Service of the Lord's Day | July 19, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

Our call to worship is from Psalm 100. Read it loud enough for your neighbor to hear or listen to it read.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he that made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

opening hymn

Our hymn today is “Blest Be the Tie That Binds.”

Prayer of Confession

This prayer is from Psalm 51. Pray it aloud and placing your trust in God’s faithful love.

Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
    Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!

Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean;
    wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and celebration again;
    let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
Hide your face from my sins;
    wipe away all my guilty deeds!
Create a clean heart for me, God;
    put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!

We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.

We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

THE WORD

We had several submissions for Psalms in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture. Today’s reading will include Psalm 100 from our call to worship, Psalm 46 (read below) and a sung paraphrase of Psalm 133 (the words are in the video and you are invited to sing along.)

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city;[b] it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Psalm 133

How very good and pleasant it is
    when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
    life forevermore.

Sermon

Quartet

Affirmation of Faith

Our affirmation of faith today is the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Welcome & Prayers of the People

Join us at 10:30 a.m. for a a time of gathering. This will include a brief commentary on Romans 8, prayer requests, and fellowship.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.

Please join the prayer by responding to “to you, O God,” with “hear our prayer.”

Compassion Camp

Join us Wednesday night at 5:00 for Compassion Camp. Lisa Kaufer introduces Wednesday’s story. Here is the link to the Purple Table.

Benediction

Postlude & Offering

Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.

CCLI License #768739

Service of the Lord's Day | July 12, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

Our call to worship is from Psalm 103:8-12. Read it loud enough for your neighbor to hear or listen to it read.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    very patient, and full of faithful love.
God won’t always play the judge;
    God won’t be angry forever.
God doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
    or repay us according to our wrongdoing,
    because as high as heaven is above the earth,
    that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
As far as east is from west—
    that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.

opening hymn

Our hymn today is “There’s a Wideness in Gods’ Mercy.”

Prayer of Confession

This prayer is adapted from Psalm 103:1-4. Pray it aloud and place your trust in the One who pursues us with boundless mercy.

Let our whole being bless the Lord! Let everything inside us bless God’s holy name! God forgives all our sins, and offers us healing. Save us, O Lord, from the Pit. Crown us with faithful love and compassion. Defeat, O Lord, anything in us that tries to separate us from your love. And in this moment of silence, we confess our sin and the sin of our world…

We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.

We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

THE WORD

This is the sixth Sunday in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture submitted by people from throughout the congregation.

Romans 8:28-39

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
     we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Duet

Sarah and Phil Thornbery sing “Surely His Presence.”

Affirmation of Faith

Our affirmation of faith today is the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Welcome & Prayers of the People

Join us at 10:30 a.m. for a a time of gathering. This will include a brief commentary on Romans 8, prayer requests, and fellowship.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.

Please join the prayer by responding to “to you, O God,” with “hear our prayer.”

Compassion Camp

Join us Wednesday night at 5:00 for Compassion Camp. Lisa Kaufer introduces Wednesday’s story.

Benediction

Postlude & Offering

Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.

CCLI License #768739

Service of the Lord's Day | July 5, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

Our Call to Worship today is a selection of verses from Psalm 104.

Let my whole being bless the LORD!
LORD my God, how fantastic you are!
You are clothed in glory and grandeur!
You wear light like a robe;
you open the skies like a curtain.
You build your lofty house on the waters;
you make the clouds your chariot,
going around on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers;
you make fire and flame your ministers.
You established the earth on its foundations
so that it will never ever fall.
You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
the waters were higher than the mountains!
You put gushing springs into dry riverbeds.
They flow between the mountains,
providing water for every wild animal—
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Overhead, the birds in the sky make their home,
chirping loudly in the trees.
From your lofty house, you water the mountains.
The earth is filled full by the fruit of what you’ve done.
You make grass grow for cattle;
you make plants for human farming
in order to get food from the ground,
and wine, which cheers people’s hearts,
along with oil, which makes the face shine,
and bread, which sustains the human heart.
The LORD’s trees are well watered—
the cedars of Lebanon, which God planted,
where the birds make their nests,
where the stork has a home in the cypresses.
The high mountains belong to the mountain goats;
the ridges are the refuge of badgers.
God made the moon for the seasons,
and the sun too, which knows when to set.
You bring on the darkness and it is night,
when every forest animal prowls.
The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they gather together
and lie down in their dens.
Then people go off to their work,
to do their work until evening.

Let the LORD’s glory last forever!
Let the LORD rejoice in all he has made!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
Let my praise be pleasing to God;
I’m rejoicing in the LORD!

Opening Hymn

Prayer of Confession

Trusting in the grace of God, offer this prayer aloud confessing the ways we separate ourselves from God and one another.

Merciful God, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination, freedom, intellect, and reason. Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ.

We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.

We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

THE WORD

This is the fifth Sunday in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture.

Genesis 1:1-2, 26-31

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’
So God created humankind in his image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Sermon

Theologian Dr. Jonathan Sparks-Franklin is our guest preacher today. His sermon kicks-off our Theological Forum on Creation Care. We will host a Zoom forum each remaining Wednesday of July at 7:30 p.m. The forum is free and open to the public.

Affirmation of Faith

Our affirmation of faith today is the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Circle Time

Today’s Circle Time prepares us for Compassion Camp on Zoom on Wednesday at 5:00.

Song of Preparation

The Lord’s Supper

Please join us for the Lord’s Supper at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 5, by Zoom. Please provide your own bread and cup.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.

If there are technical difficulties on Sunday morning, this link can be used as a backup from 10:30 until 10:45. Please click here for the backup video.

Announcement: Following the July 5 Zoom Communion, please stay on the call for a congregational meeting to elect new officers.

Postlude & Offering

Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.

Audrey Schmid offers a postlude.

CCLI License #768739

Service of the Lord's Day | June 28, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

For our call to worship today, you can assign two parts, leader (in normal typeface) and response (in bold typeface), in your household. Or you can respond with the boldface responses along with Joshua Kaufer using the audio file.

We cultivate the earth—
when we till the ground and lay new seeds.
We cultivate safe space—
when we pay attention to what others need.
We cultivate worship—
when we come together, our hearts on our sleeves.
In this worship, may we be honest and present;
may we be faithful and gracious.
For the God of the soil, who is the God of our hearts, is near.
Let us worship Holy God.

opening hymn

Prayer of Confession

Trusting in the grace of God, offer this prayer aloud confessing the ways we seperate ourselves from God and one another.

How do we approach you, Exalted God, with our confessions? We make you weary with our inability to do justice for the poor and outcast. We gossip about those who are close to us, instead of being their loving friend. We make promises, and then go back on our word.

Forgive us, God of Hope, and bless us with your mercy. By your peace, we can do justice. By your love, we can act kindly. By your grace, we can walk with you as humbly, and hopefully, as did our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.

We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

Circle Time

Today’s Circle Time is from “The Wisdom of the Fig Tree: Art, film, & words” by Lisle Gwynn Garrity | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.

THE WORD

This is the fourth Sunday in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture submitted by people from throughout the congregation.

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Musical reflection

Joshua Kaufer reflects on Micah 6 through song. Please join in on the chorus:

Let justice roll down, down like a river,
down to the valleys where the helpless cry.
Let righteousness flow through us forever.
Lead us to the stream that will never run dry.

Sermon

Director of Faith Formation Lisa Kaufer is our preacher today.

Solo

Jessie Walker sings “Just One Small Voice.”

Affirmation of Faith

Our affirmation of faith today comes from the Brief Statement of Faith.

We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth,
praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Welcome & Prayers of the People

Join us at 10:30 a.m. for a a time of gathering. This will include a brief commentary on Micah 6, prayer requests, and fellowship.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.

Announcement: After the July 5 (next Sunday) Zoom Communion, please stay on the call for a congregational meeting to elect new officers.

Benediction

The Lord calls us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Responding faithfully to God’s call requires that we do the work, that we share loving kindness every chance we get, and that we act boldly with a willingness to fail forward. May God give us the courage to love beyond our comfort zones. May God’s grace cushion our fall as we try hard things and fail. May we keep learning, may we keep trying, and may God guide us each day in becoming better humans to other humans. We are part of the Great Gardner’s story still-being-written. May God’s peace be with you this day and every day. Amen.

Postlude & Offering

Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.

Suzanne Edwards offers a piece on an alto flute for our postlude.

CCLI License #768739

Service of the Lord's Day | June 21, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

Read Psalm 86:1-5 loud enough for your neighbor to hear or listen to it read.

Lord, listen closely to me and answer me,
    because I am poor and in need.
 Guard my life because I am faithful.
    Save your servant who trusts in you—you! My God!
 Have mercy on me, Lord,
    because I cry out to you all day long.
 Make your servant’s life happy again
    because, my Lord, I offer my life to you,
     because, my Lord, you are good and forgiving,
    full of faithful love for all those who cry out to you.

opening hymn

Prayer of Confession

Let us offer our life to our Lord Jesus Christ who is good and forgiving by offering this prayer aloud.

Merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with our whole heart and mind and strength.

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name.

We are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Sing along with this assurance of forgiveness.

We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
We are forgiven. We are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

Minute for mission

Learn more about the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program at this link.

THE WORD

This is the third Sunday in our summer series on favorite passages of scripture submitted by people from throughout the congregation. The most and second most submitted passages were Philippians 4:6 and Philippians 4:13.

Philippians 4:4-13

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Duet

Julie Ramsey and Lara Moon sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

Affirmation of Faith

For our affirmation of faith, please take a moment to read the Rev. Dr. Martin Liuther King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail sometime this week. Call someone and discuss it with them.

The letter can be found by clicking this photo of the letter:

Welcome & Prayers of the People

Join us at 10:30 a.m. for a a time of gathering. This will include a brief commentary on Philippians 4, prayer requests, and fellowship.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

Call-in: (312) 626-6799 and use meeting ID 357 756 9746.

Circle time

Lisa shares a reflection for the whole family.

Benediction

And now as members of Christ’s church: Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good. Render no one evil for evil. Strengthen the fainthearted. Support the weak. Heal the afflicted. Honor all people. Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Postlude & Offering

Contributions to the ministry of First Presbyterian Church may be made online by clicking the button below or mailed to First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044.

CCLI License #768739