Worship Guide
February 16, 2025
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
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: Meagan
Centering Words:
Blessed are those who trust the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. They shall be like trees planted by water, sending out their roots by the stream. They shall not cease to bear fruit.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Happy are those who delight is God’s ways,
People: who set their hearts and minds on the laws of God’s love.
Leader: In the presence of the Holy, they are like trees planted by the waters of life.
People: They are fed by enduring streams, with roots that reach into the depths of the soul.
Leader: They are nourished in times of drought and bring forth fruit in seasons of famine.
People: Life shall spring forth as they walk each day in the Way of peace.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Holy One, when the road is dusty under our feet and we find ourselves engulfed, you share with us the water of life. You plant our spirits by the streams of your Being. You nourish our bodies and replenish our souls. You challenge our minds and guide our hearts. Lead us, again, O God, into your presence with your prayers. Be with us, as your renewing love overflows from our lives and our souls into the world. Amen.
Hymn: “O How I Love Jesus”
There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth,
it sounds like music in the ear, the sweetest name on earth.
O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.
It tells me of a Savior's love, who died to set me free;
it tells me of his precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea.
O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.
It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe;
who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below.
O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
In every impoverished place, every season of greatest longing, God is with us.
In every instance of confusion or conundrum when we cannot find our way, God comes to be our guide.
For every moment when our hearts hunger, when our souls thirst and our minds and bodies cry out, God plants us by streams of grace.
God over comes our pain, until there is only life, only love, only joy.
Amen
*Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10
5 Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
6 They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
9 The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
10 I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.
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: “BEattitudes”
Hymn: “Be Still, My Soul”
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change, God faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future, as in the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
the Christ who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Sermon: “Rejoice in that Day” Luke 6:17-26
17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
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.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God.
You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the 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.
In the fullness of time you gave your only Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and at his birth the angels sang glory to you in the highest and peace to you people on earth.
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 in whom you have revealed yourself, our light and our salvation.
You sent a star to guide wise men to where the Christ was born; and in your signs and witnesses, in every age and through all the world, you have led your people from far places to his light.
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.
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: “Only Trust Him”
Come, every soul by sin oppressed;
there’s mercy with the Lord,
and he will surely give you rest
By trusting in his Word.
Only trust him, only trust him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you,
he will save you now.
For Jesus shed his precious blood
rich blessings to bestow;
plunge now into the crimson flood
that washes white as snow.
Only trust him, only trust him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you,
he will save you now.
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way,
that leads you into rest;
believe in him without delay
and you are fully blessed.
Only trust him, only trust him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you,
he will save you now.
Come, then, and join this holy band,
and on to glory go
to dwell in that celestial land
where joys immortal flow.
Only trust him, only trust him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you,
he will save you now.
Benediction
Hymn: “Until Jesus Comes”
Until Jesus comes,
Until Jesus comes,
I’ll be watching and waiting
Until Jesus comes.
Until Jesus comes,
Until Jesus comes,
I’ll be watching and waiting
Until Jesus comes.
