with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

 

2 O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,

with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;

and keep us in God’s grace, and guide us when perplexed,

and free us from all ills in this world and the next.

WORDS OF WELCOME        

MINUTE FOR MISSION                  Summer Kick Off Picnic                                             

ADORATION

CALL TO WORSHIP John 15:13

ONE: There is no greater love than this:

MANY: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O God, you have prepared for those who love you

joys beyond understanding. Pour into our hearts such love for you,

that, loving you above all else, we may obtain your promises,

which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever. Amen

HYMN [GTG#192]   “Lord the Light of Your Love Is Shining” 

Lord, the light of your love is shining,

In the midst of the darkness, shining;

Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us;

Set us free by the truth you now bring us.

Shine on me, shine on me.

 

Shine, Jesus, shine; fill this land with the Father’s glory.

Blaze, Spirit, blaze; set our hearts on fire.

Flow, river, flow; flood the nations with grace and mercy.

Send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.

 

Lord, I come to your awesome presence,

From the shadows into your radiance;

by the blood I may enter your brightness.

Search me; try me; consume all my darkness.

Shine on me; shine on me (Refrain)

 

As we gaze on your kingly brightness,

So our faces display your likeness;

ever changing from glory to glory,

mirrored here may our lives tell your story.

Shine on me; shine on me. (Refrain)

 

MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN

RESPONSE HYMN [GTG#475] 

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

1 Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;

praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!

CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                  

SILENT CONFESSION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of mercy, you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost. We confess that we have strayed from you and turned aside from your way. We are misled by pride, for we see ourselves pure when we are stained, and great when we are small. We have failed in love, neglected justice, and ignored your truth. 

Have mercy, O God, and forgive our sin. Return us to paths of righteousness through Jesus Christ, our savior. Amen. 

ASSURANCE OF PARDON       

GLORIA PATRI [Blue#579[ [GTG581]      

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.

THE GOSPEL PROCLAIMED

SCRIPTURE [Pew Bible NT pg.144 or 115] Rom. 3:28-30 5:1-11

For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

ONE: The Word of the Lord

MANY: Thanks be to God

 

SERMON:          The Rev. Aaron Ochart

 TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW   

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH       Theological Declaration of Barmen 

Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

    As Jesus Christ is God’s assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so in the same way and with the same seriousness is he also God’s mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures.

   The church’s commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message of the free grace of God to all people in Christ’s stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and Sacrament. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS

OFFERTORY “23rd Psalm”  Bobby McFerrin 

 

DOXOLOGY [GTG#609]

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise God, all creatures high and low. Allelujah, alleluia!

Praise God, in Jesus Fully know:

Creator, Word, and Spirit one. 

Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia!

 

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 “Faith of Our Mothers”

1 Faith of our mothers, living still
In cradle song and bedtime prayer;
In nursery lore and fireside love,
Thy presence still pervades the air.
Faith of our mothers, living faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

 

2 Faith of our mothers, loving faith,
Fount of our childhood’s trust and grace,
Oh, may thy consecration prove
Source of a finer, nobler race;
Faith of our mothers, loving faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

3 Faith of our mothers, guiding faith,
For youthful longing, youthful doubt,
How blurred our vision, blind our way,
Thy providential care without.
Faith of our mothers, guiding faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
4 Faith of our mothers, Christian faith,
In truth beyond our stumbling creeds,
Still serve the home and save the Church,
And breathe thy spirit through our deeds;
Faith of our mothers, Christian faith,
We will be true to thee till death.

 

PARTING PRAYER

Glory to you, O God: you have won victory over death, raising Jesus from the grave and giving us eternal life. 

Glory to you, O Christ: for us and for our salvation you overcame death and opened the gate to everlasting life. 

Glory to you, O Holy Spirit: you lead us into the truth. 

Glory to you, Blessed Trinity, now and forever. Amen. 

 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

RESPONSE [GTG#192] “Shine Jesus Shine”

Shine, Jesus, shine; fill this land with the Father’s glory.

Blaze, Spirit, blaze; set our hearts on fire.

Flow, river, flow; flood the nations with grace and mercy.

Send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.