MORE PEOPLE MORE LIKE CHRIST
9:00AM/10:30AM Services
March 23, 2025
SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
Sunday, March 23, 2025 9:00AM & 10:30AM
PLEASE SILENCE OR PLACE YOUR CELL PHONE ON VIBRATE.
GATHERING
PRELUDE
WORDS OF WELCOME
MINUTE FOR MISSION
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Vacation Bible School Laurie Gusho, VBS Director
Leader: Come, with undivided attention, to meet God, who calls you away from old routines.
People: Our souls wait for God in silence. Our hope is in God, our rock and our salvation. Leader: Come without anxiety or fear, for God cares for you.
People: We come with devotion to our Lord, in whom time is fulfilled and life has meaning. Leader: Let us seek the Lord in prayer.
*PRAYER OF INVOCATION
*HYMN Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (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.
*GLORY BE TO THE FATHER
PRAYER
OF CONFESSION
Gracious Lord, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a burden. Set us free from a past we cannot change; open us to a future in which we can be changed; and grant us the grace to grow more and more in Your likeness and image, through the power of Christ’s love. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (1 John 1:9)
Leader: If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Therefore, let us assure one another of God’s pardon.
All: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.
Comfort, Comfort Ye My People Robert J. Powell
Comfort, comfort ye my people, speak ye peace, thus saith our God; comfort those who sit in darkness, mourning ‘neath their sorrow’s load; speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them; tell her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over.
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
For the herald’s voice is crying in the desert far and near, bidding all men to repentance, since the kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way! Let the valleys rise to meet him, and the hills bow down to greet him.
Spirit of God, speak once again through the Words of Scripture that our listening ears may hear Your voice. Help us to place Your Word in our minds, treasure it in our hearts, choose it with our wills, and live it through our bodies. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE Matthew 3:1-12
Leader: This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
CARING
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. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
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OFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE
OFFERTORY
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION *HYMN For the Fruit of All Creation
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SCRIPTURE Luke 15:1-10 Page 1489 Pew Bible
SERMON “Repent and Bear Fruit” Rev. Jim Noble
Take My Life and Let It Be
GOING
*BENEDICTION & RESPONSE Now unto Him
*POSTLUDE
