22nd Sunday after
Pentecost
Reformation Sunday
We Gather as the Body of Christ
WELCOME, ANNOUNCEMENTS,
and FUNNY STORY Pastor Bob
CENTERING WORDS Pastor Bob
(Psalm 90, Matthew 22)
Answer your greatest call: To love God with all that you are; and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Do this and God will prosper the work of your hands.
CALL TO WORSHIP
(Deuteronomy 34) Sharon Stewart
Can you imagine wandering in the wilderness for forty years, leading a people who complained and grumbled against you and against God? Can you imagine finally seeing the land that you have been looking for in the distance, and realizing that you wouldn’t be joining the others, as they crossed over into the promised land? Today, we look at the last story in the Bible of Moses, the reluctant but faithful leader, who saw God face to face and interceded for the Israelites again and again. Moses stands at the edge of the promised land, then must hand over the leadership to Joshua. Was he disappointed? Angry? Sad? Accepting? We don’t know. Perhaps he had a tangled mix of feelings, like we all do at times, when things don’t go exactly as we would want for them to go. As we worship this day, I encourage you to think about what your response is to something in your life that maybe isn’t going just the way you want it to go. What is it that you need from God to move toward acceptance and peace?
Let us worship God together.
HYMN: God Hath Spoken by the Prophets
UMC Hymnal #108
OPENING PRAYER (Unison)
(Psalm 90, Matthew 22) Sharon Stewart
God of life, your memory is longer than time; your love longer still.
Your giving nature amazes us. You have given us yourself.
You have given us your work. You only ask for LOVE in return, for you and for the world. You put your ministry into our hands, trusting us to be your hands. Bless the work of our hands and the ministries of our hearts, O God, as we seek to do your will. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 (The Message)
Sharon Stewart
CHILDREN'S TIME with Pastor Bob
PREPARATION TO PRAYER
Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying
The Faith We Sing Hymnal #2193
PASTORAL PRAYER
LORD’S PRAYER
We Attend to the Word
HYMN: We are Called
The Faith We Sing Hymnal #2172
GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 22: 34-40
MEDITATION Pastor Bob
What If?
INVITATION to the OFFERING
Pastor Bob
Living and fulfilling the Greatest Commandment would include giving back to God in both our serving the church and being a joyful giver of our financial resources. Give as you are called and as you are able.
OFFERTORY Erin Tellier
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow
UMC Hymnal #94
BLESSING of the OFFERING (Unison)
(Matthew 22: 39) Pastor Bob
O Generous God, you call us to love and serve our neighbor. We present these gifts and tithes to you, so that through them, food might be provided to the hungry, and shelter and clothing might be provided to those without. May your kingdom come, O God. May your will, just and generous, be done, here on earth. Amen.
HYMN: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
UMC Hymnal #402
We Are Sent in Ministry to the World
BENEDICTION (Matthew 22: 37, 39)
Pastor Bob
Jesus calls us to love God with all that is within us, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Go into the rest of the day, reaching for that kind of love, relying on that kind of love and realizing that we are able to love with boundless measure because of God’s great love for us and for the world.
May the grace of God our Creator, God our Redeemer and God our Sustainer… be with you, this day and always. Amen.
SENDING FORTH HYMN
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMC Hymnal #431
DEPART in PEACE…SHALOM!
Worship Liturgy is taken from two sources:
Lectionary Liturgies and the Abingdon Worship Annual 2023