August 22, 2021 Order of Worship

 

First Presbyterian Church

August 22, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

There is salvation in the name of no one else.

There is salvation only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

There is no other name under the heavens.

Jesus is the name given among mortals by which we shall be saved.

 Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Oh How I Love Jesus”

1. There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; it sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth.

Refrain: O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me!

2. It tells me of a Savior's love, who died to set me free; it tells me of his precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea. (Refrain)

3. It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe; who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below. (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

 Father in heaven, though we know in our heads that Jesus Christ is Lord, how often has this knowledge remained unconnected to our hearts?  We sin against You, against ourselves, and against our neighbors.  May we come to know again the power of the name of Jesus, the meaning You have provided to us in Your Word.  May it renew a desire to confess our sins to You as we become more mindful and more heartfelt in our understanding of the power of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Jesus is our Savior.  By His death and resurrection, we have received the gift of grace from our God that our sins are forgiven, that we are made right with the Almighty.  Know these words and be at peace.

 

*THE GLORIA PATRI

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

INVITATION: “Dear Lord, I need You, please come into my life today.  Amen”

 LESSON: Acts 4: 1-12

4While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, ²much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. ³So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

⁵The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, ¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ ¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

SERMON:                                        “What’s in a Name?”                                        Rev. Peter Hofstra

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from A Brief Statement of Faith)

We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

Our God has given us so many gifts.  Let us know live into the generosity of our Father in heaven with our gifts and offerings for God’s work in God’s world.

 

*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.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Christ has made the name of the Lord known to us, so we give thanks. In your name, O Lord, use these gifts, and the time, talents and very lives they represent, for your glory as your kingdom breaks forth in this world. Amen.

 JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Eternal God, Anxiety constricts and muscles tense as summer wanes, students return to school and the delta variant looms. What will this year bring? What new challenges will we meet? Have we learned enough, renewed ourselves enough to begin again? Will we do better? Will we survive? Gracious and patient God, bear with us in our fear and uncertainty. Calm our pinched nerves with the Spirit’s deep breath of peace. Guide and direct us with your wisdom. As we pour ourselves out to you in prayer, hear and receive us, Holy God. We come as we are. Great and wonderful God, we praise you for the gifts with which you bless us. Gifts of renewal, gifts of unexpected grace and intentional practice. We thank you for:

• Summer travel to visit family and friends;

• Porch swings to enjoy early evening breezes;

• New Netflix to binge, new fiction through which we can escape;

• Church groups meeting for theology on tap or to knit prayer shawls in love.

Merciful God, strengthen us in prayer that we might lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing. You make all things new, O God, and we offer our prayers for the renewal of our world and the healing of its wounds. Especially we pray for:

• Those who remain isolated, even as others enjoy new freedom;

• The newly sick, the break-through infections, the hospitals and hospital personnel under mounting pressure;

• The children who cannot get vaccinated, yet must return to school;

• The people of the world without access to vaccines, affordable and advanced health care.

O God, you are the well-spring of life. Pour into our thirsty and anxious souls the living water of your grace, that we may be refreshed this day to continue in mission and ministry. May the pressures of this moment not pummel or paralyze, but encourage us to lean into exposed needs and lean on each other, and you, for strength and support. United as a family of faith and as the Body of Christ we lift these prayers up to you, God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Finally, hear us pray the prayer Christ taught us, saying

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.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

*CLOSING HYMN: “Jesus, The Name High Over All”

1. Jesus! the name high over all, in hell or earth or sky; angels and mortals prostrate fall, and devils fear and fly.

2. Jesus! the name to sinners dear, the name to sinners given; it scatters all their guilty fear, it turns their hell to heaven.

3. O that the world might taste and see the riches of his grace! The arms of love that compass me would all the world embrace.

4. Thee I shall constantly proclaim, though earth and hell oppose; bold to confess thy glorious name before a world of foes.

5. His only righteousness I show, his saving truth proclaim; 'tis all my business here below to cry, "Behold the Lamb!"

6. Happy, if with my latest breath I may but gasp his name, preach him to all and cry in death, "Behold, behold the Lamb!"

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Teri McDowell Ott.