Grace Presbyterian Church
Seeking to equip people to live as Christian disciples wherever God has placed them.
Welcome And Opening Prayer
Prelude Gymnopedie No .1 Erik Satie
Responsive Call to Worship based on Psalm 130
One: We wait for the Lord, our soul waits,
All: and in God’s word we hope.
One: Our soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
All: more than those who watch for the morning.
One: O Israel, hope in the Lord!
All: For with the Lord there is steadfast love and power to redeem.
One: God is worthy of our praise!
All: Amen! Let us worship God!
Hymn Red 701 God Is Here!
God is here! As we his people
meet to offer praise and prayer,
may we find in fuller measure
what it is in Christ we share:
here, as in the world around us,
all our varied skills and arts
wait the coming of his Spirit
into open minds and hearts.
Here are symbols to remind us
of our lifelong need of grace;
here are table, font and pulpit,
here the cross has central place:
here in honesty of preaching,
here in silence, as in speech,
here in newness and renewal
God the Spirit comes to each.
Here our children find a welcome
in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;
here as bread and wine are taken,
Christ sustains us as of old;
here the servants of the Servant
seek in worship to explore
what it means in daily living
to believe and to adore.
Lord of all, of church and kingdom,
in an age of change and doubt,
keep us faithful to the gospel,
help us work your purpose out;
here, in this day’s dedication,
all we have to give, receive;
we who cannot live without you,
we adore you! we believe.
Call to Confession
Confession of Sin
Merciful God, we have come into your gates with praise and thanksgiving, but we confess we are also likely to complain against you. When life is hard and suffering is daily and there is no one to blame, we raise our fists to the sky. We want life to be easy, and when it is not, we complain. We are good at complaining. For some of us, our faith would never allow us to complain against you, so we sigh. We sigh a lot. Transform our complaining into prayers. We know that our sighs are unspoken prayers. And then give us wisdom to listen for you in the silences. (You are invited to continue praying silently, personalizing this prayer for yourself.)
Assurance of Pardon
God does not look at us and see only sin; God sees belovedness. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, in ways we may never fully understand.
This is good news. We believe. Help our unbelief. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Prayer for Illumination in Unison
Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.
First Scripture Reading Ephesians 4:25-5:2
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Second Scripture Reading John 6:35, 41-51
Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Sermon “A History of Complaining” Rev. Robin Miller Currás
Affirmation of Faith 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Offertory Praeludium from Partita no. 1 in Bb Major 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 568 Take my life and let it be consecrated
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love,
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee;
take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King,
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages for thee;
take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold,
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my love, my God, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
Benediction
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