Sunday Worship Bulletin - Fourth Church

Bulletins are posted on the day prior.

Sunday, September 14
9:30 a.m. Worship Service

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PRELUDE
Prelude, Fugue, and Variation
César Franck

INTROIT
This Is the Day
Sixteenth-century English
This is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye heavenly host; Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP

One: God is our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear?
All: God is our shelter and refuge on the days of trouble.
One: God is our hope and joy on the days of celebration!
All: Day after day, we seek God’s face and the assurance of God’s holy love.
One: Beloved of God, enter this worship in thanksgiving,
All: for God is among and within us!
Let us worship God with joy.

HYMN

“The Lord Is God”

Come, great God of all the ages; make your earthly mission known; speak through every deed and person; let your way and will be shown. Guide the church to true commitment; give direction now, we ask; fit us for the work of building; dedicate us to the task.

Come, Christ Jesus, flesh and spirit, sure foundation, cornerstone; help us form the church eternal; may your vision be our own. Send a message to each follower; lead all people to your way; urge us to strong faith and action as we build the church today.

Come, great Spirit, in and with us, tune our ears to hear your call; through the moving of your presence, let redeeming love recall ministry in dedication, love embodied in our deeds; challenge us to do your bidding, see your purpose, fill all needs.

Come, O come, in celebration, household of the one true God; in commitment and rejoicing let us go where Christ has trod; as we act in faith and reverence, let us, Lord, the future see; place us in the church triumphant, now and for eternity.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of compassion, we confess our pridefulness and our fearfulness, sometimes two sides of the same coin. Grant us humility with self-respect, and courage rooted in our trust of your love. Heal our brokenness, and make us brave to serve your world and stand up for justice for your people. Amen.

DECLARATION OF PARDON
One: Friends, believe the good news.
All: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Leader: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
People: And also with you.

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WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

SOLO
“Hear My Prayer”
Moses Hogan
O Lord, please hear my prayer, in the morning when I rise. It’s your servant bound for glory. O dear Lord, please hear my prayer. Keep me safe within your arms. It’s your servant bound for glory.

FIRST LESSON
Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, a very present* help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city;* it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

One: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

GLORIA PATRI
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. Amen.

SECOND LESSON
Ephesians 3:16–21

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

One: Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet,
All: and a light unto our path.

SERMON
Nanette Sawyer

HYMN

“Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth”

Mothering God, you gave me birth in the bright morning of this world. Creator, source of every breath, you are my rain, my wind, my sun.

Mothering Christ, you took my form, offering me your food of light, grain of life, and grape of love, your very body for my peace.

Mothering Spirit, nurturing one, in arms of patience hold me close, so that in faith I root and grow until I flower, until I know.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

We are all held in the hollow of God’s hand, loved children of the universe, born from the life which flows from God, freed to the fullness of God’s creation with all its beauty and variety. We are all worth dying for in Christ Jesus, all called to risen life in Christ’s rising. The way of Jesus gives us footprints for our following and all our trials and longings are known in the frailty of Christ’s birth among us and the courage of Christ’s walking with us. We are all called to new things in the Spirit, in the hope that stirs in unlikely moments, the home we find in the wastelands of our wanderings, the warmth that we touch in the coldness of our need and the opening of our hearts to adventures in belonging or the gathering in of those without a home.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

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 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

Gifts supporting the ministry and mission of Fourth Church can be made online

OFFERTORY ANTHEM

“Cantate Domino”
Hans Leo Hassler
O sing unto the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song.

OFFERTORY RESPONSE
A grateful heart is what I bring, a song of praise, my offering. Among the saints I lift my voice: in you, O God, I will rejoice.

PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Holy One, receive these offerings as you receive our lives. Enliven us with your breath, and make your purposes known that our lives might show forth your glory. For we pray in the name of Jesus and by the power of your Spirit. Amen.

HYMN
“God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength”

God is our refuge and our strength, our ever-present aid, and therefore, though the earth be moved, we will not be afraid.

Though hills amid the seas be cast, though foaming waters roar, yea, though the mighty billows shake the mountains on the shore.

Where God abides a river flows; that city will rejoice. But nations fear and kingdoms shake before God’s thundering voice.

Since God is in the midst of it, the city walls shall stand, secure and safe with God’s sure help, when trouble is at hand.

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
“Go Now in Peace”
Robert Lau

POSTLUDE
Final (Symphonie I)
Louis Vierne

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