November 13

A Season of Gratitude and Stewardship

November 13, 2022

CCLI license #1913561

Welcome: Grace and Peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ

Questions for Reflection: What is your vision of heaven? Who do you expect to see there?

Prelude                      "O PRAISE HIM" CROWDER

Gathering
God chose you as the first fruits of salvation, calling you to receive the good news of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for such extravagant grace!
Let us enter God’s courts with thanksgiving.
Praise the Lord!

Opening Prayer
Ever-Living God you give life and breath to your whole creation and watch over those you love. Strengthen us in every good work, and keep us in your care, that our days may be long to bless you and praise you. Amen.

*Hymn “Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain” GTG # 234

Litany of Thanksgiving
For breath that fills us with your life, for love that softens our hearts,
For beauty revealed at every turn.
For renewal, transforming our lives, for peace calming the chaos of our souls,
For hope restoring our faith.
For caring when our hearts are aching, for supportive friends in times of need,
For generosity lavish and overflowing.
We come with hearts full of gratitude, for all things good,
We give you thanks for You.
(Pause to express gratitude for your own areas of thanksgiving)
For the way you entered human history as one of us
For the sacrifice you made for all of us, For dying that we might know life.
For the wonder of your indwelling presence,
For the comfort of your guidance and direction,
For drawing us together as one body, We offer our thanks and praise.

Prayer for Understanding
God of wisdom, by your Spirit may your Word be proclaimed, that we may know good news in our hearts and minds and bear witness to your glory in word and deed. Quiet in us any voice but your own, that we might hear your Word to us today. Amen.

Reading from the Hebrew Scriptures: Isaiah 12 ^NRSV
You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Reading from the Gospel of Luke 20: 27—40 ^NRSV
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." For they no longer dared to ask him another question.

Hymn “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” GTG # 833

Sermon “When We Get to Heaven?” The Rev. Russell Lehman

*Affirmation of Faith (from A Brief Statement of Faith, pcusa
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church.
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!”

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  

A Conversation about Stewardship

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Statement about Offering our Gifts 
    With gratitude for God’s blessings we gather now the gifts of the church for the sake of the gospel.

 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

Special Music

Prayer of Thanksgiving

For the gifts offered this day and every day we give thanks, O God. Make us good stewards of all you have entrusted to our care. May these gifts be used to serve your creation, to sustain your children in all they say and do, and to build up your kingdom throughout the earth. Amen.

*Hymn “Standing on the Promises” GTG # 838

Announcements

Charge and Benediction
Go into the world in peace, bearing witness to the presence of God, and now may God our Creator, by the power of the Holy Spirit, give you comfort and hope, and strengthen you in every good work and word, this day and ever more.

Postlude

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