The Service for the Lord’s Day
Graduation Recognition Sunday
Mother’s Day
May 12, 2019 10:30 a.m.
WE GATHER TO PRAISE GOD, THE LORD OF LIFE
Prelude “Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” arr. J Turner
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” arr. J. Turner
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” arr. J Bennett
News of the Church
Please complete the attendance form found in the red Welcome book in your pew. Prayer request forms are also available in the Welcome book. Thank you.
*The Greeting and Welcoming of One Another
(There are no strangers in God’s House, just friends we have not yet met.
Greet your neighbor with Christian love and let them know that you’re glad to see them!)
*Hymn “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship”
Call to Worship AJ Baratta
Leader: We gather together this morning in praise and thanksgiving;
People: knowing that all good things come from God.
Leader: We worship and bow down to God in humility;
People: accepting that the more glory we give to God, the less prideful we become.
Leader: God sent Jesus to humble Himself as a servant. If we truly desire to be more like Jesus, we must do the same.
ALL: Let us worship God!
*Hymn “Mighty To Save”
*Prayer of Confession (Unison)
Dear Lord, we wish to do Your work, though often look for ways to be noticed while doing it. We are eager to reach out to others in service, yet prefer that our name be part of the story. We are devoted to Your Word, but many times seek attention and approval from others while sharing its wisdom. Help us to be more like You: to find ways to follow You without an audience; to do for others in the shadows instead of the limelight; to be witnesses to the power of Your Word by becoming silent examples of it.…(Silent time of prayer)
*Assurance of Pardon
Leader: Just as the Lord knows and loves our generous, serving and giving hearts,
He sees our desire to be noticed and forgives us our prideful needs.
ALL: Thanks be to God!
*The Gloria Patri – Hymn Tune, 581
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.
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
Children’s Message
After the Children’s Message, children 7 and younger may continue to Millard Hall for Children’s Church. All other children are asked to remain in worship.
Anthem “Make His Praise Glorious” Wolaver
Chancel Choir arr. Hart
Message “Becoming Like Jesus” Dr. Jonathan Sloan
John 3:22-30
Jesus and John the Baptist
22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized 24 —John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
WE SEAL AND RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*Hymn #761 “Called as Partners in Christ’s Service”
Prayers of the People and The Lord’s Prayer (Unison)
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 debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
Offering
Offertory Anthem “Yesterday, Today and Forever” V Beeching
Adonai Singers
*Doxology (The Hymnal, p. 606)
*Prayer of Dedication
WE GO FORTH TO SERVE
Recognition of Graduates
Leader: O God, you are closer to us than a parent. Your steadfast love never ends and
continues to guide and direct us through our years.
ALL: Wrap your loving arms around each graduating senior, and around each
parent, that their love for one another might be flexible enough to allow
for growth, yet constant enough to be an anchor against all storms.
Leader: Fill each graduate with courage in the face of challenge, integrity in the face of
injustice, and discipline in the face of chaos.
ALL: Keep their minds open to new learnings, and help them remember what is
just and true. Keep their hearts open to lasting relationships, and help
them love as you have loved us all. Keep their hands open to committed
service, and help them serve as you have served us.
Leader: Wrap your love around us now and in all the days of our lives. In the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
*Hymn #321 “The Church’s One Foundation”
Benediction
Postlude “Joy Dawned Again on Easter Day” arr. R Wilson
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*Please stand, in body or in spirit
