"The Days Are Surely Coming"

BULLETIN FOR STREAMING SERVICE 

THE CELEBRATION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

October 16, 2022 11:00 a.m.

WE GATHER IN GOD’S NAME

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF HOMEWOOD
MISSION STATEMENT

Through the grace of God, faith in Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we prayerfully seek to discern God’s will for this congregation and to reach beyond ourselves to feed the hungry, body and soul. Adopted by Session 7/31/17

PRAYER FOR PEACE

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

PRELUDE

 
*CALL TO CONTINUING WORSHIP
We lift up our eyes to the hills; from where will our help come?
Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
In praise and with thanksgiving, we gather as one body, with song and with prayer.
The Lord will keep our going out and our coming in from this time and forevermore. Come, let us worship God.

*HYMN 53 ||| O God, Who Gives Us Life ||| Noel

CALL TO CONFESSION
The Word of God, Jesus Christ leads the way to salvation through faith. In turning to the Lord with humility, and trusting in his love, we confess our sin and the sins of the world.

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Grace-filled God, we confess that we pursue our own needs, neglecting the needs of others. We pursue our own desires, while slowly destroying the gifts of your creation. We deflect the call to ministry, ignoring the cries of those in need. We are drawn to proclaim the gospel, yet live it out only at our convenience. Have mercy on us, O God. Open our eyes to the truth of the gospel that, whatever the time or wherever we are, we may fully embody your love and justice for all the world.
(silent prayer)
Amen.

*DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS
Whoever we are, wherever we are, however we are, we belong to God. Through Jesus Christ, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness and leads us from sin. People of God, we are forgiven.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

*THE GLORIA 581

MOMENT WITH OUR CHILDREN ||| Rev. Matt Lang

WELCOME AND CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS

WE HEAR GOD’S WORD

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

FIRST SCRIPTURE READING ||| Jeremiah 31:27-34
27The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” 30But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. 31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
SPECIAL MUSIC

SECOND SCRIPTURE READING ||| Luke 18:1-8
18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!

SERMON ||| "The Days Are Surely Coming"  ||| Rev. Matt Lang

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*HYMN 366 ||| Love Divine, All Loves Excelling ||| Hyfrydol

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH ||| The Brief Statement of Faith 1983
In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.

 
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 OF OUR GIFTS

OFFERTORY

*DOXOLOGY 606 ||| Old Hundredth
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.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
As we offer our treasure and hearts to you, O God, may they be used to pass on the promise of hope, of peace, of life, of community to all in need of your gifts and presence in their lives. Amen.

WE GO IN GOD’S NAME

*HYMN 688 ||| Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart ||| Morecambe

BLESSING
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
Alleluia!

CHARGE
To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as God’s reconciling community. Christ has called us to this mission and given us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
POSTLUDE

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Thanks be to God!

Rev. Matt Lang, Pastor
Mrs. Mary Ann Wenzelman, Interim Organist/Pianist

Worship Liturgist: Vern Moore
Usher: Laura Dillman
Web Techs: Shirley Armistead, Nancy Beaudoin, Phil Dillman, Kathie Hazlett, 

SCRIPTURES IN WORSHIP – Next Sunday we will be reading Joel 2:23-32 and Luke 18:9-14.

PRAYER CHAIN – If you want prayer requests included on the prayer chain, contact Shirley Armistead at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..