PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
June 20, 2021 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart
Please silence all cell phones.
Face masks must be worn while entering and exiting
Bold face indicates congregational participation
GATHERING
WORDS OF WELCOME
PRELUDE Ariosa in A -J.S Bach Diane Bish
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP Romans 6:3, 11
Through our baptism, we are dead to sin.
Now we are alive to God in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Living Lord, who meets us on the roads that we travel. You reveal yourself in illuminating light, and help us to see ourselves as we really are. Sometimes we are blind, but convinced that we can see. Sometimes we do not want to love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to see with your eyes and love with your heart. In the name of Jesus the risen Christ, Amen.
HYMN 357 “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee”
1 O Master, let me walk with Thee In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care.
2 Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, you shattered the power of sin and death. We confess that we remain captive to doubt and fear, bound by the ways that lead to death. We overlook the poor and the hungry, and pass by those who mourn; we are deaf to the cries of the oppressed, and indifferent to calls for peace; we despise the weak, and abuse the earth you made.
Forgive us, God of mercy. Help us to trust your power to change our lives and make us new, that we may know the joy of life abundant given in Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI 579
PROCLAMATION
FIRST LESSON Acts 9:1-9
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN “A Great Story”
ANTHEM “My Father’s World Medley”
This is my Father’s world, And to my listening ears All
nature sings, and round me rings The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought Of
rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.
O Master, let me walk with thee in lowly
paths of service free; tell me thy secret;
help me bear the strain of toil, the fret of care.
Teach me thy patience; still with thee in closer,
dearer company, in work that keeps faith
sweet and strong, in trust that triumphs over wrong;
All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all!
Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all!
O that with yonder sacred throng We at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the ever lasting song, And crown Him Lord of all!
We’ll join the ever lasting song, And crown Him Lord of all!
What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!
Second Lesson Acts 9:10-20
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
The Word of God for the People of God
Thanks be to God.
SERMON “Do What Now?” The Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
REAFFIRMATION OF BAPTISM
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-
Jews and Greek, slaves and free– and we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. …
Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?
I do.
Who is your Lord and Savior?
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love?
I will, with God’s help.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Scots Confession 3.01
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own glory.
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
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 280 “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound”
1 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
2 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed!
3 Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.
4 The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures.
5 When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.
PARTING PRAYER Attributed to Nels Ferré (1908-1971)
Come, O Holy Spirit. Come as Holy Fire and burn in us, come as Holy Wind and cleanse us within, come as Holy Light and lead us in the darkness, come as Holy Truth and dispel our ignorance, come as Holy Power and enable our weakness, come as Holy Life, and dwell in us.
Convict us, convert us, consecrate us, until we are set free from the service of ourselves, to be your servants to the world. Amen.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE