CCLI license #1913561
Lakeview Presbyterian Church
Service of the Word for September 12, 2021
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude: "Hallelujah" sung by Keisha Prime
Hallelujah x7
Praise the Lord!
Thank you Jesus x7
Praise the Lord!
Lord You Saved Me and You raised me x3
Lord you Saved me
Praise the Lord!
He is coming x7
Praise the Lord
Hallelujah x7
Praise the Lord!
Call to Worship
Look at the heavens!
They are shouting the glory of God.
The days and the nights declare the magnificence of God’s creative works.
Their voice goes through all the earth and their words reach the ends of the world.
Let our words of praise be acceptable to you.
Our Lord, our rock, our redeemer!
Let us worship God.
Opening Prayer
O God, you created the world through your Word. Your Word is powerful!
And so are our words. They can heal, create a smile, be a declaration of love; but
they can also hurt and destroy a sense of self-worth. Give us your wisdom, God of
the Word, so that as a church and as individuals, we use our words to build up
and not to destroy. Amen.
Opening Hymn “How Great Thou Art” TPH # 467
Call to Confession
Let us use our voices to confess those things we have said and done that have separated us from God, and from each other, that we may experience God’s mercy.
Prayer of Confession
You have called us, O God, and we have refused to listen; you have stretched out your hand and we have not taken it. We have taken what you have given us and used those gifts to hurt others and defy you. We have refused to be tamed by your wisdom.
Forgive our inability to recognize you and live out the reality of your gospel.
Give us the insight we need to understand your place in our lives so that our words and actions
reflect your glory in the lives of others.
In the name of Jesus, the Messiah, we
pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news! In Jesus Christ, the living Word, we are forgiven. Live in peace!
Prayer for Illumination
You speak to us, Lord, with tongues of wisdom. Let your Holy Spirit now open us to hear with greater clarity the teachings of today, that we may hold dear in yet new ways what it is you will for us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reading from the Hebrew Scriptures: Job 38: 1—14, 42: 1—2
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beingsshouted for joy? "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?—when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed1 like a garment. Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken. "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Then Job answered the LORD: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Reading from the First Epistle to the Corinthians 13:8—14:1
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly,but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.
Hymn (please remain seated) “Great IS Thy Faithfulness TPH # 276
Sermon “It’s God’s Will” The Rev. Russell Lehman“
Affirmation of Faith from ‘Foundations,’ pcusa Book of Order
The Church is to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life. The Church is to be a community of hope, rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge that, in Christ, God is making a new creation.
The Church is to be a community of love, where sin is forgiven, reconciliation is accomplished, and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down. The Church is to be a community of witness, pointing beyond itself through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer (Ecumenical)
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is 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.
Minute for Mission: CROP Hunger Walk
Statement about Offering our Gifts
Each of us has been given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Let us give a measure of what has already been given to us.
Donations can be mailed to Lakeview Presbyterian Church at 1310 22 nd Av S, St Petersburg, FL, 33705 or given online through our website lakeviewpresbyterianchurch.org
Special Music "Amazing Love-Newsboys" Keisha Prime
I'm forgiven because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again
Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it's true
It's my joy to honor You
In all I do, to honor You
You are my King
You are my King
Jesus, You are my King
You are my King
Prayer of Dedication
God has given us the sun and made us stewards of all creation. God has given us our lives and our very beings. Let us give to God, from what God has given us.
*Hymn “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands” AAHH # 150
Announcements
Charge /Benediction
When people ask, “Who is this God?” do not be ashamed of the gospel; share with them what has been made known to you, that he loved the world so much that he lived for us, suffered for us, died for us, and invite them to follow him.
May God, our Wisdom;
may Jesus give us strength;
may the Holy Spirit, our Tongue of fire, guide our words and our actions, as we strive to bless the world with our witness to our God.
Postlude "Blessed Be Your Name" sung by Keisha Prime
Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
And blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name