August 4, 2024
Prelude: Sheep May Safely Graze
Bach/Petri
Welcome & Call to Worship
[Psalm 78]
God commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven;
he rained down on his people manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven.
They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. Yet their heart was not steadfast toward him.
Being compassionate, God forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh, and guided them in the wilderness.
Let us worship the LORD!
Morning Has Broken (Hymn 469)
Farjeon/Gaelic melody
Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!
Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dew-fall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where God’s feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day!
Confession
God of renewal, we know that we are to live by faith, not by sight. Yet too often we do not feel confident unless we are in control. Forgive us for rejecting what we do not immediately understand, or closing our imaginations to mystery and newness. Forgive us when we cling to old patterns, even knowing that they are broken. Move us to see others not from our human point of view, but through your love. When things feel uncertain and unfamiliar, help us trust that you are at work in us and in the world. Amen.
Silence
Restore in Us, O God
Hopson/Daw
Restore in us, O God, the splendor of your love;
Renew your image in our hearts, and all our sins remove.
Bring us, O Christ, to share the fullness of your joy;
Baptize us in the risen life that death cannot destroy.
Forgiveness in Jesus Christ
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Gloria Patri (Hymn 579)
Greatorex
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,
Word without end. Amen, Amen.
Children’s Message
There Is Now a New Creation
Gambrell/Witt’s Psalmodia Sacra
There is now a new creation through the grace of Jesus Christ,
Peace and reconciliation with the God of endless life.
Call the lost and found together; tell the news to everyone:
Now the past is gone forever and a new life has begun.
Come and join the celebration; come and join this happy feast;
Jesus makes an invitation to the greatest and the least.
There is now a new creation through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Sing, with thanks and adoration, to the God of endless life!
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Readings
Katriel Starbuck
Old Testament: Ezekiel 17:22-24
New Testament: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Homily: Newness
Scott Starbuck
Focus: Just about everything in our relationship with God is about newness, new-orientation, renewal, and transformation.
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Communion Music: When at This Table
Murray/Marshall
Lisa Phillips
Communion Prayer
Call to Stewardship
Judy Stafstrom
So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.
-2 Chronicles 24:13
Offering: Arietta
Grieg
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Charge & Benediction
Postlude: Praise His Greatness
arr. Mark Hayes
OneLicense# A-727502
CCLI# 283345
