A Service for the Lord’s Day
October 25, 2020
Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude
Call to Worship – Revelation 4:11
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, may the Word you speak this day take root in our hearts and bear fruit to your honor and glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Opening Song
Prayer of Confession
God of grace, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your image and likeness. (Silent confession)
Assurance of Pardon – from Psalm 145
The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his deeds. The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. Hear the good news and rejoice: in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Children’s Message
Affirmation of Faith – from The Second Helvetic Confession
Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world, and the true awaited messiah. For we teach and believe that this Jesus Christ our Lord is the unique and eternal Savior of the human race, and thus of the whole world, in whom by faith are saved all who before the law, under the law, and under the Gospel were saved, and however many will be saved at the end of the world… Now there only remains for all of us to give all glory to Christ, believe in him, rest in him alone, despising and rejecting all other aids in life.
Prayers of the People
Heavenly Father, if you are for us, who can be against us? You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all. You will also, along with him, graciously give us all things. Today we rejoice that, in Christ, we are more than conquerors! And now nothing can separate us from your love. Help us to remember this when things are hard. Save us from denial, despair, and defensiveness, and teach us to be honest about our sins and struggles. Lead us, by your Spirit’s power, to put our hope in you, again and again, and to share this hope with others.
Today we lay our specific requests before you, trusting that you hear our prayers. Please grant us protection against the coronavirus. Please grant us wisdom and discernment as we make decisions for ourselves, our church family, our businesses, our schools, our community, and our country. Please grant us courage to engage difficult issues of racism and politics and fear, and to do so with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.
In humility and in hope, we especially pray for:
Creation and its care… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
The nations of the world… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Our nation, its leaders, and its people… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Our community, its leaders, and our neighbors… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
The church universal as it works on your behalf… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Our local church in its ministry… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Friends and family with particular needs… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
We lift up these prayers, trusting that you hear us. And we pray now as Jesus taught us:
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.
Tithes and Offerings
With gratitude for the gospel, we share our time, talents, and resources with the Lord. (You may give financially by visiting www.sylvapres.org/giving, or by dropping a check off at the church or sending one to FPC at P.O. Box 2152, Sylva, NC 28779. Thank you!)
Offertory
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Closing Song
Benediction
May the peace of the risen Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.