In Harmony with One Another

Opening Announcements — Rev. Johan Dodge

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship!

Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact

with this growing community of faith. And so if you are joining us for

the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday. You are

welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is

the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Almighty God, in the self-giving love of Christ you have revealed the path of salvation; give us courage to deny our false self and take up the true self of community that Jesus revealed to us through his life and teachings. Yes, Lord, move in our lives, change our minds, soften our hearts, direct our feet, that we may follow you more faithfully. We seek to follow Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Listening God, you heard the prayers of the Israelites.

Hear now these prayers, both spoken and silent:

For peace where there is conflict ...

For food where there is hunger ...

For hope where there is despair ...

For health where there is sickness ...

For faith where there is fear ...

For life where there is death ...

We pray in the name of Jesus, who conquers all that would defeat us

and gives us new life. Amen.

By the power of your Spirit, O Lord, make your Word become a joy to us and the delight of our hearts. Amen.

Romans 12:9-21 ⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16L_ive in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Matthew 16:21-28 ²¹From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ²⁷“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Questions for Reflection: Rev. Johan Dodge

How has your life reflected the charge of Jesus to take up your cross

and deny yourself? What more might God be calling you to in this

moment of your life?

We are pleased to offer both white and red grape juice. If you are afraid of

spilling red grape juice, a limited number of cups with white grape juice are

provided.

Here at Community Church we celebrate “Open Communion’.

Anyone who wishes to commune may come to our Lord’s Table. You

do not have to be sinless; God forgives you. You do not have to be

perfect; but God is encouraging you to grow. You need not belong to

this or any church; God Invites all people to this meal. It is enough to love the Lord and follow Him with all your heart. This is what God

asks us to do. Come to our Lord’s Table in faith this day. Go from

this place to live, and never be the same again. Let us commune as

brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Pastor: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and

everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven

and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the

breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love

remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant

to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets, who

looked for that day when justice shall roll down like waters and

righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when nation shall not lift

up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And

so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we

praise your name and join their unending hymn:

People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven

and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the

highest.

Pastor: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Your

Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim

release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at

liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had

come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the

hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism of his suffering, death,

and resurrection you gave birth to this your Church, delivered us from

slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water

and the Spirit. At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign with

you at your right hand. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave

thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in

remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave

it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; This is my

blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the

forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance

of me."

And so, In remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving As a holy and living

sacrifice, In union with Christ's offering for us, As we proclaim the

mystery of faith.

People: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pastor: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these

gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us the body and

blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one

in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we

feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with

the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours,

almighty God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we

all partake of the one loaf.

The bread which we have eaten is a sharing in the bread of Christ.

The cup over which we give thanks is the sharing in the cup of Christ.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. INVITATION TO THE OFFERING -— Taylor White The apostle Paul encourages us: do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. In loving service to this loving Lord, we now return to God a portion of the bounty God has provided,

Holy God of holy ground, like Moses, we question our fitness to serve heaven’s purposes on earth. Overcome our qualms with the assurance of your presence; bless these offerings that, through them, we may do your will; in the name of the triune One. Amen.

My siblings, hold fast to what is good; repay no one evil for evil. Rejoice in hope; be patient in suffering; persevere in prayer. Blessed Be the Tie that Binds Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.