Just Follow the Manual (1)

July 16, 2023
Pastor Jacob Lee
Worship

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Service of Worship

We Now Implore the Holy Ghost
Dietrich Buxtehude
Public Domain

Leader: Come, let us worship God! 
People: Come, let us worship our Creator!
Leader: God is the great Sower, scattering seeds of life and abundance across the earth. 
People: We are the soil the Sower plants, created to nurture and sustain the seeds of God’s life-giving love.
Leader: God is the great Gardener, tilling and cultivating our soil with love and grace. 
People: We notice the rocks and thorns in our soil and call on the Gardener’s love and grace to transform us into good soil.
Leader: God is the great Life-giver, sowing seeds and tending the soil to produce the fruit of abundant life.
 People: May we nurture and grow God’s new reality, bearing the fruit of flourishing and abundance for all God’s creation. Amen.

(Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries)

Opening Hymn — #103 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”

1. Immortal, invisible,
God only wise,
in light inaccessible
hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious,
the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious,
thy great name we praise.

2. Unresting, unhasting,
and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting,
thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains
high soaring above
thy clouds which are fountains
of goodness and love.

3. To all, life thou givest,
to both great and small;
in all life thou livest,
the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish
as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish,
but naught changeth thee.

4. Thou reignest in glory;
thou dwellest in light;
thine angels adore thee,
all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render:
O help us to see’
tis only the splendor
of light hideth thee.

Immortal Invisible God Only Wise (St. Denio)
Walter Chalmers Smith
Public Domain

Pastor’s Time With the Children – Rev. Jacob Lee

Joys and Concerns, Pastoral Prayer, 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever. Amen.

For those who are called and able, gifts and tithes can still be made through online giving, by mailing them in, and by dropping them off to the office through the secure mail slot to the left of the double door entry to the church hallway.

Offertory – Josh

I Can Only Imagine
Bart Millard | Arr. Dan Galbraith
2001, 2002 Simpleville Music, Inc.
Used with Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Old 100th)
Louis Bourgeois | Thomas Ken
Public Domain

Offertory Prayer

Creator God from whom all blessings grow: as we dedicate our tithes and offerings, we acknowledge that you have blessed us to be the fertile soil from which the good news of your kingdom will spring forth. Move us, we pray, beyond seeing our role as passive or powerless, depending totally on the quality of the seed and the expertise of the planter. Remind us that you are counting on us for fruitfulness, demonstrating for the world your love, grace, and power as we bear fruit that eases the suffering of the sick, feeds the hungry, brings justice to the oppressed and love and compassion to those who feel disconnected or forgotten. In Christ, we pray. Amen.

(Matt 13:1-9, 18-23)

Scripture Readings — Joshua 1:1-9 (NRSV)

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. 5 No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9 I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Word of the Lord:
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem — Chancel Choir

Sermon — Rev. Jacob S. Lee
“Just Follow the Manual (1)”

Closing Hymn — #370 “Victory in Jesus” (v. 1, 2)

1. I heard an old, old story,
how a Savior came from glory,
how he gave his life on Calvary
to save a wretch like me;
I heard about his groaning,
of his precious blood’s atoning,
then I repented of my sins and won the victory.

Refrain
O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!
He sought me and bought me
with his redeeming blood;
he loved me ere I knew him,
and all my love is due him;
he plunged me to victory
beneath the cleansing flood.

2. I heard about his healing,
of his cleansing power revealing,
how he made the lame to walk again
and caused the blind to see;
and then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
come and heal my broken spirit,”
and somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.

Refrain

Victory in Jesus
Eugene M. Bartlett
© 1939 Mrs. E.M. Bartlett. Renewed 1967 Albert E. Brumley And Sons
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Benediction

Postlude – Hani

Psalm 19
Benedetto Marcello
Public Domain