FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
ORDER OF WORSHIP
8th Sunday of Pentecost
125th Anniversary Service
August 3, 2025
PRELUDE Jesus, Lover of My Soul - Joseph Parry
WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- 125th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION today during worship. A Concert will be held in the sanctuary today at 2:00 PM highlighting our pipe organ, grand piano, and the bell choir. Musicians include Steve Weets and Denise Nagle from Pipestone MN, MK Hugghins, Mary Ermel, Bonnie Foster. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will follow.
-TUESDAY MORNING COFFEE GROUP at 9:30ish AM at First Lutheran Mission Coffee House.
-FINANCE COMMITTEE will meet Tuesday, August 5 at 6:30PM via Zoom.
-THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY at 9:30 AM in the FPC Center Meeting Room.
–CE/FELLOWSHIP COMMITTEE AND WORSHIP COMMITTEE will meet next Sunday, August 10 after worship service
BELL CHOIR "Come, Christians Join to Sing"
MAYORAL PROCLAMATION Mayor Ope Niemeyer
CALL TO WORSHIP
Generations have gathered in this place—to worship, to pray, to sing, and to seek God’s presence.
We give thanks for those who came before us, who built with faith and worshiped with joy.
Today we stand on a firm foundation—125 years of grace, witness, and love in community.
God has been our help in ages past and is our hope for years to come.
Come, people of God—let us worship with gratitude and praise!
For God is faithful from generation to generation!
*OPENING HYMN #210 (blue) “O 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:
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,
Soon bears us all away;
We 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
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Faithful God, you have guided this congregation with mercy and love. Yet we come before you aware that we have not always followed you fully. We confess that at times we have trusted in our own strength rather than your Spirit. We have clung to what “was” rather than opening our hearts to what “could be.” Forgive us, Lord. Renew us with the power of your love. Restore our commitment to Christ and his Church, and send us forward—grateful for the past, faithful in the present, and hopeful for what you will yet do among us. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Lamentations 3:19-23 NIV)
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
RESPONSE: #276 (blue) “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (vs 1, 3)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside! [Refrain]
CELEBRATION OF 125 YEARS OF WORSHIPING IN THIS SANCTUARY
WORSHIP- THE HEART OF THIS HOUSE
BELL CHOIR "How Firm a Foundation"
BEAUTY - THE WORK OF HUMAN HANDS AND HEARTS FOR GOD’S GLORY
SCRIPTURE READING: (from Psalm 27 & Psalm 150, adapted)
One thing I ask from the Lord:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple.
He will keep me safe and shelter me in his sacred tent.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his power and greatness.
Praise him with trumpet, harp, and lyre--
With timbrel, strings, pipe, and dancing!
Praise him with clashing cymbals--
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
HYMN #264 (blue) “When in Our Music, God is Glorified”
When in our music God is glorified,
And adoration leaves no room for pride,
It is as though the whole creation cried:
Alleluia!
How often, making music, we have found
A new dimension in the world of sound
As worship moved us to a more profound
Alleluia!
So has the church, in liturgy and song,
In faith and love, through centuries of wrong,
Borne witness to the truth in every tongue:
Alleluia!
Let every instrument be tuned for praise!
Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise!
And may God give us faith to sing always:
Alleluia! Amen.
LEARNING – GROWING IN FAITH TOGETHER
CHILDREN’S TIME: New Testament books of the Bible song
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (taken from The Confession of 1967)
We believe that the life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ set the pattern for the church’s mission.
His service calls us to care for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes us sensitive to all human pain.
His crucifixion reveals God’s judgment on injustice--and our own complicity in it. In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, we trust in God’s promise to renew life and overcome all wrong. To live this way is to confess Christ as Lord.
COMMUNITY- LIVING AS GOD’S FAMILY (Romans 12:9-13 NIV)
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
SERVICE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
HYMN #438 (blue) “Blest Be the Tie That Binds”
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.
We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear,
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
From sorrow, toil, and pain,
And sin, we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you And also with you
Lift up your hearts We lift them to the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right to give our thanks and praise.
….So we join our voices with the faithful of every time and place, saying together:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
…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.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND BREAKING OF THE BREAD
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE LIFE OF THIS CHURCH AND OFFERING OURSELVES AND OUR RESOURCES
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Concerns: Jan J, Judy Se, JoAnn G
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: Ann & Bill D, Mary E, Bob & Pat F
*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.
*HYMN (on screen) “Oh God, As We Gather”
(3 verses, followed by refrain at the end) Words by an anonymous composer, set to the tune of "To God Be the Glory". Sung at the 100th anniversary of this sanctuary, these special lyrics celebrate God’s faithfulness through the years.
Oh God as we gather on these festive days,
We sing of your mercies, amazed by your ways
We thank you for leading us all through the years
Through times of great triumph through gladness and tears.
Your grace has sustained us, your love calms our fears,
In times of deep trouble your spirit is near.
You gave us the courage to answer Christ’s call
By sharing the gospel, God’s good news for all.
Oh God give us vision to serve in Christ’s name!
Our challenge is new but your grace is the same.
Lord help us to build on the work of the past,
By serving our Savior in ways that will last.
Refrain:
We give thanks, we give thanks for your goodness Oh Lord,
We rejoice, we rejoice in your kindness, Oh Lord.
On this celebration our voices we raise
To say “God we love you” to give God our praise.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE We Gather Together - arr. Mary McDonald
