September 1,2023

WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE

PRELUDE                        “My Good Lord”                  by Keeyoung Kim, arr. Sunghwan Kim

INTROIT                     “Praise God for This Holy Ground”                          John L. 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   

One: Where two or three are gathered together, 

All:   God is in their midst. 

One:  We gather to proclaim the promises, 

All:  to retell the stories, to remember who we are as people of God. 

One:  Let us worship

*HYMN NO. 401                    “Here In This Place” (Gather us in)                                   GATHER US IN                                     

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                                    Jessica Riviere

Beautiful Savior, you have made your law clear: Love. Love one another. Owe one another nothing but love. Do no wrong to a neighbor. But we have not mastered what it is to love. We have fallen short, causing harm to others through careless action and thoughtless lack of action. Forgive us. Teach us how to love more fully, more perfectly, as generously as you love, following your law and fulfilling your will.  Individual confession offered in silence.

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 585                     “Glory to God” vs. 1               MACHU-PICHU

*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                                      “How Can I Keep from Singing”                          arr. Jeffrey Honore

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

SCRIPTURE: Exodus 12:1-14 MSG

God said to Moses and Aaron while still in Egypt, “This month is to be the first month of the year for you. Address the whole community of Israel; tell them that on the tenth of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one lamb to a house. If the family is too small for a lamb, then share it with a close neighbor, depending on the number of persons involved. Be mindful of how much each person will eat. Your lamb must be a healthy male, one year old; you can select it from either the sheep or the goats. Keep it penned until the fourteenth day of this month and then slaughter it—the entire community of Israel will do this—at dusk. Then take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which you will eat it. You are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire, that night, along with bread, made without yeast, and bitter herbs. Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water; make sure it’s roasted—the whole animal, head, legs, and innards. Don’t leave any of it until morning; if there are leftovers, burn them in the fire.

“And here is how you are to eat it: Be fully dressed, with your loins girded, sandals on, belt buckled and stick in your hand. Eat in a hurry; it’s the Passover to God.

“I will go through the land of Egypt on this night and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, whether human or animal, and bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am God. The blood will serve as a sign on the houses where you live. When I see the blood I will pass over you—no disaster will touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

“This will be a memorial day for you; you will celebrate it as a festival to God down through the generations, a fixed festival celebration to be observed always.

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE                                                                                                    Marie Boozer

SERMON                                                                                              Rev. Trip Porch  

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

 *HYMN           Somos pueblo que camina / We Are People on a Journey       SOMOS PUEBLOS 

TIME OF OFFERING                           “Majesty”                                                                       Jack Hayford

OFFERTORY RESPONSE #596                “You are Holy”                                               DU ÄR HELIG

COMMUNION

INVITATION TO THE TABLE

GREAT PRAYER with Lord’s Prayer using debts and debtors

SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP

SONG DURING DISTRIBUTION #528               “Come, Let Us Eat”                                      A VA DE

    PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Holy and gracious God, for the meal we have shared, for the nourishment of the spirit and for the life of this community, for bread for the journey… we give you thanks. Help us to see signs of deliverance and hope wherever we see you. Help us to work always for the food that endures, in Christ’s name. Amen.

*HYMN NO. 52                         “When Israel Was in Egypt’s Land”                  GO DOWN MOSES                         

TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION 

CHORAL RESPONSE                 “Surely, It is God Who Saves Me”                                      Jack Noble White

 POSTLUDE         All the Way My Savior Leads Me/Amazing Grace            arr. Sunghwan Kim                                                           

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