REDEEMER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
November 12, 2023
Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Processional: “We Gather Together”
Invocation: Welcome to this Glorious Sunday!
Creator God, who claims us as your own, we bring our full selves to worship today. Our happiness and our sorrow, our singing and our crying, our strengths, and our failures—we carry it all. Teach us to trust that your faithfulness endures in all the seasons and circumstances of our lives. Help us to know that all that we are is bound to you and teach us to rest on your steadfast love as the source of our gratitude and joy as we, your sheep, follow you wherever you lead. Amen.
Call to Worship
L: God is great, and greatly to be praised!
P: We thank you, God, for families, good neighbors and friends.
L: God, how great is your name throughout the earth!
P: We thank you for the sunlight.
L: Blessed be God, the rock of our salvation!
P: We thank you, God, for the sound of laughter and the touch of love, for brand new mornings and for dreams held close.
L: Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise. Come! Let us worship God.
P: Let us worship God. Amen
Words of Welcome and Parish News
Stewardship Moment
*Gathering Hymn: “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”
Silent meditation and prayer:
Prayer Focus: Helping hands and hearts.
Lord’s Prayer
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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scripture: Old Testament Psalm 100
1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Choir Anthem: “How Can I Keep from Singing”
The Message “Blessings” Rev. Marshall Murphy Jr
I see a lot of pain and suffering locally, nationally, and globally. I watched a documentary the other day showing people who have struggles and crisis in their lives. They are looking for God. Verse three has some theology we need to look at today.
3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Unfortunately, life challenges have made this one verse hard, very hard to embrace. For some sisters and brothers, it’s not a blessing to live in poverty or be marginalized in society. But, somehow, someway, we must believe deep down inside that God has done something that makes us feel the blessings. If we are not able to make a joyful noise, then how do we spread the “Good News.” Now, we have a challenge in spreading the Word. Some people had counted churches out during and after the pandemic. Some gave up on hope. Hope for a way to believe in God. I know it was a hard decision to suspend in-person worship services.
Thanks to your generosity, you continue to practice active faith. Let these words from James 2 verses 14-17 (Message Bible Translation) in your spirit:
14-17 Dear friends, do you think you will get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really, has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
But we never suspended our praise for the Lord. We did not stop serving the Lord. Imagine if so-called church people stopped talking about God.
Offertory Invitation
Holy Shepherd of all generations, we bring our gifts this morning with thanksgiving and praise! We present these tithes and offerings not from hearts of obligation or debt, but with the confidence and joy that through your love made incarnate in your son Jesus. Our joy and gratitude are hard to contain.
Offertory Music: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
*Doxology: UMH 95
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.
*Unison Prayer of Dedication:
Use our gifts and our lives to do your work of compassion, mercy, and redemption. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
*Closing Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
Sending Forth:
Having opened your hearts to God and received God’s healing love, go now into this hurting troubled world with the good news of God’s presence and compassion. AMEN.
Recessional: “There is a Balm In Gilead”
(Please remain seated to meditate and reflect on the music)