Words for Worship

Prelude – Jazz Ensemble

Welcome – God’s Imprint on Our Lives
Welcome to worship on this Sunday, October 18. This month’s theme is Thriving and today’s theme is God’s Imprint on Our Lives.  In today’s first reading God uses the Gentile ruler Cyrus to accomplish divine purposes. When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus, he tells them to give the emperor what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God. To gather for worship reminds us that our ultimate allegiance is to God rather than to any earthly authority. Created in the image of God, we offer our entire selves in the service of God and for the sake of the world. 

Song – God is Here! Worship 526 (vs. 1,3,4)
1   God is here! As we your people
meet to offer praise and prayer,
may we find in fuller measure
what it is in Christ we share.
Here, as in the world around us,
all our varied skills and arts
wait the coming of the Spirit
into open minds and hearts.

3   Here our children find a welcome
 in the Shepherd’s flock and fold;
here as bread and wine are taken,
Christ sustains us as of old.
Here the servants of the Servant
seek in worship to explore
what it means in daily living
to believe and to adore.

4   Lord of all, of church and kingdom,
in an age of change and doubt,
keep us faithful to the gospel;
help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day’s dedication,
all we have to give, receive;
we, who cannot live without you,
we adore you! We believe!

Text: Fred Pratt Green, 1903-2000
Text © 1979 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Prayer of the Day
Lord of the feast, you have prepared a table before all peoples and poured out your life with abundance. Where we disappoint you, forgive us. Strengthen our faith, build our trust along the way and transform us into a people of righteousness and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

First Reading  – Genesis 1:26
A reading from Genesis:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”
Word of God, word of Life. Thanks be to God.

Children’s Time – Pastor Joy

Celtic Alleluia – 174

Gospel: Matthew 22: 15-22
A reading from Matthew:
¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] in what he said. ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” ²¹They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

Message – Pastor Joy

Song – We Are an Offering Worship 692
We lift our voices, we lift our hands,
We lift our lives up to you, we are an offering.
Lord, use our voices. Lord, use our hands.
Lord, use our lives, they are your: we are an offering.
All that we have, all that we are,
All that we hope to be, we give to you, we give to you.
We lift our voices, we lift our hands,
We lift our lives up to you, we are an offering.

Confession and Forgiveness
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who creates, redeems, and sustains us and all of creation. Amen.

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence is kept for reflection.

Faithful God, have mercy on us. We confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We turn from your loving embrace and go our own ways. We pass judgment on one another before examining ourselves. We place our own needs before those of our neighbors. We keep your gift of salvation to ourselves. Make us humble, cast away our transgressions, and turn us again to life in you through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

God hears the cries of all who call out in need, and through his death and resurrection, Christ has made us his own. Hear the truth that God proclaims: Your sins are forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ. Led by the Holy Spirit, live in freedom and newness to do God’s work in the world. Amen.

Prayers of the People
With confidence in God’s grace and mercy, let us pray for the church, the world, and all those in need.
A brief silence.

Gracious God, you call us by name and invite us to share your good news. Send your Holy Spirit among preachers, missionaries, and evangelists. We give thanks for the witness of your servant Luke, the evangelist, whom the church commemorates today. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of praise, the heavens and all creation declare your salvation. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the whole universe show forth your goodness. Raise up devoted stewards of all that you have made. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of all, may your word of justice sound forth in every place. Restore divided nations and communities with reconciling truth. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of light, we pray for those living with pain, illness, isolation, grief, anger, or doubt (especially…………………………………………..). Join their voices in a new song, assuring them that you call them each by name. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of truth, you show no partiality. May your spirit guide the work of justices, magistrates, court officials, and all vocations of the law, that your promise of restoration may be known. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Living God, as you raised Jesus from the dead, so raise up those who have died in you. We give thanks for their witness, confident of your rescuing welcome for all. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Listen as we call on you, O God, and enfold in your loving arms all for whom we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sharing Peace 
Johm riab sua.
Selam.
The peace of Christ be with you all. And also with you.

Offering – Jazz Ensemble

Offering Prayer
Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. You have set before us these gifts of your good creation. Prepare us for your heavenly banquet, nourish us with this rich food and drink, and send us forth to set tables in the midst of a suffering world, through the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Communion
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.

It is indeed right that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God who is the giver of all good things and who revealed this abundance again with feeding the multitudes, who loved to the point of death and who beyond death, was raised from the dead and appeared to many, breaking bread with them in their homes, so that we might believe.

Remember, beloved ones… how in the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it and gave it to his disciples saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

O God of resurrection and new life: pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on the gifts of bread and cup. Bless this feast. Grace our tables with your presence. Reveal yourself to us in the sharing of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us. Send us forth, burning with justice, peace, and love.

With your holy ones in all times and places, we praise you, O God, blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.

Invitation to Communion
Come to the banquet table where Christ gives himself as food and drink.

Now, if you are gathered with others, when the music begins, please share with one another first the bread and then the cup with the words, 

The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, poured out for you.

If you are by yourself, I offer this invitation… 

Receive the body of Christ, given for you.

Receive the blood of Christ, poured out for you.

And if for any reason you will not receive Communion bread & cup today, a blessing for you…

May God fill you up with the Holy Spirit and give you all that you need.

Communion Song – Let Us Go Now to the Banquet – Worship 523
Vamos todos al banquete                  

ENGLISH
Refrain
Let us go now to the banquet,
to the feast of the universe.
The table’s set and a place is waiting;
come, ev’ryone, with your gifts to share.

1   I will rise in the early morning;
the community’s waiting for me.
With a spring in my step I’m walking
with my friends and my family.  Refrain

2   God invites all the poor and hungry
to the banquet of justice and good
where the harvest will not be hoarded
so that no one will lack for food.  Refrain

3   May we build such a place among us
where all people are equal in love.
God has called us to work together
and to share ev’rything we have.  Refrain

SPANISH
Estribillo
Vamos todos al banquete,
a la mesa de la creación;
cada cual con su taburete
tiene un puesto y una misión.

1   Hoy me levanto muy temprano;
ya me espera la comunidad;
voy subiendo alegre la cuesta,
voy en busca de tu amistad.  Estribillo

2   Dios invita a todos los pobres
a esta mesa común por la fe,
donde no hay acaparadores
y a nadie le falta el conqué.  Estribillo

3   Dios nos manda a hacer de este mundo
una mesa donde haya igualdad,
trabajando y luchando juntos,
compartiendo la propiedad.  Estribillo

Text: Guillermo Cuéllar, b. 1955, Misa popular salvadoreña; tr. Bret Hesla, b. 1957, and William Dexheimer Pharris, b. 1956

Text © 1988, 1996 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Prayer after Communion
We give you thanks, gracious God, that you have once again fed us with food beyond compare, the body and blood of Christ. Lead us from this place, nourished and forgiven, into your beloved vineyard to wipe away the tears of all who hunger and thirst, guided by the example of the same Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Cambodian Lord’s Prayer

Blessing
Mothering God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you and lead you into the way of truth and life. Amen 

Song – Lift Every Voice and Sing Worship 841
1   Lift ev’ry voice and sing till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies,
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.

2   Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast’ning rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our parents sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered;
we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

3   God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.

Text: James W. Johnson, 1871-1938

Charge
Go in peace. Remember the poor. Thanks be to God. 

Postlude – Jazz Ensemble