You can view or download the full weekly bulletin below.
WELCOME
Announcements
Prelude - “In His Presence,” Arr. by Tracey Ann Collins
Lauren Falco, Jennifer Dolly Prothro, Kara Hill, Jennifer Day (“Summertime Strings”)
Call to Worship (Inspired by Cláudio Carvalhaes)
Come! Come into the place where God listens!
Where you need no money, no status, no fine clothes!
Come as you are: Broken, whole, sick, well…
Satisfied or with deep needs.
Come to sing, come to cry, come to see.
Come and be ready, or come to be made ready.
We are here.
God is here, too.
Let us worship God together!
+ Hymn 754 - Help Us Accept Each Other (Selected by Anonymous)
+ Call to Confession
+ A Prayer of Confession (Inspired by Cláudio Carvalhaes)
God of Love, on occasion, we have desired revenge. We have rejoiced in the punishment and pain of those we have seen as enemies. We have resisted, not with the nonviolence of a turning of the cheek, but instead with a twisted pleasure found in causing your children injury and harm. Loving enemies seems an impossibility to us, especially when they speak and spit criticisms and insults and shame, especially when they have hurt us or our families. We take the easy way out. In our pain and fear, we have come to believe that your Love is a myth, an impossibility, an unreachable pie-in-the-sky. “They are bad,” we say. But you say, “They are you.” This is confusing. We need your wisdom in the depths of our hearts. We need your freedom and forgiveness in our bones. Forgive our fear. Free us to Love. Teach us to walk with you on the path to reunion, reconciliation, and resurrection. In the name of the God of Grace and Peace, hear now our silent prayers of confession.
Hear now our silent prayers of confession…
• Assurance of Pardon
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581 Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen, amen.
Passing of the Peace
Children’s Message
Prayer for Openness
Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture Reading - 2 Samuel 7:1-14a(OT pg. 281)
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. aI will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
ANTHEM - Thine Forever! God of Love, Orlando Gibbons, arr. Henry Kihlken,
Scholar Singers:Jonathan Adkins, Will Cordier, Maria Esch, and Olivia Jett
Scripture Reading - Ephesians 2:11-22(NT pg. 192)
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.
Sermon - Death to the Hostility Between Us - Rev. Matt Falco
*Affirmation of Faith - from a portion of the Belhar Confession
We believe:
… that unity is, therefore, both a gift and an obligation for the Church of Jesus Christ;
…that this unity must become visible so that the world may believe that separation,
enmity and hatred between people and groups is sin, which Christ has already conquered, and accordingly, that anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the Church and must be resisted;
…that this unity can be established only in freedom and not under constraint; that the
variety of spiritual gifts, opportunities, backgrounds, convictions, as well as the various
languages and cultures, are by virtue of the reconciliation in Christ, opportunities for
mutual service and enrichment within the one visible people of God…
+ HYMN - The Old Rugged Cross, George Bennard (1873-1958) (Selected by Zach and Audra Joseph)
Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer (Debts/Debtors)
Offering
• INVITATION
• Offertory - “I Surrender All,” tune by Winfield S. Weeden, Summertime Strings
• Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessing flow Praise Christ the Word in flesh born low;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore; One God, Triune, whom we adore. Amen.
• Prayer of Dedication
+ HYMN 100 - My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout (Selected by Helen Richardson)
Charge and Benediction
Benediction Response - Hymn 542 - God Be With You Till We Meet Again
God be with you till we meet again; loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you: God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; keep love’s banner floating o’er you;
daily manna still provide you: God be with you till we meet again.
Postlude - “Allegro from Concerto for 4 Violins, No. 2,” Georg Philipp Telemann, Summertime Strings
Announcements
Prelude - “In His Presence,” Arr. by Tracey Ann Collins
Lauren Falco, Jennifer Dolly Prothro, Kara Hill, Jennifer Day (“Summertime Strings”)
Call to Worship (Inspired by Cláudio Carvalhaes)
Come! Come into the place where God listens!
Where you need no money, no status, no fine clothes!
Come as you are: Broken, whole, sick, well…
Satisfied or with deep needs.
Come to sing, come to cry, come to see.
Come and be ready, or come to be made ready.
We are here.
God is here, too.
Let us worship God together!
+ Hymn 754 - Help Us Accept Each Other (Selected by Anonymous)
+ Call to Confession
+ A Prayer of Confession (Inspired by Cláudio Carvalhaes)
God of Love, on occasion, we have desired revenge. We have rejoiced in the punishment and pain of those we have seen as enemies. We have resisted, not with the nonviolence of a turning of the cheek, but instead with a twisted pleasure found in causing your children injury and harm. Loving enemies seems an impossibility to us, especially when they speak and spit criticisms and insults and shame, especially when they have hurt us or our families. We take the easy way out. In our pain and fear, we have come to believe that your Love is a myth, an impossibility, an unreachable pie-in-the-sky. “They are bad,” we say. But you say, “They are you.” This is confusing. We need your wisdom in the depths of our hearts. We need your freedom and forgiveness in our bones. Forgive our fear. Free us to Love. Teach us to walk with you on the path to reunion, reconciliation, and resurrection. In the name of the God of Grace and Peace, hear now our silent prayers of confession.
Hear now our silent prayers of confession…
• Assurance of Pardon
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581 Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen, amen.
Passing of the Peace
Children’s Message
Prayer for Openness
Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture Reading - 2 Samuel 7:1-14a(OT pg. 281)
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. aI will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
ANTHEM - Thine Forever! God of Love, Orlando Gibbons, arr. Henry Kihlken,
Scholar Singers:Jonathan Adkins, Will Cordier, Maria Esch, and Olivia Jett
Scripture Reading - Ephesians 2:11-22(NT pg. 192)
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.
Sermon - Death to the Hostility Between Us - Rev. Matt Falco
*Affirmation of Faith - from a portion of the Belhar Confession
We believe:
… that unity is, therefore, both a gift and an obligation for the Church of Jesus Christ;
…that this unity must become visible so that the world may believe that separation,
enmity and hatred between people and groups is sin, which Christ has already conquered, and accordingly, that anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the Church and must be resisted;
…that this unity can be established only in freedom and not under constraint; that the
variety of spiritual gifts, opportunities, backgrounds, convictions, as well as the various
languages and cultures, are by virtue of the reconciliation in Christ, opportunities for
mutual service and enrichment within the one visible people of God…
+ HYMN - The Old Rugged Cross, George Bennard (1873-1958) (Selected by Zach and Audra Joseph)
Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer (Debts/Debtors)
Offering
• INVITATION
• Offertory - “I Surrender All,” tune by Winfield S. Weeden, Summertime Strings
• Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessing flow Praise Christ the Word in flesh born low;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore; One God, Triune, whom we adore. Amen.
• Prayer of Dedication
+ HYMN 100 - My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout (Selected by Helen Richardson)
Charge and Benediction
Benediction Response - Hymn 542 - God Be With You Till We Meet Again
God be with you till we meet again; loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you: God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; keep love’s banner floating o’er you;
daily manna still provide you: God be with you till we meet again.
Postlude - “Allegro from Concerto for 4 Violins, No. 2,” Georg Philipp Telemann, Summertime Strings