September 1, 2024
Prelude: Menuet
Haydn, arr. Barge
Bonnie Lee and Colleen McElroy
Welcome & Call to Worship
[Isaiah 25]
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make a feast for all peoples.
And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Let us worship the LORD!
Rejoice, the Lord is King (Hymn 155)
Darwall/Wesley
Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing, and triumph evermore:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
God’s kingdom cannot fail, Christ rules o’er earth and heaven;
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Rejoice in glorious hope! For Christ, the Judge, shall come
To glorify the saints for their eternal home:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Confession
God of salvation, we long for the day when you will wipe away the tears from all faces. We often feel hopeless and helpless in the face of suffering and death. Forgive us when uncertainty chips away at our faith in the coming of your kingdom. Now we grieve for those we have lost; remind us that our grief is not forever. Help us live expectantly and encourage one another in hope and love as we wait for you. Amen.
Silence
My Faith Looks Up to Thee (Hymn 383)
Mason/Palmer
My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine;
Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine!
May Thy rich grace impart strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire;
As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,
Pure, warm, and changeless be, a living fire!
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
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (Hymn 379)
Bradbury/Mote
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.
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)
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)
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Readings
Alida Gowan
Old Testament: Isaiah 25:6-10a
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
Homily: The End…? (Apostles’ Creed, Week 7)
Rev. John Owen
Focus: Christ made it abundantly clear that only God knows the time and manner in which God’s Kingdom will be (re)established on earth. He also made it abundantly clear that it will happen, Christ will come again to usher it in, and we have been invited to enjoy it with him forever.
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Communion Music: Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Gluck
Colleen McElroy, flute
Communion Prayer
Call to Stewardship
Zak Cannard
Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of a gift never given. -Proverbs 25:14
Offering: I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
Thomerson, arr. Behnke
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: O Worship the King
Darwall, arr. Smith
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