Sunday July 20, 2025 Worship Service
Livestream at 10:00 a.m.

Gathering in God’s Name

 Prelude — The Peace may be exchanged — Dan Locklair
As the prelude begins, you are invited to begin your personal preparation for worship.

Silent Meditation
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; and you will find rest for your souls.”        – Jesus, from Matthew 11:28, 29

Call to Worship
God calls us here to worship. We carry many worries and are distracted by many things, but here, in this time and place, we are invited to set them aside, to be fully present. Let’s pause and take a deep breath. We remember who we are:
       We are the body of Christ.
We remember whose we are:
       We are God’s beloved children.
We remember our chief purpose:
       To glorify and enjoy God forever. Let us worship God!

Praise and Adoration

*Hymn #450 — Be Thou My Vision — SLANE
(*Please stand, if you are able)

Confession and Pardon

Call to Confession

Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we are pulled in many different directions. We are distracted by the news, quick to point fingers and pass judgment, but reluctant to examine the ways we benefit from the injustice in our world. We are distracted by our fears. We fear the loss of health, safety, and financial security. Instead of proclaiming your abundance, we operate from a mindset of scarcity. We are distracted by our tasks, by calendars that shape our priorities, leaving us with less time and energy for what is most important. We confess our distraction, even as we acknowledge that sometimes we embrace it because it’s easier than sitting at Jesus’s feet, learning what it means to follow him. We confess that distraction is easier than discipleship. Forgive us. Help us discern and choose the better path as we seek to follow Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Silent Prayers of Confession

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 #457 — How Happy Are the Saints of God — WAREHAM

Announcements

Fellowship of Prayer

Joys and Concerns

Anthem —  Love Medley — arr. Marilynn Ham
(Love Divine, All Loves Excelling; O How He Loves You and Me; My Jesus, I Love Thee)

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.

Proclamation of God’s Word

Scripture Lesson — Luke 10: 38-42 — page 845 of the pew Bible

Sermon — “The One Thing that Holds Everything Else Together”

Our Response to God’s Word

.*Affirmation of Faith — from A Brief Statement of Faith (1991)
We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life.  The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the church.  The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.

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

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

Offertory — All Things Bright and Beautiful/This Is My Father’s World — arr. Wasson/Greer

*Doxology (#607) — Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow — OLD HUNDREDTH
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Christ, all people here below; praise Holy Spirit evermore; praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.

.*Prayer of Dedication
Abundant God, we give thanks for your grace and provision in our lives. Use these gifts to meet the physical and spiritual needs of our community and the world. May they witness to your love and care for all people, as we offer our time and energy to do the same.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

*Hymn #463 — How Firm a Foundation — FOUNDATION

*Charge and Benediction

*Benediction Response — Go Now In Peace — Don Besig

Postlude — Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ — Mark Sedio