Worship Guide

June 20, 2021                                                                                       Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 

Gathering/Call to Worship Hymn #701 “Lord, Prepare Me”

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true.

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you. Repeat

Text/Music: John Thompson and Randy Scruggs. ©1982 Full Armor Music Publishing Company.

Used with permission. CCLI#1200092. All rights reserved.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

Together we worship God and together we pray:
Your hand is upon your people, O God, to guide and protect them through the ages. Keep in your service those you have called and anointed, that the powers of this world may not overwhelm us, but that, secure in your love, we may carry out your will in the face of all adversity. Amen.

Hymn #39  “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

Great is thy faithfulness, O God creator, there is no shadow of longing with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Great is they faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness.  

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand has provided, Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest; sun, moon and stars in their courses above join with all nations in manifold witness to they great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Great is they faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. 

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand has provided, Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth; thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow: blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is they faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness.  

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand has provided, Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Text: Thomas O. Chisolm. Music: William Marion Runyan. Text/Music ©1923, renewed 1951. Hope Publishing Company. Used with Permission. CCLI#1200092. All rights reserved.

A Litany of Praise and our Prayer of Confession

We join together in a litany of praise and supplication from Psalm 9:9-20

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, 

a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, 

O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion. 

Declare his deeds among the peoples.

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; 

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

Be gracious to me, O LORD. See what I suffer from those who hate me; 

you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,

so that I may recount all your praises, 

and, in the gates of daughter Zion, rejoice in your deliverance.
The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; 

in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment; 

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

The wicked shall depart to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail; 

let the nations be judged before you.
Put them in fear, O LORD; 

let the nations know that they are only human. 

Trusting in God’s grace, we confess our sins.

Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our failure to be what you created us to be. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love. Hear our individual prayers of confession…

By your loving mercy, help us live in your light and abide in your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen

Hymn #451 “Open My Eyes, That I May See”

Open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit Divine.

Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth thou sendest clear.

And while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit Divine.

Open my mouth, and let me bear gladly the warm truth everywhere.

Open my heart, and let me prepare love with thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit Divine.

Text/Music: Clara H. Scott 1895

Scripture

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 

1As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For he says,
 “At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
         and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

Paul's Hardships

3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

11We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Calms the Storm

35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 

39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 

40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 

41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Message    Pastor Michael DeRuyter  

Affirmation of Faith

Let us confess the faith of the church in which we were baptized:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Our Offerings of Time, Talent and Treasure

Offering Hymn #697 “Take My Life”

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee; 

take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise; 

let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold; 

take my intellect and use ev’ry power as thou shalt choose, 

every power as thou shalt use.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet it’s treasure store; 

take myself and I will be ever, only, all for thee, ever only all for thee. 

Text: Francis Havergal, 1874  Music: H.A. Cesar Malan, 1827.     

Prayers of the People

Lord God, friend of those in need, your Son Jesus has untied our burdens and healed our spirits. We lift up the prayers of our hearts for those still burdened, those seeking healing, those in need within the church and the world.

After each petition the leader says: Hear our prayer, O God. 

And the people respond:  Your mercy is great

Hear our prayers that we may love you with our whole being and willingly share the concerns of our neighbors. Amen.

With confidence we pray together the prayer our Savior taught us.

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.

Hymn #295 “Go to the World!”

Go to the world! Go into all the earth. Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth,

baptizing as the sign of our rebirth. Al-le-lu-ia. Al-le-lu-ia.

Go to the world! Go struggle, bless, and pray; the nights of tears give way to joyous day.

As servant church, you follow Christ’s own way. Al-le-lu-ia. Al-le-lu-ia.

Go to the world! Go as the ones I send, for I am with you till the age shall end,

when all the hosts of glory cry “Amen!”. Al-le-lu-ia. Al-le-lu-ia.

Text: Sylvia G. Dunstan, 1985 Music: Ralph Vaughn Williams, 1906.

Text ©1991 GIA Publications, Inc. Used with permission. ONELICENSE #A-716826. All rights reserved.

Sharing of the Peace and the Sending

Peace be with you.  And also with you. 

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

Resources from the Book of Common Worship and Glory to God Hymnal, PCUSA. 

The Prayer of the Day and the Prayers of the People reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, ©2002 Consultation on Common Texts.