MANY: and lifts up the needy from the ashes.

PRAYER OF THE DAY 

Holy God, your servant Jacob wrestled with your angel and prevailed. In honor of his persistence you gave him a new name. Teach us to persist in the face of struggle, and call us by name. Amen. 

HYMN OF THE MONTH [BLUE#458] [GTG #26] 

“Earth and All Stars”

1. Earth and all stars! loud rushing planets!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Hail, wind, and rain, loud blowing snowstorms!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

God has done marvelous things.

We too sing praise with a new song!

2. Trumpet and pipes! Loud clashing cymbals!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Harp, lute, and lyre! Loud humming cellos!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

God has done marvelous things.

We too sing praise with a new song!

3. Engines and steel! Loud pounding hammers!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Limestone and beams! Loud building workers,

Sing to the Lord a new song!

God has done marvelous things.

We too sing praise with a new song!

MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN             

RESPONSE HYMN [GTG #760] 

“Bring Many Names”

1 Bring many names, beautiful and good,

celebrate, in parable and story,

holiness in glory, living, loving God.

Hail and Hosanna! Bring many names!

REPENTANCE

CALL TO CONFESSION                                                                  

SILENT CONFESSION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Eternal God, our judge and redeemer, we confess that we have tried to hide from you, for we have done wrong. We have lived for ourselves, and apart from you. We have turned from our neighbors, and refused to bear the burdens of others. We have ignored the pain of the world, and passed by the hungry, the poor, and the oppressed. In your great mercy forgive our sins and free us from selfishness, that we may choose your will and obey your commandments; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen

ASSURANCE OF PARDON                     

GLORIA PATRI [BLUE#579] [GTG#581] 

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.

THE WORD READ AND PROCLAIMED

SCRIPTURE  [Pew Bible OT 489 or 517]                     Psalm 46

To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.

God is our refuge and strength,

   a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,

   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

though its waters roar and foam,

   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

          Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

   the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;

   God will help it when the morning dawns.

The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;

   he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

          Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD;

   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;

   he burns the shields with fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God!

   I am exalted among the nations,

   I am exalted in the earth.’

The LORD of hosts is with us;

   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

          Selah

SCRIPTURE  [Pew Bible NT 28 or 29]             Genesis 32:6-13, 22-30

Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, ‘Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.” ’

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, thinking, ‘If Esau comes to one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape.’

And Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, “Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good”, I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. Yet you have said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.” ’

So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,…

The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’

ONE: The Word of the Lord

MANY: Thanks be to God

SERMON: “Striving with God and with Humans” Rev. Aaron Ochart 

 RESPONSE     

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH             “Scots Confession”

We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by [God’s] inscrutable providence for such end as [God’s] eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of [God’s] own glory.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS

OFFERTORY Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown       Daniel L. Mennicke 

Ft. Jessica Martinez

DOXOLOGY [*BLUE#592] [GTG#606]

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God, all creatures here below;

Praise God above, ye heavenly hosts;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

RECEIVING OF NEW MEMBERS

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#119] [GTG#236]  “The Strife is O’er”    

Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

1 The strife is o’er, the battle done;

the victory of life is won;

the song of triumph has begun.

Alleluia!

2 The powers of death have done their worst,

but Christ their legions hath dispersed:

let shouts of holy joy outburst.

Alleluia!

3 The three sad days are quickly sped;

Christ rises glorious from the dead:

all glory to our risen Head!

Alleluia!

4 Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee,

from death’s dread sting thy servants free,

that we may live, and sing to thee:

Alleluia! (Refrain)