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Love. Serve God. See God. Live.

Worship
Exodus 33:12-23
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 - A
Frank Ramirez
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series VII, Cycle A
Call To Worship (Psalm 99)

One: The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

All: The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.

One: Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he!

All: Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

One: Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he!

All: Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.

One: He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.

All: O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy.


Collect
We approach, O Lord, with the promise of our protection. In the rifted rock of our salvation we rest, praising you for what you have done in the past, your presence in the present, and your promises for our future. Amen.


Prayer Of Confession
Lord, Mighty King, Lover of Justice, protect us in the rock of your salvation as you pass by. Shelter us in your love. Screen us from the consequences of our sins. Save us, Lord Jesus. Amen.


Hymns
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"In The Rifted Rock I'm Resting"
"Rock Of Ages"



Proper 24/Ordinary Time 29
Sunday between October 16 and October 22 inclusive

Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Theme: Worth Waiting For


Call To Worship
Paul writes to a young church full of enthusiasm and spirit. He is careful to give words of encouragement as well as caution. As we gather in worship today let us resolve to cherish the Spirit in our midst with love and respect.


Collect
Give thanks to God for the ministry that we share in Christ Jesus. Give thanks to God for the wealth of Christian experience here and around the world. Amen.


Prayer Of Confession
Lord, we hear so much about the coming wrath, and our concern is to save ourselves from its horrors. Forgive us our selfish fears and challenge us this day with your help and grace to save others from the world. Amen.


Hymns
"A Wonderful Savior Is Jesus My Lord"
"Take Time To Be Holy"
"God Be With You"



Proper 24/Ordinary Time 29
Sunday between October 16 and October 22 inclusive

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22:15-22
Theme: No Trapping God


Call To Worship
Come before your Lord with no other intent except to praise and worship God!


Collect
For this precious hour of peace we praise your name. Open our hearts and minds to the comforting - and convicting - words of salvation in your book. Amen.


Prayer Of Confession
Lord, forgive me for every time I have skeptically bargained with you, not content with the gift of grace but determined to grab as much of the world's gold as I could. You are Lord. You are Savior. You are King. Amen.


Hymns
"Sweet Hour Of Prayer"
"Take My Life And Let It Be"
"Blessed Assurance"

UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
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Jeremiah 31:27-34
John Calvin makes very clear why a new covenant is needed according to this text. He observes:

… the fault was not to be sought in the law that there was need of a new covenant, for the law was abundantly sufficient, but that fault was in the levity and the unfaithfulness of the people. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.X/2, p.130)
David Coffin
What happens when one’s past life narrative or goals in life have drastically shifted or collapsed? How do they rebuild hope? For Israel, they lost their land, monarchy, and national identity. In the days of the New Testament,they could easily be identified as living in the “fourth world” country. That is, existing in substandard conditions in one’s own native land?

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Peter Andrew Smith
Rose sat back in her chair and opened her magazine. She heard the thump of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her daughter and son in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as they put water bottles in their backpacks.

“What are you two doing?” she looked over at the clock. “Don’t you have homework?”

“All done,” Paul and Linda announced at the same time.

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The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

Schuyler Rhodes
There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
Donna E. Schaper
As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

John E. Berger
Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

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And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

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