John Calvin Presbyterian Church

SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY

13th Sunday of Pentecost

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)

August 30, 2020 

   Ten Thirty in the morning

                            Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart                           

Liturgist: Nancy Lauland

Please silence all phones and beepers. 

Bold face indicates congregational participation.

God said to Moses: I am who I am.  

PRAYER OF THE DAY   (responsive) 

O God, author and giver of all good things, plant in our hearts the love of your name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen                 

                                   

HYMN  97                      “Go to Dark Gethsemane”  

   

CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                  

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)

Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen   

   

ASSURANCE OF PARDON   

Friends, believe the good news of the gospel!

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, thanks be to God!  

               

FIRST LESSON                                                     Romans 12:9-21

  Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.                       

                                                                          

RESPONSIVE PSALM 26:1-8

Vindicate me, O Lord,

    for I have walked in my integrity,

    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Prove me, O Lord, and try me;

    test my heart and mind.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

    and I walk in faithfulness to you.

I do not sit with the worthless,

    nor do I consort with hypocrites;

I hate the company of evildoers,

    and will not sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence,

singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,

    and telling all your wondrous deeds.

O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,

    and the place where your glory abides.        

   

SECOND LESSON                                                        Matthew 16:21-28

 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”                                           

L: The Word of the Lord.

P: Thanks be to God.        

                 

SERMON                 “God Forbid”                   The Rev. Aaron Ochart 

  

 RESPONSE 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH                                         Confession of 1967

In Jesus Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. Jesus Christ is God with [us]. He is the eternal Son of the Father, who became man and lived among us to fulfill the work of reconciliation. He is present in the church by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue and complete his mission. This work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the foundation of all confessional statements about God, [humanity], and the world. Therefore the church calls [people] to be reconciled to God and to one another.

God’s sovereign love is a mystery beyond the reach of [people]’s mind. Human thought ascribes to God superlatives of power, wisdom, and goodness. But God reveals love in Jesus Christ by showing power in the form of a servant, wisdom in the folly of the cross, and goodness in receiving sinful [people]. The power of God’s love in Christ to transform the world discloses that the Redeemer is the Lord and Creator who made all things to serve the purpose of [God’s] love.

universal, is entrusted with God’s message of reconciliation and shares [God’s] labor of healing the enmities which separate [people] from God and from each other. Christ has called the church to this mission and given it the gift of the Holy Spirit. The church maintains continuity with the apostles and with Israel by faithful obedience to his call. 

God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of [our] life: social and cultural, economic and political, scientific and technological, individual and corporate. It includes [humanity’s] natural environment as exploited and despoiled by sin. It is the will of God that [God’s] purpose for human life shall be fulfilled under the rule of Christ and all evil be banished from his creation.

THE LORD’S PRAYER               

PARTING PRAYER

O loving God, to turn away from you is to fall, to turn toward you is to rise, and to stand before you is to abide forever. Grant us, dear God, in all our duties your help; in all our uncertainties your guidance; in all our dangers your protection; and in all our sorrows your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Participating in today’s service are Rev. Aaron Ochart, Pastor, Julie Hebert, CE Leader, and Robert Edgecombe, Guest Musician.

Appreciation to David Garland and Dennis Lauland for the video production of today’s service.