SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
23rd Sunday of Pentecost
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
November 8, 2020
Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart
Liturgist: Evelyn Tobey
Please silence all phones and beepers.
Bold face indicates congregational participation.
GATHERING
WORDS OF WELCOME
STEWARDSHIP PRESENTATION: Mike Isham
PRELUDE Caleb Hebert
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP
Choose this day whom you will serve.
We will serve and obey the Lord our God .
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of the seas, sky, and land, When Jonah turned to run from you, you showed him that nothing and no one could hide from your presence. You are in all things, and you love all things. Show us the gift of your presence, and help us to carry your word of compassion and grace to all the world, in the name of the one who carried out your love flawlessly, Jesus Christ our redeemer.
Amen
HYMN 426 “Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak” Canonbury
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart . We have failed to be an obedient church . We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love . We have not loved our neighbors, and we have refused to hear the cry of the needy . Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI 579
PROCLAMATION
FIRST LESSON Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN
ANTHEM “Many Gifts, One Spirit” Allen Pote
Many gifts, one spirit, many songs, one voice.
Many reasons, one promise, many questions one choice
O God, we pray for unity, give guidance from above.
In our differences unite us in the circle of your love.
O God, remind us we are not alone.
Though we move on different pathways, We are walking to your throne.
Help us learn to love each other, show us ways to understand,
We are members of one family, growing strong by joining hands.
O God, remind us we are not alone.
Take our many ways of working, blend the colors of each soul
Into the beauty of a rainbow, give us life, Lord, make us whole.
Second Lesson Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10; 4:1-11
SERMON “Worst…Prophet…Ever” The Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Unison) Theological Declaration of Barmen
8.11 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.
8.14 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.
8.17 The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and Sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance.
8.20 The various offices in the church do not establish a dominion of some over the others; on the contrary, they are for the exercise of the ministry entrusted to and enjoined upon the whole congregation.
8.26 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.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Hymn 478 “Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven” Lauda Anima
PARTING PRAYER
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “Allegro” Kitten
Participating in today’s service are Rev. Aaron Ochart, Pastor, Julie Hebert, CE Leader, Sandy Cranfill, Music Director, and Sam Garnett, Organist. Appreciation to David Garland and Dennis Lauland for the video production of today’s service.