for you shall be satisfied with the goodness of God and rejoice in the holiness of God’s temple.
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
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Children’s Message
Prayer for Illumination
God, your word goes out and does not return empty but prospers that for which it was sent. By your Spirit, open our minds to your word this day, that we might walk according to your ways; for the sake of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Psalm 65
Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow;
the hills gird themselves with joy;
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks;
the valleys deck themselves with grain;
they shout and sing together for joy.
Hymn #79: “Light Dawns On A Weary World”
1. Light dawns on a weary world
when eyes begin to see
all people’s dignity.
Light dawns on a weary world:
the promised day of justice comes.
Refrain:
The trees shall clap their hands;
the dry lands, gush with springs;
the hills and mountains shall break forth with singing!
We shall go out in joy,
and be led forth in peace,
as all the world in wonder echoes shalom.
2. Love grows in a weary world
when hungry hearts find bread
and children’s dreams are fed.
Love grows in a weary world:
the promised feast of plenty comes.
3. Hope blooms in a weary world
when creatures, once forlorn,
find wilderness reborn.
Hope blooms in a weary world:
the promised green of Eden comes.
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-26
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!”
“Hear, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
Sermon: “A Wild and Reckless Sharing,” Rev. Roy Howard
Call to Offering
Offertory: “I Want Jesus,” arr. Mary McDonald
*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
You call us to sow your word in all times and places, even when the ground is hard and shallow. For faith is a gift that comes from you, and fruitful discipleship is the work of your Spirit in us. May the gifts we offer this day spread the good news of life abundant in 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 #835: “Just a CLoser Walk With Thee”
Refrain:
Just a closer walk with thee,
grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
daily walking close to thee:
let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
1. I am weak, but thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
as I walk, let me walk close to thee. (Refrain)
2. Through this world of toil and snares,
if I falter, Lord who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee. (Refrain)
3. When my feeble life is o’er,
time for me will be no more;
guide me gently, safely o’er
to thy shore, dear Lord, to thy shore. (Refrain)
*Benediction
Postlude: “Where He Leads Me,” arr. Cindy Biery
Participants
- Dorothy L. Boulton, Associate Pastor
- Keith and Kathy Glennan, Ruling Elders, video production
- Bill Henderson, Ruling Elder, liturgist
- Wendy Johnston, Organist and Assistant Director of Music
- Vickie Lord, Social media support
- Dottie Marshall, Sanctuary set up
Sources
- Kimberly Bracken Long, ed., Feasting on the Word: Liturgies for Year A, Vol. 2 (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