July 14, 2024

WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE

PRELUDE                                    “Love”                                                                  Jackie Perks

INTROIT                          “God Welcomes All”                                                   John Bell

WELCOME                                                                                                 Rev. Trip Porch

  One: This is the day that the Lord has made

  All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it                         

*CALL TO WORSHIP   by Katherine Hawker

One:  Jesus offers a new-old commandment,

All:  that we should love each other.

One:  With the incredible power and the unfathomable depth of God's love for us

All:  we can, we must love one another.

One:  And it is in this our love for one another that the world will know

All:  whom and what we worship. 

One:  Come, children of God, 

All:  let us love one another.

* HYMN 137                                                      “He Came Down”                                          HE CAME DOWN

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                                         Rebekah Gayley

Beloved One, you know when we are afraid to love; you know when we are too cowardly to show mercy. Remind us again that perfect love casts out such fears. Surround us and strengthen us with your perfect love, even in the face of our imperfections. Imbue us with a love so strong, with such growth toward perfection, that we may cast aside our pride and embrace the power of love.

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON 

*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 205             “Ubi Caritas”                                                     UBI CARITAS 

*PASSING OF THE PEACE                                       

One:   The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,

All:      And also with you.

WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD 

ANTHEM                                             “Veni Jesu”                                                   Luigi Cherubini 

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION                                                                                                 

SCRIPTURE  1 John 4:7-21 CEB

Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.

Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the savior of the world. If any of us confess that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in us and we remain in God. We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen! This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also.

  Holy Wisdom, Holy Word

   Thanks be to God 

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE                                                                                                       Dorothy Kyle

SERMON       

 WE RESPOND TO GODS WORD 

*HYMN 693                                               “Though I May Speak”                                                        GIFT OF LOVE 

SERVICE OF INSTALLATION         Mary Rebekah Fortman  and  Tom Shockey 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE  followed by the Lord’s Prayer on screen

TIME OF OFFERING  online giving is available at  www. indianolapres.org/give

OFFERTORY             “God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son”                          Alexander Schreiner

                                                                                                                                                             arr. Laurel Hunt Pederson

*OFFERTORY RESPONSE  697          “Take My Life”   vs 6                                                        HENDON

      Take my love; my Lord, I pour

      At thy feet its treasure store;

      Take myself, and I will be

      Ever, only all for thee

      Ever, only, all for thee. 

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION  written by Mary Petrina Boyd

God of love, you abide with us; you provide for all our needs and guide us in your ways. Out of gratitude for your care, we bring our gifts before you. Use them for your work of caring, that all may feast at the table of abundance, walk without fear, and drink deeply from the cup of compassion. Amen.

*HYMN 300                                                “One in the Spirit”                  THEY’LL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE   

TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING 

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION 

POSTLUDE                                              “The Love of God”                                   Frederick M. Lehman

                                                                                                                                                                              arr. Jenifer Cook

Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452