PENTECOST 17 Worship Order of Service

PENTECOST 17 Coronavirus

09-27-2020 10:00AM Worship

(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)

THE OPENING RITE: Lisa Tillison + a daughter

L – My brothers and sisters, God calls us to humble and obedient faith, and God sends us to help save and serve others with love that is holy and sacrificial. But in today’s Gospel we will hear Jesus say these ominous words: “I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.” What a thing to say to God’s people! Jesus can’t mean us, can he? Let us search our hearts and our lives for the meaning of his words.

C – Holy and gracious God,
I can talk all I want about my faith in Jesus Christ when I am in church,
and I can look very holy and righteous in convenient times,
and I can even act deeply concerned and morally superior if the risk is not too great,
but please don’t let me just talk or look or act Christian – Please, Lord, help me to humbly and honestly BE a Christian always and in all ways.

L Friends, you are never too good for the mercy of God. Luckily for us, God is forgiving. Luckily for us, we have another chance to repent and turn and try again. Today, by the grace of our (+) Lord Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Today, with a new heart and a changed mind, may you be and become a doer of God’s Word. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Lisa or a daughter

Let us pray.
Lord God, help me to find my identity, my purpose, and my next step in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. May my answer to your call always be the one you wish to hear.
Amen.

OPENING SONG: “Oh, I Woke Up This Morning” Linda Crawford

FIRST READING: EZEKIEL 18:1-4, 25-32 [Don’t blame your parents for your sinning ways. Turn, then, and live!] Brenda Draper

18:1 The word of the LORD came to me:

18:2 What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?

18:3 As I live, says the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.

18:4 Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.

18:25 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

18:26 When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die.

18:27 Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life.

18:28 Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die.

18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin.

18:31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord GOD. Turn, then, and live.

WOMEN’S DAY “TEMPLE TALK”… This year’s theme is “I Am a Survivor”. Juanita Williams, Tammell Hillsman

SECOND READING: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13 [Try to keep your mind “stayed on Jesus”. He kept his mind stayed on you!] Pastor John Gottshall

2:1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,

2:2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

2:4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,

2:8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross.

2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

2:11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2:12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure

GOSPEL VERSE: “There is strength in the name of the Lord… Iyanna Washington

There is power in the name of the Lord…
There is hope in the name of the Lord…
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

HOLY GOSPEL: MATTHEW 21:23-32 [Is it YES or NO to God in your daily life? Does your “say” match your “do”?] Frances Maddox

21:23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

21:24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

21:25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

21:26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.”

21:27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

21:28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

21:29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went.

21:30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go.

21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

THE SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil

SONG SELECTION: “I’ll say ‘YES, LORD, YES!’ to your will and to your way. Charlotte Webb

I’ll say ‘YES, LORD, YES!’ , I will trust you and obey.
When the Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree,
And the answer will be ‘YES, LORD, YES!’ ”

OFFERING PRAYER (See Philippians 3:10-11): Tomika Washington

Dear God, I want to know Christ inside and out. I want to experience the power of his resurrection and join him in his suffering. I want to be like him in his death and be raised like him from death. As I grow in the grace of Christ, make me strong in my faith, bold in my witness, and fervent in my servant-love. There is no better life than life in Christ! Amen.

MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune

THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and the MISSION of the Church to the world! ????

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION Paul Samuel

THE BENEDICTION by one of the Pastors.

Don’t just TALK about being faithful… WALK it each day!