November 16, 2025
CHIMING OF THE HOUR
WELCOME
UNISON PRAYER
God of all times and all places,
be with us in this time and this place.
Just as you have spoken to your people through prophets and poets,
we pray that we might hear the Word you speak to us today.
Just as you have spoken to your people through deeds and miracles,
we pray that we might have eyes to see the Word you speak to us today.
Just as you have called your people to act in the midst of your creation,
we pray that we might have feet to walk and hands to reach out;
For the sake of your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.
PRELUDE “Marion” Colin Curtis
CALL TO WORSHIP
Sing praises to the Lord, for God has done gloriously;
Let us sing God’s praises throughout all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, from the highest peaks to the deepest caverns.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, from the tiniest creatures to the greatest herds.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, in the midst of our joys and sorrows.
Shout aloud and sing for joy,
As we come to worship the God of all creation!
*HYMN No. 804, vs. 1-4 “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart!”
1 Rejoice, ye pure in heart!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
Your festal banner wave on high,
the cross of Christ your King. (Refrain)
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
2 With voice as full and strong
as ocean’s surging praise,
send forth the sturdy hymns of old,
the psalms of ancient days. (Refrain)
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
3 Yes, on through life’s long path,
still chanting as ye go,
from youth to age, by night and day,
in gladness and in woe. (Refrain)
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
4 At last the march shall end;
the wearied ones shall rest;
the pilgrims find their home at last,
Jerusalem the blest. (Refrain)
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
*CALL TO CONFESSION
Just as the prophet Isaiah assured God’s people so many years ago, he assures us now that God is our salvation. It is because of that confidence, because of that promise, that we dare approach God with our confession.
*PRAYER FOR CONFESSION
We confess that we have not been obedient children. We have grown idle in the work of discipleship and weary in doing what is right. We have been selfish in our actions and inconsistent in claiming our rights. We have not honored the tradition of the apostles or imitated the example of your saints. Forgive us, we pray. Show us the way of repentance, free us from our idle ways, and strengthen us to be faithful disciples of Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.
*SILENT PRAYER FOR CONFESSION
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love toward those who fear him.”
“As far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our transgressions from us.”
Hear and believe the good news: In Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!
*RESPONSE No. 804, v.5 “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”
Then on, ye pure in heart!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
Your festal banner wave on high,
the cross of Christ your King. (Refrain)
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
*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.
ANTHEM “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” Maurice Bevan
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
God of the earthquake and the silence, quiet in us any voice but your own, that by the power of the Holy Spirit we might hear, and in hearing we might believe, and in believing we might act, making way for your new creation. Amen.
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 65: 17-25
17 For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,[a]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Pause…
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!!
SERMON Rev. Sarah Craven
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH “The Apostles’ Creed”
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
HYMN No. 796 “We Come to You for Healing”
1 We come to you for healing, Lord,
of body, mind, and soul,
and pray that by your Spirit’s touch
we may again be whole.
2 As once you walked through ancient streets
and reached toward those in pain,
we know you come among us still
with power to heal again.
3 You touch us through physicians’ skills,
through nurses’ gifts of care,
and through the love of faithful friends
who lift our lives in prayer.
4 Through nights of pain and wakefulness,
through days when strength runs low,
grant us your gift of patience, Lord,
your calming peace to know.
5 We come to you, O loving Lord,
in our distress and pain,
in trust that through our nights and days
your grace will heal, sustain.
PASTORAL PRAYER & LORD’S PRAYER
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.
PASSING OF FELLOWSHIP PADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
TITHES & OFFERINGS
In a world filled with blessings we celebrate our privilege and our responsibility to share those blessings. Let us celebrate the God of overwhelming blessings by continuing to worship through the offering of our tithes and gifts.
OFFERTORY ANTHEM
*RESPONSE N0. 717 “For the Life that You have Given”
For the life that you have given,
for the love in Christ made known,
with these fruits of time and labor,
with these gifts that are your own:
here we offer, Lord, our praises;
heart and mind and strength we bring;
give us grace to love and serve you,
living what we pray and sing.
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God of the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the ox,
We give thanks for these gifts and pray they might be agents of your peace.
May they serve your creation as we seek your new heaven and new earth.
Help us take these gifts out into a world filled with distress and calm it.
Help us take these gifts out into a world filled with pain and heal it.
Help us take these gifts out into a world filled with silence and speak up;
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
*HYMN No. 757 “Today, We All Are Called to Be Disciples
1 Today we all are called to be
disciples of the Lord,
to help to set the captive free,
make plowshare out of sword,
to feed the hungry, quench their thirst,
make love and peace our fast,
to serve the poor and homeless first,
our ease and comfort last.
2 God made the world and at its birth
ordained our human race
to live as stewards of the earth,
responding to God’s grace.
But we are vain and sadly proud;
we sow not peace but strife.
Our discord spreads a deadly cloud
that threatens all of life.
3 Pray justice may come rolling down
as in a mighty stream,
with righteousness in field and town
to cleanse us and redeem.
For God is longing to restore
an earth where conflicts cease,
a world that was created for
a harmony of peace.
4 May we in service to our God
act out the living word,
and walk the road the saints have trod
till all have seen and heard.
As stewards of the earth may we
give thanks in one accord
to God who calls us all to be
disciples of the Lord.
*BENEDICTION
*POSTLUDE