August 31, 2025

CHIMING OF THE HOURS

WELCOME

INTRODUCTION

Friends in Christ: Today we give thanks to God for Phil and ask for God’s blessings as we receive him from Sabbatical rest. We give thanks to God for this intentional time of growth both for him and for our congregation, and we are filled with joy that God has brought him and his family back to our community refreshed and nourished with God’s Spirit to continue to be the beloved community sharing God’s agape with the larger world.

SABBATICAL RETURNING LITURGY

Phil, we welcome you and your family back from your renewal time

We welcome you back with open arms.

It’s good to be back! I have journeyed in new places to renew my spirit, my ministry, and my life.

We too, have had a time of renewal, a time to look at our ministries and our church.

I know you spent your time continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ and looking at yourselves so you too, could grow in ministry.

And we know that you spent time in prayer, travel, study and refreshing your spiritual lives and ministry.

I thank God for my ministry with you over these 15 years and I thank you for the gift of this renewal time you’ve given to me.

We thank you for your presence amongst us as our spiritual guide and leader.

RETURN OF STOLE

As a symbol of returning from our mutual time of renewal, I take my stole and put it back on my shoulders once again- a symbol of my servanthood to God and to His church.

May God continue to be with you in your ministry amongst us.

May God continue to so richly bless our congregation with the resources to be in ministry and the divine enthusiasm to share His Word of forgiving grace and love in our communities and the world.

We pray God’s Spirit to be present amongst us- calling, empowering and sending us to serve and share. May we continue to seek His will and walk in His ways.

PRAYER

Spirit of God, descend upon our hearts. We thank you for this time we had apart to renewal ourselves, and now for this time to reunite with one another and begin our ministries once again. We pray that we minister and serve with the enthusiasm of your Spirit upon us. We pray that we, together, as your church, may be open to your Spirit’s leading in the future, to be willing to risk in faith to follow where you lead us.

Come, Holy Spirit, and bless us in our ministries as you have blessed us with a time of renewal!

Thank you, Lord, for this time away and for this time of returning! Help us to continue to dream your dreams for our future. Bless us, in Jesus name, AMEN!

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP

Jesus the Christ has freed us from death and brought us into new life. Through Christ, we have faith and hope in God.

In genuine, mutual love, let us worship with one heart and one voice. In reverence and joy, we praise God’s holy name!

*HYMN No. 232 “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”

1 Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

2 Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

3 But the pains which he endured, Alleluia!
our salvation have procured. Alleluia!
Now above the sky he’s King, Alleluia!
where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

4 Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
praise eternal as God’s love. Alleluia!
Praise our God, ye heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia!

THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM

(At the baptismal font) The Lord be with you.

And also with you. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise. O Lord our God, we give you thanks for the new life you raise up in us through the mystery of our baptism— the sorrow of the heavy cross, the surprise of the empty tomb, the love that death could not destroy. By the power of your Holy Spirit, poured out upon us in baptism, fill us with the joy of resurrection, so that we may be a living sign of your new heaven and new earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

*CALL TO CONFESSION

At the baptismal font: As we continue our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are called to repent, remembering that the promise of Jesus Christ is for us, for our children, for our siblings,

for all who are near and all who are far, for everyone called to God. In confidence, let us confess our sin.

*PRAYER FOR CONFESSION

Eternally patient God, we ask again and again, “What should we do?” And again and again, you tell us, “Repent and return to me.” Yet we have not changed our ways. We fall into old habits, cling to our own ways, and take for granted the grace you have given us. Once again, we ask you for forgiveness. Show us the way forward and help us return, once again, to you.

*SILENT PRAYER FOR CONFESSION

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Lifting water from the font: Beloved, hear this good news: through Christ you have come to trust in God, who raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. We are born anew, through the living and enduring word of God. Alleluia! Praise to the risen Christ!

*RESPONSE No. 634 “To God Be The Glory”
1 To God be the glory; great things he has done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory: great things he has done!

*PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST

God has received us, pardoned us and loved us;

let us forgive each other in love and share the peace of Christ.

Peace be with you.

And also with you.

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

ANTHEM

UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Please join me in the unison prayer…

Living God, with joy we celebrate the presence of your risen Word. Enliven our hearts by your Holy Spirit so that we may proclaim the good news of eternal and abundant life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURE Luke 24:13-35 The Walk to Emmaus

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[f] from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.[g] 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,[h] who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.[i] Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah[j] should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[k] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Pause…

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!!

SERMON “Not the journey I expected”

Liturgy and Commentary provided by The PC(USA) Book of Common Worship, The Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott, Call to Worship & Ann Siddall

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.32–33

The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ has set the pattern for the church’s mission. His human life involves the church in the common life of all people. His service to men and women commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the church sensitive to all human suffering so that it sees the face of Christ in the faces of persons in every kind of need. His crucifixion discloses to the church God’s judgment on the inhumanity that marks human relations, and the awful consequences of the church’s own complicity in injustice. In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, the church sees the promise of God’s renewal of human life in society and of God’s victory over all wrong.

The church follows this pattern in the form of its life and in the method of its action. So to live and serve is to confess Christ as Lord.

*HYMN No. 729 “Lord, I Want to be a Christian”

1 Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart; Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.

2 Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart, in my heart; Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.

3 Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart, in my heart; Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.

4 Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart, in my heart; Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Risen One, like those disciples on the road to Emmaus, we struggle to recognize you in the everyday journey of our lives. We seek your wisdom in the midst of the questions we have about the circumstances we find ourselves in— circumstances sometimes beyond our control, but often of our own making. Open our eyes, Light of the World, to your work of transformation in and around us. As we walk with you day by day, may your new life be made manifest in what we say to others.

Help us to understand the power of our words to hurt or to heal; give us the graciousness to make all our conversations holy. Just as we desire that our speaking be holy, may our seeing be holy as well. We are bombarded with images everyday, O Christ, that shape our attitudes and behaviors. As you opened the scriptures to the disciples and taught them everything, open our eyes to behold you in your Word, in the beauty of nature, the beauty of another human being and the beauty of sacred art. And in our seeing, help us to recognize and welcome the stranger in our midst. May our welcome be a celebration of the gifts and graces of persons who are different from us and not merely some token tolerance of an outsider. You were known to the disciples in the breaking of the bread.

May your resurrection presence guide us in the decisions we make about what we take into our bodies— especially what we eat and what we drink. Help us to understand our eating and drinking as sacred events, not to be abused or approached mindlessly. So often we forget, Holy One, that you invite us to abide with you; to have our lives hidden in you. We thank you that you travel with us in our joys and our concerns.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TITHES & OFFERINGS

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods yet refuses to help a sister or brother in need? Remembering God’s great love for the world, let us offer our lives to the Lord.

OFFERTORY ANTHEM

*RESPONSE N0. 609 “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Great God, to you we give our thanks; your steadfast love endures forever. With gratitude we bring our gifts to you. Bless us and our gifts, that our lives and our resources may be a source of healing and hope, of joy and justice in our world. Amen.

*HYMN No. 839 “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine!”

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.

*BENEDICTION
Go now as those who have met with Christ in the morning of this day.
Go now as those who hearts have burned within them,
as the Scriptures were explained.
Go now as those who have been touched by resurrection.
And may the blessing of God be upon you, body, mind and spirit, as you leave this place,
Amen.

*POSTLUDE