CCLI license #1913561
Lakeview Presbyterian Church
Service of the Word for October 3, 2021
World Communion Sunday
Prelude: "Table of Plenty"-Schutte sung by Keisha Prime
Come to the feast of heaven and earth
Come to the table of plenty
God will provide for all that we need
Here at the table of plenty
O come and sit at my table
Where saints and sinners are friends
I wait to welcome the lost and lonely
To share the cup of my love
Come to the feast of heaven and earth
Come to the table of plenty
God will provide for all that we need
Here at the table of plenty
O come and eat without money
Come to drink without price
My feast of gladness will feed your spirit
With faith and fullness of life
Come to the feast of heaven and earth
Come to the table of plenty
God will provide for all that we need
Here at the table of plenty
My bread will ever sustain you
Through days of sorrow and war
My wine will flow like a sea of gladness
To flood the depths of your soul
Come to the feast of heaven and earth
Come to the table of plenty
God will provide for all that we need
Here at the table of plenty
Call to Worship
Pour out your Spirit, O Lord upon this gathering of your people.
Be near to us and speak to us and we will proclaim your glory.
In the presence of the Almighty, let us be in a spirit of worship.
Opening Prayer
God of love, you show your people how to be truly rich in faith, through the gifts you give when least hoped for or expected. Come to your people today with words of both judgment and mercy, that we may be fed from the bread of life. We pray this in your holy triune name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Opening Hymn “Today We All are Called to be Disciples” TPH #434
Call to Confession
Trusting in the steadfast love of God, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, Christ stood with the oppressed, yet we seek the shelter and privilege of power. Your righteousness redeems those who are poor, yet we seek the status of wealth and possessions. Your peace upholds those who are oppressed, yet we seek the security of weapons and retribution. Forgive us our sins, and lead us to true repentance, that we may trust you in all things, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen
Declaration of Pardon
The God who made you and knows your every thought hears you now and forgives you all your sin. You have been redeemed through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior, who is Alpha and Omega, all in all.
Prayer for Illumination
Holy God, whose Spirit comes to us in moments of both strength and weakness, come now into our midst that we might be able to hear your Word in fullness and in truth, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Reading from the Epistle of James 2:1-8 NRS
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Hymn (please remain seated) “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” TPH #363
Reading from the Gospel Luke 14:1, 7-14
Sermon “ Together at the Table ” The Rev. Lois Lehman
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who gathers, protects and nourishes the Church from the beginning of the world to the end.
The Church is holy; the Church is universal; it is the fellowship of God’s children, called together from the whole of humanity to proclaim God’s wonderful deeds.
We believe that the genuine faith in Jesus Christ is the only condition for membership in this Christian church.
We praise God that race, class, gender, or culture does not determine who belongs to this Church.
We believe that the Church belongs to God and that it should stand where God stands: against injustice and with those who are wronged.
We commit ourselves to reject all forms of injustice in ourselves and amongst us; and to struggle against all forms on injustice and every teaching that allows injustices to flourish.
Minute for Mission CROP HUNGER WALK
Statement about Offering our Gifts
Let
us give of yourselves, our time, and our possessions out of love for this
creation
and in thanksgiving
for what we have been given.
Donations can be mailed to Lakeview Presbyterian Church at 1310 22 nd Av S, St Petersburg, FL, 33705 or given online through our website lakeviewpresbyterianchurch.org
Prayer of Dedication
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Invitation
Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! They will come from east and west,
and from north and south and sit at table in the kingdom of God.
According to Luke, when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples, he took the bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. This is the Lord’s Table. Our Savior invites those who trust in him to share the feast which he has prepared.
Words of Institution
Hear the words of the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying,
“Take, eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same manner after supper, he took the cup and said,
“This is the cup of the new covenant sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this, remembering me.”
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.
Communion Hymn “I Come with Joy” TPH #507
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise, loving God, creator and sustainer of all life. You planted the first fields— wheat, barley, rice, and maize— and made us in your image to care for your creation.
You fed your people in the wilderness with manna from heaven, leading them to a land of milk and honey.
When human greed trampled the poor you spoke through the prophets, calling us to worship you with justice and peace.
Then, in the fullness of time, you sent Jesus Christ, the living bread, to lift up the oppressed and lowly and fill the hungry with good things.
Therefore, we praise you, joining the faithful who hunger and thirst for righteousness and singing the hymn of the whole creation:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
O God, we praise you for sending your Son to live among us, sharing our joy and sorrow. He taught us to share the abundance of your love, feeding the multitude, eating with sinners and strangers, offering his own body to save us, and pouring out his life for the world. Obeying you, he took up his cross and died that we might live. We praise you that he overcame death and is risen to rule the world.
Remembering all that you have done in Jesus Christ, we offer our lives to you with great thanksgiving as we share this feast of love and grace:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!
Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and the fruit of the vine, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, and one with all who share this meal, a great multitude from every nation.
Keep us faithful to Christ’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, sharing our goods with one another, and giving our possessions to those who are in need, so that all people may have their daily bread, this day and every day. Just as the grain, once scattered across the hills, was gathered together in this loaf of bread,
gather your people from the ends of the earth, so that we may feast with you in glory in the joy of your new creation.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen
Distribution of Elements
Prayer after Communion
O God, through this bread and this cup, you have made us one with you and with each other. May the unity we find at this table be a gift that we carry out into your suffering, divided world. Help us to find strength in knowing that you, the God of peace, will always be with us. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer (sung) sing along if you wish
*Hymn “Lord, You Give the Great Commission” TPH #429
Announcements
Charge
Sisters and brothers, you have chosen to serve God because God has chosen you in Jesus Christ. Go, therefore, to love and serve as God’s people in the world.
We go in Jesus’ name.
Benediction
May the God of justice lead us through the tumultuous seas. May the Christ who came to dwell among us renew the strength of our dreams. May the Holy Spirit guide us to still waters where justice, solidarity, and peace reign. Amen
Postlude "Blessed Be Your Name" sung by Keisha Prime
Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
And blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name