We will gather together for worship service on Zoom using the following information:
MEETING ID: 5977365682
MEETING PASSWORD: 204934

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PENTECOST 20                    Coronavirus 

10-18-2020     10:00AM Worship

Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)   

OPENING SONG:        Olliyah

THE OPENING RITE AND PRAYER OF THE DAY:           Linda and Herb Crawford                           

L   Grace, mercy, and peace be with each of you, with all of you.

When babies are born, there is a friendly tug-of-war between families as to which parent the baby most resembles.

“She looks just like her mother! She has her father’s eyes!”

“He has his father’s hair! His ears definitely come from her side of the family!”

     Jesus takes us deeper than just our physical appearance. He invites and challenges us to examine our inner self.

Who do you resemble in your daily living?

C    I am God’s child,

    created in the image and likeness of God, 

    gifted with God’s breath and filled with God’s Spirit,

            called to know God, to love God, and to serve God.

L   If you really believe this about yourself, how then will you respond to God?

What will you render, what will you offer, what will you give?  

C    Let us pray. What a debt we owe you, dear God!

           You have given us all things in Christ Jesus – 

and yet we withhold from you the glory and honor that are yours. 

    This morning we are grateful for the gift of your amazing grace and the power of your Holy Spirit. 

And we offer you our sincere love, our trusting faith, our humble obedience, our entire lives!  Amen.   

FIRST READING:  ISAIAH 45:1-7  Maliek Patterson [God chooses and anoints Cyrus the Persian emperor to end Israel’s exile. Not only is the Lord greater than any earthly leader, but he is also more powerful than the Persian god of light and their god of darkness. There is no other god! God has power over creation, power over nations, even the power to create both good and evil!]

45:1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him– and the gates shall not be closed:

45:2 I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,

45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me.

45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me,

45:6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

45:7 I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the LORD do all these things.

SONG SELECTION

SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10   [Paul commends, encourages, and reassures these new Christians who face rejection and perhaps persecution in an antagonistic pagan world. Their commitment of faith, love, and hope makes them a model for other new Christian communities.]       Tanya Morris

1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

1:2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly

1:3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you,

1:5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.

1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,

1:7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

1:8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it.

1:9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

GOSPEL VERSE:      Linda Crawford

“There is strength in the name of the Lord…
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 22:15-22   [Responding to one of many questions intended to trap him, Jesus says simply, “Render to Caesar… render to God.”]        James Bunch

22:15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.

22:16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.

22:17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?

22:19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.

22:20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”

22:21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

22:22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

THE SERMON:            Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen

SONG SELECTION:      “What Shall I Render?”                      Charlotte Webb   

(1) What shall I render unto God for all His mercies?
What shall I render,    tell me, what shall I give?

GOD HAS EV’RYTHING;    EV’RYTHING BELONGS TO HIM.
GOD HAS EV’RYTHING;    EV’RYTHING BELONGS TO HIM.
WHAT SHALL I RENDER,    TELL ME, WHAT SHALL I GIVE?

(2) All I can render is my body and my soul;
That’s all I can render, that’s all I can give. 

OFFERING PRAYER (See Philippians 3:10-11):      Shola Oyemola

     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!   Cecil Webb

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION        Ronald or Sydney Johnson

THE BENEDICTION

           Render unto Caesar…

           Render unto God…

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