FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
ORDER OF WORSHIP
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
June 22, 2025
PRELUDE
WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
-TUESDAY MORNING COFFEE GROUP at 9:30ish AM at First Lutheran Mission Coffee House.
-THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY at 9:30 AM in the FPC Center Meeting Room.
-MEN’S BROTHERHOOD rescheduled to meet Thursday, June 26 at 5:30 PM in church lounge
-HARVEST TABLE: Please remember to volunteer to help serve with LDS church on Monday, June 30th. Sign-up sheet is on the Volunteer Opportunities bulletin board.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Our souls long for you, O God;
Where are you?
In raging wind?
In trembling earth?
In blazing flames?
Our souls long for you, O God; where are you?
Meet us once more, O God,
In stillness, in silence, in smallness.
Come now; O God, rnter our hearts and minds, present now for you.
*OPENING HYMN #687 (red) “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:
Beneath the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all our years away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while life shall last,
and our eternal home.
*CALL TO CONFESSION
In confession, we tell the truth about ourselves and our broken world, and the God of all Truth, who knows our limitations and loves our imperfections, has already forgiven us and will always forgive us. Trusting in God’s infinite mercy, let us dare to tell the truth in prayer together.
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of Grace, we have harmed your children whom you love, because we do not understand them, we segregate them, we reject them, and we hurt them. Forgive us, in your infinite love, and teach us to welcome all of your children until our hospitality is as wide as your mercy. Help us to understand others as we wish to be understood. Guide us to love one another as you love us.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
This is the truth: You are not the labels others place on you. You are more than the boxes you check. You are not the side of the aisle on which you stand, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ, and Christ alone. Believe the good news of the gospel:
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
*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.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Holy God—Three in One, One in Three—your mystery is beyond our grasp, yet you make yourself known in love. As we hear your Word, open our hearts by your Spirit, that we may know you more and worship you more deeply. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 42 (responsive)
1 As a hart longs for flowing streams,
so longs my soul for thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while men say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember thee
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts;
all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love;
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock: “Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
Psalm 43 (responsive)
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people;
from deceitful and unjust men deliver me!
2 For thou art the God in whom I take refuge;
why hast thou cast me off?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me,
let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise thee with the lyre, O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Galatians 3:23-29
23 Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. 24 So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they arrived at the country of the Ger′asenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And as he stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Ger′asenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
SERMON Troubled Souls Fr. Larry Ort
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
*HYMN OF RESPONSE (on screen/handout) “He Leadeth Me”
He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
What-e’er I do, where’er I be,
Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
Refrain:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me;
By His own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters calm, o’er troubled sea,
Still ‘tis His hand that leadeth me. [Refrain]
Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ‘tis my God that leadeth me. [Refrain]
And when my task on earth is done,
When, by Thy grace, the victor’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me. [Refrain]
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Concerns: Jan J, Ella L, Judy Se, JoAnn G, Owen and Lydia (Arlyce T’s great- grandchildren)
Our homebound or in care members: Richard & Dolores C, Bob F (Pat caregiver), Jan J, Darwin L (Jeanne caregiver), Marlys M, Bob O (Nancy caregiver), Rose P, Joyce R, Steve VB, Dee W (Please reach out and call)
This Week’s Prayer Families: Terry & Ann S, Janet T, Nancy T, Arlyce T
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 OF OURSELVES AND OUR RESOURCES
As we present our offerings today, we are reminded of God's great love for us. God's love knows no bounds and is beyond measure. As you consider your giving- in time, talents, and resources- you reflect God's love to others, bringing hope and healing to a world in need. To God, we say, thank you for your love that never fails us. Amen.
*DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN # 819 (red) “Be Still My Soul”
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide, who through all changes faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly friend though thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: thou God doth undertake to guide the future surely as the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on when we shall be forever with the Lord;
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still my soul: when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
BENEDICTION
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
POSTLUDE
