Sunday September 21, 2025 Worship Service
Livestream at 11:10 a.m.

Gathering in God’s Name

Prelude — Experience — Ludovico Einaudi     
As the prelude begins, you are invited to begin your personal preparation for worship.

Silent Meditation
“God works on us in all sorts of ways, but above all, He works on us through each other.  Men are mirrors, or ‘carriers’ of Christ to other men…  People who were not Christians themselves helped me to Christianity.  But usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others.  That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important…” ~ C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”

Call to Worship                                                                                                                          
Turn us, O God,
       away from the world’s temptations and distractions.
Return us, O God,
       to the quiet calm of your presence.
Restore us, O God,
       to the path you call us to follow.
Orient us, O God,
       to the hope of all that is possible through you.

Praise and Adoration

*Opening Hymn #756 — O God of Every Nation  — LLANGLOFFAN  
(*Please stand, if you are able)

Confession and Pardon

Call to Confession 

Prayer of Confession
God, our refuge, you lift up the lowly and hold out hope to the hopeless. Yet we who receive your grace so freely do not always follow your example. We can be quick to judge, eager to criticize, and slow to show mercy. We are tempted to gather and keep for ourselves what was meant to be shared. We can diminish and dehumanize those around us. God of us all, hear our confession now, as we pause in your presence, asking your forgiveness…

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 #735 — I Need Thee Every Hour — NEED

Announcements

Moment for Mission  — John Bennett, for Heartland Hope Mission

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 —  Laudate — Kurt Nystedt                    
O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye peoples.
For his loving kindness has been bestowed upon us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Proclamation of God’s Word

Scripture Lesson                                       
Genesis 45: 1-15 — page 37 of the pew Bible                                                                               
Luke 6: 27-38 — page 838 of the pew Bible                                       

Sermon — “Is It a Karma Thing?” — Rev. Dr. Mike Elliott                                       

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.

In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. 

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

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

Offertory — How Majestic Is Your Name — Tom Trenney

*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                                                                                                                                           
Generous God, receive our gifts and multiply them for your purpose. May our offerings become a source of blessing for the most vulnerable, for those in greatest need. May our act of giving, rooted in your generosity, loosen our grip on what we possess, and kindle in us a deeper desire to share. Amen.

*Hymn #815 — Give to the Winds Thy Fears — FESTAL SONG

*Charge and Benediction

 *Benediction Response — Go Now In Peace — Don Besig

Postlude — Trumpet Voluntary John Stanley