August 18, 2019

Susan Parker

Call to Worship

Leader:  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord

with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

All:      Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his,

            we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Leader:  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

All:      For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,

            and his faithfulness to all generations.

—Psalm 100

Call to Confession

Let us confess our sins to our gracious and loving God.

 Prayer of Confession

Lord we know we have sinned and have all fallen short of our full potential.  We often fail to heed your call on our lives. We often think we have all the answers with our worldly knowledge. Please help us to renew our commitment to letting you lead our lives. Help us to seek your knowledge first. Help us to surrender to your call and inspiration in our lives.

(silent confession)

Amen.

 Assurance of Pardon

Who can forgive our sins? Only Christ can. Friends, hear the good news, Christ died for our sins and he has already born the burden. Let us know we are forgiven!  Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Illumination

Open our eyes Lord that we may see. Open our ears that we may hear. Open our hearts that we may receive. And open our ways that we may obey. In the name of Jesus the Christ, Amen.

Scripture Possibilities for the Sermon

• Isaiah 5:1-7—This is the story of a vineyard being torn down and laid waste. The vineyard represents Israel. God has tried to bring leaders to the nation to warn them of the danger of not following him. The sermon could encourage leaders to be bold and active in warning of the danger of being without Christ.
• Jeremiah 23:23-29—Here the prophet asks God, “How long?” How long will Israel turn its back? The scripture mentions the prophet who has a dream should share the dream. This would be a good sermon to encourage congregants to consider their call as leaders or prophets.
• Hebrews 11:2-12:2—This scripture tells of the suffering of the first leaders who suffered from spreading the word about Christ. It reminds us faith is greatly needed if we are to be leaders as suffering is sure to come.

Prayers of the People

O God of grace and mercy, we come to you today to ask your blessings on your people. We pray for the sick, those hurting emotionally, spiritually, physically and financially. We pray for your Church. We pray for this church. We pray for the leaders of Memphis Theological Seminary. We pray for the students, faculty and staff. We pray for those considering a call to ministry in any way or any place. Give them peace and knowledge as they seek to determine where they should serve and how. Give us all the faith to go do what we know you have called each and everyone to do. We pray these things in the name of Christ who taught us to pray:

(say the Lord’s Prayer together)

Invitation to the Offering

God calls upon each and every one of us to give of our resources to the work of the kingdom. Today in addition to the other ministries we support, we ask for a special gift for Memphis Theological Seminary and the work they do there to educate men and women to lead people to Christ. We will be using some of these funds to support MTS and the students there.

Offertory Prayer

God we thank you for these gifts, for the giver and we pray these funds will be used to bring honor and glory to the ministry in this world. Amen.

Charge and Benediction

May the love of Almighty God, the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, and the power and joy of the Holy Spirit go with each and every one of you as you leave this place to answer God’s call in your life. Amen.