Worship Guide
July 27, 2025
Seventh 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: “10,000 Reasons” Charles
Centering Words:
In our asking and in our seeking, let us find strength and growth from the root of our lives, Christ Jesus.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Before we even knock,
People: Christ opens the doors and invites us in.
Leader: Before we even ask,
People: God knows our every need.
Leader: Come to seek; come to pray; come to worship,
People: for the Spirit has called us here.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Christ Jesus, we come to your house this day, knocking and asking that the door may be opened. We come seeking your face and yearning for your presence in our lives. Open the door of our hearts, as you have opened the doors of your church. Lift our faces, that we may see your face shining upon us. Answer our yearning, that our restive hearts may find their rest in you. Amen
Hymn: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.
Under the shadow of thy throne
still may we dwell secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
bears all who breathe away;
they fly, forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while life shall last,
and our eternal home.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
In the grace of Christ, we are connected to God’s love, both now and forevermore.
Amen.
*Gospel Reading: Luke 11:1-13
1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask 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: “Real or Fake”
Hymn: “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
Sermon: “Made You Alive” Colossians 2:6-19
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “The Church’s One Foundation”
The Church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation,
by water and the Word.
From heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.
Elect from every nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder
we see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed;
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.
Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blessed,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
with God, the Three in one,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.
Psalter: Psalm 85
1 Lord, you showed favor to your land you restored the fortunes of Jacob .
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin.
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God will speak, for the Lord will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to the Lord in their hearts.
9 Surely salvation is at hand for those who fear the Lord, that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before the Lord, and make God's footsteps a way.
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: “Give Thanks”
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ his Son.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ his Son.
And now let the weak say "I am strong";
let the poor same, "I am rich
because of what
the Lord has done for us
And now let the weak say "I am strong";
let the poor same, "I am rich
because of what
the Lord has done for us
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ his Son.
Give Thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he's given
Jesus Christ his Son.
And now let the weak say "I am strong";
let the poor same, "I am rich
because of what
the Lord has done for us
And now let the weak say "I am strong";
let the poor same, "I am rich
because of what
the Lord has done for us
Give thanks!
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!
