Crandall United Methodist Church

Worship Guide

September 3, 2023

Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World

ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE

Greetings:

Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

People: And also with you!

Special Music: Stefanie

Centering Words:

God speaks from burning bushes and souls on fire. May God grant us eyes to see and ears to hear, as we worship this day.

*Call to Worship:

Leader:    Give thanks to the Lord.

People:   Call on God’s holy name.

Leader:    Sing praises to the Lord.

People:   Tell of God’s wondrous deeds.

Leader:    Let the faithful sing of the Lord’s awesome power.

People:   Let the hearts of the faithful rejoice.

Leader:    Give thanks to the Lord.

People:   Call on God’s holy name.

Leader:    Let us pray.

ALL: Great I Am, you come to us in unexpected ways. Excite our curiosity, that we might turn aside and realize we are standing on holy ground. Appear to us in fire and wonder, that we might see worlds beyond the reaches of our imaginations. Reveal the glory of your kingdom– where love is genuine, where evil is forsaken, where mutual affection abides, and hospitality is shown to strangers, where all are made one. Amen.

Hymn: “The Servant Song”

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

let me be as Christ to you;

pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey;

we're together on this road.

We are here to help each other

walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you

in the nigh time of your fear;

I will hold my hand out to you,

speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;

when you laugh, I'll laugh with you.

I will share your joy and sorrow

till we've seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,

we shall find such harmony,

born of all we've known together

of Christ's love and agony.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD

Words of Assurance

The great I Am invites us to turn aside and boldly embrace paths that lead to life.

Turn and receive blessing upon blessing.

Thanks be to God. Amen

*Old Testament Reading: Exodus 3:1-15

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. 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 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 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.” ⁵ Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 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.

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, 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. ⁹ The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 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.”

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?” 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.’” 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.

Leader:   This is the Word of God, for the People of God

People:  Thanks be to God!

WORD AND RESPONSE

Time with Young Friends:  “Jesus Loves Me”

Children’s Message: “What”

Hymn: “Give Thanks”

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's given

Jesus Christ his Son.

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's given

Jesus Christ his Son.

And now let the weak say "I am strong";

let the poor same, "I am rich

because of what

the Lord has done for us

And now let the weak say "I am strong";

let the poor same, "I am rich

because of what

the Lord has done for us

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's given

Jesus Christ his Son.

Give Thanks with a grateful heart,

give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's given

Jesus Christ his Son.

And now let the weak say "I am strong";

let the poor same, "I am rich

because of what

the Lord has done for us

And now let the weak say "I am strong";

let the poor same, "I am rich

because of what

the Lord has done for us

Give thanks!

Sermon: “Who Am I?”  Matthew 16:21-28

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. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 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.”

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

²⁷ “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

 RESPONSE TO THE WORD  

Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns

   Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer

THE SACRAMENTS OF HOLY COMMUNION

Invitation, Prayer of Confession and Pardon:

Christ our Lord invites to his table

       all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God

and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you

with our whole hearts.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the

cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Glory to God. Amen

 The Great Thanksgiving  

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere

to give thanks to you,

Father Almighty, creator of

heaven and earth.

You formed us in your image and

breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed,

your love remained steadfast.

You delivered us from captivity,

made covenant to be our sovereign God,

and spoke to us through your prophets.

And so,

with your people on earth

and all the company of heaven

we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son

Jesus Christ.

Your Spirit anointed him

to preach good news to the poor,

to proclaim release to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

and to announce that the time had come

when you would save your people.

He healed the sick, fed the hungry,

and ate with sinners.

By the baptism of his suffering,

death, and resurrection,

you gave birth to your church,      

delivered us from slavery to sin and death,

and made with us a new covenant

by water and the Spirit.

When the Lord Jesus ascended,

he promised to be with us always,

in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this all of you;

this is my blood of the new covenant,

poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it

in remembrance of me."

And so,

in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving

as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ's offering for us,

as we proclaim the mystery of faith

Christ has died;

Christ is risen;

Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,

that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,

one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory,

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,

all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father,

now and forever.   Amen

And now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

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

Sharing of the Cup and Loaf

Moment of Prayer and Meditation

Prayer of Thanks

Eternal God, we give you thanks

for this holy mystery

in which you have given yourself to us. 

Grant that we may go into the world

in the strength of your Spirit,

to give ourselves to others,

in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

SENDING FORTH

Hymn: “Let There Be Peace on Earth”

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me

Let There Be Peace on Earth

The peace that was meant to be

With God our creator

children all are we

Let us walk with each other

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With ev'ry step I take

Let this be my solemn vow

To take each moment

and live each moment

in peace eternally

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me

Benediction