First Presbyterian Church
September 25, 2022
10:00 AM
Order of Worship
CALL
TO WORSHIP
Praise
the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I
will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my
life long … who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who
keeps faith forever;
who
executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets
the prisoners free;
the
Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The
Lord watches over the strangers; God upholds the orphan and the widow, but the
way of the wicked God brings to ruin.
The
Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the
Lord!
Let
us worship the Living God.
*Hymn
of Praise: “Lead On, O King Eternal”
1. Lead on, O King
eternal, the day of march has come; henceforth in fields of conquest thy tents
shall be our home. Through days of preparation thy grace has made us strong;
and now, O King eternal, we lift our battle song.
2. Lead on, O King
eternal, till sin's fierce war shall cease, and holiness shall whisper the
sweet amen of peace. For not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring
drums; with deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom comes.
3. Lead on, O King
eternal, we follow, not with fears, for gladness breaks like morning where'er
thy face appears. Thy cross is lifted o'er us, we journey in its light; the
crown awaits the conquest; lead on, O God of might.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In
Unison)
Holy
God, giver of all that is good, we recognize that you are the source of all
that is. The breath of life is a gift from your generous hand. The food we eat
is grown in the world you sustain. The community that supports us is called
into being by your saving activity. Everything we have is a gift from you. So
why do we treat life as though you are parsimonious with us? Why do we believe
we must hoard our blessings? It is our sin that makes us live as though we
don’t trust your goodness. So forgive us, we pray. Teach us again what it is to
rely upon you. Remind us that we are always in your loving care. Fill us with
grace and goodwill, that our hearts might overflow from the fullness of your
love. Amen.
*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own
doing: it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one might
boast.
For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared before hand to be our way of life.
Believe the promise of the Gospel:
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
*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: Mark 6: 30-46
30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done
and taught. 31He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place
all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they
had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to
a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and
recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived
ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and
he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things. 35When it grew late,
his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is
now very late; 36send them away so that they may go into the
surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to
eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and
give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many
loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and
two fish.” 39Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit
down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups
of hundreds and of fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the
two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave
them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish
among them all. 42And all ate and were filled; 43and
they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44Those
who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to
the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After
saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
Acts 6: 1-7
6Now during those days, when the
disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the
Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of
food. 2And the twelve called together the whole community of
the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should neglect the word of God
in order to wait at tables. 3Therefore, friends, select
from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of
wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our
part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.’ 5What
they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of
faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,
Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these
men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 The word of God continued to
spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great
many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
SERMON: “Up Dreaming In Christ” Rev. Peter Hofstra
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (The
Apostle’s Creed)
I believe in God, the Father
almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our
Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth
on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic
church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of
the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES &
GIFTS
All that
we have, all that we are is from God. Remembering the abundant life that God
has offered us, let us dedicate a portion to return to God, the giver of all.
The offering will now be received.
*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
Eternal God, from the abundance of your creation we have all we need. You
have blessed us richly. Bless us again by receiving these gifts, multiplying
them and using them, that we might see your kingdom at work among us, through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Holy God, you have invited
us into your presence, calling us to prayer for ourselves and one another. In
Jesus Christ, the great high priest, you have given us an intercessor. It is
with the assurance that Christ himself gives us that we draw near to you, knowing
we will be heard, knowing that you will listen, knowing that you want to hear
our prayers. We pray for your world, believing that you who created it and
sustain it by your spirit, love it still. Where there continues to be violence
and bloodshed, year after year, we pray your presence and peace. We pray for
all victims of violence, particularly gun violence. For leaders striving for
peace and justice, we pray your blessing and your sustenance. We pray for those
whom society has forgotten. We pray for those whom we have forgotten: for those
experiencing homelessness, the sick, the outcast and marginalized, those who
suffer from mental and emotional illness. Open our eyes week after week and
disturb us to action in order that we might live lives worthy of the calling to
which we have been called. Let us not be complacent. Stir our compassion. We
pray for ourselves, merciful God. Where we harbor secret fears, we pray you
will grant us relief. Where we are anxious over matters within our control and
without, we ask for peace. Where we too are plagued by the same demons we
identify in others, we ask for healing. Where we have allowed lesser gods to
usurp your claim upon us and our lives, we pray for forgiveness. We pray for
those whose troubles are known only to you, O God, that you would guide us to
offer a hand of grace in your name to them. We pray for your church, O God. For
the church universal, the Presbyterian church, and our congregation, we ask
your blessing. Call us once more and give us a vision to be a light to all
people. Make us the community of faith you would have us be. We make these and
all of our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together,
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 “Lord, Speak to Me”
1. Lord, speak to me, that I may speak in
living echoes of thy tone; as thou has sought, so let me seek thine erring
children lost and lone.
2. O strengthen me, that while I stand firm
on the rock, and strong in thee, I may stretch out a loving land to wrestlers
with the troubled sea.
3. O teach me, Lord, that I may teach the
precious things thou dost impart; and wing my words, that they may reach the
hidden depths of many a heart.
4. O fill me with thy fullness, Lord, until
my very heart o'erflow in kindling thought and glowing word, thy love to tell,
thy praise to show.
5. O use me, Lord, use even me, just as thou
wilt, and when, and where, until thy blessed face I see, thy rest, thy joy, thy
glory share.
*BENEDICTION
*THREE FOLD AMEN
SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS
Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Baron Mullis, courtesy
of the Presbyterian Outlook
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