PRELUDE/ENTRANCE
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
*OPENING SONG
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” UMH 139
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Liturgist: Children of God, we come to worship today with expectations: how we expect to feel, what we expect to experience, songs we expect to sing, or prayers we expect to pray. We find comfort in the familiar.
People: We come to worship, expecting God to meet us here.
Liturgist: Sometimes what feels familiar grows stale. We stop noticing the power of our prayers. We hear but don’t listen to the Word. We sing without letting the music seep into our hearts. Yet, God is still here, moving and working among us.
People: We come to worship, expecting God to meet us here.
Liturgist: We may meet God in a familiar voice speaking a hard word, in a song we love that pierces our hearts, in a prayer that we receive in a new way. Because God is here, moving and working among us.
People: We come to worship, expecting God to meet us here.
Liturgist: Children of God, come! Let us worship, ready to embrace God’s Word already at work among us, even when we are challenged to recognize God in the familiar and unfamiliar alike.
ALL: We come to worship, expecting God to meet us here. Thank be to God! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.
OPENING PRAYER (Together)
In a cynical and despairing world, O God, give us a quietly prophetic voice to proclaim your hope. In a violent and angry world, O God, give us a quietly prophetic voice to proclaim your peace. In a dismissive and disinterested world, O God, give us a quietly prophetic voice to proclaim your compassion. In a lonely and inhospitable world, O God, give us a quietly prophetic voice to proclaim your love. In a grieving and weeping world, O God, give us a quietly prophetic voice to proclaim your joy. May we be so captivated by your hope, O God, that we cannot help but to whisper, to sing, and to enact, the message of your reign which is always coming into our world; And may our quietly prophetic lives be channels of your restoring grace wherever we may go. Amen. Written by John van de Laar and posted on Sacredise.com
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
A TIME FOR CHILDREN
SPECIAL MUSIC
FIRST SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
*SECOND SCRIPTURE Luke 4:21-30
MESSAGE “Hometown”
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
*SONG OF RESPONSE
"Lord of the Dance" UMH 261
*OFFERING OF OURSELVES
*DOXOLOGY UMH 95
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HOLY COMMUNION
GREAT THANKSGIVING UMH 15 THE LORD’S PRAYER
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP
SENDING FORTH
*SONG OF DISMISSAL
“Here I Am, Lord” UMH 593
*BENEDICTION
*PEACE “Shalom to You” UMH 666