Sunday, July 12, 2020


6th Sunday after Pentecost


CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
The Congregation at Worship


Centering Scripture: Genesis 25: 19-34
Scripture is available by clicking here


PRELUDE


MINISTRY OF LIGHT


CALL TO WORSHIP

Summer or winter, seedtime or harvest, my life is continually in your hand,
and I never forget your law of love.
In success or failure, health or sickness, your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light upon my path.
By day or by night, at dawn or at dusk,
please accept, loving God, the vows my mouth freely makes; and teach me, Holy One, your ways.


* HYMN OF PRAISE “The Word Is a Lamp” No. 601
  Music is available by clicking here


SCRIPTURE READING Romans 8: 1-11
    Scripture is available by clicking here


MORNING PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We know for sure that we do not have to talk God into forgiving us. God knows our need before we ask, and has provided in Jesus a therapeutic love that can never be exhausted. In confession we get honest and ask the Spirit God to come in and put things right. Let us pray.

Loving God, Sower and Reaper of love, we admit to you that we are like stony fields, capable of growing goodness and sharing it around, but also we allow goodness to wither and weeds to flourish.
Your mercy has taken root in us but we do not share enough of it with others, your justice is obscured in our day, your truth has showered on us but we have let it run to waste, your love has blossomed among us but many have been slow to set fruit.

Most loving God, please open the furrows of our lives to receive again the seeds of your Gospel. Rain your mercy upon us, shine your warmth and light into every dark place, and bring forth in us the harvest that in your glorious love you have destined for us. Through Christ Jesus our Savior.
Amen!


WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Listen, to this Word: “Where sin abounds love much more abounds”.
Receive from such abundance and give thanks. You, my sisters and brothers, are among the richest people in the world. You have the wealth of Christ with you always, even to the end of time.
Thanks be to God.


PASTORAL PRAYER


THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And 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.


LITANY
It is wonderful, loving God, the way your Holy Scriptures, shaped in a distant age and in another land, open our eyes and ears, mind and soul, to encounter the Word of Life, here today.
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
It is wonderful, loving God that the Word within the words still touches our minds and enables us to recognize the beauty of your handiwork from the Appalachians to the Rockies, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf.
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
It is wonderful, loving God, that your Book still confronts our distorted and degraded relationships and lifts our spirits to perceive the beauty which you intended us to embrace and enjoy, through childhood and youth, the middle years and old age.
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
It is wonderful, loving God, that the Bible still challenges us to hear themes of judgment and mercy within the shame and glory of our towns and cities, from New York to Seattle, to Omaha, to Newton Falls
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
It is wonderful, loving God, that your Living Word meets us in many places of prayer; at cathedrals and chapels, meeting halls and house churches, study groups and Sunday Schools, youth fellowships and conventions.
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
It is most wonderful beyond all words that you chose to embody your Living Word in one person named Jesus, who came to seek and save all that is twisted, diseased and lost. For Jesus of Nazareth with his warm hearted humanity, his crucified divinity, and his sublime resurrection over evil and death.
Let thanksgiving and praise rise to you this day and always.
Amen!
Yes, loving God, Amen!


CHILDREN’S MOMENTS
I bet you never went to the beach expecting to hear Jesus. But that’s where they went on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus told them a story about planting seeds and hearing God’s word. Listen really carefully as the story is read. If you listen to Jesus words and follow in Jesus’ footsteps you’re like really good soil that grows strong and healthy. Think about that as you sing “The B-I-B-L-E.”


WORSHIP WITH TITHES AND OFFERINGS may be mailed to the church with thanks to you and our Lord. As you do so, pray, “All things come of thee of God, and of thine own have we given thee.”


GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
    Scripture is available by clicking here


SERMON Rev. David Harper
Message from Rev Harper is available by clicking here


CLOSING HYMN “Wonderful Words of Life” No. 600
Music is available by clicking here


BENEDICTION
May God be the light on your path, the breeze on your back, the music in your ears, the song on your lips, the curiosity in your mind, the happiness in your heart, and the peace in your spirit. Be well.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!


POSTLUDE