Welcome
Call to Worship (People’s response in bold.)
Leader: God has forgiven us and drawn us close,
People: Reconciling us through Jesus Christ.
Leader: God has lavished upon us the fullness of the blessed Holy Spirit.
People: With glad and grateful hearts, praise the Lord!
Opening Hymn: All People That On Earth Do Dwell
Invitation to Confession
God declares: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed. Confident in our deliverance, let us confess our sins before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we confess we have not been obedient to your will for us. We have sought justice for ourselves but neglected justice for others. We have insisted on our rights but have not lived rightly in our relationships. We have desired mercy for our sins, but we have not offered mercy to those who have sinned against us. By the power of your Holy Spirit free us from the prison of our disobedience. Help us to love as you have loved us that our lives may testify to your abounding grace though Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assurance of Forgiveness
Friends, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven! Receive the gift of forgiveness and share that gift with others, in the name of our Risen Lord. Amen.
Hearing God’s Word
Prayer for Illumination
Lord, by the power of your Spirit give us your words of life that our faith may increase and our hearts be made whole. Amen.
Epistle Lesson: Romans 11:1-2, 29-32
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now[a] receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
The Children’s Time to Lead Us
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the People of God. People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Rev. Lorrin Radzik
Affirmation of Faith: 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 Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at 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 Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Transforming Our Lives & the World
Prayers of the People
Let us pray for the needs of the world, saying, Lord help us. We trust in you.
God of mercy and healing, you are Lord of all, embracing the estranged, blessing the banished, reconciling the rejected. We cry out to you now, confident that your provision is abundantly more than enough to preserve the church, redeem the world, and deliver the tormented. Lord, help us. We trust in you.
We pray for your people, the house of Israel, and the household of faith near and far, Lord, help us. We trust in you.
That the church may replicate your reconciliation, model your mercy, and herald your healing for all, Lord, help us. We trust in you.
For unity and harmony to flow freely among your creatures and throughout your creation,Lord, help us. We trust in you.
For reconciliation and new beginnings among estranged families, races, nations, and peoples, Lord, help us. We trust in you.
For healing for those who are tormented, rejected, marginalized, fearful, forgotten, cast off, Lord, help us. We trust in you.
For those whose names we now lift in your presence, silently or aloud. [silence] Lord, help us. We trust in you.
For our ancestors in the faith, now kept in your care and never forgotten by you, Lord, help us. We trust in you.
We stand in your circle of favor, embraced by you, healed by you, blessed by you, remembered by you, secured by you, grateful for your loving care. Amen.
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.
Invitation to Generosity
Offertory
Prayer of Dedication
Gracious Lord, you have given us more mercy than we could imagine and more blessings than we deserve. Receive now these gifts as tokens of our gratitude to you, that your mercy may be multiplied and your blessings abound to embrace all those in need. Amen.
Closing Hymn: Depth of Mercy, Can There Be
Benediction