Lakeview Presbyterian Church
February 5, 2023
CCLI license #1913561
Prelude “Agnus Dei” Smith
Welcome:
Call to Worship (Based on Isaiah 58:11)
Grace and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places.
Thanks be to God.
*Hymn “Morning Has Broken” G 664
Call to Confession
Trusting in divine mercy, and with humble hearts,
let us confess our sins before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, whose ways are good and true, we confess that we have not lived as Christ has called us to live. We have shut our eyes to evils our world allows. We have sealed our ears from the cries of the suffering whose pain we abide. We have clung to the hostility we harbor against one another and hardened our hearts to the creative power of love.
Assurance of Pardon
As children of the Holy One, God forgives you and loves you eternally. By the power of God’s Spirit, forgive yourself and forgive others as God in
Christ has forgiven you.
Prayer for illumination
O Lord, by your Spirit open to us the Words of Life, a spring of water that shall never fail. Amen.
Reading from the Hebrew Scriptures Isaiah 58:1-9a
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Reading from the Gospel Matthew 5:13-20
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that
they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. “Do not think
that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish
them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore,
anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others
accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever
practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom
of heaven.
Hymn please remain seated “Let us Break Bread Together” G 525
Sermon Rev. Neddy Astudillo
*Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, who created and is creating - and we await the new creation.
We believe in God born among us, God born to die, God born to save - and we await rebirth. We believe in God alive within us, among us, through us - and so we await inspiration and work as God calls us.
We believe that the God who comes is a God who waits and wills that justice be done and mercy be shown, that bread be shared and bridges be built, that those in low valleys be lifted up and that insurmountable obstacles to the kingdom be removed. And so we who believe are those who wait and those who work preparing our hearts and preparing the way for the One who is Emmanuel.
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn please remain seated “Your Only Son (Lamb of God)” G #518
Sermon “Lamb of God” Peter Murray
*Affirmation of Faith
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and
to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer (This is the Ecumenical Version; feel free to use the words of your choice)
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen
Statement about Offering our Gifts Isaiah declares, If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God
Donations can be placed in the offering plate near the baptismal font in the center of the sanctuary.
Or mailed to:
Lakeview Presbyterian Church, 1310 22nd Av S, St Petersburg, FL, 33705
or given online at: lakeviewpresbyterianchurch.org
African American History on Howard Thurman Peter Murray
Special Music “Anchor” Skillet
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Lord Jesus Christ, your goodness to us is beyond the reaches of our imagination, a fullness of love that embraces all of life. From you we have received grace upon grace. Accept our offering for the sake of the world. All that we have is yours, and all we return to you is but a reflection of your love for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
The Invitation
We come again to the Lord’s Table, to celebrate, and to participate in this great feast which has been prepared for us. Once again, we confront again the power, the mystery, the wonder, the glory of Christ’s presence with us: the hope, the joy, the love and the peace that comes when God is present and guiding our lives. God is always with us, supporting and sustaining us, but sometimes the crush of circumstances causes us to forget. So, we come to this table, again and again, to rekindle the light of God’s presence so that it touches and changes our lives, and so that we carry that light out into the world with us. Come, for our Lord invites us.
The Words of Institution
On the night before he died, Jesus came to the table with those he loved. He took bread, and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread among his disciples and said: ‘Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, given for you.’ When the supper was ended, he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He passed the cup among his disciples and
said, ‘Take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is the cup of the new
covenant sealed in my blood for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance
of me.’ Now, whenever we eat and drink
at this table, we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection until he comes
again.
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Holy God, creator of the universe, with joy we praise you and give you thanks. You brought light from darkness and drew land from the sea. You made us in your image to live with one another in love. You promised yourself in covenant with us, you told us your purpose in your law and called for justice through the prophets. Through long generations you have been faithful to your people.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
In the fullness of time, you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to preach good news to the afflicted, to break bread with the outcast and despised, and to ransom those in bondage to prejudice and sin. Remembering his love for us we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Reveal yourself to us in the breaking of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us. Send us forth, burning with justice, peace and love. With all your holy ones of all times and places, we praise you, O God, blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.
We praise you for your love: bringing order out of chaos, breathing life into dust, leading captives into freedom, calling wandering children home, giving bread to the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, raising the dead to life. We thank you, Lord for Jesus: Word made flesh, light of the world, living water, shepherd and gate, way and truth, bread of heaven, cup of salvation, resurrection and life.
Spirit come – come and live in us: in this bread, in this cup, in your people, one in the body, one in the blood; one with Christ, one in ministry, in this place, in every place; in this world, in the world to come. Amen
Partaking the Elements
When we break bread, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
When we give thanks over the cup, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Jesus said: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Prayer after Communion
Holy God, we thank you for this feast of grace and life. Send us out to answer the summons of our Lord Jesus Christ to a new life, and to follow him with joy and gladness. Set our feet in his holy way, that our lives may be signs of his life and all we do may show forth his love. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer (sung)
*Hymn “Lord Dismiss Us With Your Blessing” G 546
Announcements
Charge and Benediction
Go in peace, reconciled to God and to one another. The God of reconciliation bless you, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you, and the power of the Holy Spirit strengthen you this day and forevermore.
Postlude “You Never Let Go” Redman