Sunday August 2, 2026 Worship Service
Livestream at 10:00 a.m.

Gathering in God’s Name

Prelude — Pastorale from Sonata in D minor, Op. 42 — Alexandre Guilmant
As the prelude begins, you are invited to begin your personal preparation for worship.

Silent Meditation                                                                                                         
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.  That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business.  What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”   – American Trappist Monk Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Call to Worship — Psalm 145: 8-9, 14-18
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
       The Lord is good to all, and God’s compassion is over all that God has made.
       The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, God, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
       The Lord is near to all who call on the Lord, to all who call on the Lord in truth.
       We call on God today in worship!

Praise and Adoration

*Hymn #645 — Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above — MIT FREUDEN ZART
(*Please stand, if you are able)

Confession and Pardon

Call to Confession

Prayer of Confession
Holy God, you have revealed yourself to us in Jesus Christ, who revealed your goodness, mercy, healing and renewal. But sometimes we do not see what is right before us. Sometimes we miss the miracle. We misunderstand you, and so we misunderstand the world. Forgive us, we pray. Restore to us the ability to see you as you reveal yourself. Renew within us the capacity to perceive your way in the world, for this life, and in the life that is to come. We pray it in Jesus’ name, and for his sake.

Silent Prayers of Confession and Petition

Kyrie Eleison — Lord, Have Mercy — SCHUBERT

Assurance of Pardon

*Congregational Response (#581) — Glory Be to the Father — GLORIA PATRI (Greatorex)

*Welcome                            
During the Welcome, children are invited to come forward.

Time for Young Disciples

Hymn #767 — Together We Serve — SAN ANSELMO             

Announcements

Fellowship of Prayer

Joys and Concerns

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.

Anthem — Grace — arr. Mark Hayes

Proclamation of God’s Word

Scripture Lesson — Matthew 14: 13-21 — page 796 of the pew Bible

Sermon — “You Are the Answer to Somebody’s Prayer” — Dr. Zieman                                                                                                                                 

Our Response to God’s Word

*Affirmation of Faith — from A Declaration of Faith, 1977
Jesus Christ stands at the center of the biblical record. The Bible is the account of God’s word and action in history, together with his people’s response in faith. It tells how the Lord has moved with Israel and the church towards the kingdom of God, his just and loving rule over all. It is the story of the one God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That story is still unfolding and in faith we make it our own. It forms our memory and our hope. It tells us who we are and what we are to do. To retell it is to declare what we believe.

*Sanctus (#562) — Holy, Holy, Holy  — SANCTUS (Schubert)

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

Offertory — Simple Gifts — arr. Mark Hayes

*Doxology (#609) — Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow — LASST UNS ERFREUEN
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise God, all creatures high and low. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known: Creator, Word, and Spirit one. Alleluia, alleluia! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

*Prayer of Dedication        
Holy God, the world and all that is within it was made at your Word. You have blessed us with countless gifts of love. Receive then, our offerings as commitments of our intention to see the world through the eyes of your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

*Hymn of Dedication #366 — Love Divine, All Loves Excelling  — HYFRYDOL

*Charge and Benediction

Postlude — Fugue in C Major, Bux WV 174 — Dietrich Buxtehude