THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT CALDWELL
Our Purpose:
To help all people build life-transforming relationships with God and each other.
The members and friends of FPC welcome people from all backgrounds - - people of faith from throughout the world, people who profess no faith, Christians of all denominations and those who are searching for religious and spiritual meaning.
Welcome!
__________________________________
February 16, 2014
Ten o’clock
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
GATHERING
REFLECTION
God comes to us in free and undeserved favor in the person of Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose for us that we might belong to God and serve Christ in the world. Following Jesus, Presbyterians are engaged in the world and in seeking thoughtful solutions to the challenges of our time.
— from the Presbyterian Church (USA) website
PRELUDE
“Amazing Grace”
J. Schrader
CALL TO WORSHIP
Luke Pryor, Lay Reader
How good it is for fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors, first-timers and life-timers, to gather for the worship of God.
We are young and old; we are traditional and we are contemporary; we are seekers and we are finders.
May God bless us in this time together, that we might know God's presence and might experience the peace that Christ gives.
We seek peace for people far away and we seek peace for our homes.
Let us pray.
OPENING PRAYER
*HYMN no. 305
“Come Sing, O Church, in Joy!”
DARWALL’S 148TH
Lighting the candles today is Acolyte Alyssa White.
CONFESSION
CORPORATE CONFESSION
O Lord our God, you know us better than we know ourselves. As we come before you now, believers and doubters alike, we all share a deep need for wholeness and peace. Search us, O God, and know our hearts, test us and know our troubled thoughts. Forgive us all our wrongs. Transform us by your Spirit to live for you each day, to learn to serve each other and, through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, to live together in community.
PERSONAL CONFESSION
In Christ’s name we pray.
Amen.
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
...Friends, believe the good news.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE no. 71
“Surely, It Is God Who Saves Me”
Surely, it is God who saves me; I will trust and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and God will be my Savior.
PROCLAIMING AND RESPONDING
TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Please note: Children through 7th grade may leave the sanctuary for Sunday School following the
Time with the Children. Please exit through the doors on either side of the Choir loft.
PARISH LIFE
Members, friends and visitors, please sign the Friendship Pad in each pew and pass it to the person next to you. The last person will pass the pad back to the first person who will then please place the sheet in the offering plate. Worshipers are invited to use the cards in the pew racks for prayer requests so we may share one another’s joys and concerns. The ushers will collect the cards during the hymn following the sermon and they will be offered during the Prayers of the People.
MINUTE FOR MINISTRY
Local Missions
Joyce McGrath
ANTHEM
“Footprints in the Sand”
David Angerman
Chancel Choir
SCRIPTURE
page 126
SERMON
“Presbyterians and Per Capita — A Holy Alliance?”
Dr. Sommers
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
from The Confession of 1967
To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as his reconciling community. This community, the church universal, is entrusted with God's message of reconciliation and shares his labor of healing the enmities which separate us from God and from each other.
The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ has set the pattern for the church's mission. His life on earth involves the church in the common life of all people. His service to humanity commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the church sensitive to all the sufferings of humanity so that it sees the face of Christ in the faces of men, women, and children in every kind of need. His crucifixion discloses to the church God's judgment on human inhumanity and the awful consequences of its own complicity in injustice. In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming the church sees the promise of God's renewal of human life in society and of God's victory over all wrong.
The church follows this pattern in the form of its life and in the method of its action. So to live and serve is to confess Christ as Lord.
*HYMN no. 309
“Come, Great God of All the Ages”
ABBOT’S LEIGH
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND 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
OFFERTORY
*RESPONSE OF THANKSGIVING no. 607
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
GOING FORTH
*BENEDICTION
*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE no. 175
“Seek Ye First”
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, alleluia!
*THE PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Please exchange greetings of welcome and peace with your neighbor.
__________________________________
*Those who are able, please stand
†If you are new to our church...Welcome! We’re glad to have you here. Please ask an usher to direct you to Visitor packets at the rear of the church. They can be found on the table near the usher’s closet under the balcony stairs. After the 10:00 service today, we hope you will join us for Coffee Hour in Room 120.
†Special thanks to Kris George and Kevin Pasternak for their assistance in worship this morning while the Piercys are on Choir Tour with Youth in the San Francisco area.
†The flowers this morning are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of…
...Charles N. Weigand by his wife, Hanna and family.
...John Rogers Wilcox by Laura Ingersoll.
†You will find CDs of the 10:00AM Worship Service at the back of the church along with CD’s of other recent services. Keep the CD for your own use, pass it on to your friends and neighbors or return them for re-use by other people. Just another way to share news about our Church!
†Your prayers of intercession are requested for those members and friends known to be currently or recently hospitalized or who continue to need our prayers and support:
…Evelyn Martin, Harold Kuhefuss, Doris Brixner, Bill Hayden, Marilyn O’Connell, Louise Ritscher, Barbara Piggery, Olga Muller, Laura Winter, and Harry Coppens. The church office will be happy to verify their home addresses for you should you wish to send them words of encouragement or get well wishes.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
AT CALDWELL
326 Bloomfield Avenue
Caldwell, New Jersey 07006
973-228-0310
www.firstprescaldwell.org