First Presbyterian Church
Brookings, SD
19th Sunday after Pentecost
September 29, 2024
PRELUDE
WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
- TUESDAY MORNING COFFEE GROUP, 9:30ish AM, Mission Coffee House
- THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY, 9:30 AM
- SPECIAL OFFERING: Peace and Global Witness donations are being accepted Sept. 8 through Oct. 6
CALL TO WORSHIP
The Lord has called you here this day.
Lord, reveal to us your purposes for us.
Open your hearts to receive God’s good news.
Lord, make us ready to serve you.
Come, let us worship God!
*OPENING HYMN 'Everybody Ought to Know' (on screen)
Refrain:
Everybody ought to know, everybody ought to know,
everybody ought to know who Jesus is.
1. He's the lily of the valley
He's the brightest morning star
He's the fairest of ten thousand
Everybody ought to know.
2. On the cross He died for sinners
And His blood makes white as snow
Loving, living, coming Savior
He’s the One you ought to know. [Refrain]
*CALL TO CONFESSION
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Loving God, before You and one another, we confess our failure to receive our calling as your people, made by You and chosen as your witnesses. We long to be faithful stewards of your abundant grace, to serve each other in love and humility. Forgive us when our efforts fail; when our words and actions are not guided by love. Remind us, God, that you have made us for your service and recharge us with your Word; restore our energy when it is gone. Renew us, God, through your abundant grace and grant us courage to live out your way of love and grace. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*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.
SPECIAL MUSIC
‘Praise Him, Praise Him’ by children
‘Take My Life and I Will Be’ by choir
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION AND SCRIPTURE READING
Open our minds, our hearts and our hands so that as we hear your word, we will trust you and act on what you have taught us. In the name of Christ our Savior, Amen.
Romans 12: 6-8
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, 8 then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
1 Peter 4 8-11
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Mark 10: 42-45
42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
SERMON Called to Serve in Love
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Book of Order W-5.0105)
We respond to God’s grace through our Christian vocation. In Baptism we offer our whole lives in service to God, and are empowered by the Holy Spirit with gifts for ministry in Jesus’ name. Therefore we are called to honor and serve God at all times and in all places: in our work and play, in our thought and action, and in our private and public engagements. Such service and love is an act of gratitude for God’s grace. The life and work of every Christian can and should give glory to God. As we honor and serve God in our daily life and labor, we worship God. Whatever our situation, we have opportunities each day to bear witness to the power of God at work within us. Therefore, for Christians, worship, work, and witness cannot be separated.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Concerns: Bob F, Jan (Nancy & Bob O’s sister-in-law), Nathan (Linda B’s nephew)
Our homebound or in care members: Richard and Dolores C, Bob F (Pat caregiver), Jan J, Darwin L (Jeanne caregiver), Bob O (Nancy caregiver), Rose P, Joyce R, Steve VB, Dee W, Dorothy W (Please reach out and call)
This Week’s Prayer Families: Bob & Pat F, Robby & Donna F
Those Who Mourn: the family and friends of Bob Jones
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
*DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*HYMN #730 (Red) ‘I Sing a Song of the Saints of God’
1. I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green:
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too.
2. They loved their Lord so dear, so dear, and God’s love made them strong;
and they followed the right, for Jesus’ sake, the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast:
and there’s not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn’t be one too.
3. They lived not only in ages past; there are hundreds of thousands still;
the world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;
for the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE