ORDER OF WORSHIP -JUNE 29th, 2025
- Union Church
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
JUNE 29th, 2025 10:30 AM
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
**Kindly stand if you are able
PRELUDE Mary Lee Farris, Organ
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP (Adapted from Psalm 77)
LEADER: I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
PEOPLE: I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; I will remember your wonders of old.
LEADER: Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
PEOPLE: When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled.
LEADER: The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
PEOPLE: Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
INVOCATION
O God, bless us as we gather here to worship you. Welcome us all, the well and the broken, the rich and the poor, the companions and the strangers, the believers and the seekers. Bless us as we reach out to you and each other to find forgiveness and peace. Amen.
**OPENING HYMN “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” Red #558
CALL TO CONFESSION
In sin, we claim mastery of our own lives, turn against God and neighbors, and become
exploiters and despoilers of the world. In Jesus Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.
PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING
God of all people and all things, we ask for a more perfect understanding of your world and your people. We ask for the humility to see others as we see ourselves and for the strength to offer assistance rather than wait for others to do the hard work of reconciliation. We admit that our fears and comforts often keep us from taking the risks necessary to heal our communities and we beg your strength to know when and how to stand up for your word.
(A moment for silent personal confession)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
Hear the good news: God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. The risen Christ is the savior of all. All who are joined to Christ by faith are set right with God and commissioned to serve as Christ’s reconciling community.
**GLORIA PATRI (Avery & Marsh, back cover of the Red Hymnal)
**PASSING OF THE PEACE
**AFFIRMATION OF FAITH - APOSTLES CREED (From the Confession of 1967)
In Jesus Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. We confess that Jesus Christ is God with us, the eternal Son of the Father, who became human and lived among us to fulfill the work of reconciliation. We believe that the risen Christ is present in the church by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue and complete his mission. This work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the foundation of all we say about God, ourselves, and the world.
We believe that in Jesus of Nazareth, true humanity was realized once for all. Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, lived among his own people and shared human needs, temptations, joys, and sorrows. He expressed the love of God in word and deed and became a brother to all kinds of sinful people. In giving himself for them, he took upon himself the judgment under which all people stand convicted. We believe that God raised him from the dead, vindicating him as Messiah and Lord. The victim of sin became victor, and won the victory over sin and death for all.
**HYMN OF PRAISE “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” Red #78
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed as the word of God written. The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
OLD TESTAMENT READING 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Theresa Cotanche
NEW TESTAMENT Galatians 5:1, 13-25
GOSPEL
Luke 9:51-62
SERMON MESSAGE “Christian Masculinity?” James Phillips
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE CHURCH
And Lord we pray for those in our own hearts whose names you already know, for their own healing and comfort, in your name and that of our redeemer Jesus Christ, who taught to pray, saying:
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.
OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS:
The reconciliation of humankind through Jesus Christ makes it plain that enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation of God’s good creation. Because Jesus identified with the needy and exploited, the cause of the world’s poor is the cause of his disciples. We are called to use our abilities, our possessions, and the fruits of technology as gifts entrusted to us for the maintenance of God’s family and the advancement of the common welfare.
OFFERTORY “Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart” Red #290
**DOXOLOGY Avery & Marsh (Back of the Red hymnal)
** PRAYER OF THANKS
We thank you, our Lord for those gifts to us that we send to you for your work and ours in congregation, community, and culture. Guide us in good use as we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen
HYMN OF PARTING “Lord, Dismiss Us With Your Blessing” Red #834
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” Mary Lee Farris, Piano
Blessings!
James Phillips
John Redman, CRE
Mobile: (914) 474-0722
Union Church
44 Balmville Rd, Newburgh NY 12550
(845) 562-0954