Westport Presbyterian Church
Appearances and Sudden Awakenings!
February 20, 2022, 11:00 am
PRELUDE: Standing In the Need of Prayer— arr. Robert Vandall
CALL TO RETURN TO OUR SOULS
Leader: Jesus did not limit his ministry to the four walls of the church.
People: Jesus was out there fighting injustice and speaking truth to power every single day.
Leader: He was out there spreading a message of grace and redemption to the least, the last, and the lost.
People: And our charge is to find Jesus everywhere, every day by how we live our lives.
Leader: So we can’t fool ourselves into thinking that we’re going to be good servants of God if we’re not whole inside ourselves. —Michelle Obama
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Bring Forth the Kingdom
Unison Confession of Our Graceless Hearts
O God, help me. I am slow to learn, prone to forget, and weak to climb; I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights; I am pained by my graceless heart, my prayerless days, my poverty of love, my lack of endurance in the heavenly race, my doubtful conscience, my wasted hours, my unspent opportunities. I am blind while the light shines around me. grind to dust my heart of unbelief. Make it my highest joy to study You, meditate on You, gaze on You, sit like Mary at Your feet, lean like John on Your breast, appeal like Peter to Your love. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. Amen.
BLESSED ASSURANCE OF GOD’S ACTIVE, DYNAMIC GRACE
HYMN: Rain Down
BIBLE READINGS: 1 Corinthians 4:1-20
SUNG RESPONSE: Come and Find the Quiet Center
MESSAGE: Fools for Christ!
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Lead Me, Guide Me (entire hymn by Doris Akers)
WELCOMING
ANTHEM: Down to the River to Pray—arr.Sheldon Curry
Matthew 25 Prayer, Lord’s Prayer, Sung Response: Into My Heart
OFFERTORY: Sympathy-Florence Price; Neal Long, tenor
RESPONSIVE PRAYER FOR WISDOM AND ENDURANCE IN DEDICATING OUR OFFERINGS TO GOD’S GREAT WORK AMONG US AND BEYOND US
Pastor: It is certain that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. (James Baldwin)
People: Hate is a wasteful emotion. Most of the people you hate don’t know you hate them. And the rest don’t care. (Medgar Evers, voting rights leader, 20th century martyr)
Pastor: If you wish to strive for peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire. (Friedrich Nietszche)
People: I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger, because I knew— Slavery is the next thing to hell. (Harriet Tubman)
Pastor: Never forget where you come from, And always praise the bridges that have carried you over. (Fannie Lou Hamer)
People: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (Jesus of Nazareth)
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Nunc Dimittis—for Night Prayer (stanzas 1-3)
BLESSING
SUNG RESPONSE: Nunc Dimittis—for Night Prayer (stanza 4)
POSTLUDE: A Poor Wayfaring Stranger—set by Ann Buys
Notes:
- Church office closed tomorrow for President’s Day
- Presbyterian Urban and Immigrant Ministry Network, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 6:00 pm by Zoom: A Leadership Retreat to Follow up on Anti-Racist Audit
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