Login / Signup

Free Access

Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30

Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series IV, Cycle A
Hymns
O God, Our Help In Ages Past (CBH328, NCH25, UM117, LBW320, PH210)
Lord Of Our Growing Years (CBH479, PH279)
On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand (CBH610, NCH598, UM724, PH10)
Un Mandamiento Nuevo/Jesus A New Commandment (NCH389)
O Jesus Christ, May Grateful Hymns (NCH212, CBH404, PH424)
Spirit Of God, Descend Upon My Heart (NCH290, CBH502, UM500, LBW486, PH326)
Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds (PH412)
Come My Way, My Truth, My Life (LBW513, NCH331, UM164, CBH587)

Anthems
Precious Lord, Take My Hand, Roy Ringwald, Shawnee, SATB
O God, Our Help In Ages Past, Alan Hovhaness, C. F. Peters, SATB
I Will Love The Lord, Michael Bedford, CGA, Unison/2--part
To The Glory Of Our King, Robert Leaf, CGA, Unison

Call to Worship
Leader:Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Men:Before the mountains were brought forth
Women:Or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
People:From everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Leader:Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
People:And prosper for us the work of our hands,
All:O prosper the work of our hands! Amen.

Call to Confession
God knows who we are and what we do even before we know it ourselves. And yet we need to stand before God as God's people and confess our sins together, knowing that we cannot be perfect people. Let us pray together, asking for forgiveness.

Prayer of Confession
Oh Lord, how long? Your people have been asking this question forever. The ancient Israelites asked it as Moses led them across the desert. The psalmists wrote of both personal and corporate sufferings. The early Christians asked it on a daily basis, and still there are people suffering. We ask it, God. How long must we be sick or have loved ones who are ill? How long must we grieve? How long must we send our young men and women to war? How long must there be people sleeping on the street, children starving, and men and women dying from fatal diseases? We know much of the world's suffering comes from people, O God. We turn our backs on others, thinking too much of ourselves. We waste resources and plunder the earth. We don't love each other as you would have us love. Forgive us, God. Help us to look around, see the injustices, and work toward peace in your world. How long, O Lord, will we need to be forgiven? Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
Jesus was asked, "How many times should we forgive another?" and he replied seventy times seven. God forgives us every time we sin if we repent and turn to Jesus for strength. Jesus was born for us, died for us, rose again for us. Alleluia! Our sins have been forgiven.

Scripture Readings
Psalm 90:1--6, 13--17: The Pslam can be read in addition to either the Deuteronomy text or the Matthew text. Have the choral speaking choir read the Psalm; they should stand in a straight line across the chancel.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

All Voices: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Voices 1--3: Before the mountains were brought forth,

Voices 4--6: Or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

Voices 7--9: From everlasting to everlasting

All: You are God.

Voices 1--5: You turn us back to dust, and say,

Voices 6--9: Turn back, you mortals.

All: For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.

Voices 1--5: You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning;

Voices 6--9: In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

All: Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants!

Voices 1--3: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Voices 4--6: Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.

Voices 7--9: Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

All: Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands - O prosper the work of our hands!

Matthew 22:34--46: This passage has the Pharisees testing Jesus. It could be done by the choral speaking choir acting as the Pharisees, gathered in a semicircle around Jesus, like this:
4 5
3 6
2 7
1 8
J

All Voices: When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,

Voice 1: And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him,

Voice 8: Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?

Voice 2: Jesus said to him,

Jesus: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Voice 7: Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question:

Jesus: What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?

Voice 3: They said to him,

All Voices: The son of David.

Voice 6: He said to them,

Jesus: How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet' "? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?

Voices 4 and 5: No one was able to give him an answer,

All Voices: Nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Benediction
Leader: Share the gospel of Jesus Christ in all you do and say; share yourselves with those whom you meet. Don't let fear of the unknown overtake you. Be brave and loving in all circumstances, and know that God is with you always. Amen.

UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Tom Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
George Reed
Christopher Keating
For October 26, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Kalas
I am a scoreboard watcher. I follow a lot more games than I actually watch, but since technology makes it easy to check scores on a moment’s whim, I watch a lot of scoreboards of teams and games that I am at least mildly interested in. And as I check those scores, I find myself having immediate reactions: “Great!” “Oh, that's too bad.” “Excellent!” “Nuts.” And in the midst of that sports-fan roller coaster, I must continually remind myself that not all scores are final.
Bill Thomas
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Joel 2:22-32
Martin Luther sings the praises of God’s love revealed in this lesson. He wrote:

The love of God which lives in man loves sinners, evil persons, fools and weaklings in order to make them righteous, good, wise, and strong. Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. (Luther’s Works, Vol. 31, p.57)

John Wesley nicely summarizes the Spirit’s role in fighting the lure of our old sinful habits:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message is a role-play story. You will need two children to play the roles of the Pharisee and the tax collector. I usually ask two children if they will help me as they are all coming forward for the message, but you may select them however you choose.

* * *

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, but your commandments are my delight.
Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live.
(vv. 143-144)

When I was an associate pastor in Janesville, Wisconsin one of my responsibilities was to give a lecture on spirituality once a month at a drug treatment facility. The students who attended were persons who had been convicted of drunk driving and were required to attend the class as a condition of their sentence. Attendance was always good.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

We all dislike people who blow their own trumpets, although sometimes we may be in awe of them. Jesus too deplored such behaviour and was never in awe of those who practised it. In our worship today let us open ourselves to Jesus, allowing him to see what is in our hearts.



Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes we allow other people's behaviour to intimidate us.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we refuse to reach our own fullest potential because we are afraid.

SermonStudio

Schuyler Rhodes
Every morning when sleep leaves and waking comes there is cause for praising God. Caught up, as we are, in the currents and eddies of our lives, this is easy to forget. This wonderful psalm is a reminder. God's bounty and abundance spill into our lives like waters over a causeway. God's delight in creation explodes in a million different colors. In every moment there is reason to give God praise.
Robert R. Kopp
When I was a little boy growing up in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania's First Presbyterian Church, one of those Christian chalk artists with black light, neon colors, and black felt canvas who made pictures of Jesus look like those Elvis portraits for sale on the side of the road at the beach showed up as entertainment for a Sunday evening potluck dinner.
John E. Berger
Today's sermon begins with this little one-person drama.
Mark Ellingson
Have you ever felt that you were absolutely at the end of your rope, left without hope? Sometime during the years of 539 B.C. to 331 B.C. that is the way the people of Judah felt. It seems that their land had been ravaged by a plague of locusts which had had catastrophic consequences.

Once a harvest has been destroyed, you cannot repair it. If a building has burned to the ground, you cannot repair it. In those instances you need to start from scratch with a fresh start.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL