August 15 Service

12TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST August 15, 2021 11:00 a.m. Livestream WE GATHER BEFORE GOD CHIMES WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS PRELUDE Praise to the Lord arr. Paul Karvonen CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 118 Leader: This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. People: We thank God that he has answered us and has become our salvation. Leader: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. People: This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. *HYMN OF PRAISE NO. 442 The Church’s One Foundation (vv. 1 and 5) Aurelia The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. She is His new creation by water and the word. From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride. With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died. Yet she on earth has union with God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lorde, give us grace that we, Like them, the meek and lowly may live eternally. *THE PRAYER OF ADORATION, THANKSGIVING & CONFESSION Holy and Living God, We thank You and praise You for being our rock and redeemer. We confess that we struggle to balance society’s values with those taught by Jesus. Forgive us when we become stumbling blocks within our church community; when we sacrifice our faith for ourselves rather than ourselves for our faith. Hear us as we repent, yet again. We pray together in the name of the precious cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Amen. *CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE Seek Ye First Lafferty Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, Alleluia! WE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD TIME WITH THE CHILDREN FIRST READING 1 Samuel 7:10-13 NRSV 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel; but the LORD thundered with a mighty voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion; and they were routed before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as beyond Beth-car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah,[a] and named it Ebenezer;[b] for he said, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. MUSICAL OFFERING While Ages Roll Mosie Lister Don Wonders, solo SECOND READING 1 Peter 2:1-8 NRSV 2 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him[b] will not be put to shame.” 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” 8 and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. Leader: The word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION SERMON Living Stones Karen Bachman WE RESPOND TO GOD’S GRACE *HYMN Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (all verses) Nettleton Come, thou Fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love! Here I raise my Ebeneezer. Hither by Thy help I’m come, And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood. O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Let that grace, now like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above. *AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Apostles’ Creed (Traditional Version) 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 Pi