Order of Worship 09/01/2024

SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

September 1st, 2024 Ten Thirty in the morning

Preacher:  CP Ford Dieth       

Liturgist: Mary Antill                                                    

Please silence all cell phones. 

Bold face indicates congregational participation.

✝ Please stand, in body or spirit
 
THE PEOPLE ARE GATHERED IN
 
PRELUDE       Open the Eyes of My Heart       arr. Carol Tornquist
 

✝PROCESSIONAL HYMN [*Blue][GTG#692] 

Spirit, Open My Heart

REFRAIN: Spirit, open my heart  to the joy and pain of living.
As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving.
Spirit, open my heart.


God, replace my stony heart  with a heart that’s kind and tender.
All my coldness and fear  to your grace I now surrender.

REFRAIN


Write your love upon my heart  as my law, my goal, my story.
In each thought, word, and deed, may my living bring you glory.

REFRAIN


May I weep with those who weep; share the joy of sister, brother.
In the welcome of Christ, may we welcome one another.

REFRAIN
 

WORDS OF WELCOME 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
 

ADORATION      

CALL TO WORSHIP Hebrews 13:16

ONE: Do good and share what you have,

MANY: for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 

                                                   

PRAYER OF THE DAY

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 [*Blue #335][GTG#693] Though I May Speak

1 Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire,

and have not love, my words are vain, as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.


2 Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess,

but not be given by love within, the profit soon turns strangely thin.


3 Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control; our spirits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship, and are freed.

REPENTANCE
 

CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                  

SILENT CONFESSION
 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Merciful God,

you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you. We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy. We have not loved you with a pure heart, nor have we loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not done justice, loved kindness, or walked humbly with you, our God. Have mercy on us, O God, in your loving kindness. In your great compassion, cleanse us from our sin. Do not cast us away from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation and sustain us with your bountiful Spirit.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON       

              

✝GLORIA PATRI [Blue#579[ [GTG581]     

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.
 

THE WORD READ AND PROCLAIMED


1st SCRIPTURE                     Mark 7:1-23


Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”


2nd SCRIPTURE                           James 1:17-27


Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. 

  


ONE: The Word of the Lord

MANY: Thanks be to God



SERMON     “Rules or Rulers?”      CP Ford Dieth


 RESPONSE     

✝AFFIRMATION OF FAITH         Apostles’ Creed 

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,  and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.    

 

RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS

OFFERTORY   

             

✝ DOXOLOGY [GTG#606]

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise God, all creatures here below;

Praise God above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE 

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 [*Blue #XXX][GTG#295] Go to the World!

Go to the world! Go into all the earth.

 Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth,

 baptizing as the sign of our rebirth.

 Alleluia. Alleluia.


Go to the world! Go into every place.

 Go live the word of God’s redeeming grace.

 Go seek God’s presence in each 

time and space. Alleluia. Alleluia.


Go to the world! Go struggle, bless, and pray;

 the nights of tears give way to joyous day.

 As servant church, you follow 

Christ’s own way. Alleluia. Alleluia.


Go to the world! Go as the ones I send,

 for I am with you till the age shall end, when all the hosts of glory 

cry “Amen!“ Alleluia. Alleluia.


PARTING PRAYER 

Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downward; give me an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give me an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow on me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


✝CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
 

✝RESPONSE [*Blue #XXX][GTG#547] Go, My Children, with My Blessing

“Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.

In my love’s baptismal river I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing,
you are my own.”

       

POSTLUDE       Improvisation on WILD MOUNTAIN THYME       

                      

*Note: the hymn lyrics in the bulletin and on the projection screen are from the Glory To God Hymnal (© 2013 Westminster John Knox Press), which we are transitioning to. Words in the “Blue” Presbyterian Hymnal (© 1990) in your pew may differ slightly.


The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved. 


STAFF

Church Office: 504.888.1375 Playschool Office: 504.888.1378

Briana Mayfield – Church Office Assistant 

Kelly Cuppett – Music Director

Lauren Crisler  – Playschool Director

Stephanie Galliano – Playschool Admin. Asst.


Deacons

Bill Bottomley 504-885-3850 pslclerk@earthlink.net

Mary Antill 504-247-5720 buzz2moosetaco@gmail.com

Tony Hill 504-214-8095 rolandohill2003@yahoo.com

Laurie Hill 504-344-9079 la.tres@yahoo.com 

For more information, visit our website at www.JohnCalvinChurch.org

 or find us @JohnCalvinMetairie on Facebook and Instagram



Order of Worship 08/25/2024

SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
 

August 25th, 2024 Ten Thirty in the morning

Preacher:  CP Ford Dieth       

Liturgist: Denis McCrea                                                   

Please silence all cell phones. 

Bold face indicates congregational participation.

✝ Please stand, in body or spirit
 
THE PEOPLE ARE GATHERED IN
 
PRELUDE       Improvisation on CONVERSE
 

✝PROCESSIONAL HYMN [*Blue #144][GTG#260]
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!

1 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus; his the scepter, his the throne;

Alleluia! his the triumph, his the victory alone!

Hark! The songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood:

“Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by his blood.”


2 Alleluia! Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;

Alleluia! he is near us; faith believes nor questions how.

Though the cloud from sight received him, when the forty days were o’er,

shall our hearts forget his promise: “I am with you evermore”?


3 Alleluia! Bread of angels, here on earth our food, our stay;

Alleluia! here the sinful flee to you from day to day.

Intercessor, friend of sinners, earth’s redeemer, hear our plea

where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.


4 Alleluia! King eternal, Lord omnipotent we own;

Alleluia! born of Mary, earth your footstool, heaven your throne.

As within the veil you entered, robed in flesh, our great high priest;

here on earth both priest and victim in the eucharistic feast.

WORDS OF WELCOME 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
 

ADORATION      

CALL TO WORSHIP John 6:68-69

ONE: Jesus has the words of eternal life;

MANY: he is the Holy One of God. 

                                                   

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Almighty God, you have taught us that all our deeds without love are worth nothing. Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts

that most excellent gift of love, the very bond of peace and of all goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  
 

✝HYMN [*Blue #403][GTG#465] What a Friend We Have in Jesus

1 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!


2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!

Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!


3 Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer!

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he’ll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there.

REPENTANCE

CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                  

SILENT CONFESSION
 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Eternal God,

in whom we live and move and have our being, whose face is hidden from us by our sins, and whose mercy we forget in the blindness of our hearts: Cleanse us from all our offenses, and deliver us from proud thoughts and vain desires, that with reverent and humble hearts we may draw near to you, confessing our faults,

confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength;

through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON               

      

✝GLORIA PATRI [Blue#579[ [GTG581]     

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.
 

THE WORD READ AND PROCLAIMED


1st SCRIPTURE                     Ephesians 6:10-20


Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.


2nd SCRIPTURE                           Psalm 84


How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah

Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.

They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

  

ONE: The Word of the Lord

MANY: Thanks be to God


SERMON     “He Never Failed Me Yet!”      CP Ford Dieth


 RESPONSE    

 

✝AFFIRMATION OF FAITH         Apostles’ Creed 

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,  and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.     
 

RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS

OFFERTORY                 

✝ DOXOLOGY [GTG#606]

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise God, all creatures here below;

Praise God above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE 

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 [*Blue #420][GTG#307]     God of Grace and God of Glory

1 God of grace and God of glory, on thy people pour thy power;

crown thine ancient church’s story; bring its bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour,

for the facing of this hour.


2 Lo! the hosts of evil round us scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!

From the fears that long have bound us free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,

for the living of these days, for the living of these days.


3 Cure thy children’s warring madness; bend our pride to thy control;

shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal,

lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.


4 Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore.

Let the gift of thy salvation be our glory evermore.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving thee whom we adore,

serving thee whom we adore.

PARTING PRAYER 

O gracious and holy God, give us diligence to seek you, wisdom to perceive you, and patience to wait for you. Grant us, O God, a mind to meditate on you; eyes to behold you; ears to listen for your word; a heart to love you; and a life to proclaim you; through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 

✝CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

✝RESPONSE [*Blue #391][GTG#697] Take My Life    

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store;

take myself and I will be ever, only, all for thee,

ever, only, all for thee.             
 

POSTLUDE      Better is One Day      arr.     Carol Tornquist                           

*Note: the hymn lyrics in the bulletin and on the projection screen are from the Glory To God Hymnal (© 2013 Westminster John Knox Press), which we are transitioning to. Words in the “Blue” Presbyterian Hymnal (© 1990) in your pew may differ slightly.


The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved. 


*Altar flowers for today’s service were made by Joan Albright as a thank you for all the friendships made through John Calvin Presbyterian Church.

STAFF

Church Office: 504.888.1375 Playschool Office: 504.888.1378

Briana Mayfield – Church Office Assistant 

Kelly Cuppett – Music Director

Lauren Crisler  – Playschool Director

Stephanie Galliano – Playschool Admin. Asst.


Deacons

Bill Bottomley 504-885-3850 pslclerk@earthlink.net

Mary Antill 504-247-5720 buzz2moosetaco@gmail.com

Tony Hill 504-214-8095 rolandohill2003@yahoo.com

Laurie Hill 504-344-9079 la.tres@yahoo.com 

For more information, visit our website at www.JohnCalvinChurch.org

 or find us @JohnCalvinMetairie on Facebook and Instagram.




ANNOUNCEMENTS


Announcements 08/25/2024

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PW School Supply Offering: The Presbyterian Women will continue its mission to support the students and teachers of Alice Birney Elementary School, our neighborhood school.  Each year at this time we shop for requested school supplies while they are on sale. These supplies are distributed in January when students have consumed, broken, lost, etc. their supplies from the beginning of school. If you are interested in supporting this mission,  there will be a special offering collected on August 18th and 25th for the purchase of these supplies.  Please indicate “School Supplies” on your donation.  We appreciate your support!

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND FELLOWSHIP: Please check your bulletin for questions and suggestions for CE and fellowship opportunities. Adult Sunday school will start next month. You can order your book through the church or Amazon. (roughly $18 or see if you can find one used for cheaper) We also recognize that everyone’s schedule is different, but we want to have fellowship outside of Sunday service. Let us know your ideas! Especially if there is something you want to lead. Email Briana at johncalvinadmi@gmail.com

TEACHER COMMISSION SERVICE: Sept. 15th, we will be having our teacher commissioning service for playschool and bible study teachers. There will be a Gameday picnic/potluck after service. Little Farms and surrounding Presbyterian churches have been invited. Please feel free to invite your neighbors. Please see the sign up sheet, and let us know what you will bring or be willing to do during the event!

HANDBELLS: Kelly is looking for volunteers to play handbells on September 8th, with a rehearsal after the service on September 1 (Labor Day weekend). Let her know if you’d like to participate by August 25th

TABLE CLOTH DINNER:  We are having a Table Cloth Dinner on September 11th at Bistro Orleans at 6:30p. There is a signup sheet in the Narthex. Please see Beverly Kennedy for any questions.

GLASS HALF FULL:  You got glass? Let us have it. We are partnering with Glass Half Full to collect glass waste. This company can pick up from us, your business, and directly from your home! They help to convert it into sand and gravel for coastal restoration, disaster relief, new glass products and more! Make sure to remove any caps or corks and rinse off any food products. See flyer on Narthex Board for more info.

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for shelf-stable breakfast items and canned meat goods. Please see the flyer on the bulletin board in the narthex.

DEACON UPDATE:  If you are in need of prayer and/or any pastoral care, please contact one of our deacons. Names and information are located at the back of the bulletin under staff.
 

CALENDAR:

8/25 Sunday Worship 10:30a