Crandall United Methodist Church

Pastor: Jim Wilkins

Worship Guide

August 24, 2025

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World

ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE

Greeting:

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

People: And also with you!

Special Music: Stefanie

Centering Words:

The Lord is our fortress, a refuge in times of trouble.

*Call to Worship:

Leader:    Where can we stand when God is shaking the earth?

People:   We will stand on the promises of God.

Leader:    Where can we find support when our foundations fail?

People:   We will lean on the everlasting arms of God.

Leader:    Where can we find salvation in times like these?

People:   We will look to Jesus and to his covenant of life.

Leader:    Let us worship the God of our salvation. Let us pray.

ALL: Great Healer, we are beaten down by life’s suffering. Make us whole, O God, and help us share your healing with the world. Free us from the demons that shackle our spirits, and set us free from the chains that bind us, that we may help break the chains of others.  Amen

Hymn: “He Touched Me”

Shackled by a heavy burden,

neath a load of guilt and shame,

then the hand of Jesus touched me,

and now I am no longer the same.

He touched me, O he touched me,

and O the joy that floods my soul!

Something happened, and now I know,

he touched me and made me whole.

Since I met this blessed Savior,

since he cleansed and made me whole,

I will never cease to praise him;

I'll shout it while eternity rolls.

He touched me, O he touched me,

and O the joy that floods my soul!

Something happened, and now I know,

he touched me and made me whole.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD

Words of Assurance

Touch our mouths to speak your truths. Touch our lives to make your way known to the world.

In this we are free. In this we are made whole.

In this we shine as your beloved children, strengthened for the journey

Amen.

*Gospel Reading: Luke 13:10-17

¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. ¹¹ And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” ¹³ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. ¹⁴ But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” ¹⁵ But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? ¹⁶ And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” ¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

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: “Two Mountains”

Hymn: “Here I Am, Lord”

I, the Lord of sea and sky

I have heard my people cry

All who dwell in dark and sin

My hand will save

I who made the stars of night

I will make their darkness bright

Who will bear my light to them?

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord

Is it I, Lord?

I have heard You calling in the night

I will go, Lord

If You lead me

I will hold Your people in my heart

I, the Lord of snow and rain,

I have borne my people's pain.

I have wept for love of them.

They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone,

give them hearts for love alone.

I will speak my word to them.

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord

Is it I, Lord?

I have heard You calling in the night

I will go, Lord

If You lead me

I will hold Your people in my heart

I, the Lord of wind and flame

I will tend the poor and lame

I will set a feast for them

My hand will save

Finest bread I will provide

'Til their hearts be satisfied

I will give my life to them

Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord

Is it I, Lord?

I have heard You calling in the night

I will go, Lord

If You lead me

I will hold Your people in my heart

I will hold Your people in my heart

Sermon: “Cannot Be Shaken” Hebrews 12:18-29

¹⁸ You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. ²⁰ (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” ²¹ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

RESPONSE TO THE WORD 

Hymn: “Lord of the Dance”

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,

and I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,

and I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,

At Bethlehem I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,

but they would not dance and they would not follow me;

I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;

they came to me and the dance went on.

Dance, then, wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced on the sabbath when I cured the lame,

the holy people said it was a shame;

they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high;

and they left me there on a cross to die.

Dance, then, wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;

it’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;

they buried my body and they thought I’d gone,

but I am the dance and I still go on.

Dance, then, wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

They cut me down and I leapt up high,

I am the life that’ll never, never die;

I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

Dance, then, wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

Psalter:  Psalm 71:1-6

¹    In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!

²    In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!

³    Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴    Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

⁵    For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

⁶    Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

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

Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns

   Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer   

SENDING FORTH

Hymn: “Marching to Zion”

Come, we that love the Lord,

and let our joys be known;

join in a song with sweet accord,

join in a song with sweet accord

and thus surround the throne,

and thus surround the throne.

We’re marching to Zion,

beautiful, beautiful Zion;

we’re marching upward to Zion,

the beautiful city of God.

Let those refuse to sing,

who never knew our God;

but children of the heavenly King,

but children of the heavenly King

may speak their joys abroad,

may speak their joys abroad.

We’re marching to Zion,

beautiful, beautiful Zion;

we’re marching upward to Zion,

the beautiful city of God.

The hill of Zion yields

a thousand sacred sweets

before we reach the heavenly fields,

before we reach the heavenly fields,

or walk the golden streets,

or walk the golden streets.

We’re marching to Zion,

beautiful, beautiful Zion;

we’re marching upward to Zion,

the beautiful city of God.

Then let our songs abound,

and every tear be dry;

we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,

we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,

to fairer worlds on high,

to fairer worlds on high.

We’re marching to Zion,

beautiful, beautiful Zion;

we’re marching upward to Zion,

the beautiful city of God.

Benediction

Hymn: “Go Now In Peace”            

Go now in peace, Never be afraid.

God will go with you each hour of ev-ry day.

Go now in faith, stead-fast, strong and true.

Know He will guide you in all you do.

Go now in love, and show you be-lieve.

Reach out to others so all the world can see.

God will be there watching from above.

God now in peace, in faith, and in love.

Amen! Amen! Amen!