Worship Material for August 30, 2020

 Morning Worship Text: August 30, 2020

Ordinary Time - A Season for Spiritual Growth
Before we begin, gather a candle or small light, your Bible, a cross,  a piece of bread and a cup of juice or water. Place them at the center of a calm area in your home and gather comfortable seating for all who will join you. Place your phone, tablet  or computer where you can see and hear it. You may want to connect a charger, rather than rely on battery. Add something to your worship center today that reminds you of a time when you felt God's presence helping you.

Welcome

Musical Meditation

Focus

Lighting the Christ Candles      We light our candles or lights.
Voice One: In the beginning, God said,
Voice Two: "Let there be light," and there was light!
Voice One: We light these candles today,
Voice Two: Because God is with us in this time and in all these places!


Call to Worship  
(based on Romans 12)

Leader: Let your love be genuine! 

People: Let us love one another with mutual affection.

Leader: Do not lag in zeal, but be ardent in spirit and serve the Lord.

People: We rejoice in hope, are patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

Leader: Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

People: We rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Leader: Live in harmony with one another.

People: Let us not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Invocation    We pray together in unison.
On this day of rejoicing, O God of our ancestors,
as we gather to break the bread,
we remember that through the blood of the Lamb
you redeemed us
and made us pass over from death to new life.
Grant that, as we celebrate your mighty deeds,
we may be one with Jesus
in offering you this sacrifice of praise. Amen.

 
Scripture:  Exodus 3:1-15
3:1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
3:3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up."
3:4 When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
3:5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
3:6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7 Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,
3:8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3:9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
3:10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
:12 He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."
3:13 But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
3:15 God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Sermon


Invitation to the Table The bread and cup and placed on the table for the Lord’s Supper.                     Poor Peter. How quickly he goes from proclaimmer of the Messiah to stumbling block. Even when he’s living out his best intentions, Peter gets in the way of Jesus’ mission to demonstrate God’s sacrificial love on the cross. Peter thought he knew what was best.

So do I. So do you. Every week, every day, we choose our own wants and desires over the way of the cross. Instead of denying ourselves, we deny Christ as our savior through our words and actions. In trying to save our own lives, we lose the life Christ has called us to live.

So,we come to this table. We come to this table to be reminded that God is God and we are not. We come to be reminded that Christ has shown us what it means to deny ourselves and take up our crosses. We come to be reminded that we save our lives when we are willing to give them up for the work of Christ. At some point this week, we have been a stumbling block. And yet, Christ still invites us to this table to taste and see that God is good. Let us share in communion together.

Matthew 16:21-28
16:21 From 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.
16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."
16:23 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."

Prayer of Communion Elders this month are Will Bondurant and Judy Halstead.


Words of Institution We break the bread and lift the cup as the words are spoken.
The Lord's Supper We share in the bread and cup as we hear the music.


Prayer of Thanksgiving "The 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 forever.  Amen.


Prayers of the People
Friends in Christ,
God invites us to hold the needs of our sisters and brothers
as dear to us as our own needs.
Loving our neighbors as ourselves,
we offer our thanksgivings and our petitions
on behalf of the church and the world.
 

*We pray for all nations, for the church....Lord Hear Our Prayer

*We pray for the members of our church board, deacons, elders, stafff....Lord Hear Our Prayer

*We pray for the earth, that all people respect its resources, preserve its future, and enjoy the fruits of its seasons....Lord Hear Our Prayer

*We pray for the leaders of our country, state, and city...Lord Hear Our Prayer

*We pray that hope peace love joy patience kindness gentleness, self control, and faithfulness enfuse everything we think and do.....Lord Hear Our Prayer

*We pray for the sick, the sorrowing, those who are alone....Lord Hear Our Prayer

Hear our prayers, God of power,
and through the ministry of your Son
free us from the grip of the tomb,
that we may desire you as the fullness of life
and proclaim your saving deeds to all the world. Amen.

Challenge for Discipleship

Blessing     We speak in unison.

The Light that was in one place and at one time, is now in all places and all times, for God has placed the light in us.   We abide in peace!