Worship Guide
June 22, 2025
Second 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: Charles
Centering Words:
When fear and despair try to run the show, hope and faith bring us back to God, whose love is stronger still.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Come into the light of God’s love.
People: Fear cannot separate us from its blessing.
Leader: Come to the house of healing and hope.
People: God’s love makes us whole.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: God of power and might, bring your awesome presence into our worship and our world. Open us to your wholeness and healing and embolden us to answer your call, that we might face unafraid the demons of the world. Amen
Hymn: “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
Before faith, we were locked away in our fear. But faith is ours through the grace of Christ.
In this grace, we are no longer chained; we are no longer bound by demons, regrets, or sin.
We are freed with love, freed to love, and freed to be loved.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
*Gospel Reading: Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
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: “We Are Different”
Hymn: “As the Deer”
As the deer pants for the water,
so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart's desire,
and I long to worship you.
You alone are my strength, my shield;
to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart's desire,
and I long to worship you.
As the deer pants for the water,
so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart's desire,
and I long to worship you.
You alone are my strength, my shield;
to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart's desire,
and I long to worship you.
Sermon: “Now That Faith Has Come” Galatians 3:23-29
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “We Were Baptized in Christ Jesus”
We were baptized in Christ Jesus,
we were baptized in his death;
that as Christ was raised victorious,
we might live a brand new life.
And if we have been united
in a dreadful death like his,
we will all be reunited, for he lives.
In the water and the witness,
in the breaking of the bread,
in the waiting arms of Jesus
who is risen from the dead,
God has made anew beginning
from the ashes of our past;
in the losing and the winning we hold fast.
Glory be to God the Father,
glory be to Christ the Son,
glory to the Holy Spirit,
ever three and ever one;
as it was in the beginning,
glory now resounds again
in a song that has no ending. Amen.
Psalter: Psalm 42
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
6 Hope in God who again I shall praise, my help and my God.
My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love; and at night God's song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock: "Why have you forgotten me? Why do I mourn because of the oppression of the enemy?"
10 Like a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me;
they say to me continually, "Where is your God?"
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God whom again I shall praise, my help and my God.
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: “There’s a Spirit of Love in This Place”
There's a spirit of love in this place,
there's a spirit of love in this place.
You can't see it, but it's there
just as precious as the air.
There's a spirit of love in this place.
O alleluia, sing alleluia!
We bless your holy name.
O alleluia, sing alleluia!
There's a spirit of love in this place.
There's the presence of peace in this room,
there's the presence of peace in this room.
In God's tenderness is found
peace that passes human bounds.
there's the presence of peace in this room.
O alleluia, sing alleluia!
We bless your holy name.
O alleluia, sing alleluia!
There's a spirit of love in this place.
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!
