Worship Guide
October 5, 2025
Seventeenth 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: "Amazing Grace" Charles
Centering Words:
Whether we are called to suffer little or to suffer much, we live in the faith and love that are ours in Christ Jesus.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: The Holy Spirit rekindles God’s purpose and grace for our lives.
People: Grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
Leader: Christ Jesus, our savior, abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.
People: This is good news, not just for ourselves, but for the world.
Leader: Let us worship in thanksgiving and praise. Shall we pray.
ALL: Holy and Triune, God, your table transcends time and space. As your disciples on World Communion Sunday, we join our voices to the songs and prayers offered to your name throughout the world. Increase our faith and give us grace to love and forgive one another, as you have loved and forgiven us. We remember all your beloved children who suffer this day– especially the victims and refugees of war and natural disasters. We hear the echo of their broken lives in the songs of lament in today’s scriptures. Help us bear witness to their suffering without fear. Give us the courage to live in love with you, in you, and for you. For the sake of all your beloved children, we pray. Amen
Hymn: “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus says the Lord!"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
’neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
I’m so glad I learned to trust thee,
precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
and I know that thou art with me,
wilt be with me to the end.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
Rest assured, God has saved us from the endless cycle of hatred and death-dealing-things we too often do when left to our own devices.
Thanks be to God for bringing us light and life, through the saving love of Jesus Christ.
Amen and Amen.
*Old Testament Reading: Lamentations 1:1-6
1 How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become subject to forced labor.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers,
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations;
she finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,[a]
and her lot is bitter.
5 Her foes have become the masters;
her enemies prosper
because the Lord has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From daughter Zion has departed
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
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: “Be” Word of the Day
Hymn: “Open My Eyes”
Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
Open my ears, that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
Open my mouth, and let me bear,
gladly the warm truth everywhere;
open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
Sermon: “Faith to Change” Luke 17:5-10
5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? 8 Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'?
9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
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: “Since Jesus Came into My Heart”
In Christ alone my hope is found,
he is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my all in all,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh,
fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
the wrath of God was satisfied;
for every sin on Him was laid.
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
sin's curse has lost its grip on me.
For I am His and He is mine,
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme or plan
can ever pluck me from His hand.
'Till He returns or calls me home
here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
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!
