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WELCOME
PRELUDE Be Thou My Vision – Irish/Byrne
*CALL TO WORSHIP (adapted from Colossians 1:15-20)
Leader: Let us worship our Lord Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God, and the firstborn
of all creation.
People: All things visible and invisible have been created through Him and for Him.
Leader: Christ is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
People: We worship the Lord, for He is the head of the church, and in the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
Leader: Through the work of Christ, God reconciled all things to himself.
People: Let us worship the One who is the Lord of all, and let ussing our hymn of grateful praise.
*HYMN OF PRAISE For the Beauty of the Earth #473
For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon, and stars of light.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye, For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony Linking sense to sound and sight.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above, For all gentle thoughts and mild.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
For Thy Church, that evermore Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore Her pure sacrifice of love.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
Gracious and merciful God,
while Your glory is without blemish,
we confess that our lives are stained with sin.
We have been blinded by greed;
we have been held captive by our desires;
we have been timid in sharing Your good news.
Forgive us, Lord, and set us free for a new beginning.
Open our eyes, so that we may see the needs of others;
amplify our voices, so that we may proclaim Your word;
and give us the courage to stand with the poor and weak in
spite of the threats of the strong and the wealthy.
As Your renewed and redeemed people,
show us where faith, hope, and love are needed,
and then use us to take them to those places of need,
for we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Silent)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS (adapted from 1 John 2:1-2)
Leader: If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
People: And He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel:
People: Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
SCRIPTURE Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.SCRIPTURE Luke 4:14-21
14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’sfavor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
MEDITATION Today?
ANTHEM Here I Am, Lord – Schutte
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH adapted from The Confession of 1967, 9.44
God has created the peoples of the earth to be one universal family.
In his reconciling love, God overcomes the barriers between sisters
and brothers
and breaks down every form of discrimination based on racial or
ethnic difference,
real or imaginary.
The church is called to bring all people to receive and uphold one
another as persons in all relationships of life:
in employment, housing, education, leisure, marriage, family, church,
and the exercise of political rights.
Therefore, the church labors for the abolition of all discrimination
and ministers to those injured by it.
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 usfrom evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
INVITATION TO GIVE
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
Loving Lord, who calls us to serve as Your disciples,
use these gifts to inspire us to see beyond our own needs and to
consider the needs of others;
use these offerings to motivate us to look beyond our own desires
to consider what is good for all humanity;
and use these contributions to help us see that what we offer is
vital for the service and ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord, in
whose name we pray. Amen.
*HYMN Live Into Hope #332
Live into hope of captives freed,
Of sight regained, the end of greed.
The oppressed shall be the first to see
The year of God’s own jubilee!Live into hope the blind shall see
With insight and with clarity,
Removing shades of pride and fear –
A vision of our God brought near.Live into hope of liberty,
The right to speak the right to be,
The right to have one’s daily bread,
To hear God’s word and thus be fed.Live into hope of captives freed
From chains of fear or want or greed.
God now proclaims our full release
To faith and hope and joy and peace.
*BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE We Have Heard the Joyful Sound – Kirkpatrick
You are invited to be seated as we listen to the Postlude which sends us forth into the world.