Grace Presbyterian Church
Seeking to equip people to live as Christian disciples wherever God has placed them.
Welcome And Opening Prayer
Prelude French Suite no. 2 in C minor: Allemande J. S. Bach
Responsive Call to Worship based on Isaiah 55
One: “To whom shall we go?” Peter asked.
Many: “Jesus has the words of life.” He answered his own question.
One: We come to Jesus because he has the words of life.
Many: He is the Word. He is Life.
One: Worthy of our worship.
Many: Worthy of our praise.
All: Let us worship God!
Hymn Red 20 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!
All thy works with joy surround thee, earth and heaven reflect thy rays,
stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother–all who live in love are thine;
teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.
Call to Confession
Confession of Sin
Jesus, our Savior, we come to you. Where else can we go? How many times–too many to count–you have watched us walk away from your house, your word, your people, your love! We have been weak when we should have been strong. We have been vocal when we should have been silent. We have been sure of ourselves when the ground below our feet shifts like sand. We return to you, again and again, humble, humbled, with faith seeking grace despite our doubts. Cover our excesses and our deficiencies, and may your grace reign, in, around, and through us, we pray! For you make all things possible! (Let us continue in silent prayer.)
Assurance of Pardon
Gloria Patri
Prayer for Illumination in Unison
Gracious God, as we turn to your Word for us, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. Amen.
First Scripture Reading Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Second Scripture Reading John 6:56-69
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Sermon “And then there was One” Rev. Robin Miller Currás
Hymn Red 535 Day by Day
Day by day, day by day,
O, dear Lord, three things I pray:
to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,
follow thee more nearly, day by day.
Affirmation of Faith Joshua 24:15
Choose this day whom you will serve.
As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Offertory French Suite no. 2 in C minor: Minuet J. S. Bach
Doxology
Pastoral Prayer/The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Hymn Red 551 Give me Jesus
In the morning when I rise,
in the morning when I rise,
in the morning when I rise,
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus,
give me Jesus,
you can have all this world,
give me Jesus
Dark midnight was my cry,
dark midnight was my cry,
dark midnight was my cry,
give me Jesus.
Just about the break of day,
just about the break of day,
just about the break of day,
give me Jesus.
O, when I come to die,
O, when I come to die,
O, when I come to die,
give me Jesus.
Benediction
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