Grace Presbyterian Church
Seeking to equip people to live as Christian disciples wherever God has placed them.
Welcome And Opening Prayer
Prelude A mighty fortress is our God Johann Sebastian Bach
Responsive Call to Worship
One: In Christ, the God of Heaven had made his home on earth.
All: Christ dwells among us and is one with us.
One: Highest of all creation, he lives among the least.
All: He journeys with the rejected and welcomes the weary.
One: Come now, all who hunger and thirst.
All: And be filled with good things and the water of life.
One: Come now, all who seek,
All: And be warmed by the fire of love.
Hymn Red 86* “Thy Word”
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid,
Think I’ve lost my way,
Still you’re there right beside me.
And nothing will I fear
As long as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
I will not forget
Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering.
Jesus be my guide
And hold me to your side,
And I will love you to the end.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Confession of Sin
Merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Gloria Patri
Passing of the Peace
Prayer for Illumination in Unison
Lord, the psalmist declares that you can open the eyes of the blind. Give light to the eyes of our hearts through your Holy Spirit so we can be lifted up out of our everyday concerns up into your eternal kingdom concerns.
First Scripture Reading (In Unison) James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Second Scripture Reading Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Sermon Lighthouse Keepers Rev. Margo Walter
Hymn Red 90* “Christ is the World’s Light”
Christ is the world’s light, Christ and none other;
born in our darkness, he became our brother–
if we have seen him, we have seen the Father:
Glory to God on high!
Christ is the world’s peace, Christ and none other;
no one can serve him, and despise another.
Who else unites us, one in God the Father?
Glory to God on high!
Christ is the world’s life, Christ and none other;
sold once for silver, murdered here, our brother–
he, who redeems us, reigns with God the Father:
Glory to God on high!
Give God the glory, God and none other;
give God the glory, Spirit, Son, and Father;
give God the glory, God with us, my brother:
Glory to God on high!
Affirmation of Faith from The Larger Catechism
Q. What is the sum of the four Commandments which contain our duty to God?
A. The sum of the four Commandments containing our duty to God is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind.
Q. What is the sum of the six Commandments which contain our duty to man?
A. The sum of the six Commandments which contain our duty to man is, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to do to others what we would have them do to us.
Offertory Voluntary on Foundation Mark Albrecht
Liz Moulthrop, violin
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 43* “A Mighty Fortress is our God”
A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
one little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours thro’ him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.
Benediction
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