Please sign and pass the red book.

Lord, You Give the Great Commission
(See back of bulletin)

You have called us into your church, O God, to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to serve you in serving the human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil. In gratitude we accept your call, we praise your holy name, and we testify to your loving deeds. Amen.

We have promised to live as your people, God.
Yet we must confess we often fail you and one another,
we do not honor each other,
we do not work together to your glory,
we too often refuse your cry for help
in the voice of the poor,
the hungry,
the homeless,
We are unfaithful to the trust you place in us.
Merciful God, receive us as we are and forgive us.
Encourage us with your love and renew in us your right Spirit.
Through the grace you show us in Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Philippians 2: 5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Praise the Lord who reigns above, And rules the earth below; Praise the holy God of love And all God’s greatness show;

Praise God for great and noble deeds, Praise God for power and love adored; Praise God from whom all good proceeds, Let all things praise the Lord.

Celebrate the eternal God With harp and psaltery, Timbrels soft and cymbals loud In this high praise agree;

Praise with every tuneful string; All the reach of heavenly art, All the powers of music bring, The music of the heart.
Charles Wesley, alt., based on Psalm 150

Luke 9: 18-25

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’

Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

Pilgrim Hymnal 404 to the tune VIENNA
Take My Life and Let It Be
(The Pastor’s Class and Sixth Grade leave for their classes)

“An Empty Investment” Dr. David D. Young

We believe in God,
Who has created and is creating,
Who has come in the true person, Jesus
to reconcile and make new,
Who works in us and others by the Holy Spirit.

We trust God.
God calls us to be the church:
To celebrate Christ’s presence,
To love and serve others,
To seek justice and resist evil,
To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.

We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
United Church of Canada A New Creed

RESPONDING TO GOD

Give Us the Wings of Faith Ernest Bullock

Give us the wings of faith to rise Within the veil, and see The Saints above, how great their joys, How bright their glories be.
We ask them whence their victory came, They, with one united breath, Ascribe the conquest to the Lamb, Their triumph to his death.
They marked the footsteps that he trod, His zeal inspired their breast; And, following their incarnate God, They reached the promised rest.
(Isaac Watts)

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

GOING FORTH TO SERVE GOD

Pilgrim Hymnal 306 to the tune SINE NOMINE
For All the Saints

Leader: The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on earth.

People: It is obvious that we are travelers; that the purpose of this world Is not “to have and to hold” but “to give and to serve”.

Leader: Human need in all its dimension is the swinging door into the innermost life of another.

People: They who come to do good knock at the gate; They who love find the door open.
Wilfred Grenfell/Howard Thurman/Rabindranath Tagore

With Praise and Thanksgiving Lani Smith