Worship Guide
September 14, 2025
Fourteenth 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:
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows us and seeks us out. Great is our joy as we are found in Christ.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: “There is no God!” people say.
People: “I can do what I like!” everyone thinks.
Leader: “Who cares about God?” questioners ask.
People: “I’m here for me; I don’t answer to anyone!” the foolish think.
Leader: God looks for faith.
People: Will God find it?
Leader: God looks for care of the poor.
People: Will we provide it?
Leader: God looks for love.
People: Will God find it in us?
Leader: Come! Let us pray.
ALL: O God of heaven and earth, bless us with your mercy and grace. Enter our hearts and make us holy. Be our Shepherd and guide us in your ways, that we might not wander alone. Hear our cries and gather us to yourself, that we may be one with each other, through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn: “Honor and Praise”
Righteous and holy in all of your ways;
we come before you with honor and praise.
Here to adore you for all of our days,
we come before you with honor and praise
Lord of the heavens, how faithful you are.
Shine down upon us, oh bright Morning Star.
Righteous and holy in all of your ways;
we come before you with honor and praise.
Filling the temple, the work of your grace;
we come before You with honor and praise.
Here to adore you for all of our days,
we come before you with honor and praise.
Lord of the heavens, how faithful you are.
Rise in our spirits, oh bright Morning Star.
Righteous and holy in all of your ways;
We come before You with honor and praise.
Words of Assurance:
Thank you, King of the ages, for coming to us.
Thank you for loving us with utmost patience and for fitting us in your glory.
Amen
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
*Reading from the Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
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: “ God ___ Me”
Hymn: “My Hope is Built”
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean in Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, his covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in him be found.
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
Sermon: “Our Hope is in the Lord” Psalm 14
1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous.
6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.
7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “Sing Alleluia to the Lord ”
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Sing alleluia, Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Lift up your hearts unto the Lord
Lift up your hearts unto the Lord
Lift up your hearts, Lift up your hearts
Lift up your hearts unto the Lord
In Christ the world has been redeemed
In Christ the world has been redeemed
In Christ the world, In Christ the world
In Christ the world has been redeemed
His resurrection sets us free
His resurrection sets us free
His resurrection, His resurrection
His resurrection sets us free
Therefore we celebrate the feast
Therefore we celebrate the feast
Therefore we celebrate
Therefore we celebrate
Therefore we celebrate the feast
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Sing alleluia, Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Psalter: Affirmation From 1 Timothy
There is one God
and there is one mediator, Christ Jesus,
who came as a ransom for all,
to whom we testify.
This saying is sure
and worthy of full acceptance:
That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,
and was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated in the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.
Great indeed is the mystery of the gospel. Amen
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father and to the son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Amen.
Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “I Stand Amazed in the Presence”
I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
For me it was in the garden
he prayed: “Not my will, but thine."
He had no tears for his own griefs,
but sweat drops of blood for mine.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
In pity angels beheld him,
and came from the world of light
to comfort him in the sorrows
he bore for my soul that night.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
He took my sins and my sorrows,
he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary,
and suffered and died alone.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages
to sing of his love for me.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
Benediction
Hymn: “Go Now In Peace”
Go now in peace, Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every 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 believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
