June 26, 2022

June 26, 2022
 
Greeting
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
Prelude
                     
*Call to Worship
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

Leader: Our Family, Or Church, Our circle of God's love.
People: Open doors, Open hearts, Open minds.
Leader: Jesus stands knocking at the door of ALL HEARTS.
People: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Leader: This is the day the Lord has made.
People: Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
 
*Gathering Song      
We Gather Together
UMH #131
WORDS: Nederlandtsch Gedenckclanck, 1626; trans. by Theodore Baker, 1894
 
1. We gather together
to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens
His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing
now cease
from distressing.
Sing praises to His name;
He forgets not His own.
 
2. Beside us to guide us,
our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining
His kingdom divine;
so from the beginning
the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord,
wast at our side,
all glory be Thine!
 
3. We all do extol Thee,
Thou leader triumphant,
and pray that
Thou still
our defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation
escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised!
O Lord, make us free!
 
Mystery Box              
Caleb
 
Invitation to Prayer              
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
Prayer Song    
What a Friend We Have in Jesus    
v. 1 UMH #526
WORDS: Joseph M. Scriven, ca. 1855

1. What a friend
we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace
we often forfeit,
O what needless
pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
 
Pastoral Prayer, Silent Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer          
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
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 trespasses, as we forgive those to trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever.
 
Prayer Response        
What a Friend We Have in Jesus    
v. 3 UMH #526
 WORDS: Joseph M. Scriven, ca. 1855
 
3. Are we weak
and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior,
still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise,
forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll
take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
 
Invitation to Offering                      
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

Offertory        
The King of Love My Shepherd Is  
Arr. Mark Hayes
Dominick Nors ~ Soloist, Dr. Cynthia Hibbetts ~ Pianist      

Prayer of Thanks & Dedication      
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

*Doxology    
Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow            
UMH #94
 
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!  Praise God, the source of all our gifts! Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts! Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
 
Scripture Reading      
Luke 9:51-62  
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival, but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”  But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
 
Anthem
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Jon Reimer & Kristina Kafka

Message                    
Rev. Larry Paulson
 
*Affirmation of Faith          
A COMPANION LITANY TO OUR SOCIAL CREED
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
Leader: God in the Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ, calls us by grace
People: to be renewed in the image of our Creator, that we may be one in divine love for the world.
Leader: Today is the day God cares for the integrity of creation, wills the healing and wholeness of all life, weeps at the plunder of earth’s goodness.
People: And so shall we.
Leader: Today is the day God embraces all hues of humanity, delights in diversity and difference, favors solidarity transforming strangers into friends.
People: And so shall we.
Leader: Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people, despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace.
People: And so shall we.
Leader: Today is the day God deplores violence in our homes and streets, rebukes the world’s warring madness, humbles the powerful and lifts up the lowly.
People: And so shall we.
Leader: Today is the day God calls for nations and peoples to live in peace, celebrates where justice and mercy embrace, exults when the wolf grazes with the lamb.
People: And so shall we.
All: Today is the day God brings good news to the poor, proclaims release to the captives, gives sight to the blind, and sets the oppressed free. And so shall we.
 
*Sending Hymn      
Forward Through the Ages
UMH #555
 WORDS: Frederick Lucian Hosmer, 1908
 
1. Forward through the ages,
in unbroken line,
move the faithful spirits
at the call divine;
gifts in differing measure,
hearts of one accord,
manifold the service,
one the sure reward.
 
Refrain
Forward through the ages,
in unbroken line,
move the faithful spirits
at the call divine.
 
2. Wider grows the kingdom,
reign of love and light;
for it we must labor,
till our faith is sight.
Prophets have
proclaimed it,
martyrs testified,
poets sung its glory.
heroes for it died.
 
Refrain
Forward through the ages,
in unbroken line,
move the faithful spirits
at the call divine.
 
3. Not alone we conquer,
not alone we fall;
in each loss or triumph
lose or triumph all.
Bound by God’s
far purpose
in one living whole,
move we on together
to the shining goal.
 
Refrain
Forward through the ages,
in unbroken line,
move the faithful spirits
at the call divine.
 
Announcements        
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
 
Benediction              
Rev. Larry Paulson

Postlude                 
Acknowledgements: All music used by permission. CCLI & CVLI #2706588