SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
17th Sunday after Pentecost
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
September 19, 2021 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Rev. Aaron Ochart
Please silence all cell phones.
Face masks must be worn while entering and exiting
Bold face indicates congregational participation
*Please Stand in body or spirit
GATHERING
WORDS OF WELCOME
PRELUDE Prayer – Jean Langlais
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP
ONE: Live in a way that is worthy of the Gospel
MANY: Stand firm in the Spirit, side by side.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of abundance, you emptied yourself in order to serve us, and you ask that we make of ourselves a living sacrifice. Help us to let go of the things that hold us back from you. Help us to give cheerfully of ourselves for your glory. Amen.
HYMN “God of the Sparrow”
1.God of the sparrow God of the whale God of the swirling stars
How does the creature say Awe How does the creature say Praise
2.God of the earthquake God of the storm God of the trumpet blast
How does the creature cry Woe How does the creature cry Save
3.God of the rainbow God of the cross God of the empty grave
How does the creature say Grace How does the creature say Thanks
- God of the hungry God of the sick God of the prodigal
How does the creature say Care How does the creature say Life
5.God of the neighbor God of the foe God of the pruning hook
How does the creature say Love How does the creature say Joy
- God of the ages God near at hand God of the loving heart
How do your children say Joy How do your children say Home
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Merciful God, in your presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves, as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression. Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI 579
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.
PROCLAMATION
FIRST LESSON John 1:19-34
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN
ANTHEM “Lamb of God”
SECOND LESSON Genesis 21:1-3; 22:1-14
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON “Here. For. It.” Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Apostles’ Creed
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ [God’s] 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.
COLLECTION OF OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY
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.
REAFFIRMATION OF BAPTISM
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-
Jews and Greek, slaves and free– and we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. …
Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do.
Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love? I will, with God’s help.
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
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.
SENDING
*HYMN 379 “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
1 My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain: On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.
2 When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain]
3 His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. [Refrain]
4 When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. [Refrain]
*PARTING PRAYER Clement of Rome (1st Century)
We pray to you, O God: be our helper and protector. Save the afflicted, have mercy on the lowly, raise up the fallen, help the needy, humble the proud, return the lost, feed the hungry, release the captive, heal the sick, revive the weak, and comfort those in fear. All this we ask for the sake of the world you love, and in the name of the one you sent to save us: Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Carillon from 24 Pieces en style libre Louis Vierne