CALL TO WORSHIP
Our call to worship is from Psalm 103:8-12. Read it loud enough for your neighbor to hear or listen to it read.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
God won’t always play the judge;
God won’t be angry forever.
God doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing,
because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
opening hymn
Our hymn today is “There’s a Wideness in Gods’ Mercy.”
Prayer of Confession
This prayer is adapted from Psalm 103:1-4. Pray it aloud and place your trust in the One who pursues us with boundless mercy.
Let our whole being bless the Lord! Let everything inside us bless God’s holy name! God forgives all our sins, and offers us healing. Save us, O Lord, from the Pit. Crown us with faithful love and compassion. Defeat, O Lord, anything in us that tries to separate us from your love. And in this moment of silence, we confess our sin and the sin of our world…
We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
THE WORD
This is the sixth Sunday in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture submitted by people from throughout the congregation.
Romans 8:28-39
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Duet
Sarah and Phil Thornbery sing “Surely His Presence.”
Affirmation of Faith
Our affirmation of faith today is the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Welcome & Prayers of the People
Join us at 10:30 a.m. for a a time of gathering. This will include a brief commentary on Romans 8, prayer requests, and fellowship.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746
Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.
Please join the prayer by responding to “to you, O God,” with “hear our prayer.”
Compassion Camp
Join us Wednesday night at 5:00 for Compassion Camp. Lisa Kaufer introduces Wednesday’s story.
Benediction
Postlude & Offering
Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.
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