Blessed Are Those… (1)

September 3, 2023
Pastor Jacob Lee
Worship

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Service of Worship

Prelude in C major, BWV 846
J.S. Bach
Public Domain

Leader: Followers of Christ, God calls us just as we are to live as truth-tellers and gospel-bringers in the world.
People: God, we know you call us, and still, we ask, “Who am I that you would call me?”
Leader: Like Moses standing before the burning bush convinced of his unworthiness to lead your people out of bondage, we ask,
People: “Who am I that you would call me?”
Leader: Like Peter who thought he got it right only to realize that who Jesus is doesn’t meet his expectations of who a Savior should be, we ask,
People: “Who am I that you would call me?”
Leader: As we raise this question to God today, we open our hearts to receive God’s answer:
People: You are my beloved children. You are my disciples. You are my people called to share the love of God for the transformation of the world. Amen.

(Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries)

Prayer of Confession

People: Gracious God…
Though we live in a culture that is reluctant to admit guilt, assume responsibility, or ask for forgiveness, we are so bold as to pray the words of the psalmist who said:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalms 139:23-24 NRSV).
Search us, O God, and reveal anything in our lives that stands between us and your love.
Search us, O God, show us our sins so that we might confess them,
Search us, O God, show us places where we have neglected Christian responsibility and then teach us how to live on this earth with each other,
Search us, O God, show us the faces of those we have wronged so that we might seek their forgiveness.

(Silence)

Words of Assurance: We have not been called to this hour of worship to wallow in sin and self-pity. God has promised to forgive our sins when we confess them and to cleanse us from all manner of unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Rise from your knees as children of God, forgiven from sin and empowered to lead holy lives.

ALL: AMEN, thanks be to God!

(Written by Safiyah Fosua, The Africana Worship Book)

Opening Hymn — #393 “Spirit of the Living God” (sing 2 times)

(sing 2 times)

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Spirit Of The Living God
Daniel Iverson
© 1935. Renewed 1963 Birdwing Music
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Holy Communion

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

…The pastor concludes:
And so,
with your people on earth
and all the company of heaven
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

…The pastor concludes:
And so,
in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a holy and living sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.

The pastor concludes:
All honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and for ever.
now and for ever.

Amen.

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 – Megumi Komori

Pavane pour une Infante Defunte
Maurice Ravel
Public Domain

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

God of power and might: We, like Peter, struggle with the image of a savior sent to suffer and die. We may seem to be doing great in following Christ, but we too stumble at this point. Perhaps we stumble because we know that what follows is Christ’s call to us to deny ourselves and pick up a cross of our own in order to follow. As we bring gifts for the work of building your kingdom, help us to learn to deny, carry, and follow. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.

(Matt 16:21-28)

Scripture Readings — Psalm 1 (NRSV)

1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Word of the Lord:
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem — Chancel Choir

Lord, I Stretch My Hands to You
Jay Althouse
© 1992 Hope Publishing Company
Used with Permission. ONE LICENSE # A-401420

Sermon — Rev. Jacob S. Lee
“Blessed Are Those… (1)”

Closing Hymn — #369 “Blessed Assurance”

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

Refrain

Blessed Assurance
Fanny Jane Crosby | Phoebe Palmer Knapp
Public Domain

Benediction

Postlude – Josh

Funeral March, from Sonata, Op. 35, No 2
Frederic Chopin
Public Domain