ORDER of WORSHIP
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 13, 2020
Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24
Greeting and Welcome
Prelude Music
Call to Worship (Based on Psalm 139)
Pastor: O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
All: You know when I sit down and when I rise up.
Pastor: Where can I go from your spirit?
All: Where can I flee from your presence?
Pastor: If I ascend to heaven,
All: You are there.
Pastor: If I make my bed in Sheol,
All: You are there.
Pastor: If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
All: You are there.
Pastor: If I hide under the cover of darkness,
All: You are there.
Pastor: You are here, O Lord.
All: You are here, O God.
Pastor: Search me, O God, and know my heart;
All: Test me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Pastor: Let us worship God.
Hymn of Praise “We Sing to You, O God” TFWS #2001, Words: Gracia Grindal. Music: John Darwall; harm. from Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1875 alt.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved.
- We sing to You O God,
the Rock who gave us birth,
let our rejoicing sing Your name
in all the earth.
To You O God, let songs be raised,
In joyful hymns, our feast of praise - We wandered far from home
out in a desert land,
you shielded with your love
our fearful pilgrim band.
You kept us safe within
your arms and sheltered us
against the storm. - You bear us through the world,
an eagle to her young,
who rises on her wings and
Bears us toward the sun.
We ride the vaults of light
and air and trust in Your unfailing care. - O God, eternal God,
we hide within your wings,
the everlasting arms to whom
our praises ring.
Your Word is true,
your way is just,
you are the God in whom we trust.
Affirmation of Faith “The Nicene Creed” #880 UMH
ALL: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in the one holy and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Gloria Patri “Glory Be to the Father” UMH #71 Words: Lesser Doxology, 3rd-4th Cent. Music: Henry W. Greatorex, 1851.
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. Amen.
Special Music (Hand Bells played by Blackwell-Walke Family)
Gospel Reading Luke 7:36-50 (NRSV)
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The Word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon “Do You Know Jesus or Know About Jesus?” Rev. Matthew B. Sergent
Prayers of the People
Hymn “There’s Within My Heart a Melody” UMH #380 Words and Music: Luther B. Bridgers, 1910.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733303. All rights reserved
- There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
in all of life’s ebb and flow.
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go. - All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
stirred the slumbering chords again.
(Refrain) - Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,trials fall across the way,
though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see his footprints all the way.
(Refrain) - Feasting on the riches of his grace,
resting neath his sheltering wing,
always looking on his smiling face,
that is why I shout and sing.
(Refrain) - Soon he’s coming back to welcome me
far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;
I shall reign with him on high.
(Refrain)
Benediction
Go forth, children of God, as people who are forgiven and who have much love to share with those who have yet to sense their forgiveness, who have yet to experience God’s love. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and rest upon you and upon those you love. Amen.
Postlude
